Psalm 38:20

Psalm 38:20, in plain English

David's enemies repay his kindness with cruelty, attacking him precisely because he's been living righteously—good people sometimes get attacked for being good.

Why it's here

This is an important distinction David is making. Some of his enemies hate him because of his sin (which he deserves). But others hate him because he's been trying to do right, and their wickedness is threatened by his goodness. They've turned his virtue into a target against him.

Who's speaking

David, identifying the injustice of persecution for doing good

Where it sits in the story

This theme appears throughout Scripture: righteous people face opposition precisely because of their righteousness. Jesus taught that you'd be blessed when persecuted for doing good, and that's because this pattern is built into a fallen world.

The scholarly reading

The psalmist complains that those who should reciprocate his good deeds instead repay him with evil, attacking him precisely for his virtue.

Language and setting

The phrase 'repay my good with evil' (יִשְׁלְמוּ לִי רָעָה תַּחַת טוֹבָה, yishlemu li raah tachat tovah) describes the precise inversion of covenant reciprocity—instead of 'measure for measure' in justice, there is perverse measure. This suggests the psalmist has been generous and righteous yet finds himself betrayed, a situation that raises acute theodicy questions: why does virtue not secure safety?

Voice

The psalmist, expressing the particular pain of the righteous sufferer whose attempts at goodness are weaponized against him.

Significance

This closing verse returns to a fundamental biblical concern: the fate of the faithful in an often hostile world, a problem that will occupy the entire book of Job and find its ultimate answer only in the cross, where the righteous One absorbs injustice redemptively rather than retaliatively.

18Yes, I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.

19Many are my enemies without cause, and many hate me without reason.

20Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.

21Do not forsake me, O LORD; be not far from me, O my God.

22Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior.

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.