Psalms 38:18
in Psalms 38Yes, I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
KJV
For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
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This verse in Psalms 38
Commentary
4 notes on this verse(Verse 18.) If you see your servant confessing his own sins and offering himself voluntarily to punishment, will you be moved, forgive him, and doubt the mercy of the Lord? The judge himself, who is not allowed to temper the sword in many cases because he serves the laws, can still grant a profit from punishments. And yet you hesitate about what you should ask from the Lord of the laws and the Author of mercy, to whom the law is a desire and the right to give.
This site's exposition
I confess my iniquity
on Psalms 38:18-20
The confession is plain, the iniquity named and the sin grieved. Alongside it stand enemies who hate without cause and repay his good with evil. Both hold at once, a guilty man before God and a wronged man before his enemies.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Two things are required in repentance:-- (1.) Confession of sin: " I will declare my iniquity; I will not only in general own myself a sinner, but I will make a particular acknowledgment of what I have done amiss." We must declare our sins before God freely and fully, and with their aggravating circumstances, that we may give glory to God and take shame to ourselves.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For I will declare mine iniquity. The slander of his enemies he repudiates, but the accusations of his conscience he admits. Open confession is good for the soul. When sorrow leads to hearty and penitent acknowledgment of sin it is blessed sorrow, a thing to thank God for most devoutly. I will be sorry for my sin. My confession will be salted with briny tears. It is well not so much to bewail our sorrows as to denounce the sins which lie at the root of them.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עֲוֹנִ֥י | ʾavoni | iniquity my | H5771 → | 233 times |
| אַגִּ֑יד | ʾagid | I tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| אֶ֝דְאַ֗ג | ʾedag | I am anxious | H1672 → | |
| מֵֽחַטָּאתִֽי׃ | mechatati | from sin my | H2403 → | 295 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עֲוֹנִ֥יiniquity my
ʾavoniH5771 →233 times
אַגִּ֑ידI tell
ʾagidH5046 →370 times
אֶ֝דְאַ֗גI am anxious
ʾedagH1672 →
מֵֽחַטָּאתִֽי׃from sin my
mechatatiH2403 →295 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 28:13He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
it leads to
- 1 John 1:8–10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Psalms 32:3–5
When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
- Job 31:33
if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,
- Luke 15:18–24
I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
- Jeremiah 3:12–13
Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be…
- 1 John 1:8–10
Through
Psalms 32:5Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Samuel 12:13
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 51:3–5
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
- Proverbs 28:13
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Ambrose of Milan, Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.