Prayer in Time of Discipline.

A Psalm of David; to bring to remembrance.

1O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,

Nor discipline me in Your burning anger.

2For Your arrows have sunk into me and penetrate deeply,

And Your hand has pressed down on me and greatly disciplined me.

3There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation;

There is no health in my bones because of my sin.

4For my iniquities have gone over my head [like the waves of a flood];

As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

5My wounds are loathsome and foul

Because of my foolishness.

6I am bent over and greatly bowed down;

I go about mourning all day long.

7For my sides are filled with burning,

And there is no health in my flesh.

8I am numb and greatly bruised [deadly cold and completely worn out];

I groan because of the disquiet and moaning of my heart.

9Lord, all my desire is before You;

And my sighing is not hidden from You.

10My heart throbs violently, my strength fails me;

And as for the light of my eyes, even that has also gone from me.

11My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;

And my neighbors stand far away.

12Those who seek my life lay snares for me,

And those who seek to injure me threaten mischievous things and destruction;

They devise treachery all the day long.

13But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;

I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth.

14Yes, I am like a man who does not hear,

In whose mouth are no arguments.

15For in You, O LORD, I hope;

You will answer, O Lord my God.

16For I pray, “May they not rejoice over me,

Who, when my foot slips, would boast against me.”

17For I am ready to fall;

My sorrow is continually before me.

18For I do confess my guilt and iniquity;

I am filled with anxiety because of my sin.

19But my [numerous] enemies are vigorous and strong,

And those who hate me without cause are many.

20They repay evil for good, they attack and try to kill me,

Because I follow what is good.

21Do not abandon me, O LORD;

O my God, do not be far from me.

22Make haste to help me,

O Lord, my Salvation.