English Standard Version
Psalms 38:4
4For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
Psalms 38:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
- New International Version (NIV)My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
- New Living Translation (NLT)My guilt overwhelms me— it is a burden too heavy to bear.
Context of Psalms 38:4
2For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. 3There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. 5My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, 6I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning.
Read all of Psalms 38Psalms 38:4 word by word
כִּ֣י עֲ֭וֹנֹתַי עָבְר֣וּ רֹאשִׁ֑י כְּמַשָּׂ֥א כָ֝בֵ֗ד יִכְבְּד֥וּ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 38:4
- Psalms 40:12For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.
- Ezra 9:6saying: "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
- Leviticus 7:18If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity.
- Isaiah 53:11Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
- Lamentations 1:14"My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand.
- Matthew 11:28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
- 1 Peter 2:24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Commentaries on Psalms 38:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Mine iniquities are gone over mine head - He represents himself as one sinking in deep waters, or as one oppressed by a burden to which his strength was unequal.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4For mine iniquities are gone over mine head - This is merely an enlargement of the idea suggested in the last verse - that his present sickness was to be traced to his sin, and that he was suffering the punishment for sin. The idea is here that his sins were very numerous and very aggravated. They had risen up around him, or had so accumulated that the mass rose, like waves of the sea, above his head. A somewhat similar idea - though the thought there…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The psalmist feels burdened because of sin (see Psalms 40:12; 41:4; compare Genesis 4:13).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-221-4. He deprecates deserved punishment, which is described (Psa 6:1), under the figure of bodily disease [Psa 38:3].Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 38:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 38
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries