Psalm 38:6
New International Version
I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.

New Living Translation
I am bent over and racked with pain. All day long I walk around filled with grief.

English Standard Version
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning.

Berean Standard Bible
I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning.

King James Bible
I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

New King James Version
I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

New American Standard Bible
I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go in mourning all day long.

NASB 1995
I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long.

NASB 1977
I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long.

Legacy Standard Bible
I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long.

Amplified Bible
I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go about mourning all day long.

Christian Standard Bible
I am bent over and brought very low; all day long I go around in mourning.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I am bent over and brought low; all day long I go around in mourning.

American Standard Version
I am pained and bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

Contemporary English Version
My body is twisted and bent, and I groan all day long.

English Revised Version
I am pained and bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I am bent over and bowed down very low. All day I walk around in mourning.

Good News Translation
I am bent over, I am crushed; I mourn all day long.

International Standard Version
I am bent over and walk about greatly bowed down; all day long I go around mourning.

Majority Standard Bible
I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning.

NET Bible
I am dazed and completely humiliated; all day long I walk around mourning.

New Heart English Bible
I am pained and bowed down greatly. I go mourning all day long.

Webster's Bible Translation
I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

World English Bible
I am in pain and bowed down greatly. I go mourning all day long.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
I have been bent down, "" I have been bowed down—to excess, "" I have gone mourning all the day.

Young's Literal Translation
I have been bent down, I have been bowed down -- unto excess, All the day I have gone mourning.

Smith's Literal Translation
My stripes became loathsome: they flowed from the face of my folly.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end : I walked sorrowful all the day long.

Catholic Public Domain Version
I have become miserable, and I have been bent down, even to the end. I have walked with contrition all day long.

New American Bible
I am stooped and deeply bowed; every day I go about mourning.

New Revised Standard Version
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all day long I go around mourning.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
I am greatly troubled; all the day long I walk sadly.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
I was very agitated and all day I have walked in sadness.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
I am bent and bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
I have been wretched and bowed down continually: I went with a mourning countenance all the day.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Do Not Rebuke Me in Your Anger
5My wounds are foul and festering because of my sinful folly. 6I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning. 7For my loins are full of burning pain, and no soundness remains in my body.…

Cross References
Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. / But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

Job 30:27
I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.

Lamentations 1:20
See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.

Romans 7:24
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Matthew 11:28-30
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. / Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. / For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

2 Corinthians 5:2-4
For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, / because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. / For while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.

Job 7:5
My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.

Psalm 6:6-7
I am weary from groaning; all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. / My eyes fail from grief; they grow dim because of all my foes.

Psalm 31:10
For my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away.

Psalm 42:5
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.

Psalm 102:3-5
For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers. / My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread. / Through my loud groaning my skin hangs on my bones.

Luke 18:13
But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

Romans 8:22-23
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. / Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9
or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. / Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. / But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

Job 10:15
If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.


Treasury of Scripture

I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

troubled [heb.

Psalm 35:14
I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.

Psalm 42:5
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

Psalm 57:6
They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.

mourning

Psalm 6:6
I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.

Psalm 31:10
For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

Psalm 42:9
I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

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Bent Bowed Depressed Excess Greatly Low Measure Mourning Pained Prostrate Troubled Utterly Weeping
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Bent Bowed Depressed Excess Greatly Low Measure Mourning Pained Prostrate Troubled Utterly Weeping
Psalm 38
1. David moves God to take compassion on his pitiful case














I am bent and brought low;
This phrase reflects a state of deep physical and emotional distress. The imagery of being "bent" suggests a posture of defeat or overwhelming burden, often associated with sin or suffering. In biblical times, physical posture was a significant indicator of one's spiritual and emotional state. The psalmist's condition can be compared to the afflictions of Job, who also experienced profound suffering and humiliation (Job 30:16-17). The phrase "brought low" indicates a humbling or abasement, which is a common theme in the Psalms, where the psalmist often cries out to God from a place of humility and need (Psalm 51:17). This condition can also be seen as a type of Christ, who was "brought low" in His incarnation and suffering (Philippians 2:7-8).

all day long I go about mourning.
The continuous nature of the psalmist's mourning suggests an unrelenting sorrow or grief. Mourning in the ancient Near Eastern context often involved wearing sackcloth, ashes, and public displays of lamentation (Genesis 37:34). This phrase indicates a state of perpetual lament, possibly due to personal sin, illness, or external persecution. The psalmist's experience resonates with the lamentations of Jeremiah, who mourned the destruction of Jerusalem (Lamentations 1:1-4). Mourning is also a theme in the Beatitudes, where Jesus blesses those who mourn, promising comfort (Matthew 5:4). This reflects the biblical principle that God is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18).

Persons / Places / Events
1. David
Traditionally attributed as the author of Psalm 38, David is expressing deep personal anguish and repentance. His life, marked by both triumphs and failures, provides a backdrop for understanding the depth of his lament.

2. God
The ultimate recipient of David's lament. David's relationship with God is central to the psalm, as he seeks divine mercy and healing.

3. Israel
The nation of Israel, often represented by its king, is indirectly involved as David's personal struggles often reflect the spiritual state of the nation.
Teaching Points
The Reality of Sin's Consequences
Sin can lead to physical, emotional, and spiritual distress. David's lament is a reminder of the weight of sin and the need for repentance.

The Importance of Lament
Lament is a biblical way to process pain and seek God's intervention. It is an honest expression of our struggles before God.

God's Compassion for the Brokenhearted
Despite our lowly state, God is compassionate and attentive to those who are brokenhearted and contrite.

The Call to Repentance
True repentance involves acknowledging our sin and turning to God for forgiveness and restoration.

Hope in God's Deliverance
Even in the depths of despair, there is hope in God's ability to lift us up and restore us.(6) I am troubled.--Better,

I am made to writhe (see margin),

I am bowed down exceedingly,

All day long I go about squalid.

(See Psalm 35:14, and comp. Isaiah 21:3.) The usual Oriental signs of mourning are alluded to in the last clause.

Verse 6. - I am troubled; literally, bent; which some take physically, and explain as "twisted by violent spasms," others, psychically, as "warped in mind," "driven crazy." I am bowed down greatly; i.e. bowed to earth, crooked, as men are in extreme old age, or by such maladies as lumbago and rheumatism. I go mourning all the day long. My gait is that of a mourner - I stoop and move slowly.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
I am bent
נַעֲוֵ֣יתִי (na·‘ă·wê·ṯî)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5753: To bend, twist

and brought low;
שַׁחֹ֣תִי (ša·ḥō·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7817: To bow, be bowed down, crouch

all day long
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

I go about
הִלָּֽכְתִּי׃ (hil·lā·ḵə·tî)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

mourning.
קֹדֵ֥ר (qō·ḏêr)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 6937: To be ashy, darkcolored, to mourn


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OT Poetry: Psalm 38:6 I am pained and bowed down greatly (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 38:5
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