Bible Strands
Psalms 39:10
Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks to God in a moment of enforced silence, having just withheld speech due to divine action. He voices this plea immediately before acknowledging God’s corrective discipline and the transient nature of human life.
The words — The Hebrew verb הָסֵר (ha.Ser) literally commands the removal of a scourge or plague, while כָלִיתִי (kha.Li.ti) declares a state of complete ruin or perishing. These terms frame the plea as an urgent request to halt divine affliction.
The thread — This plea for God to withdraw His punishing hand echoes in Job 9:34 and Job 13:21, where sufferers beg for divine terror to cease. It also resonates with the broader biblical pattern of afflicted individuals seeking God’s gracious attention in Psalms 25:16.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader confront the reality of human fragility when confronted with divine judgment. It asks for honest acknowledgment of suffering without demanding comfort, leaving the resolution to God’s disciplinary purpose.
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
Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
Cross-references
- Job 9:34 Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.
- Job 13:21 Withdraw Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me.
- Psalms 25:16 Turn to me and be gracious, for I am lonely and afflicted.
- Psalms 32:4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah
- 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.
- 1 Samuel 6:5 Make images of your tumors and of the rats that are ravaging the land. Give glory to the God of Israel, and perhaps He will lift His hand from you and your gods and your land.
- Job 40:8 Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?