A Study by Scott Sperling
Psalm 64 -
David’s Enemies, and Their Downfall
For the director of music.
A psalm of David.
1
Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint;
protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
2
Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from that noisy crowd of evildoers.
3
They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim their words like deadly arrows.
4
They shoot from ambush at the innocent man;
they shoot at him suddenly, without fear.
5
They encourage each other in evil plans,
they talk about hiding their snares;
they say, “Who will see them?”
6
They plot injustice and say,
“We have devised a perfect plan!”
Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning.
7
But God will shoot them with arrows;
suddenly they will be struck down.
8
He will turn their own tongues against them
and bring them to ruin;
all who see them
will shake their heads in scorn.
9
All mankind will fear;
they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what He has done.
10
Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in Him;
let all the upright in heart praise Him!
The inscription of this psalm tells us that it is “A psalm of David,” and certainly
there can be no doubt about this. Like many of David’s psalms, this one begins
with a plea to God concerning his enemies. “David’s life was one of conflict, and
very seldom does he get through a Psalm without mentioning his enemies”
[Spurgeon]. Also, typically for psalms of David, the psalm ends with confidence
that God will remedy the situation.
David begins: “Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from
the threat of the enemy” (vs. 1). David would always run to God in times of
trouble. So should we. “In all our troubles, whether beset by the unceasing and
infinite malice of the devil, the perfidy of men, or the ingratitude of the world, it is
best to carry our cause immediately to God in prayer” [Plumer, 638]. “The danger
cannot be so great, wherein help may not be had from God; He is so near to a
supplicant, so powerful, and so ready to save the man who hath made God his
refuge” [Dickson, 375].
“Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from that noisy crowd of evildoers”
(vs. 2). It is important, in order to have confidence in prayer, that we remain on the
side of right in our conflicts. “That we may have the greater confidence to be
delivered from our enemies, we had need to be sure that we are in a good cause,
and that our adversaries have a wrong cause” [Dickson, 376].
“They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly
arrows” (vs. 3). The weapon of war in this battle of David’s is the tongue. “The
ingenuity of man has been wonderfully tasked and exercised in two things,
inventing destructive weapons of war, and devising various methods of ruining
men by wicked words” [Plumer]. The tongue can be a devastating weapon, and it
is all the more dangerous because all evildoers have easy access to it. “Slander has
ever been the master weapon of the good man’s enemies, and great is the care of the
malicious to use it effectively” [Spurgeon]. I dare say, we have all been on the
receiving side of slander and malicious talk. “If David, the modest, humble man,
who in difficult circumstances acted so wisely, and was withal the man after God’s
own heart, was permitted to be so traduced that probably no mere man was ever
more vilified than he, surely we, who fall so far short of his attainments in
everything good ought not to be surprised if we suffer sadly in the same way”
[Plumer, 639]. “How much, then, doth it concern every man to walk circumspectly;
to give no just cause of reproach, not to make himself a scorn to the fools of the
world; but, if they will reproach (as certainly they will), let it be for forwardness in
God’s ways, and not for sin, that so the reproach may fall upon their own heads,
and their scandalous language into their own throats” [Burroughs, in Spurgeon].
“They shoot from ambush at the innocent man; they shoot at him suddenly,
without fear” (vs. 4). So often the evil one works concealed, “from ambush.”
“Satan lets fly a temptation so secretly, that he is hardly suspected in the thing.
Sometimes he uses a wife’s tongue to do his errand; another while he gets behind
the back of a husband, friend, servant, etc., and is not seen all the while he is doing
his work. Who would have thought to have found a devil in Peter, tempting his
Master, or suspected that Abraham should be the instrument to betray his beloved
wife into the hands of a sin? Yet it was so. Nay, sometimes he is so secret, that he
borrows God’s bow to shoot his arrows from, and the poor Christian is abused,
thinking it is God who chides and is angry, when it is the devil who tempts him to
think so, and only counterfeits God’s voice” [Gurnall, in Spurgeon].
