Psalms 38:3

There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, describing a moment of acute physical and spiritual distress following divine discipline. The speaker identifies himself as the target of God's arrows and heavy hand (Psalms 38:2) while preparing to name the crushing weight of his own iniquities (Psalms 38:4).

The words — The Hebrew term מְתֹם (me.tom) translates literally to "soundness" or "wholeness," and שָׁלוֹם (sha.lom) means "health" or "peace." The psalmist pairs these with אֵין (ein), "there is no," to declare the total absence of bodily integrity in both his flesh and his bones.

The thread — This pattern of bone and body distress linked to divine anger or sin recurs in Psalms 6:2, where the speaker pleads for healing amid agony, and Psalms 31:9, which couples physical failure with soul distress. The specific image of crushed bones awaiting rejoicing is echoed in Psalms 51:8.

Why it lands — The text demands a clear-eyed recognition that physical decay and spiritual guilt operate under the same divine cause. It requires the reader to confront the tangible, unvarnished reality of sin's bodily consequences before any resolution can be sought.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

אֵין־'ein-there not מְתֹ֣םme.Tom[is] soundness בִּ֭בְשָׂרִיBi/v.sa.r/iin/ flesh/ my מִפְּנֵ֣יmi./pe.Nei<from>/ because of זַעְמֶ֑ךָza'.Me./khaindignation/ your אֵין־'ein-there not שָׁל֥וֹםsha.Lom[is] health בַּ֝עֲצָמַ֗יba./'a.tza.Ma/iin/ bones/ my מִפְּנֵ֥יmi./pe.Nei<from>/ because of חַטָּאתִֽי׃cha.ta.T/isin/ my

King James Version

There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.

Cross-references

Psalms 6:2 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony.
Psalms 51:8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.
Psalms 31:9 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well.
Isaiah 1:5 Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.
2 Chronicles 26:19 Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But while he raged against the priests in their presence in the house of the LORD before the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
Job 2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
Job 33:19 A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,
Psalms 90:7 For we are consumed by Your anger and terrified by Your wrath.
Psalms 102:3 For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.