Psalms 38:9–14
Lord, You see my heart's longing while my friends avoid me and my enemies trap me; I choose to be silent like a mute man, leaving my defense to You.
9 Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs. My strength fails me. As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.
11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away.
12 They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.
13 But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear. I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.
14 Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear, in whose mouth are no reproofs.
Lord, You see my heart's longing while my friends avoid me and my enemies trap me; I choose to be silent like a mute man, leaving my defense to You.
To lament the total social isolation and predatory hostility surrounding the suffering psalmist, and to present a posture of volitional silence as a form of total dependence on God's vindication.
Confessing Sin While Waiting for the LORD's Near Help
When sin, suffering, shame, and opposition press in together, the faithful do not hide from God but confess honestly, wait silently, and plead for the LORD their Savior to draw near.