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Psalm 38:4
For my iniquities have gone over my head. As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
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.
6I am in pain and bowed down greatly. I go mourning all day long.
Notice
The repeated weight of “heavy” makes this confession hard to soften: the speaker owns his sins and admits they exceed his strength.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does the image of iniquities going over someone's head add to your understanding of confession?
Write on thisWhat would an honest prayer sound like if you stopped trying to make the burden sound manageable?
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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
Matthew 11:28“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.Both passages speak of people weighed down; the psalm names sin as the burden, while Jesus addresses those who labor.
Psalm 40:12For innumerable evils have surrounded me. My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. My heart …Both speakers describe their own iniquities overtaking them, leaving them unable to cope with the weight.
Ezra 9:6and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown up …Both describe iniquities rising over the head, with Ezra confessing shared guilt and the psalmist naming his own.
Psalm 65:3Sins overwhelmed me, but you atoned for our transgressions.Both speak of being overwhelmed by sin; Psalm 65 also names God's atonement for transgressions.
1 Peter 2:24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.Both connect sin with bearing a weight; the psalm describes unbearable iniquities, while Peter says Christ bore sins in his body.
Lamentations 1:14“The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand. They are knit together. They have come up on my neck. He made my strength fail. The Lord has delivered me …Both portray transgressions as a crushing load that exceeds the speaker's strength, with Lamentations describing a yoke upon the neck.
Matthew 18:24When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.The link is limited: the psalm describes overwhelming sin, while Matthew names an enormous financial debt.
Numbers 15:31Because he has despised the LORD’s word, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall be utterly cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.’”Both describe iniquity resting upon the person responsible, with Numbers naming contempt for God's word and a broken commandment.
Leviticus 7:18If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted, and it shall not be credited to him who offers …Both connect wrongdoing with bearing iniquity; Leviticus addresses eating a peace offering beyond its permitted time.
Isaiah 53:11After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear …Both speak of iniquities as something borne; the psalm names the speaker's burden, while Isaiah's servant bears the iniquities of others.
2 Timothy 3:6For some of these are people who creep into houses and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,Both describe sin as a load; Timothy also describes people exploiting women who are weighed down with sins.
Leviticus 5:1“‘If anyone sins, in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, he being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he doesn’t report it, then he shall …Both connect a person's sin with bearing iniquity; Leviticus specifies the failure of a witness to report what is known.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
You do not have to make confession sound calm. Here, Scripture preserves a cry from someone whose own sins have become too much to bear.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 38:4. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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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).