A Davidic Psalm: As a Reminder.

The Outcast Cries Out

1LORD! Do not rebuke me in your anger;

do not correct me in your wrath,

2because your arrows have sunk deep into me,

and your hand has come down hard on me.

3My body is unhealthy due to your anger,

and my bones have no rest due to my sin.

4My iniquities loom over my head;

like a cumbersome burden, they are too heavy for me.

5My wounds have putrefied and festered

because of my foolishness.

6I am bent over and walk about greatly bowed down;

all day long I go around mourning.

7My insidesa are burning

and my body is unhealthy.

8I am weak and utterly crushed;

I cry out in distress because of my heart’s anguish.

9Lord, all my longings are before you,

and my groaning is not hidden from you.

10My heart pounds,

my strength fails me,

even the gleam in my eye is gone.

11As for my friends and my neighbors,

they stand aloof from my distress;

even my close relatives stand at a distance.

12Those who seek my life lay snares for me;

those who seek to do me harm brag all day long about their wicked planning.

13I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,

and like the mute, who cannot open his mouth.

14Indeed, I have become like a man who hears nothing,

and in whose mouth there is no rebuke.

15Because I have placed my hope in you, LORD,

you will answer, Lord, my God.

16For I said, “Do not let them gloat over me,

as they congratulate themselves when my foot slips.”

17Indeed, I am being set up for a fall,

and I am continuously reminded of my pain.

18I confess my iniquity,

and my sin troubles me.

19But my enemies are alive and well;b

those who hate mec for no reason are numerous.d

20Theye reward my good with evil,

opposing me because I seek to do good.f

21Don’t forsake me, LORD.

My God, do not be so distant from me.

22Come quickly and help me,

Lord, my deliverer.