“They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares;
they say, ‘Who will see them?’” (vs. 5). Sadly, there is great loyalty in the
brotherhood of the evil. They ever encourage each other.
In verse 4, we saw that the shots David’s enemies were fired “without fear.” They
feared not man nor God. Here we see that they encourage each other in their
defiant lack of fear of God, saying of the snares they lay, “Who will see them?”
“Godless men are dangerous enemies, for they fear not God, and so have no
powerful restraint within them from doing any mischief, and the more they sin,
they acquire the greater boldness to sin more… Yea, Satan so blindeth them, that
they neither look to God, the avenger of such plots and practices, nor do they
consider that God seeth them, and they think their pretences before men are so
thick a covering, that no man can see through them” [Dickson, 377]. “They please
themselves with an atheistical conceit that God Himself takes no notice of their
wicked practices. A practical disbelief of God’s omniscience is at the bottom of all
the wickedness of the wicked” [Henry]. The fear of God is a healthy thing, keeping
us on the path of the righteous.
“They plot injustice and say, ‘We have devised a perfect plan!’ Surely the mind
and heart of man are cunning” (vs. 6). They don’t just do evil, they “plot
injustice.” “They rack their invention and ransack their memory for modes of
doing mischief” [Alexander, 282]. “They are very industrious in putting their
projects in execution” [Henry]. If only such effort was put toward constructive
purposes.
Does not all look hopeless for David? Yet, how quickly can the situation change!
With just two words, one’s whole perspective on his troubles can be transformed:
“But God…” As David continues: “But God will shoot them with arrows;
suddenly they will be struck down” (vs. 7). “By an abrupt but beautiful transition
he describes the tables as completely turned upon the enemy” [Alexander, 282].
God can turn things around on a dime.
David was confident that God would use the sin of the evildoers to bring about
their downfall: “He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to
ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn” (vs. 8). Seeing the
punishment of the wicked will enhance the fear and reverence of God in His
people: “All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder
what He has done” (vs. 9).
Seeing God bring about justice is a cause for the righteous to rejoice: “Let the
righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him; let all the upright in heart
praise Him!” (vs. 10). “When woe and wrack come upon the wicked, then joy and
comfort come to the godly, not so much for the damage of the wicked, as for the
manifestation of the glory of God” [Dickson, 378]. “Their observation of
providence shall increase their faith; since He who fulfills His threatenings will not
forget His promises” [Spurgeon].
As can be inferred from his psalms, David led a life full of woe and trouble. For
those of us who live in relative peace and tranquility, we can praise the Lord.
However, there can be danger too in living tranquil life. “What an unspeakable
blessing it is to be allowed to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty, free from the tempests which have tossed the barks of so many good men,
of whom David was but a sample. But let us not forget that a calm which puts us to
sleep may be more fatal than a storm which keeps us wide awake. David was in
more danger when he was attracted by the beauty of Bathsheba, than when Saul
was pursuing him in the wilderness” [Plumer].
-----------
Bibliography and Suggested Reading
Alexander,
Joseph
Addison.
The
Psalms
Translated
and
Explained
.
Edinburgh:
Andrew Elliot, 1864.
Anonymous.
A
Plain
Commentary
on
the
Book
of
Psalms
.
Philadelphia:
Henry
Hooker and Co., 1857.
Barnes,
Albert.
Notes
on
the
Book
of
Psalms
.
New
York:
Harper
&
Brothers
Publishing, 1871.
Bonar,
Andrew.
Christ
and
His
Church
in
the
Book
of
Psalms
.
New
York:
Robert
Carter & Brothers, 1860.
Calvin,
John.
A
Commentary
on
the
Book
of
Psalms
.
3
Vols.
Oxford:
D.
A.
Talboys,
1840. (Originally published in Latin in 1557).
Clarke,
Adam.
The
Holy
Bible
with
a
Commentary
and
Critical
Notes
.
Vol.
III.
London:
William Tegg & Co., 1854. (Originally published in 1831).
