Do Not Rebuke Me in Your Anger

David begins by asking the LORD not to rebuke him in anger or discipline him in wrath, because he feels pierced, pressed down, and physically undone beneath God's hand. His sin has become an unbearable burden, his wounds stink and fester, his body burns with pain, and he is bent low and crushed, groaning from the turmoil of his heart.

A¹ Psalm of David, for remembrance. ²For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, ³There is no soundness in my body ⁴For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; ⁵My wounds are foul and festering ⁶I am bent and brought low; ⁷For my loins are full of burning pain, ⁸I am numb and badly crushed;

All David's desire and sighing lie open before the Lord, even as his strength fails and the light leaves his eyes. Friends and neighbors keep their distance, enemies set traps and mutter deception all day long, and David responds like a deaf and mute man who does not answer them.

⁹O Lord, my every desire is before You; ¹⁰My heart pounds, my strength fails, ¹¹My beloved and friends shun my disease, ¹²Those who seek my life lay snares; ¹³But like a deaf man, I do not hear; ¹⁴I am like a man who cannot hear,

David explains his silence as an act of waiting for the LORD to answer, because he cannot bear the thought of his enemies gloating when he stumbles. Ready to fall and continually in pain, he openly confesses his iniquity and is troubled by his sin, even while those who hate him without cause multiply and repay his good with evil.

¹⁵I wait for You, O LORD; ¹⁶For I said, “Let them not gloat over me — ¹⁷For I am ready to fall, ¹⁸Yes, I confess my iniquity; ¹⁹Many are my enemies without cause, ²⁰Those who repay my good with evil

The psalm ends with a direct plea that the LORD not forsake David or remain distant. He asks God to come quickly to help him, naming the Lord as his salvation.

²¹Do not forsake me, O LORD; ²²Come quickly to help me,