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Psalm 38 | King James Audio Bible
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Psalm 38 is a heartfelt expression of repentance and a plea for divine assistance in the face of suffering and affliction. Attributed to King David, this psalm vividly portrays the anguish of a soul burdened by sin and illness, seeking God’s mercy and restoration.
Acknowledging Sin and Suffering: Psalm 38 begins with a sober acknowledgment of the psalmist’s condition. It is a cry for help, recognizing that the distress faced is a consequence of personal transgressions. The psalmist describes feeling the weight of sin like arrows piercing the soul, causing physical and emotional suffering.
Physical and Emotional Affliction: The psalmist vividly portrays the physical and emotional pain experienced due to the burden of sin. The imagery of festering wounds, stench, and feebleness reflects the depth of the suffering. This serves as a reminder of the real and tangible consequences of sin on both body and spirit.
Isolation and Hostility: Throughout the psalm, the psalmist expresses a sense of isolation and abandonment. Friends and loved ones keep their distance, and enemies plot against him. This isolation intensifies the psalmist’s longing for God’s presence and intervention.
A Cry for Mercy and Healing: Amidst the suffering and isolation, the psalmist turns to God in earnest prayer. He acknowledges his sin, confesses his wrongdoings, and pleads for God’s mercy and forgiveness. The psalmist recognizes that only God can offer healing and relief from the anguish he faces.
The Assurance of God’s Response: Despite the depth of suffering and the psalmist’s acknowledgment of his own sin, there is an underlying trust in God’s faithfulness. The psalmist believes that God will hear his cries for help and come to his aid. This trust in God’s character and the expectation of divine intervention provide a glimmer of hope amidst the distress.
A Cry for Deliverance: The psalmist closes with a heartfelt plea for God not to forsake him but to hasten to his aid. He acknowledges that God is his salvation, and he seeks deliverance from his adversaries.
Psalm 38 | King James Audio Bible KJV | Love Revealed By Jesus Christ
O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.
My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
For in thee, O Lord, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.
For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me.
Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.
Key Themes Of The Psalm For Reflection | Love Revealed By Jesus Christ
- Acknowledgment of Sin and Guilt: The psalmist openly admits his wrongdoing and recognizes the impact of sin on his life.
- Physical and Emotional Suffering: The psalmist vividly describes the physical and emotional pain that accompanies the burden of sin, using imagery of wounds, stench, and feebleness.
- Isolation and Abandonment: The psalmist conveys a sense of isolation as friends and loved ones distance themselves, while enemies plot against him.
- Plea for God’s Mercy: Amidst suffering, the psalmist turns to God, confessing his sins and earnestly seeking divine mercy and forgiveness.
- Trust in God’s Faithfulness: Despite the suffering and guilt, there is an underlying trust in God’s character and faithfulness, with the expectation that God will hear his cries for help.
- Expectation of Divine Intervention: The psalmist believes that God will come to his aid and deliver him from his adversaries, serving as a source of hope in his distress.
