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Psalm 38:12
They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.
10My heart throbs. My strength fails me. As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.
11My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away.
12They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.
13But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear. I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.
14Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear, in whose mouth are no reproofs.
Notice
Snares and deceit surround a man whose strength is failing, making this lament a picture of danger faced with little support from those close to him.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does “all day long” add to the weight of the threats described here?
Write on thisWhat harm, if any, do you need to name before God without guessing at another person's motives?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 35:4Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.Both passages describe people plotting the speaker's ruin; Psalm 35 adds a plea that their plans be turned back.
Psalm 35:20For they don’t speak peace, but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.Both passages describe deceit as something people devise, with words used to harm those they target.
2 Samuel 17:1–3Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.The psalm describes enemies planning harm, while Ahithophel proposes an armed pursuit of David that very night.
Psalm 141:9Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, from the traps of the workers of iniquity.Both passages name snares laid by others; Psalm 141 makes protection from those traps its request.
Psalm 62:3How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?Both passages describe a person under attack, and Psalm 62 compares the target to a wall or fence near collapse.
Luke 6:7The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him.Both passages describe hostile intent: the psalm names schemes for harm, while Luke describes watching for grounds to accuse.
2 Samuel 16:7–8Shimei said when he cursed, “Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and wicked fellow!Both passages include hostile speech directed at someone, though Shimei's curse is an open attack rather than a hidden snare.
Luke 20:19–22The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, but they feared the people—for they knew he had spoken this parable against them.Both passages describe people seeking to act against someone; Luke specifies leaders wanting to seize him while fearing the crowd.
1 Samuel 18:21Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a …Both passages name a snare, and Saul intends his marriage offer to expose David to harm from the Philistines.
1 Samuel 24:2Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats.The psalm describes people seeking the speaker's life, while Saul takes three thousand chosen men to seek David.
1 Samuel 26:2Then Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.Both passages portray pursuit by enemies, with Saul bringing three thousand men into the wilderness to seek David.
Nehemiah 6:8Then I sent to him, saying, “There are no such things done as you say, but you imagine them out of your own heart.”Both passages concern false words: the psalm names deceit, and Nehemiah rejects another person's claims as invented.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. work conflict. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
There is room in prayer to name deliberate harm without softening it. Here, Scripture records the complaint while the threats remain and the sufferer has no answer.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 38:12. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).