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Psalm 38:9
Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.
7For my waist is filled with burning. There is no soundness in my flesh.
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.
Notice
The words “all my desire” place even unspoken longing before the Lord, amid bodily pain and the distance of friends who stand aloof.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What would you want to include in “all my desire” today?
Write on thisWhat difference, if any, does being seen by God make when pain remains?
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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 6:8Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need before you ask him.The psalm places desire before the Lord; Jesus says the Father knows what people need before they ask.
Psalm 10:17LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,Both prayers speak of desire known to God, with Psalm 10 declaring that the Lord has heard the humble.
Psalm 6:6I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears.Groaning marks distress in both psalms: one describes nights of tears, while the other declares that no groaning is hidden from God.
2 Corinthians 5:2For most certainly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,Both texts join groaning with longing; Paul names the desired heavenly habitation, while the psalm leaves the desire unnamed.
Romans 8:26–27In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with …Groaning appears in both passages: the sufferer’s groaning is known to God, and the Spirit intercedes with groanings amid human weakness.
Psalm 69:5God, you know my foolishness. My sins aren’t hidden from you.Both prayers declare that nothing is hidden from God, naming groaning in Psalm 38 and sins in Psalm 69.
Romans 8:27He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.Both passages speak of God’s knowledge of inward life: desire lies before him, and he searches hearts.
John 1:48Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”Both texts speak of being known: the psalmist’s groaning is visible to the Lord, and Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree.
Psalm 102:5By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones stick to my skin.Both psalms name groaning amid suffering; Psalm 102 describes bodily wasting, while Psalm 38 declares that the Lord knows the groaning.
Romans 8:22–23For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.Groaning expresses suffering in both texts, extending from one person before the Lord to the whole creation in pain.
2 Corinthians 7:11For behold, this same thing, that you were grieved in a godly way, what earnest care it worked in you. Yes, what defense, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and …The shared thread is longing amid distress, though Paul describes a response to correction and the psalm speaks of desire before God.
Luke 8:47When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him declared to him in the presence of all the people the reason why …Both passages use the language of being unhidden: the psalmist’s groaning before God and the trembling woman before Jesus.
Where this verse fits
Chronic pain. loneliness. wanting a steady prayer habit.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The next lines still speak of failing strength and distant friends. Being known by God does not end the pain here; the groaning remains before him.
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).