Psalms 38:13

38:13 But I am like a deaf man – I hear nothing;

I am like a mute who cannot speak. ¹ 

Psalms 78:52

78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;

he led them through the wilderness like a flock.

Psalms 83:4

83:4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! ² 

Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”

Psalms 119:176

119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep. ³ 

Come looking for your servant,

for I do not forget your commands.

[38:13]  ¹ sn I am like a deaf man…like a mute. The psalmist is like a deaf mute; he is incapable of defending himself and is vulnerable to his enemies’ deception (see v. 14).

[83:4]  ² tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”

[119:176]  ³ tn Heb “I stray like a lost sheep.” It is possible that the point of the metaphor is vulnerability: The psalmist, who is threatened by his enemies, feels as vulnerable as a straying, lost sheep. This would not suggest, however, that he has wandered from God’s path (see the second half of the verse, as well as v. 110).