John Calvin Commentary Psalms 38:12

"They also that seek after my life lay snares [for me]; And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, And meditate deceits all the day long." — Psalms 38:12 (ASV)

They also that sought for my life have laid snares for me, etc. Here another circumstance is added: that the enemies of David laid snares for him, talked about his destruction, and framed deceits among themselves. The meaning of what is stated is that while his friends cowardly sit still and will do nothing to aid him, his enemies vigorously exert themselves and seek by every means to destroy him.

He says that they seek his life, for as they were his deadly enemies and bloodthirsty men, they were not content with doing him some common injury but furiously sought his destruction. However, he complains here not so much that they assailed him by force of arms and with violence, as he accuses them of guileful conspiracy. He first designates this metaphorically by the term snares and afterwards adds in plain terms that they talk about his destruction and secretly consult among themselves how they might harm him.

Now, since it is certain that David does not borrow an artificial rhetoric from the legal profession (as secular orators do when they plead their cause) to win God's favor, but rather draws his arguments from the Word of God, we should appropriate to our own use the sentences he brings together here for the confirmation of his faith.

If we are completely destitute of human aid and assistance, if our friends fail us in our time of need, and if others seek our ruin and breathe out nothing but destruction against us, let us remember that it is not in vain for us to lay these things in prayer before God, for it is His role to aid those who are in misery, to take under His protection those who are treacherously forsaken and betrayed, to restrain the wicked, and not only to withstand their violence but also to anticipate their deceitful schemes and frustrate their designs.