Do Not Forsake Me

Verses 1–14 · crushed by guilt, sickness and abandonment

1. ^{verse 1}O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath.
2. ^{verse 2}For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me.
3. ^{verse 3}There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin.
4. ^{verse 4}For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear.
5. ^{verse 5}My wounds are foul and festering because of my sinful folly.
6. ^{verse 6}I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning.
7. ^{verse 7}For my loins are full of burning pain, and no soundness remains in my body.
8. ^{verse 8}I am numb and badly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.
9. ^{verse 9}O Lord, my every desire is before You; my groaning is not hidden from You.
10. ^{verse 10}My heart pounds, my strength fails, and even the light of my eyes has faded.
11. ^{verse 11}My beloved and friends shun my disease, and my kinsmen stand at a distance.
12. ^{verse 12}Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.
13. ^{verse 13}But like a deaf man, I do not hear; and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth.
14. ^{verse 14}I am like a man who cannot hear, whose mouth offers no reply.

Verses 15–22 · waiting for the God who will answer

1. ^{verse 15}I wait for You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God.
2. ^{verse 16}For I said, “Let them not gloat over me — those who taunt me when my foot slips.”
3. ^{verse 17}For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
4. ^{verse 18}Yes, I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.
5. ^{verse 19}Many are my enemies without cause, and many hate me without reason.
6. ^{verse 20}Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.
7. ^{verse 21}Do not forsake me, O LORD; be not far from me, O my God.
8. ^{verse 22}Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior.