Psalms 38:12

_THEY ALSO THAT SEEK AFTER MY LIFE LAY SNARES FOR ME: AND THEY THAT SEEK MY HURT SPEAK MISCHIEVOUS THINGS, AND IMAGINE DECEITS ALL THE DAY LONG._ They also that seek after my life lay snares for me. Malice in deed. AND THEY THAT SEEK MY HURT SPEAK MISCHIEVOUS THINGS. Malice in word. AND IMAGINE DECEITS ALL THE DAY LONG. Malice in thought....

12_They also that sought for my life have laid snares for me, etc_. . Here another circumstance is added, that the enemies of David laid snares for him, and talked about his destruction, and framed deceits among themselves. (54) The purport of what is stated is, that while his friends cowardly sit still and will do nothing to aid him, his enemies vigorously bestir themselves, and seek by every means to destroy him. He says that _they seek his life, _for as they were his deadly enemies and blood-thirsty men, they were not content with doing him some common injury, but furiously sought his destruction. He, however, here complains not so much that they assailed him by force of arms and with violence, as he accuses them of guileful conspiracy, which he designates in the first place metaphorically by the term _snares, _and afterwards adds in plain terms, that they _talk about his destruction,...

12-22 Wicked men hate goodness, even when they benefit by it. David, in the complaints he makes of his enemies, seems to refer to Christ. But our enemies do us real mischief only when they drive us from God and our duty. The true believer's trouble will be made useful; he will learn to wait for his God, and will not seek relief from the world or himself. The less we notice the unkindness and injuries that are done us, the more we consult the quiet of our own minds. David's troubles were the chastisement and the consequence of his transgressions, whilst Christ suffered for our sins and ours only. What right can a sinner have to yield to impatience or anger, when mercifully corrected for his sins? David was very sensible of the present workings of corruption in him. Good men, by setting their sorrow continually before them, have been ready to fall; but by setting God always before them, t...

Verse Psalms 38:12. _THEY ALSO THAT SEEK AFTER MY LIFE_] They act towards me as _huntsmen_ after their prey; _they lay snares to take away my_ _life_. Perhaps this means only that they _wished_ for his death, and would have been glad to have had it in their power to end his days. Others _spoke all manner of evil of him_, and _told falsities_ against him _all the day long_....

THEY ALSO THAT SEEK AFTER MY LIFE - This was a new aggravation of his affliction, that those who were his enemies now sought to accomplish their purposes against him with better hopes of success, by taking advantage of his sickness. LAY SNARES FOR ME - On the meaning of this phrase, see the notes at Psalms 9:15. The idea here is that they sought this opportunity of ensnaring or entrapping him so as to ruin him. They took advantage of the fact that he was weak and helpless, and of the fact that he was forsaken or abandoned by his friends, to accomplish his ruin. how this was done is not stated. It might have been by their coming on him when he was thus helpless; or it might have been by endeavoring in his weak condition to extort confessions or promises from him that might be turned to his ruin. An enemy may hope to succee

EXPOSITION THIS is the third of the penitential psalms, and is appropriately recited by the Church on Ash Wednesday. Of all the penitential psalms it is the one which shows the deepest marks of utter prostration of heart and spirit under a combination of the severest trials, both mental and bodily. The mind of the writer is racked by a sense of God's displeasure (Psalms 38:1, Psalms 38:2, etc.), by grief at the desertion of friends (Psalms 38:11), by fear of the machinations and threats of enemies (Psalms 38:12, Psalms 38:19,...

THEY ALSO THAT SEEK AFTER MY LIFE,.... His avowed and implacable enemies, whom nothing would satisfy but the taking away of his life: these came too near him; for these, he says, LAY SNARES [FOR ME], as Satan does for the souls of men, as the Jews did for Christ, and as wicked men do for the saints, Psalms 124:7; AND THEY THAT SEEK MY HURT SPEAK MISCHIEVOUS THINGS; to the injury of his character and reputation: AND IMAGINE DECEITS ALL THE DAY LONG; contrive artful schemes to deceive; see Psalms 35:20....

A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. Remember, although this is a very sorrowful Psalm, it was written by a man of God. It will show you what a terrible thing sin must be, for even a child of God feels the smart of it very grievously. This is not the language of an unforgiven sinner; it is the cry of a saint who, for a while, has sinned, and is feeling the bitterness of his transgression. Psalms 38:1. _O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath:_ «If thou dost rebuke me, O Lord, do it gently! Be not very angry with me, for I cannot bear it, I shall die under it. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath.» Psalms 38:1. _Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure._ «Chasten me, it will do me good; it is needful; it is profitable; but not in thy displeasure, certainly not

Psalms 38 The Suffering Saint and Confession of Sin _ 1. Suffering and Humiliation (Psalms 38:1)_ 2. Looking to the Lord (Psalms 38:9) 3. Confession and prayer (Psalms 38:16) This Psalm is read by the Jews on the day of atonement. It pictures great suffering in body and soul; it reminds us in different ways of the book of Job. (See and compare Psalms 38:2 with Job 6:4; Psalms

XXXVIII. A PENITENTIAL PSALM. After a short prayer for pity (verbally identical with Psalms 6:2), the poet describes his bodily and mental pains, the desertion of his friends, and the unscrupulous attack of his foes. But he waits in silence for Yahweh's answer and is ready to confess his sin, turning eagerly and hopefully to his God. PSALMS 38:2. ARROWS: the pains God sends. Psalms 38:8_ b_. Read, I have cried out louder than the roaring of a lion. Psalms 38:18. It is impossible to say whether the poet is referring to some definite sin or only to the general sinfulness of human nature....