“They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 38:20 Mean?
David identifies a specific kind of enemy: those who repay good with evil. These aren't strangers or foreign opponents — they're people David has treated well who have turned on him. The injury isn't just hostility; it's betrayal. They received good from David and returned evil. The second line explains why they oppose him: "because I follow the thing that good is." His goodness itself is the provocation.
The word "adversaries" (satan, from the same root as the name Satan) means opponents, accusers. David's enemies don't just dislike him — they actively accuse and oppose him. And their accusation is provoked not by his failure but by his integrity. He does good; they return evil. He follows what's right; they attack him for it.
This experience — being attacked specifically because you did the right thing — is one of the most disorienting forms of suffering. It violates the basic expectation that good behavior produces good outcomes. David's psalm acknowledges that the relationship between virtue and reward isn't always direct.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you ever received evil in return for good? How did you process that?
- 2.Why does goodness sometimes provoke hostility in others?
- 3.How do you keep doing good when the return is consistently negative?
- 4.What does it mean to bring the 'imbalanced equation' of your life to God?
Devotional
David did good to these people. And they repaid him with evil. Not because he wronged them — because he followed what was right. His goodness was the trigger for their hostility.
If you've ever been punished for doing the right thing — if your integrity provoked someone's anger, if your kindness was returned with cruelty, if your faithfulness made you a target — David names your experience here. There are people in this world who are provoked by goodness. Your integrity exposes their lack of it, and rather than change, they attack the mirror.
This verse demolishes the assumption that doing good protects you from harm. David did good. David got evil in return. The equation doesn't balance. And David doesn't pretend it does — he brings the imbalance to God as evidence, as complaint, as prayer.
The phrase "because I follow the thing that good is" is David's defense. He's not saying he's perfect — he's saying the opposition isn't caused by his failure. It's caused by his faithfulness. Sometimes the reason people oppose you isn't that you've done something wrong. It's that you've done something right, and they can't handle the exposure.
When good returns evil, bring the receipts to God. He keeps accounts the world refuses to balance.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Forsake me not, O Lord,.... Or continue not to forsake; for he seems to have been under divine desertion, and might be…
They also that render evil for good - They whose characteristic it is to return evil for good, are opposed to me. This…
In these verses,
I. David complains of the power and malice of his enemies, who, it should seem, not only took occasion…
Yea, and rewarding evil for good
They are adversaries unto me, for my following of good.
Not, in return for my pursuit…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture