Overwhelmed in October

A psalm of David. A petition.

Ps38:1-22

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

For your arrows have pierced me,

and your hand has come down upon me.

Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;

my bones have no soundness because of my sin.

My guilt has overwhelmed me

like a burden too heavy to bear.

My wounds fester and are loathsome

because of my sinful folly.

I am bowed down and brought very low;

all day long I go about mourning.

My back is filled with searing pain;

there is no health in my body.

I am feeble and utterly crushed;

I groan in anguish of heart.

All my longings lie open before you, O Lord;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

My heart pounds, my strength fails me;

even the light has gone from my eyes.

My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;

my neighbors stay far away.

Those who seek my life set their traps,

those who would harm me talk of my ruin;

all day long they plot deception.

I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear,

like a mute, who cannot open his mouth;

I have become like a man who does not hear,

whose mouth can offer no reply.

I wait for you, O LORD;

you will answer, O Lord my God.

For I said, "Do not let them gloat

or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips."

For I am about to fall,

and my pain is ever with me.

I confess my iniquity;

I am troubled by my sin.

Many are those who are my vigorous enemies;

those who hate me without reason are numerous.

Those who repay my good with evil

slander me when I pursue what is good.

O LORD, do not forsake me;

be not far from me, O my God.

Come quickly to help me,

O Lord my Savior.