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Psalm 38:3
There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation, neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.
1A Psalm by David, for a memorial. LORD, don’t rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.
2For your arrows have pierced me, your hand presses hard on me.
3There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation, neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.
4For my iniquities have gone over my head. As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5My wounds are loathsome and corrupt because of my foolishness.
Notice
Flesh and bones bear the weight of David’s confession, as he speaks to God about bodily suffering bound up with sin and divine indignation.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How does “because of my sin” shape the way you read David’s description of his body?
Write on thisWhat would you want to tell God about your body after reading this prayer?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 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 32:3When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.Both describe distress reaching into the bones; Psalm 32 links wasting bones with silence and groaning, while David here names sin.
Psalm 51:8Let me hear joy and gladness, that the bones which you have broken may rejoice.Both speak of bones afflicted by God; Psalm 51 asks that those broken bones may rejoice.
Psalm 6:2Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint. LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.Both prayers bring troubled bones before the LORD, with Psalm 6 asking for mercy and healing.
Psalm 31:10For my life is spent with sorrow, my years with sighing. My strength fails because of my iniquity. My bones are wasted away.Both connect sin with failing bodily strength, describing bones that lack health or waste away.
Leviticus 13:7But if the scab spreads on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again.Both concern bodily affliction; Leviticus describes a spreading scab and priestly examination, while David connects his suffering with sin.
Job 19:20My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.Both describe severe bodily suffering through flesh and bones, though Job’s words here make no connection to personal sin.
Isaiah 1:5–6Why should you be beaten more, that you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.Both speak of bodily distress in connection with wrongdoing: David names his sin, and Isaiah names continued revolt.
Lamentations 3:40–42Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.David acknowledges his sin before God; Lamentations urges people to examine their ways and return to the LORD.
Lamentations 4:8Their appearance is blacker than a coal. They are not known in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones. It is withered. It has become like wood.Both portray bodily devastation through flesh and bones, with Lamentations describing skin that clings to bones and withers.
Job 2:7–8So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head.Both describe bodily affliction, but their stated causes differ: David names God’s indignation and his sin, while Job is struck by Satan.
2 Chronicles 26:19Then Uzziah was angry. He had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the …Both describe bodily affliction; David connects his pain with sin, while Uzziah’s leprosy appears during his anger with the priests.
Job 33:19–22“He is chastened also with pain on his bed, with continual strife in his bones,Both associate bodily pain with chastening, describing suffering that reaches into the bones.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. illness or diagnosis. chronic pain.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
You do not need to treat bodily pain as proof of guilt. David speaks about his own sin and suffering, and his words remain a prayer addressed to God.
Now put it in your words.
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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).