Bible Strands
Psalms 39:8
Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks directly to the Lord, positioned between a declaration of hope in God (Psalms 39:7) and a vow of silence in response to divine action (Psalms 39:9).
The words — The verse centers on הַצִּילֵ֑נִי (ha.tzi.Le./ni), literally "deliver me," and חֶרְפַּ֥ת (cher.Pat), literally "a reproach of."
The thread — The text states a plea for rescue from sin and public shame, a pattern repeated in Psalms 44:13 where God renders the community a reproach to neighbors, and in Psalms 51:14 where the speaker requests deliverance from bloodguilt.
Why it lands — The passage explicitly commands God to remove personal sin and prevent the speaker from becoming an object of foolish contempt, requiring the reader to confront their own exposure to shame and their dependence on divine rescue rather than self-justification.
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
Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.
Cross-references
- Psalms 44:13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.
- Psalms 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.
- Joel 2:17 Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
- Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.
- Psalms 25:11 For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, for it is great.
- Psalms 25:18 Consider my affliction and trouble, and take away all my sins.
- Psalms 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Psalms 57:3 He reaches down from heaven and saves me; He rebukes those who trample me. Selah God sends forth His loving devotion and His truth.
- Psalms 65:3 When iniquities prevail against me, You atone for our transgressions.
- Psalms 79:4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.