Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo
Read

Psalm 38:13

But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear. I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.

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.
15For I hope in you, LORD. You will answer, Lord my God.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →
← Psalm 38:12Psalm 38:14 →
Notice

The closed mouth here belongs to someone facing deceit and abandonment, whose silence leaves the hostile words unanswered while he hopes in God.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

When have you felt unable to answer hurtful words, as David describes here?

Write on this

How does David’s hope that God will answer shape your understanding of his silence?

Write on this
Connect

Where else Scripture says this

6 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 39:9I was mute. I didn’t open my mouth, because you did it.Both speakers describe an unopened mouth; Psalm 38 connects silence with hope in God, while Psalm 39 names God’s action.
Isaiah 53:7He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is …Both passages describe someone who does not open his mouth while others threaten or afflict him.
Psalm 39:2I was mute with silence. I held my peace, even from good. My sorrow was stirred.Both psalms describe the speaker as mute amid distress, showing that silence can coexist with sorrow.
1 Samuel 10:27But certain worthless fellows said, “How could this man save us?” They despised him, and brought him no tribute. But he held his peace.David leaves hostile words unanswered in the psalm, and Saul holds his peace when men despise him.
1 Peter 2:23When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.Both passages connect an absence of verbal retaliation with trust in God amid hostile treatment.
2 Samuel 16:10–12The king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? Because he curses, and because the LORD has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, …Both passages connect David’s response to hostile speech with his attention to the LORD.
Where this verse fits

Work conflict. injustice and anger. loneliness.

What the Bible says about anger →What the Bible says about loneliness →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Tell God what you have struggled to answer

prayeroncelight
Encouragement

You do not have to treat David’s silence as a rule against seeking help. Amid deceit and abandonment, he still addresses God and hopes for his answer.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 38:13. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 38 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).