Psalm 39:10 kjv
Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
Psalm 39:10 nkjv
Remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.
Psalm 39:10 niv
Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
Psalm 39:10 esv
Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
Psalm 39:10 nlt
But please stop striking me!
I am exhausted by the blows from your hand.
Psalm 39 10 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Divine Discipline & God's Hand in Affliction | ||
| Heb 12:6 | For whom the Lord loves He disciplines... | God disciplines those He loves. |
| Prov 3:11-12 | My son, do not despise the discipline of the Lord... For whom the Lord loves He reproves... | Similar wisdom about accepting God's discipline. |
| Rev 3:19 | Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. | Christ's active discipline for spiritual awakening. |
| Job 5:17-18 | Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty... For He inflicts pain, and gives relief... | God both wounds and heals. |
| Job 19:21 | Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me. | Job directly attributes suffering to God's hand. |
| Lam 3:1-3 | I am the man who has seen affliction because of the rod of His wrath. He has driven me and made me walk in darkness and not in light. Surely against me He has turned His hand repeatedly all the day. | Acknowledges God's hand in severe affliction. |
| Deut 32:39 | See now that I, I am He, And there is no god beside Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal... | God's absolute sovereignty over life, death, health, and sickness. |
| Isa 45:7 | The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these things. | God's sovereignty extends over all events, including adversity. |
| Plea for Relief from Suffering | ||
| Ps 6:1-4 | Lord, rebuke me not in Your anger, Nor discipline me in Your wrath... Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away... O Lord, restore my soul. | A direct prayer for relief from intense distress. |
| Ps 38:1-8 | O Lord, rebuke me not in Your wrath... For Your arrows have sunk deep into me... There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation... | David attributes his affliction to God's hand and describes physical decay. |
| Ps 88:1-3 | O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and in the night before You. Let my prayer come before You... For my soul has had enough troubles... | A deep lament for one suffering from God's wrath. |
| Ps 90:7-8 | For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we have been dismayed... You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. | Attributes wasting away and dismay to God's anger, linked to sin. |
| Consumption/Wasting Away | ||
| Lev 26:16 | I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that shall waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away... | Warnings of wasting diseases as divine judgment. |
| Deut 28:22 | The Lord will strike you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat... | Diseases listed as curses from God. |
| Isa 51:6 | Lift up your eyes to the sky, Then look to the earth beneath; For the sky will vanish like smoke, And the earth will wear out like a garment And its inhabitants will die in like manner... | Imagery of fading, consuming, and wearing out. |
| Zech 14:12 | Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets... | Prophecy of a severe, consuming plague from God. |
| Lam 4:9 | Those slain by the sword are better than those slain by hunger; For these pine away, stricken by want of the produce of the field. | Describing slow decay and "pining away." |
| Acknowledging Sin & Finitude | ||
| Ps 32:3-5 | When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long... I acknowledged my sin to You, And I did not hide my iniquity... | Connection between unconfessed sin and physical decay. |
| Ps 39:4-5 | Lord, make me know my end and what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am... Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths... | Immediate context of meditating on human frailty and mortality. |
| 2 Sam 24:15 | So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from the morning until the appointed time... and 70,000 men of the people died... | Example of a plague sent by God for sin, and then removed upon repentance. |
| Hos 5:12 | Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim, And like a rottenness to the house of Judah. | God bringing about decay or wasting upon His people. |
Psalm 39 verses
Psalm 39 10 Meaning
Psalm 39:10 is a heartfelt plea from David to God to alleviate the intense suffering he is enduring. He acknowledges that his severe affliction, which is consuming and debilitating him, is a direct "scourge" or "blow" from God's hand, indicating a divine origin and disciplinary purpose for his distress. He seeks an end to this divinely sent tribulation, recognizing its profound and destructive impact on his being.
Psalm 39 10 Context
Psalm 39 is a personal lament by David, grappling with the brevity and frailty of human life in the face of suffering and God's apparent silence. The preceding verses (Ps 39:1-3) speak of his initial resolution to remain silent and guard his tongue, fearing he might sin with his words while afflicted. However, this restraint proves agonizing. In Ps 39:4-6, David breaks his silence, musing on his mortality and the fleeting nature of life, expressing that humans are mere "a breath" and "a phantom." Ps 39:7-9 confess his ultimate hope is in God alone, submitting to God's will and acknowledging that his affliction comes directly from God. Therefore, Psalm 39:10 flows directly from this recognition, pleading for the removal of the very affliction he has just identified as originating from the Lord's hand, because it is leading him to complete physical and emotional exhaustion. Historically, the Psalms were deeply personal prayers, often reflecting the Israelite understanding of suffering as a form of divine discipline, or at least under God's ultimate sovereign control, rather than random chance or the actions of arbitrary gods. This understanding informed David's direct, humble, yet desperate appeal to God as the author and cessation of his pain.
