New King James 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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 pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down. 3There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any 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 are foul and festering Because of my foolishness. 6I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
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 innumerable evils have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; Therefore my heart fails me.
- Ezra 9:6And I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.
- Leviticus 7:18And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, nor shall it be imputed to him; it shall be an abomination to him who offers it, and the person who eats of it shall bear guilt.
- Isaiah 53:11He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
- Lamentations 1:14“The yoke of my transgressions was bound; They were woven together by His hands, And thrust upon my neck. He made my strength fail; The Lord delivered me into the hands of those whom I am not able to withstand.
- Matthew 11:28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
- 1 Peter 2:24who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries