Psalm 38:9 Study Bible: Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.

◄ Psalm 38:9 ►

O Lord, my every desire is before You; my groaning is not hidden from You.

O Lord
This phrase is a direct address to God, emphasizing a personal relationship with the divine. The Hebrew word used here is "Yahweh," the covenant name of God, which signifies His eternal presence and faithfulness. In the context of the psalm, it reflects the psalmist's acknowledgment of God's sovereignty and his reliance on God's intimate knowledge of his heart and circumstances.

my every desire
The Hebrew word for "desire" is "ta'awah," which can also mean longing or wish. This indicates a deep, heartfelt yearning that encompasses all aspects of the psalmist's life. It suggests that nothing is hidden from God, and He is aware of the innermost thoughts and aspirations of His people. This phrase reassures believers that God is attentive to their deepest needs and desires, even those unspoken.

is before You
The phrase "is before You" implies that God is fully aware and present with the psalmist's desires. The Hebrew word "neged" means in front of or in the presence of. This conveys the idea that God is not distant or detached but is actively engaged with the psalmist's life. It is a comforting reminder that God sees and understands everything about us, and nothing escapes His notice.

my groaning
The term "groaning" comes from the Hebrew word "anachah," which denotes a deep, often involuntary expression of pain or distress. This word captures the intensity of the psalmist's suffering and emotional turmoil. It reflects the human condition of experiencing profound sorrow and the need to express it before God, who is compassionate and responsive to our cries.

is not hidden from You
This phrase emphasizes God's omniscience. The Hebrew root "satar" means to hide or conceal. The psalmist acknowledges that even his groaning, which might be silent or internal, is fully known to God. This is a powerful affirmation of God's intimate knowledge of our struggles and His willingness to engage with us in our most vulnerable moments. It encourages believers to be transparent with God, trusting that He is aware of and cares for their every need.

Persons / Places / Events

1. David
Traditionally attributed as the author of Psalm 38, David is expressing his deep distress and reliance on God. This psalm is a penitential psalm, reflecting David's repentance and plea for God's mercy.

2. The Lord (Yahweh)
The psalm is directed to God, emphasizing His omniscience and compassion. David acknowledges God's awareness of his innermost desires and sufferings.

3. Groaning
Represents the deep, often wordless, expression of pain and longing. It signifies the depth of David's emotional and spiritual turmoil.

Teaching Points

God's Omniscience
God knows our desires and struggles even when we cannot articulate them. We can find comfort in His complete understanding of our hearts.

Honest Prayer
Like David, we should bring our deepest desires and pains before God, trusting that He hears and understands us fully.

Dependence on God
In times of distress, we should rely on God, knowing that He is aware of our situation and is compassionate towards us.

Repentance and Humility
Acknowledge our sins and weaknesses before God, seeking His forgiveness and strength to overcome them.

Emotional Expression
It is healthy and biblical to express our emotions to God, knowing that He is a safe refuge for our groaning and lament.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does understanding God's omniscience affect the way you pray and present your desires to Him?

2. In what ways can you relate to David's expression of groaning in your own life? How does this psalm encourage you to bring those feelings to God?

3. How can the knowledge that God knows your every desire influence your daily walk with Him?

4. What other biblical figures can you think of who expressed their deep emotions to God? How did God respond to them?

5. How can you apply the principles of repentance and humility found in Psalm 38 to your current life circumstances?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Psalm 139
This psalm also speaks of God's intimate knowledge of our thoughts and desires, reinforcing the theme of God's omniscience.

Romans 8:26-27
The Apostle Paul discusses how the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words, paralleling the idea of God understanding our unspoken needs and desires.

1 Samuel 16:7
God looks at the heart, not outward appearances, highlighting His understanding of our true desires and struggles.

Sermons

Desires Towards God		Psalm 38:9
God's Knowledge of Our Desires	Samuel Martin.	Psalm 38:9
Our Groaning not Hid from God	J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.	Psalm 38:9
A Fearful Picture of the Sufferings Which a Great Sin Can Cause	C. Short	Psalm 38:1-22
Great Personal Affliction	Homilist	Psalm 38:1-22
Sin Stinging Like an Adder	C. Clemance	Psalm 38:1-22
Things to be Remembered		Psalm 38:1-22
Thoughts in Affliction	W. Forsyth	Psalm 38:1-22

People

David, Jeduthun, Psalmist

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Desire, Groaning, Hid, Hidden, Kept, Lie, Longing, O, Open, Secret, Sighing, Sorrow

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Psalm 38:9

     5567   suffering, emotional
     5580   thirst
     6185   imagination, desires
     8330   receptiveness

Psalm 38:1-14

8713 discouragement

Psalm 38:1-22

5888 inferiority

Psalm 38:3-10

5933 restlessness

Psalm 38:3-11

5136 body

Library

"Come unto Me, all Ye that Labour, and are Wearied," &C.
Matth. xi. 28.--"Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are wearied," &c. It is the great misery of Christians in this life, that they have such poor, narrow, and limited spirits, that are not fit to receive the truth of the gospel in its full comprehension; from whence manifold misapprehensions in judgment, and stumbling in practice proceed. The beauty and life of things consist in their entire union with one another, and in the conjunction of all their parts. Therefore it would not be a fit way …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Question Lxxxii of Devotion
I. Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Meaning of the Term "Devotion" S. Augustine, Confessions, XIII. viii. 2 II. Is Devotion an Act of the Virtue of Religion? III. Is Contemplation, that is Meditation, the Cause of Devotion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Causes of Devotion " " On the Devotion of Women IV. Is Joy an Effect of Devotion? Cardinal Cajetan, On Melancholy S. Augustine, Confessions, II. x. I Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act? It is by our acts that we merit. But …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow.
Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul: I am come into deep waters; so that the floods run over me.--Ps. lxix. 1, 2. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. xxxviii. 6. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: Oh! bring Thou me out of my distress.--Ps. xxv. 17. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. vi. 8. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

