Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Psalms 38:18 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 18. 18For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 38:18: The reason or consequence in “For I will declare mine iniquity” supports the surrounding claim in “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition.”
Read It With
- Psalms 38:1–22
Read Psalms 38:18 with 38:1–22. Read alone, “For I will declare mine iniquity” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 38:1–22, the individual voice carries the movement “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition” as part of “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition.” Its penitential-lament form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 38:1–22 opens Psalm 38 with “O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure” and establishes the individual voice and “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 38:18 supplies a reason or consequence through “For I will declare mine iniquity” and must be read with the claim it supports.
What Remains True
Book I gives Psalm 38:18 a larger home, while “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition” supplies its immediate one. Psalm 38:18 supplies a reason or consequence through “For I will declare mine iniquity” and must be read with the claim it supports. Therefore, Confession seeks mercy and changed life while preserving truth, consequences, restitution, safeguarding, and the dignity of people harmed. The local movement is “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The speaker connects guilt and pain within this prayer, but readers cannot diagnose another person's illness as punishment or withhold medical care.
How It Can Shape Life
- The practice should match “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition” rather than an isolated slogan. Psalm 38:18 supplies a reason or consequence through “For I will declare mine iniquity” and must be read with the claim it supports. Therefore, Let “For I will declare mine iniquity” prompt specific confession and changed conduct, including restitution and safeguarding where harm has been done.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Psalms 38:1–22 — Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petitionSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 38:1–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 38:1–22
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 38:1–22.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 38 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 38:1–22
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