Psaume 38:16

16 Car je dis: Ne permets pas qu'ils se réjouissent à mon sujet, Qu'ils s'élèvent contre moi, si mon pied chancelle!

Psaume 38:16 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 38:16

For I said, [hear me]
This he had expressed in prayer to God; he had committed his cause to him, and entreated him that he would hear and answer him; giving this as a reason,

lest [otherwise] they should rejoice over me;
at his misfortunes and calamities, at the continuance of his trouble and distress, both of body and mind;

when my foot slippeth;
as it sometimes did through the corruptions of nature, the temptations of Satan, and the snares of the world; which is more or less the case of all the people of God, who are all subject to slips and falls, though they shall not finally and totally fall away;

they magnify [themselves] against me;
that is, his enemies exulted and triumphed over him: this was what he found by experience; and therefore makes use of it as an argument with God, that he would hear and answer and deliver him out of his trouble, and preserve him from falling.

Psaume 38:16 In-Context

14 Je suis comme un homme qui n'entend pas, Et dans la bouche duquel il n'y a point de réplique.
15 Eternel! c'est en toi que j'espère; Tu répondras, Seigneur, mon Dieu!
16 Car je dis: Ne permets pas qu'ils se réjouissent à mon sujet, Qu'ils s'élèvent contre moi, si mon pied chancelle!
17 Car je suis près de tomber, Et ma douleur est toujours devant moi.
18 Car je reconnais mon iniquité, Je suis dans la crainte à cause de mon péché.
The Louis Segond 1910 is in the public domain.