Bible Strands
Psalms 38:4
For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God while describing acute physical and spiritual distress, positioned between declarations of bodily decay in Psalms 38:3 and festering wounds in Psalms 38:5.
The words — עָבְרוּ ('a.ve.Ru) = they have passed over; רֹאשִׁׁי (ro'shi) = my head. These terms establish the opening image of transgression covering the speaker.
The thread — The weight metaphor connects to Psalms 40:12, where evils surround the speaker, and Ezra 9:6, where iniquities are described as higher than the head, while Matthew 11:28 offers the contrasting promise of rest for the weary.
Why it lands — The text states that personal iniquities have passed over the head and function as an unbearable load. It requires the reader to acknowledge the concrete reality of sin's weight before seeking relief.
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
King James Version
For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
Cross-references
- Psalms 40:12 For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me.
- Ezra 9:6 and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.
- Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Lamentations 1:14 My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they are draped over my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand.
- 1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- Leviticus 7:18 If any of the meat from his peace offering is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who presented it; it shall be an abomination, and the one who eats of it shall bear his iniquity.
- Isaiah 53:11 After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.