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.
Psalm 38:12 shows the cruelty of David’s enemies while he is already bowed under sin, chastening, bodily affliction, and sorrow. The psalm began with his trembling plea that the LORD would not rebuke him in wrath nor chasten him in hot displeasure (v.1). David does not pretend innocence before God. He will confess, “For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin” (v.18). Yet his enemies are still wicked in their treatment of him. A chastened saint may be guilty before God and still be wronged by men.
“They also.” The word “also” connects this verse to the painful isolation of verse 11: “My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.” David is not only afflicted in body and soul; he is socially wounded. Friends stand back, and enemies move forward. Those who should have pitied him withdraw, while those who hate him press their advantage. Trouble often reveals both kinds of men.
“That seek after my life.” These enemies are not seeking David’s good. They seek his life. Their aim is not correction, restoration, mercy, or truth, but destruction. The phrase shows settled hostility. They pursue him as hunters pursue prey. This is more than disagreement. It is murderous desire. Saul sought David’s life repeatedly, though David had served him faithfully and spared him when he could have killed him (1 Samuel 18:10-11; 19:10-11; 24:10-11).
“Lay snares for me.” A snare is a hidden trap. It is not open battle only, but secret design. Wicked men often work by concealment, waiting for the right moment, the right word, the right weakness, or the right appearance to catch the righteous. They set traps with questions, accusations, reports, opportunities, and false appearances. David had known such snares before, and he often prayed for God to keep him from the net secretly laid for him (Psalm 31:4).
This is a common method of the wicked. The Pharisees and Herodians tried to entangle Jesus Christ in His talk by asking about tribute to Caesar (Matthew 22:15-18). Spies feigned themselves just men, hoping to take hold of His words and deliver Him to the governor (Luke 20:20). Their snare was verbal and legal, not made of rope. A man may lay a snare with his mouth as surely as with his hands.
“And they that seek my hurt.” The phrase widens the description from those seeking his life to those seeking his injury. Some men may not have power to kill, yet they still seek hurt. They may seek to wound reputation, peace, usefulness, friendships, family, office, courage, or hope. The spirit is the same: they desire damage. David’s affliction did not soften them; it invited them.
This is especially wicked because David is already under God’s hand. He has no soundness in his flesh, no rest in his bones, and his burden is too heavy for him (vv.3-4). A godly man seeing another under such weight should tremble, pity, and pray. These enemies instead seek hurt. They use the moment of weakness to add grief to grief. Such cruelty is hateful to the LORD.
“Speak mischievous things.” Here the mouth appears. Their snares are joined to evil words. Mischievous things are harmful things, words that work injury, stir trouble, devise evil, and prepare damage. Their speech is not harmless talk. It is mischief in verbal form. They speak to hurt. They speak to arrange harm. They speak so that others may suspect, oppose, condemn, or rejoice at David’s fall.
The Bible often joins mischief to the tongue. The wicked “travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood” (Psalm 7:14). Doeg’s tongue devised mischiefs like a sharp razor, working deceitfully (Psalm 52:2). The tongue can be the workshop where injury is shaped before hands carry it out. Words plan, frame, colour, accuse, exaggerate, and inflame.
This phrase should make every reader fear the use of speech. Mischief does not always come dressed in open cursing. It may come as concern, counsel, warning, humour, information, or careful questions. A man may speak in a low voice and still speak mischievous things. The issue is not tone only, but truth, purpose, charity, justice, and the fear of God. Speech that knowingly tends to harm without righteous cause is mischief.
“And imagine deceits.” Their evil is not only on the lips; it is in the mind. They imagine deceits. They devise, meditate, and form false ways to injure him. Deceit is crooked dealing against truth. It hides what should be shown, shows what should be hidden, twists what should be straight, and makes appearances serve a lie. David’s enemies think before they speak; their words come from prepared deceit.
This is why evil words are so dangerous. Speech often carries a hidden imagination behind it. The hearer receives a sentence, but God sees the design that produced it. Men may not know the inward deceit, but the LORD does. “The LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts” (1 Chronicles 28:9). No crafted report, shaped accusation, or planned insinuation escapes His judgment.
“All the day long.” Their malice is persistent. They do not speak once and stop. They imagine deceits continually. The wicked mind returns again and again to the same injury, the same plan, the same accusation, the same desired outcome. David’s affliction is daily, and so is their mischief. This explains why the pressure of enemy speech can become so heavy. Repeated deceit can wear upon the soul.
