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Psalm 38:10

My heart throbs. My strength fails me. As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.

8I am faint and severely bruised. I have groaned by reason of the anguish of my heart.
9Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.
10My heart throbs. My strength fails me. As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.
11My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away.
12They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.
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← Psalm 38:9Psalm 38:11 →
Notice

The throbbing heart and failing strength make exhaustion tangible here, as the speaker describes losing even the light of his eyes.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

Which part of this description comes closest to how your body feels today?

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What would you want to tell God when even the light seems gone?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

8 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 6:7My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my adversaries.Both describe suffering through the eyes: Psalm 6 names eyes wasted by grief, while Psalm 38 speaks of their light departing.
Psalm 88:9My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, LORD. I have spread out my hands to you.Both speak of eyes losing their light or growing dim within prayers that bring distress before God.
Psalm 22:15My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.Both describe strength giving out, with Psalm 22 adding a dry mouth and the nearness of death.
Psalm 69:3I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail looking for my God.Both describe failing eyes and exhaustion, while Psalm 69 connects that weariness with crying and looking for God.
Lamentations 5:16–17The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!The shared thread is loss: Lamentations names a fallen crown and sin, while Psalm 38:10 describes failing bodily strength.
Isaiah 21:4My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me.Both describe an unsettled heart in bodily terms, with Isaiah naming horror and trembling alongside his fluttering heart.
1 Samuel 14:27–29But Jonathan didn’t hear when his father commanded the people with the oath. Therefore he put out the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in the …The eyes mark a contrast: Jonathan’s eyes brighten after honey, while the sufferer in Psalm 38 loses their light.
Lamentations 2:11My eyes fail with tears. My heart is troubled. My bile is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the young …Both describe distress through the heart and failing eyes; Lamentations ties that distress to the city’s destruction and suffering children.
Where this verse fits

Illness or diagnosis. burnout. grief.

What the Bible says about grief →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Tell God where your strength feels spent

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Encouragement

You do not have to sound strong when you pray. These words belong to a prayer in which groaning is already known to the Lord.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 38:10. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 38 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).