Psalms 38:10-15

38:10 My heart beats quickly;

my strength leaves me;

I can hardly see. ¹ 

38:11 Because of my condition, ²  even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; ³ 

my neighbors stand far away. ⁴ 

38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; ⁵ 

those who want to harm me speak destructive words;

all day long they say deceitful things.

38:13 But I am like a deaf man – I hear nothing;

I am like a mute who cannot speak. ⁶ 

38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear

and is incapable of arguing his defense. ⁷ 

38:15 Yet ⁸  I wait for you, O Lord!

You will respond, O Lord, my God!

[38:10]  ¹ tn Heb “and the light of my eyes, even they, there is not with me.” The “light of the eyes” may refer to physical energy (see 1 Sam 14:27, 29), life itself (Ps 13:3), or the ability to see (Prov 29:23).

[38:11]  ² tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”

[38:11]  ³ tn Heb “stand [aloof].”

[38:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”

[38:12]  ³ tn Heb “lay snares.”

[38:13]  ⁴ sn I am like a deaf man…like a mute. The psalmist is like a deaf mute; he is incapable of defending himself and is vulnerable to his enemies’ deception (see v. 14).

[38:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”

[38:15]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “surely.”