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Psalm 38:16

For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me, or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”

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.
16For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me, or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”
17For I am ready to fall. My pain is continually before me.
18For I will declare my iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin.
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← Psalm 38:15Psalm 38:17 →
Notice

A slipping foot becomes more frightening when others stand ready to gloat, and the speaker brings that fear of humiliation into his plea to God.

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

What does the phrase “when my foot slips” suggest about your own sense of vulnerability?

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Where does fear of someone’s gloating shape what you feel able to admit?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

10 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 94:18When I said, “My foot is slipping!” Your loving kindness, LORD, held me up.Both describe a slipping foot in speech directed to God; Psalm 94 recounts the loving kindness that held the speaker up.
Micah 7:8Don’t rejoice against me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.Both confront the prospect of an enemy rejoicing over a fall, while Micah also expresses confidence in rising again.
Psalm 17:5My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped.Both use feet and slipping to describe stability or its loss; Psalm 17 speaks of steps held fast to God’s paths.
Job 19:5If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach,Both describe others raising themselves above a suffering person and using that person’s distress or disgrace against them.
Psalm 35:26Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.Both ask that people who gloat over another’s trouble be checked, with Psalm 35 asking for their shame and dishonor.
Psalm 73:2But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had nearly slipped.Both use slipping feet to express vulnerability, though Psalm 73 describes a near fall without mentioning anyone gloating.
Deuteronomy 32:35Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides, for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”Both use a slipping foot to picture danger; the psalm asks for protection, while Deuteronomy announces God’s vengeance.
Lamentations 2:17The LORD has done that which he planned. He has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old. He has thrown down, and has not pitied. He has caused …The psalm asks God to prevent enemy triumph; Lamentations describes the painful reality of God causing enemies to rejoice.
Lamentations 1:21“They have heard that I sigh. There is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble. They are glad that you have done it. You will bring the …Both bring the grief of others rejoicing over suffering before God, and both seek an end to that triumph.
Zechariah 12:7The LORD also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of David’s house and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah.Both speak of people being exalted above others, though Zechariah concerns honor within Judah rather than gloating over a sufferer.
Where this verse fits

Work conflict. injustice and anger. anxiety or panic.

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One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Ask God for help where you fear scorn

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Encouragement

Even with sin to confess and pain still present, the speaker asks God to restrain others’ gloating. Confession and a plea for protection belong in the same prayer.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 38:16. 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).