Psalm 38:12 also explains David’s conduct in the following verses. He says, “But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth” (v.13). Again, he was “as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs” (v.14). David does not make his first urgency answering them. He turns to God: “For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God” (v.15). His great cry is not, Men, hear me; it is, Lord, hear me.
This is a needed lesson. Mischievous words tempt the afflicted man to spend all his strength answering enemies. Snares tempt him to rush, defend, explain, and chase every deceit. But David’s wisdom is to carry the matter to God. There are times to answer plainly, but there are also times when answering only feeds strife. David chooses prayer over panic. He lets God hear what enemies are saying.
Verse 16 shows why this matters. David knows they are waiting to rejoice over him and magnify themselves when his foot slips. They are not neutral hearers. They are not honest judges. They are enemies watching for advantage. Such men cannot always be satisfied by explanation, because their goal is not truth but triumph. Therefore, David needs the LORD to hear more than he needs enemies to be persuaded.
This verse warns against all mischievous speech. Do not lay verbal snares. Do not frame questions to trap. Do not speak words designed to hurt. Do not imagine deceits in the mind and then send them out by the tongue. Do not use another man’s weakness, affliction, or chastening as an opportunity for injury. The God who hears David hears the enemies also.
It also comforts the saint under such pressure. The snares are hidden from men, but not from God. The mischievous things are heard by God. The imagined deceits are known to God. The all-day-long plotting is measured by God. David may be weak, guilty, sore, and cast down, but he is not abandoned to the counsel of enemies. His hope remains in the LORD.
Jesus Christ gives the perfect example of wisdom under snares and evil words. His enemies watched Him, sent spies, asked tempting questions, sought false witness, and spoke against Him continually (Matthew 22:15; Luke 20:20; Matthew 26:59-61). Unlike David, He had no sin and no need of chastening. Yet He endured the snares, mischief, and deceits of wicked men without guile in His mouth. When He suffered, He committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously (1 Peter 2:22-23).
Psalm 38:12 therefore shows how enemies use both hidden traps and evil speech against the afflicted servant of God. They seek life, seek hurt, lay snares, speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. Let every tongue fear such mischief. Let every afflicted saint learn David’s order: do not be ruled by enemies, do not be frantic in self-defense, but hope in the LORD and cry to Him who hears, judges, and delivers in mercy.
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.
Psalm 38:12 shows the cruelty of David’s enemies while he is already bowed under sin, chastening, bodily affliction, and sorrow. The psalm began with his trembling plea that the LORD would not rebuke him in wrath nor chasten him in hot displeasure (v.1). David does not pretend innocence before God. He will confess, “For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin” (v.18). Yet his enemies are still wicked in their treatment of him. A chastened saint may be guilty before God and still be wronged by men.
“They also.” The word “also” connects this verse to the painful isolation of verse 11: “My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.” David is not only afflicted in body and soul; he is socially wounded. Friends stand back, and enemies move forward. Those who should have pitied him withdraw, while those who hate him press their advantage. Trouble often reveals both kinds of men.
“That seek after my life.” These enemies are not seeking David’s good. They seek his life. Their aim is not correction, restoration, mercy, or truth, but destruction. The phrase shows settled hostility. They pursue him as hunters pursue prey. This is more than disagreement. It is murderous desire. Saul sought David’s life repeatedly, though David had served him faithfully and spared him when he could have killed him (1 Samuel 18:10-11; 19:10-11; 24:10-11).
“Lay snares for me.” A snare is a hidden trap. It is not open battle only, but secret design. Wicked men often work by concealment, waiting for the right moment, the right word, the right weakness, or the right appearance to catch the righteous. They set traps with questions, accusations, reports, opportunities, and false appearances. David had known such snares before, and he often prayed for God to keep him from the net secretly laid for him (Psalm 31:4).
This is a common method of the wicked. The Pharisees and Herodians tried to entangle Jesus Christ in His talk by asking about tribute to Caesar (Matthew 22:15-18). Spies feigned themselves just men, hoping to take hold of His words and deliver Him to the governor (Luke 20:20). Their snare was verbal and legal, not made of rope. A man may lay a snare with his mouth as surely as with his hands.
“And they that seek my hurt.” The phrase widens the description from those seeking his life to those seeking his injury. Some men may not have power to kill, yet they still seek hurt. They may seek to wound reputation, peace, usefulness, friendships, family, office, courage, or hope. The spirit is the same: they desire damage. David’s affliction did not soften them; it invited them.