Cowles,
Henry.
The
Psalms
with
Notes,
Critical,
Explanatory
and
Practical
.
New
York:
D. Appleton & Co., 1872.
Darby,
John
Nelson.
Practical
Reflections
on
the
Psalms
.
London:
Robert
L.
Allan,
1870.
Delitzsch,
Franz.
Biblical
Commentary
on
the
Psalms.
Edinburgh:
T
&
T
Clark,
1892.
(Originally published in 1860).
Dickson,
David.
An
Explication
of
the
Other
Fifty
Psalms,
from
Ps.
50
to
Ps.
100.
Cornhill, U.K.: Ralph Smith, 1653.
Exell,
Joseph
S.
and
Henry
Donald
Spence-Jones,
eds.
The
Pulpit
Commentary
.
Vols.
17, 18, & 19. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1884.
Hengstenberg, F. W.
Commentary on the Psalms
. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1864.
Henry,
Matthew.
An
Exposition
of
All
the
Books
of
the
Old
and
New
Testament
.
Vol.
II.
London: W. Baynes, 1806. (Originally published in 1710).
Horne,
George.
A
Commentary
on
the
Book
of
Psalms.
New
York:
Robert
Carter
&
Brothers, 1854.
Jamieson,
Robert;
Fausset,
A.
R.;
Brown,
David.
A
Commentary:
Critical,
Experimental,
and
Practical
on
the
Old
and
New
Testaments.
Glasgow:
William
Collins, Queen’s Printer, 1863.
Kidner,
Derek.
Psalms
(in
2
Vols.).
Downers
Grove,
IL:
InterVarsity
Press,
2008
(first
published in 1975).
Kirkpatrick,
A.
F.
The
Book
of
Psalms
with
Introduction
and
Notes
–
Books
II
and
III
(from
The
Cambridge
Bible
for
Schools
and
Colleges).
Cambridge,
UK:
University
Press, 1895.
Lange,
John
Peter,
ed.
and
Philip
Schaff,
trans.
A
Commentary
on
the
Holy
Scriptures:
Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical
. New York: Charles Scribner & Co., 1865.
Maclaren,
Alexander.
The
Psalms
(in
3
Vols.,
from
The
Expositor’s
Bible,
ed.
by
W.
R.
Nicoll). New York: A. C. Armstrong and Son, 1901.
Perowne,
J.
J.
Stewart.
The
Book
of
Psalms:
A
New
Translation
with
Explanatory
Notes
.
London: George Bell & Sons, 1880.
Plumer,
William
S.
Studies
in
the
Book
of
Psalms
.
Philadelphia:
J.
B.
Lippincott
&
Co., 1872.
Scott, Thomas.
Commentary on the Holy Bible
, Vol. III. London: James Nisbet, 1866.
Spurgeon,
Charles.
The
Treasury
of
David
.
6
Vols.
London:
Marshall
Brothers,
Ltd.,
1885.
Tholuck,
Augustus.
A
Translation
and
Commentary
of
the
Book
of
Psalms
.
Philadelphia: Martien, 1858.
Trapp,
John.
A
Commentary
on
the
Old
and
New
Testaments
.
Vol.
II
(Ezra
to
Psalms).
Edmonton,
Canada:
Still
Waters
Revival
Books
(www.PuritanDownloads.com).
(Originally published c. 1660).
VanGemeren,
Willem
A.,
(Gaebelein,
Frank
E.,
ed).
Expositor’s
Bible
Commentary
,
Vol. 5 – Psalms to Song of Songs. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991.
--
Most
of
these
books
(those
in
the
public
domain)
can
be
downloaded,
free
of
charge, from the
Classic Christian Library,
at:
http://www.ClassicChristianLibrary.com
© 1994-2017, Scott Sperling
A Study by Scott Sperling
Psalm 64 -
David’s Enemies, and Their Downfall
For the director of music.
A psalm of David.