Psalm 39 10 Word analysis
- Remove: The Hebrew verb for "remove" is סוּר (sur), meaning "to turn aside," "to take away," "to depart," or "to put away." It conveys a strong request for immediate and decisive cessation of the affliction. It is an appeal for divine action to cause the suffering to cease.
- Your scourge: The Hebrew word is נֶגַע (nega). This term is highly significant. It often refers to a "stroke," "blow," or "plague," frequently carrying the connotation of divine visitation or judgment. For instance, it's used extensively in Leviticus for infectious diseases like leprosy (e.g., Lev 13), described as "the nega of leprosy," indicating an affliction supernaturally sent or allowed by God. It implies God is not merely permitting the suffering but is actively involved in sending it, as a form of discipline or judgment.
- from me: This makes the plea deeply personal and urgent. David is speaking of his own individual suffering.
- I am overcome: The Hebrew is כָּלִיתִי (khaliti), derived from the verb כָּלָה (kalah). It means "to complete," "to bring to an end," "to consume," "to waste away," or "to perish." Here, it expresses utter exhaustion, a feeling of being consumed, worn out, or even close to death due to the severity of the affliction. It highlights a profound state of physical and emotional debilitation.
- by the blow: The Hebrew is מַחַת (machat). It means "a blow," "stroke," "shattering," "destruction," or "ruin." It emphasizes the crushing, destructive impact of God's action. It’s not just a light touch but a forceful, debilitating strike.
- of Your hand: The Hebrew is יָדֶךָ (yadeka), referring to "Your hand." This is an anthropomorphism, attributing human characteristics (a hand) to God. In biblical terms, God's "hand" signifies His power, authority, activity, and direct involvement. To say the affliction comes "from Your hand" definitively asserts that God is the intentional agent of his suffering, not random chance, another deity, or impersonal forces. It highlights God's sovereignty over all things, even adverse circumstances.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
- "Remove Your scourge from me": This phrase constitutes a direct, desperate, and deeply personal petition to God. It shows David's recognition that the severe suffering ("scourge") he endures originates from God's own will and hand. He is not attributing it to fate, or a rival deity, but directly to YHWH, underscoring God's ultimate sovereignty even over the hardest circumstances. His request for "removal" indicates a profound longing for relief and an acknowledgment that only God can stop what God has sent.
- "I am overcome by the blow of Your hand": This clause vividly describes the overwhelming nature of David's affliction. The verb "overcome" (consumed/wasted away) depicts his state of physical and emotional deterioration. The "blow of Your hand" reinforces the understanding that this is not arbitrary pain, but a deliberate, powerful act of God's sovereign power. This pairing underscores David’s belief in divine discipline; he understands that God has a purpose in this severe affliction, even as it utterly drains him.
Psalm 39 10 Bonus section
- Polemics against contemporary beliefs: In the ancient Near East, suffering was often attributed to malevolent spirits, impersonal fate, or the displeasure of multiple capricious gods, requiring rituals of appeasement to unknown powers. David’s declaration that his "scourge" and "blow" are directly from "Your hand" (the one God, YHWH) stands in stark contrast. It emphasizes the biblical theology of a single, sovereign God who is intimately involved in His creation and the lives of His people, exercising intentional control even over what appears as adversity or punishment. His relationship with humanity is covenantal and personal, making an direct plea to God logical.
- Biblical Pattern of Divine Discipline: The verse illustrates a consistent biblical pattern where God uses affliction, often intense, to address sin, bring about repentance, refine character, or demonstrate human dependency on Him. This is seen throughout the narratives of the patriarchs, the nation of Israel, and individual believers. The aim is always restorative, leading to spiritual growth, rather than purely punitive.
- The Power of Confession in Lament: While not explicitly confessing sin in this immediate verse, David's recognition that the affliction is "from Your hand" is implicitly linked to a context of unrighteousness or a state requiring divine intervention (as seen in Ps 32 and Ps 38, other Psalms where he connects suffering to sin). This highlights the humility and vulnerability of confessing that one’s suffering may be from God and is often necessary before truly seeking and receiving relief.
Psalm 39 10 Commentary
Psalm 39:10 reveals the heart of a suffering individual, deeply acquainted with the pain of divine discipline. David's direct appeal, "Remove Your scourge from me," is predicated on his profound conviction that his affliction is a purposeful act from God's hand. He isn't lamenting an arbitrary misfortune, but submitting to what he perceives as a divine visitation, acknowledging God's direct involvement in his pain. The description "I am overcome by the blow of Your hand" underscores the severity and the consuming nature of this discipline, indicating not just physical discomfort, but a draining of his very life force. This verse articulates a vital truth: that God, in His sovereign wisdom and love, sometimes uses painful circumstances as instruments of discipline or refinement. David’s plea is a model of desperate yet reverent prayer in affliction, seeking mercy and cessation from the very One who sent the trial, rather than bitterness or rebellion.