‘But I, as a deaf man, hear not,
And I am as a dumb man who opens not his mouth.
Yes, I am as a man who hears not,
And in whose mouth are no reproofs.
For in you, O YHWH, do I hope,
You will answer, O Lord my God.'
But the Psalmist refuses to be alarmed. He is not concerned by their lies and deceit, so his ears are deaf to their subtle words and calumnies. He will say nothing in his own defence, as though he was a man who had heard nothing, and had therefore nothing to reprove, or to plead in his own defence. While they may rail at him he will not retaliate against them. (This may suggest that had he wished to do so he could have gained vengeance on them). And why is he behaving in this magnanimous way? It is because his confidence is in his covenant God, and because he is confident that his Sovereign Lord will answer him in his need, and will bring him through his trial. All his attention is on his God, and thus his ears are deaf to all else.