Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Psalms 38:19 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 19. 19But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 38:19: The opening contrast in “But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong” turns the argument of “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition.”
Arrows in, friends out, a body that will not be silent
This verse is one part of that explanation in Psalms 38:1–22. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Psalms 38:1–22
Read Psalms 38:19 with 38:1–22. Read alone, “But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 38:1–22, the individual voice carries the movement “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition” as part of “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition.” Its penitential-lament form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 38:1–22 opens Psalm 38 with “O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure” and establishes the individual voice and “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 38:19 turns the movement by contrasting what precedes it with “But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong.”
What Remains True
Read “But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong” as part of the individual voice in “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition.” Wrong and rage may be named honestly before the LORD, yet judgment remains accountable to justice and never turns another person into disposable prey. The local movement is “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The speaker connects guilt and pain within this prayer, but readers cannot diagnose another person's illness as punishment or withhold medical care.
How It Can Shape Life
- Start with the line's work inside “Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petition”—Psalm 38:19 turns the movement by contrasting what precedes it with “But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong.” Then let the line “But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong” make room for protest without dehumanizing anyone; choose safety, truthful evidence, and justice over revenge.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Psalms 38:1–22 — Bodily pain, guilt, isolation, and petitionSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 38:1–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 38:1–22
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 38:1–22.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 38 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 38:1–22
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