To the chief musician, a psalm of David
64
📚Hear my voice, O God,in my prayer.
Preserve my life from the fear
of the enemy.
64:1 This psalm consists of two parts – a prayer for deliverance from enemies (vs 1-6), and the assurance that God will answer (vs 7-10). This prayer about enemies is similar to prayers in other Psalms (e.g. 57,58,59). Note at 35:8. Remember all conspiracies against God’s people are hatched in the counsels of Satan and his brood.⚜
2 📚Hide me from the secret counsel
of the wicked,
from the scheming of evildoers,
3 📚Who sharpen their tongue
like a sword,
and bend bows to shoot their
arrows of bitter words,
4 📚That they may secretly shoot
at the innocent.
They suddenly shoot at him
and are not afraid.
64:4 They had none of that fear of God which would have restrained them (notes at Ps 34:11-14; 111:10; Job 28:28; Gen 20:11; Prov 1:7).⚜
5 📚They encourage themselves
in an evil matter.
They talk about secretly laying snares.
They say, “Who will see them?”
6 📚They devise wicked deeds:
“We have made a perfect scheme”.
Both the inward thought
and the heart of each one of them
are deep.
7 📚But God will shoot an arrow
at them.
Suddenly they will be wounded.
8 📚So they will cause their own tongue
to overthrow them.
All who see them will flee away.
64:7-8 Here again we see God’s perfect justice. The wicked shoot arrows at God’s people. He will shoot arrows at them. And they will see who is the better archer. They will use their tongues like a sword to wound others, but God will use their own tongue against them to bring them wounds.⚜
9 📚And all men will fear and
declare the work of God,
for they will wisely consider
his deeds.
10 📚The righteous will be glad
in the LORD and will trust
in him,
and all the upright in heart will glory.
64:9-10 God’s just judgment of the wicked will produce the good results recorded in these verses. See Isa 26:9. It is a big mistake to think that because God is love He will forget justice and refrain from punishing the wicked. The righteous will rejoice, not in the suffering of the wicked, but in God’s justice and in Him.⚜