Psalms 38:12 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, David complains about the power and malice of his enemies. They took advantage of his weak body and troubled mind, not just to mock him, but to harm him. He lays out their sins as a reason for God to help him, much as in (Psalm 25:19), “Consider my enemies.”

He says they are cruel and full of spite. “They seek my hurt, and they seek after my life” (Psalm 38:12). The life that was precious in the sight of the Lord and good people was treated as if it had no worth. This is the deep hatred that has always shown itself in the serpent’s seed against the woman’s seed, wanting to strike the head even when it can only reach the heel.

He also says they are cunning and political in their evil. They lay traps, plan lies, and stay busy with it all day long. They even talk over harmful plans with one another, as if each person can add something to the attack. Wrong done through deceit is well called a snare.

David adds that they are bold and insulting. When his foot slipped, when he ran into trouble, or when he made some mistake, they grew proud over him. They assumed his fall would ruin everything for him. They were glad to see him stumble, and they acted as if one slip must end in total destruction.

They were also ungrateful and unfair. They hated him without cause (Psalm 38:19). He had never done them harm, never even wished them harm, and had given them many reasons to respond with kindness. Instead, they paid evil for good (Psalm 38:20), just as in (Psalm 109:4), “For my love they are my adversaries.” Wicked people often hate goodness itself, even when they benefit from it. They hate prayer, even in those who pray for them, and they hate peace, even in those who want peace.

David says their hatred was also against God. They opposed him because he followed what is good. They hated him because they hated God and everyone who bears God’s image. If we suffer for doing good, we should not be surprised. It has been that way from the start, as when Cain killed Abel because Abel’s works were righteous. And it will not always be that way, because God will reward the faithful.

He also notes that his enemies were many and strong. They were lively, powerful, and increasing in number (Psalm 38:19). David himself was weak, worn down, and sorrowful, while the wicked around him seemed to flourish. We should never judge people’s character by their outward condition alone. No one can tell from appearance alone who is loved or hated by God.

It seems David’s words also point ahead to Christ, whose enemies were just like this. They had lost all honor and virtue. No one truly hates Christianity unless they have first cast off basic human decency and broken its most sacred bonds.

David then turns with comfort to his own conduct under all this wrong. The real harm from enemies comes when they push us into sin, as in (Nehemiah 6:13), when they shake us out of our own souls and drive us from God and duty. If God’s grace keeps us from that, their attacks do not truly hurt us. If we hold fast to our integrity and peace, who can really harm us?

He kept his temper and was not thrown off by their insults or attacks (Psalm 38:13-14). He says, “I was like a deaf man, I did not hear.” He took no notice of their abuse, did not resent it, and did not plan revenge. The less attention we give to insults and injuries, the more peace we keep in our own hearts.

Because he was deaf to their taunts, he was also silent, like a man with no words of defense. He said nothing, partly to avoid growing angry, and partly to keep from making his enemies worse. He would not answer back, and he would not even rush to defend himself, lest his defense be taken as further offense. Though they were trying to take his life, and his silence might look like guilt, he remained like a mute man who will not open his mouth. When enemies are loud, it is often wise to speak little, so we do not make matters worse.

David knew his mildness would not win over such people, and soft answers would not turn away their anger. They were too base to respond rightly. Still, he acted with meekness so that he would not sin and could look back on his behavior with peace. In this, David pointed to Christ, who was silent before His accusers and did not answer insult with insult. Both are examples to us not to repay railing with railing.

He also stayed close to God by faith and prayer, and that helped him endure these injuries and keep his own heart still. “In you, O Lord, I hope” (Psalm 38:15). He depended on God to speak for him, prove his innocence, and in some way silence and shame his enemies. His friends had withdrawn from him (Psalm 38:10), but God would not fail him.

“I was like a man who does not hear, for you will hear.” Why should he hear every accusation if God was already hearing? (1 Peter 5:7) says that God cares for us, so we do not need to carry what He has taken up. “You will answer,” some read it, and because of that David says he will keep silent. This is a good reason to bear slander with patience: God sees every wrong, and in due time He will speak for us and against those who wrong us. So let us be still, because silence shows trust in Him. If we try to handle everything ourselves, we pull God’s work into our own hands and lose the comfort of His defense.

Our Lord Jesus, when he suffered, did not threaten back, because he trusted himself to the one who judges fairly (1 Peter 2:23). We will lose nothing in the end by doing the same. He means, “Lord, you will answer for me.”

He also called on God. In Psalm 38:16, he says, “I said, Hear me,” which is understood from the context. He had said it before, and his hope was still this: “In you I hope, for you will hear me, so that they will not rejoice over me.” When he feared that his enemies would overpower him, he comforted himself with this thought. It is a great help when people are false and unkind, because we have a God we can go to openly, and he will remain faithful.

He then mourns over his own foolishness and weakness. He felt the sin still at work in him, and he saw that he was in danger of complaining about God’s providence, that is, God’s wise rule over his life, and of losing his temper because of the wrongs people did to him: “I am ready to fall” (Psalm 38:17). This is like what the psalmist said in another hard time, “My feet had almost slipped, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:2). Here he means, “I was ready to say, I have kept myself pure for nothing.” His sorrow was constant, “All the day long I have been plagued” (Psalm 73:13-14), and he kept turning it over in his mind. That almost made him slip between faithfulness and unbelief. The fear of that drove him back to God: “In you I hope, not only that you will defend me, but that you will keep me from sinning.” When good people keep staring at their troubles, they may nearly fall. When they keep God before them, they stay firm.

He also remembered his earlier sins against himself, admitting that he had brought these troubles on himself and had lost his claim to God’s protection by them. Though he could clear himself before people, he would judge himself before God (Psalm 38:18): “I will tell my sin and not hide it. I will be sorry for my sin and not treat it lightly.” This helped him stay quiet under God’s discipline and under people’s insults. If we are truly sorry for sin, it helps us bear suffering, especially when the blame is unfair. Two things belong to repentance, which is turning from sin back to God. First, there must be confession of sin. “I will declare my guilt,” means more than saying, “I am a sinner.” It means making a clear, specific confession of what we have done wrong. We should confess our sins freely and fully before God, along with the things that make them worse, so God gets the glory and we take the shame. Second, there must be sorrow for sin. “I will be sorry for it.” Sin brings sorrow. Every true penitent grieves for the dishonor done to God and the harm done to himself. Some understand it as, “I will be in fear and concern about my sin,” afraid it will ruin me unless it is pardoned.

He ends with urgent prayer for God’s loving presence and timely help in his distress (Psalm 38:21, Psalm 38:11). “Do not forsake me, O Lord, even if my friends do, and even if I deserve to be forsaken by you. Do not be far from me, as my unbelieving heart is ready to fear that you are.” Nothing cuts more deeply into a good man’s heart in suffering than the fear that God has left him in anger. So nothing comes more honestly from his heart than this prayer: “Lord, do not be far from me. Hurry to help me, because I am in danger of perishing if relief does not come quickly.” God allows us not only to call on him in trouble, but also to ask him to hurry.

He gives the reason: “You are my God, whom I serve and depend on to support me, and my salvation, the one who alone can save me, the one who has promised to save me, and the one from whom I expect salvation.” If anyone is afflicted, let him pray like this, plead like this, and hope like this while singing this psalm.