This is especially wicked because David is already under God’s hand. He has no soundness in his flesh, no rest in his bones, and his burden is too heavy for him (vv.3-4). A godly man seeing another under such weight should tremble, pity, and pray. These enemies instead seek hurt. They use the moment of weakness to add grief to grief. Such cruelty is hateful to the LORD.
“Speak mischievous things.” Here the mouth appears. Their snares are joined to evil words. Mischievous things are harmful things, words that work injury, stir trouble, devise evil, and prepare damage. Their speech is not harmless talk. It is mischief in verbal form. They speak to hurt. They speak to arrange harm. They speak so that others may suspect, oppose, condemn, or rejoice at David’s fall.
The Bible often joins mischief to the tongue. The wicked “travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood” (Psalm 7:14). Doeg’s tongue devised mischiefs like a sharp razor, working deceitfully (Psalm 52:2). The tongue can be the workshop where injury is shaped before hands carry it out. Words plan, frame, colour, accuse, exaggerate, and inflame.
This phrase should make every reader fear the use of speech. Mischief does not always come dressed in open cursing. It may come as concern, counsel, warning, humour, information, or careful questions. A man may speak in a low voice and still speak mischievous things. The issue is not tone only, but truth, purpose, charity, justice, and the fear of God. Speech that knowingly tends to harm without righteous cause is mischief.
“And imagine deceits.” Their evil is not only on the lips; it is in the mind. They imagine deceits. They devise, meditate, and form false ways to injure him. Deceit is crooked dealing against truth. It hides what should be shown, shows what should be hidden, twists what should be straight, and makes appearances serve a lie. David’s enemies think before they speak; their words come from prepared deceit.
This is why evil words are so dangerous. Speech often carries a hidden imagination behind it. The hearer receives a sentence, but God sees the design that produced it. Men may not know the inward deceit, but the LORD does. “The LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts” (1 Chronicles 28:9). No crafted report, shaped accusation, or planned insinuation escapes His judgment.
“All the day long.” Their malice is persistent. They do not speak once and stop. They imagine deceits continually. The wicked mind returns again and again to the same injury, the same plan, the same accusation, the same desired outcome. David’s affliction is daily, and so is their mischief. This explains why the pressure of enemy speech can become so heavy. Repeated deceit can wear upon the soul.
Psalm 38:12 also explains David’s conduct in the following verses. He says, “But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth” (v.13). Again, he was “as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs” (v.14). David does not make his first urgency answering them. He turns to God: “For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God” (v.15). His great cry is not, Men, hear me; it is, Lord, hear me.
This is a needed lesson. Mischievous words tempt the afflicted man to spend all his strength answering enemies. Snares tempt him to rush, defend, explain, and chase every deceit. But David’s wisdom is to carry the matter to God. There are times to answer plainly, but there are also times when answering only feeds strife. David chooses prayer over panic. He lets God hear what enemies are saying.
Verse 16 shows why this matters. David knows they are waiting to rejoice over him and magnify themselves when his foot slips. They are not neutral hearers. They are not honest judges. They are enemies watching for advantage. Such men cannot always be satisfied by explanation, because their goal is not truth but triumph. Therefore, David needs the LORD to hear more than he needs enemies to be persuaded.
This verse warns against all mischievous speech. Do not lay verbal snares. Do not frame questions to trap. Do not speak words designed to hurt. Do not imagine deceits in the mind and then send them out by the tongue. Do not use another man’s weakness, affliction, or chastening as an opportunity for injury. The God who hears David hears the enemies also.
It also comforts the saint under such pressure. The snares are hidden from men, but not from God. The mischievous things are heard by God. The imagined deceits are known to God. The all-day-long plotting is measured by God. David may be weak, guilty, sore, and cast down, but he is not abandoned to the counsel of enemies. His hope remains in the LORD.
Jesus Christ gives the perfect example of wisdom under snares and evil words. His enemies watched Him, sent spies, asked tempting questions, sought false witness, and spoke against Him continually (Matthew 22:15; Luke 20:20; Matthew 26:59-61). Unlike David, He had no sin and no need of chastening. Yet He endured the snares, mischief, and deceits of wicked men without guile in His mouth. When He suffered, He committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously (1 Peter 2:22-23).
Psalm 38:12 therefore shows how enemies use both hidden traps and evil speech against the afflicted servant of God. They seek life, seek hurt, lay snares, speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. Let every tongue fear such mischief. Let every afflicted saint learn David’s order: do not be ruled by enemies, do not be frantic in self-defense, but hope in the LORD and cry to Him who hears, judges, and delivers in mercy.