Christ's Resurrection Song.
WHEN the blessed Lord appeared in the midst of His disciples and they beheld the risen One in His glorified body of flesh and bones and He ate before them, He told them that all things which were written in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Him, had to be fulfilled (Luke xxiv:44). While on the way to Emmaus He said to the two sorrowing and perplexed disciples "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The Acceptable Sacrifice;
OR, THE EXCELLENCY OF A BROKEN HEART: SHOWING THE NATURE, SIGNS, AND PROPER EFFECTS OF A CONTRITE SPIRIT. BEING THE LAST WORKS OF THAT EMINENT PREACHER AND FAITHFUL MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, MR. JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. WITH A PREFACE PREFIXED THEREUNTO BY AN EMINENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IN LONDON. London: Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates, 1692. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The very excellent preface to this treatise, written by George Cokayn, will inform the reader of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Question Lxxxiii of Prayer
I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friendship II. Is it Fitting to Pray? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause S. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, II. iii. 14 " On the Gift of Perseverance, vii. 15 III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer S. Augustine, On Psalm cii. 10 " Of the Gift of Perseverance, xvi. 39 IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone? S. Augustine, Sermon, cxxvii. 2 V. …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

His Past Work.
His past work was accomplished by Him when he became incarnate. It was finished when He died on Calvary's cross. We have therefore to consider first of all these fundamentals of our faith. I. The Work of the Son of God is foreshadowed and predicted in the Old Testament Scriptures. II. The incarnation of the Son of God. III. His Work on the cross and what has been accomplished by it. I. Through the Old Testament Scriptures, God announced beforehand the work of His Son. This is a great theme and one …
A. C. Gaebelein—The Work Of Christ

What Manner of Man Ought not to Come to Rule.
Wherefore let every one measure himself wisely, lest he venture to assume a place of rule, while in himself vice still reigns unto condemnation; lest one whom his own guilt depraves desire to become an intercessor for the faults of others. For on this account it is said to Moses by the supernal voice, Speak unto Aaron; Whosoever he be of thy seed throughout their generations that hath a blemish, he shall not offer loaves of bread to the Lord his God (Lev. xxi. 17). And it is also immediately subjoined; …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Third Sunday after Trinity Humility, Trust, Watchfulness, Suffering
Text: 1 Peter 5, 5-11. 5 Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; 7 casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you. 8 Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 whom withstand stedfast …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Cæsarius of Arles.
He was born in the district of Chalons-sur-Saone, A. D. 470. He seems to have been early awakened, by a pious education, to vital Christianity. When he was between seven and eight years old, it would often happen that he would give a portion of his clothes to the poor whom he met, and would say, when he came home, that he had been, constrained to do so. When yet a youth, he entered the celebrated convent on the island of Lerins, (Lerina,) in Provence, from which a spirit of deep and practical piety …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Christian Meekness
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth Matthew 5:5 We are now got to the third step leading in the way to blessedness, Christian meekness. Blessed are the meek'. See how the Spirit of God adorns the hidden man of the heart, with multiplicity of graces! The workmanship of the Holy Ghost is not only curious, but various. It makes the heart meek, pure, peaceable etc. The graces therefore are compared to needlework, which is different and various in its flowers and colours (Psalm 45:14). …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Notes on the Third Century
Page 161. Line 1. He must be born again, &c. This is a compound citation from John iii. 3, and Mark x. 15, in the order named. Page 182. Line 17. For all things should work together, &c. See Romans viii. 28. Page 184. Lines 10-11. Being Satan is able, &c. 2 Corinthians xi. 14. Page 184. Last line. Like a sparrow, &c. Psalm cii. Page 187. Line 1. Mechanisms. This word is, in the original MS., mechanicismes.' Page 187. Line 7. Like the King's daughter, &c. Psalm xlv. 14. Page 188. Med. 39. The best …
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

How is Christ, as the Life, to be Applied by a Soul that Misseth God's Favour and Countenance.
The sixth case, that we shall speak a little to, is a deadness, occasioned by the Lord's hiding of himself, who is their life, and "the fountain of life," Ps. xxxvi. 9, and "whose loving-kindness is better than life," Ps. lxiii. 3, and "in whose favour is their life," Ps. xxx. 5. A case, which the frequent complaints of the saints manifest to be rife enough, concerning which we shall, 1. Shew some of the consequences of the Lord's hiding his face, whereby the soul's case will appear. 2. Shew the …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

I Will Pray with the Spirit and with the Understanding Also-
OR, A DISCOURSE TOUCHING PRAYER; WHEREIN IS BRIEFLY DISCOVERED, 1. WHAT PRAYER IS. 2. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT. 3. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING ALSO. WRITTEN IN PRISON, 1662. PUBLISHED, 1663. "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought:--the Spirit--helpeth our infirmities" (Rom 8:26). ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. There is no subject of more solemn importance to human happiness than prayer. It is the only medium of intercourse with heaven. "It is …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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