Psalms 64
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Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
4 That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?
6 They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.
7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
8 So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.
9 And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.
10 The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
Psalm 64:1-10
Hide Me from the Wicked
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
from the throng of evildoers,
3who whet their tongues like swords,
who aim bitter words like arrows,
4shooting from ambush at the blameless,
shooting at him suddenly and without fear.
5They hold fast to their evil purpose;
they talk of laying snares secretly,
thinking, “Who can see them?”
6They search out injustice,
saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.
7But God shoots his arrow at them;
they are wounded suddenly.
8They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;
all who see them will wag their heads.
9Then all mankind fears;
they tell what God has brought about
and ponder what he has done.
10Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart exult!
ESV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Psalm 64:1-10
Psalm 64
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint;
protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
2Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the plots of evildoers.
3They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.
4They shoot from ambush at the innocent;
they shoot suddenly, without fear.
5They encourage each other in evil plans,
they talk about hiding their snares;
they say, “Who will see it?”
6They plot injustice and say,
“We have devised a perfect plan!”
Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.
7But God will shoot them with his arrows;
they will suddenly be struck down.
8He will turn their own tongues against them
and bring them to ruin;
all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
9All people will fear;
they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what he has done.
10The righteous will rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will glory in him!
NIV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Commentary
There is something reassuring about the Psalms in which the author (in this case, David) cries out to God about life’s trials and tribulations. All of us, including David, have found ourselves under attack by someone else at one point or another. In most cases, that attack is verbal rather than physical. Contrary to what we may have told ourselves and others as children when under verbal attack, words can hurt us as deeply as sticks and stones can—and we have the emotional scars to prove it. But the author of this psalm wouldn’t have cried to God for deliverance from verbal attacks if he didn’t believe that God could stop the attacks and heal the scars. Do you believe this too?
Yet there is also something disturbing about these Psalms because an honest self-assessment reveals that perhaps I have been the verbal attacker that someone has prayed to be delivered from. How can I live my life in such a way that I won’t be the subject of someone else’s prayer for deliverance? Perhaps it starts with asking God to deliver me from myself.
Brent Hamstra
Professor and chair, Chemistry Department, Southern Adventist University, Tennessee USA (as of this writing)
