Psalms 38:11

My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore. Whatever affection they might pretend to, they kept out of his company, lest as a sinking vessel often draws down boats with it, they might be made to suffer through his calamities. It is very hard when those who should be the first to come to the rescue, are the first to desert us. In times of deep soul trouble, even the most affectionate friends cannot enter into the sufferer's case; let them be as anxious as they may, the sores of a tender conscience they cannot bind up. Oh, the loneliness of a soul passing under the convincing power of the Holy Ghost! And my kinsmen stand afar off. As the women and others of our Lord's acquaintances from afar gazed on his cross, so a soul wounded for sin sees all mankind as distant spectators, and in the whole crowd finds none to aid. Often relatives hinder seekers after Jesus, oftener still they look on with unconcern, seldom enough do they endeavour to lead the penitent to Jesus.

My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore. Whatever affection they might pretend to, they kept out of his company, lest as a sinking vessel often draws down boats with it, they might be made to suffer through his calamities. It is very hard when those who should be the first to come to the rescue, are the first to desert us. In times of deep soul trouble, even the most affectionate friends cannot enter into the sufferer's case; let them be as anxious as they may, the sores of a tender conscience they cannot bind up.

My lovers - Those who professed much affection for me; my friends, רעי reai, my companions, who never before left my company, stand aloof. My kinsmen - קרובי kerobai, my neighbors, stand afar off. I am deserted by all, and they stand off because of נגעי nigi, my plague. They considered me as suffering under a Divine judgment; and, thinking me an accursed being, they avoided me lest they should be infected by my disease.

My lovers - See the notes at Psa 31:11. The reference here is to those who professed to be his friends. And my friends - The word used here means properly an acquaintance, a companion, a friend, Job 2:11; Job 19:21; then, a lover, a friend, a neighbor. The phrase here would be synonymous with our word “kinsmen.” Stand aloof - They are unwilling to come near me; they leave me to suffer alone. From my sore - Margin: “stroke.” The Hebrew word means properly a stroke, a blow, Deu 17:8; Deu 21:5; then a stroke in the sense of calamities or judgments, such as God brings upon men: Gen 12:17; Exo 11:1. The meaning here is, that they stand aloof from him, or refuse to come near him, as if he were afflicted with some contagious disease. And my kinsmen - Margin: “neighbors.” The Hebrew word used here - קרוב qârôb - means properly near, nigh; spoken of a place, Gen 19:20; then of time, Isa 13:6; then of kindred or affinity, Num 27:11; and then of friendship, meaning our intimate acquaintance - as we should say, those who are “near” to us, Job 19:14. The word would be applicable to neighbors or to warm personal friends.