Psalms 38:14

"Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear, in whose mouth are no reproofs."

Key Reflection

Psalms 38:14 vividly portrays the speaker's state of utter patience and forbearance under severe criticism and wrong. By saying he is "as a man who doesn’t hear" and has "no reproofs in his mouth," the psalmist emphasizes a profound silence and a complete absence of retaliation, highlighting the depth of their endurance even when unjustly attacked. This imagery underscores the speaker's noble character and unwavering commitment to righteousness despite facing slander without response.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Thus I was as a man that heareth not -The sentiment in the former verse is repeated here to show the greatness of his patience and forbearance, or to fix the attention on the fact that one who was so calumniated and wronged could bear it patiently. And in whose mouth are no reproofs -As a man who never reproved another; who, whatever might be the wrong which he endured, never replied to it; as he would be who was incapable of reproof, or who had no faculty for reproving. The whole of this is designed to show his entire patience under the wrongs which he suffered.

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