Ps. 38.13-14 (a mule who doesn't open his mouth)

“But / I am like / a deaf man / I do not hear! – and like a mule / who doesn’t open / his mouth – and I have become / like a man / who doesn’t hear – and has no arguments / in his mouth.” In a previous reflection we discussed how the form of this poem is important in interpretation. We noted, in particular, how there are three sections that all climax in assertions of futility and then prayer to Yhwh. The first section ended in vs. 8 with the psalmist declaring he was ‘numb’ and ‘crying in distress; then followed a prayer to Yhwh. Here, something similar happens although there are important changes that highlight this section’s primary concerns of social disintegration and alienation. I’ve read that the contrast of this verse with the “muttering deceptions” provides some type of respite to the psalmist because at least he can’t hear them. I find this reading, to put it mildly, ridiculous. There has been no indication, previously, that any of his afflictions are anything but horrible to him. Furthermore, his deafness is soon matched by him comparing himself to a mute mule which is clearly a very demeaning image. In addition, such an observation looses sight of the fact that his ‘deafness’ is matched by his inability to verbally defend himself. These must be read in tandem and seen as twin catastrophes. His inability to hear is, when seen from this perspective, not positive. It is not insulating. Rather it is isolating. Just as this section’s focus has been social alienation and isolation, so too, now, are his senses preventing him from communing with those around him. In other words, his deafness is a physical display of his social isolation and deprivation. His inability to speak, on the other hand, represents his inability to defend himself against the attacks of those who are seeking his life. In addition, his inability to speak is contrasted with the powerful words emanating from his enemies (…they who looked for my downfall spoke of destruction; and they muttered deceptions all day long). As we indicated yesterday, this sensory deprivation (of hearing and speech) is a further manifestation of the consuming power of sin. Just as sin is ravishing his body in sickness, so too is it deafening and silencing him, forcing him into isolation and making him progressively more and more defenseless to his enemy’s onslaught. This is the final moment of weakness for the psalmist; indeed, it may be there is nothing left except a cry of desperation. The next section will focus on his confession of sin and calling upon Yhwh. A concluding reflection: I was struck by his comparison of himself to a mule. This is a powerfully demeaning metaphor. The psalmist seems himself in almost purely objectified fashion, just as the mule (not a horse) is largely portrayed as beast who is entirely led around and without much will of its own. A silent mule only compounds the sense that the psalmist not only finds himself isolated, weak and vulnerable—but also that he envisions himself as a beast who is entirely common and lowly.