The Priestly Prayer of Jesus continues. In these Bible verses, Jesus asks his Father to guard the disciples. Jesus says that he himself has kept them safe while he has been with them. Only Judas Iscariot has been lost to him, and this was known in advance by God and foretold in Scripture; the other disciples have been prepared for the betrayal, in order to help them not to lose heart [ … ]
The New Testament account of Saint Peter provides us with a rich and detailed portrait of Saint Peter’s character and of his relationship with Jesus and the other apostles. In our contemporary context, Saint Peter’s teachings and example remain relevant and vital, providing us with a powerful reminder of the transformative potential of the Gospel. Whether through his emphasis on love, forgiveness, and hospitality, or his example of repentance and humility, Saint Peter’s legacy invites us to deepen our understanding of the Christian faith and to live out its principles in our own lives [ … ]
We process. Glass exhibition cases, old reliquaries. A forearm here; here a nun’s fingertip. In chapel, at a glance, there are the usual faces. But they all stand to attention. Jonathan breaks from the procession to – fire the organ with oomph and dignity: Ride on! ride on in majesty! The angel-squadrons of the sky look down with sad and wondering eyes to see the approaching sacrifice. When we’ve done the readings, the Arch holds that tree in his hands to deliver the homily. He rocks quietly on his feet, some few seconds, as if balance defeated it. A way you might affect as the Spirit moves… Copying. Then he says: ‘Our palm fronds may seem to us today rather dry. I mean this not in a literal sense, but by the standards of those who originally lined the roadways in order to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, as they proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah, who would be clambering up and ripping their palm branches fresh from off the trees. I think perhaps also our faith is somewhat distant from that of the people there on that highroad into Jerusalem, and something of our sense of the meaning has shifted in vividness from what it was then. And of course the expectation of all those many people is markedly different, but in many important respects the same. There are the same essential qualities to all our faith in God, which springs complete from our humanity, and that is one and the same in value for all of us, and time is consistent on this point. So then, let us renew the fullness of Catholic faith, and let us ask the Lord’s blessing as we embark upon our Holy Week. ‘Our Lord enters into Jerusalem in order to refresh us. He is to die in order that we may have life. There is a living reality here, both spiritual and as entangled in the joy of our daily living. We have Ladies’ Day where I grew up. They still have it, and they close the roads off, and little children parade, dressed-up like spring brides. When I was a boy, there was a May Day festival, and there was a May pole on the field, with the people dancing, like Morris dancers might be one way of visualizing this if you’ve never seen it, with their ribbons tied onto the top of the May pole, and they would weave around each other, dressing the pole, which is what we called it. It was like a dance with red and white and blue ribbons all hung off of the top of the May pole, which stood there all year, only like a telegraph pole, but it was concreted in, and then there was a slide, and swings – one baby-swing and two you could have a go at – terrible health and safety but that’s what it was in those days. ‘There was a round-a-bout – we used to run it round and round to try to get it off its central axis. It were rusty as anything and creaked like mad – on concrete. And climb up where it was all greased up at the top. Ruth, who was big as the next four of us, used to sit there sucking on the lollipops we nicked for her from Raddies, and she’d direct matters. We were trying to destroy it, and get it to dislodge from its central axis, and fly away – roll off into that farmer’s field, which he only ever kept for silage, but we never succeeded. There was a car someone had left there so we spent forever smashing that up, until someone who lived in one of the houses there took exception to our doing that, so he put thick grease under the door handles and gave us a right talking to. ‘It would only be a few stands, hot-dogs and things like that. The man selling the hot dogs would have his records on full blast. There’d be a couple of set-up stalls. Air-rifles – that sort of thing. But we all had them, and we all went shooting, of course, if not with twelve bores then with smaller gauge. Or pay a pound – I have no idea how much it was in actual fact then – it might have only been a few pennies – and we’d get all that time smashing up the crockery the man would put up for us to smash on the dressers. That was my particular favourite thing to do at these festivals, by the way, in case you were wondering. You got a little bucket of so many cricket balls. ‘I dread to think what went into those hot dogs. Probably EE rules would forbid it now. But it was a fair mix in those days. A lot of young people then were C of E. We’ve done a lot to hang onto our young people, which is a tremendous encouragement when you consider how things are, while in recent decades the Church of England hasn’t been so successful. People still want it on feast days and what are essentially now civic celebrations. It’s strange to see, though, how all the little stands there people have are run by the police and people like that along those lines. There’s no May pole. That was a sort of faith that ran and ran beneath all the theoreticals of it in the 1960s and the 1970s and into the 1980s. The May pole isn’t there now in the particular place I’m thinking of. Considering May poles were officially suppressed hundreds of years ago – as a part of the protestant reformation. One or two of you are probably thinking I’m remembering things from that time! ‘I should have liked to say that those processionals were so hardwired into us, that even after the last thirty years, when I became a bishop, they are still with us. They were […]
