O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!
English Standard Version (ESV)
David isn't asking God to remove discipline, but to moderate it. He acknowledges he deserves chastisement for his sin and fears God's judgment will be overwhelming if it's delivered in pure wrath, not mercy.
O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!
English Standard Version (ESV)
King David is in deep distress, feeling the heavy hand of God upon him, which he rightly understands as punishment for his sins. This psalm, likely written during a time of illness or calamity, begins with David pleading for God to temper His discipline, not to inflict it out of pure wrath but with a measure of mercy. He's essentially saying, "Lord, I know I deserve correction, but please don't treat me with all the fury of Your anger."
When life feels overwhelming and painful, it's easy to feel like we're under God's angry judgment. David starts this psalm with an intense plea, not to escape discipline, but to ask for its moderation.
A Plea for Mercy, Not Escape
David opens Psalm 38 with a raw, urgent prayer: 'O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!' This isn't a prayer to avoid God's correction altogether. He knows he deserves it. Instead, David is begging God to temper the intensity of His displeasure.
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David's plea is deeply rooted in a profound awareness of his own sin. He doesn't blame God for the suffering; he sees it as a consequence of his actions.
Sin as the Source of Suffering
This psalm, often called a penitential psalm, is steeped in David's recognition that his suffering is directly linked to his wrongdoing. He isn't merely experiencing bad luck; he understands it as God's righteous response.
Understand the original words
YHWH · Hebrew Noun
The personal, covenantal name of God in the Old Testament, representing His faithfulness and self-existence, often used in contexts of prayer and appeal to His mercy.
yakah · Hebrew Verb
To express strong disapproval, censure, or to chide. In a biblical context, it often refers to God’s judicial or corrective action against His people.
aph · Hebrew Noun
A strong, intense emotion of God triggered by persistent rebellion against His holiness; it is not uncontrolled rage but a righteous, judicial response to sin.
yasar · Hebrew Verb
The act of instructing or correcting someone, often involving painful experiences designed to bring about repentance and righteousness.
chemah · Hebrew Noun
A term denoting the divine judicial response to evil, emphasizing the settled, holy opposition of God against sin and the consequences that flow from it.
Psalm 38 is deeply personal, reflecting a time of intense suffering and guilt for the psalmist, likely King David. The plea to not be rebuked in anger suggests a crisis of faith where he feels God's discipline acutely due to his sin, prompting a raw, honest cry for mercy.
c. 1000 BC— this verse
David's Reign as King
David is king over Israel, a period marked by both great successes and significant personal failings.
c. 1000-970 BC
David's Penitential Psalms
Many scholars believe Psalms like 38 and 51 were composed during periods of deep repentance for serious sins, such as his affair with Bathsheba and the subsequent cover-up.
c. 970 BC
Death of David
David's reign concludes, leaving behind a legacy of both faith and human frailty, with his writings offering profound spiritual insights.
This passage shares the exact same plea, highlighting the deep distress and fear of God's overwhelming anger that can accompany profound sin and its consequences.
Jeremiah 10:24This verse echoes the sentiment of Psalm 38:1, with the prophet acknowledging that God's discipline is just, but still pleading for mercy and moderation in His correction, demonstrating a relatable human struggle with divine judgment.
Job 7:11-12Similar to Psalm 38:1, Job grapples with the intensity of God's perceived anger and the overwhelming nature of his suffering, expressing a desire for God's wrath to be withdrawn.
Proverbs 3:11-12These verses offer a counterpoint, reminding us that God's discipline, while sometimes stern, is an act of love and guidance, not pure wrath, which can bring comfort to the one experiencing correction.
jfbPsalms 38:1: "<> O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure."
PSALM 38Ps 38:1-22. To bring to remembrance, or, remind God of His mercy and himself of his sin. Appealing to God for relief from His heavy chastisement, the Psalmist avows his integrity before men, complains of the defection of friends and persecution of enemies, and in a submissive spirit, casting himself on God, with penitent confession he pleads God's covenant relation and his innocence of the c…
poolePsalms 38:1: "A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure."
THE ARGUMENT This is reckoned one of David’s penitential Psalms. It was composed upon occasion of some sore disease, or grievous calamity; which he rightly judged to be inflicted upon him for his sins. Either, 1. To God, that by this humble and mournful prayer he might prevail with God to remember and pity him; for now he seemed quite to have forgotten him. Or…
David isn't asking God to remove discipline, but to moderate it. He acknowledges he deserves chastisement for his sin and fears God's judgment will be overwhelming if it's delivered in pure wrath, not mercy.
King David is in deep distress, feeling the heavy hand of God upon him, which he rightly understands as punishment for his sins. This psalm, likely written during a time of illness or calamity, begins with David pleading for God to temper His discipline, not to inflict it out of pure wrath but with a measure of mercy. He's essentially saying, "Lord, I know I deserve correction, but please don't treat me with all the fury of Your anger."
King David is in deep distress, feeling the heavy hand of God upon him, which he rightly understands as punishment for his sins. This psalm, likely written during a time of illness or calamity, begins with David pleading for God to temper His discipline, not to inflict it out of pure wrath but with a measure of mercy. He's essentially saying, "Lord, I know I deserve correction, but please don't treat me with all the fury of Your anger."
"O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!" — David isn't asking God to remove discipline, but to moderate it. He acknowledges he deserves chastisement for his sin and fears God's judgment will be overwhelming if it's delivered in pure wrath…
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Last reviewed October 2026