The Sinking Man
But like a deaf man, I do not hear; and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth. Psalm 38:13 · Berean Standard Bible
In the face of all this—the enemies, the abandonment, the pain—David chooses silence; he won't defend himself or argue back.
This is a remarkable choice. David could try to explain himself, defend his innocence against false accusations, or fight back against his enemies. Instead, he's choosing not to. It might be because he recognizes his own guilt (as he's already confessed), or it might be a strategic silence that trusts God to fight for him rather than David fighting for himself.
David, explaining his response to hostility
This connects to what Jesus would later teach about turning the other cheek and not returning evil for evil. Sometimes the most powerful response to your enemies is not to engage with them.
The psalmist adopts a strategy of silence and non-response, becoming like a deaf man who cannot hear and a mute man who cannot speak.
The Hebrew verb חָרַשׁ (charash—'to be deaf/silent') carries connotations not merely of sensory loss but of deliberate restraint. In the context of being slandered and attacked (verse 12), this silence represents a spiritual discipline: refusing to engage in accusation, defense, or retaliation. It echoes the later Suffering Servant who 'did not open his mouth' (Isaiah 53:7).
The psalmist, articulating a mystical strategy of spiritual endurance through non-engagement with his enemies' provocations.
This silence becomes an act of faith—a refusal to compound suffering with the additional sin of retaliatory speech, foreshadowing the redemptive power of innocent suffering borne without protest.
11My beloved and friends shun my disease, and my kinsmen stand at a distance.
12Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.
13But like a deaf man, I do not hear; and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth.
14I am like a man who cannot hear, whose mouth offers no reply.
15I wait for You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God.
Read all of Psalm 38 — David is drowning — in guilt, in pain, in isolation. His friends stand far off. His enemies close in. All he has left is God.
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