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Psalm 38:17

For I am ready to fall. My pain is continually before me.

15For I hope in you, LORD. You will answer, Lord my God.
16For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me, or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”
17For I am ready to fall. My pain is continually before me.
18For I will declare my iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin.
19But my enemies are vigorous and many. Those who hate me without reason are numerous.
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← Psalm 38:16Psalm 38:18 →
Notice

“My pain is continually before me” describes suffering that leaves little room for anything else, while the fear of falling adds a sense of precariousness.

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

What pain keeps returning to your attention as you try to get through the day?

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What would “ready to fall” describe in your life, if anything, today?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

7 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 35:15But in my adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together. The attackers gathered themselves together against me, and I didn’t know it. They tore at …Both passages speak from distress, though Psalm 35 names attackers while this verse names pain and the threat of falling.
Psalm 6:6I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears.Pain persists in both passages: it remains before the speaker in Psalm 38 and fills each night with tears in Psalm 6.
Psalm 77:2–3In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired. My soul refused to be comforted.Both speakers describe distress without relief: pain stays before one, while the other seeks the Lord and remains without comfort.
Isaiah 53:3–5He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t …Both texts describe suffering as a persistent presence, though Isaiah also names rejection and contempt from others.
Psalm 38:6I am in pain and bowed down greatly. I go mourning all day long.Both lines in Psalm 38 describe pain that dominates the day, with mourning and the sense of being near collapse.
Micah 4:6–7“In that day,” says the LORD, “I will assemble that which is lame, and I will gather that which is driven away, and that which I have afflicted;Both passages describe affliction; Psalm 38 voices the sufferer's weakness, while Micah records God's promise to gather the afflicted.
Genesis 32:31The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.The shared thread is frailty: Psalm 38 speaks of being ready to fall, while Genesis describes a man walking with a limp.
Where this verse fits

Chronic pain. illness or diagnosis. grief.

What the Bible says about grief →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Name one persistent pain before God in prayer

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Encouragement

You do not have to soften your account of pain when you pray. In the surrounding lines, the same speaker hopes in the Lord and admits being ready to fall.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 38:17. 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).