Psalms 38:16

For I said, hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me. The good man was not insensible, he dreaded the sharp stings of taunting malice; he feared lest either by his conduct or his condition, he should give occasion to the wicked to triumph. This fear his earnest desires used as an argument in prayer as well as an incentive to prayer. When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. The least flaw in a saint is sure to be noticed; long before it comes to a fall the enemy begins to rail, the merest trip of the foot sets all the dogs of hell barking. How careful ought we to be, and how importunate in prayer for upholding grace! We do not wish, like blind Samson, to make sport for our enemies; let us then beware of the treacherous Delilah of sin, by whose means our eyes may soon be put out.

For I said, hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me. The good man was not insensible, he dreaded the sharp stings of taunting malice; he feared lest either by his conduct or his condition, he should give occasion to the wicked to triumph. This fear his earnest desires used as an argument in prayer as well as an incentive to prayer. When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.

When my foot slippeth - They watched for my halting; and when my foot slipped, they rejoiced that I had fallen into sin!

For I said - This is the prayer to which he referred in the previous verse. He prayed that he might not be permitted to fall away under the influence of his sins and sufferings; that his faith might remain firm; that he might not be allowed to act so as to justify the accusations of his enemies, or to give them occasion to rejoice over his fall. The entire prayer Psa 38:16-18 is one that is based on the consciousness of his own weakness, and his liability to sin, if left to himself; on the certainty that if God did not interpose, his sins would get the mastery over him, and he would become in his conduct all that his enemies desired, and be in fact all that they had falsely charged on him. Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me - literally, “For I said, lest they should rejoice over me.” It is the language of earnest desire that they might “not” thus be allowed to rejoice over his fall. The same sentiment occurs substantially in Psa 13:3-4. The motive is a right one; alike (a) in reference to ourselves personally - that our foes may not triumph over us by the ruin of our character; and (b) in reference to its bearing on the cause of virtue and religion - that that cause may not suffer by our misconduct; compare Psa 69:6. When my foot slippeth - (a) When my foot really has slipped, or when I have committed sin (as the psalmist did not deny that he had done, Psa 38:3-5, Psa 38:18); or (b) when it “might” occur “again” (as he felt was possible); or (c) if I deviate in the slightest degree from perfect virtue; if I inadvertently do anything wrong. The slipping of the foot is an indication of the want of firmness, and hence, it comes to represent the falling into sin. They magnify themselves against me - See Psa 35:26. They exult over me; they triumph; they boast. They “make themselves great” on my fall, or by my being put down. […]