1
Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint;
protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
2
Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from that noisy crowd of evildoers.
3
They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim their words like deadly arrows.
4
They shoot from ambush at the innocent man;
they shoot at him suddenly, without fear.
5
They encourage each other in evil plans,
they talk about hiding their snares;
they say, “Who will see them?”
6
They plot injustice and say,
“We have devised a perfect plan!”
Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning.
7
But God will shoot them with arrows;
suddenly they will be struck down.
8
He will turn their own tongues against them
and bring them to ruin;
all who see them
will shake their heads in scorn.
9
All mankind will fear;
they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what He has done.
10
Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in Him;
let all the upright in heart praise Him!
The inscription of this psalm tells us that it is “A psalm
of David,” and certainly there can be no doubt about
this. Like many of David’s psalms, this one begins
with a plea to God concerning his enemies. “David’s
life was one of conflict, and very seldom does he get
through a Psalm without mentioning his enemies”
[Spurgeon]. Also, typically for psalms of David, the
psalm ends with confidence that God will remedy the
situation.
David begins: “Hear me, O God, as I voice my
complaint; protect my life from the threat of the
enemy” (vs. 1). David would always run to God in
times of trouble. So should we. “In all our troubles,
whether beset by the unceasing and infinite malice of
the devil, the perfidy of men, or the ingratitude of the
world, it is best to carry our cause immediately to God
in prayer” [Plumer, 638]. “The danger cannot be so
great, wherein help may not be had from God; He is so
near to a supplicant, so powerful, and so ready to save
the man who hath made God his refuge” [Dickson,
375].
“Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from
that noisy crowd of evildoers” (vs. 2). It is important,
in order to have confidence in prayer, that we remain
on the side of right in our conflicts. “That we may
have the greater confidence to be delivered from our
enemies, we had need to be sure that we are in a good
cause, and that our adversaries have a wrong cause”
[Dickson, 376].
“They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim
their words like deadly arrows” (vs. 3). The weapon
of war in this battle of David’s is the tongue. “The
ingenuity of man has been wonderfully tasked and
exercised in two things, inventing destructive weapons
of war, and devising various methods of ruining men
by wicked words” [Plumer]. The tongue can be a
devastating weapon, and it is all the more dangerous
because all evildoers have easy access to it. “Slander
has ever been the master weapon of the good man’s
enemies, and great is the care of the malicious to use it
effectively” [Spurgeon]. I dare say, we have all been on
the receiving side of slander and malicious talk. “If
David, the modest, humble man, who in difficult
circumstances acted so wisely, and was withal the man
after God’s own heart, was permitted to be so traduced
that probably no mere man was ever more vilified than
he, surely we, who fall so far short of his attainments
in everything good ought not to be surprised if we
suffer sadly in the same way” [Plumer, 639]. “How
much, then, doth it concern every man to walk
circumspectly; to give no just cause of reproach, not to
make himself a scorn to the fools of the world; but, if
they will reproach (as certainly they will), let it be for
forwardness in God’s ways, and not for sin, that so the
reproach may fall upon their own heads, and their
scandalous language into their own throats”
[Burroughs, in Spurgeon].
“They shoot from ambush at the innocent man; they
shoot at him suddenly, without fear” (vs. 4). So often
the evil one works concealed, “from ambush.” “Satan
lets fly a temptation so secretly, that he is hardly
suspected in the thing. Sometimes he uses a wife’s
tongue to do his errand; another while he gets behind
the back of a husband, friend, servant, etc., and is not
seen all the while he is doing his work. Who would
have thought to have found a devil in Peter, tempting
his Master, or suspected that Abraham should be the
instrument to betray his beloved wife into the hands of
a sin? Yet it was so. Nay, sometimes he is so secret,
that he borrows God’s bow to shoot his arrows from,
and the poor Christian is abused, thinking it is God
who chides and is angry, when it is the devil who
tempts him to think so, and only counterfeits God’s
voice” [Gurnall, in Spurgeon].
“They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk
about hiding their snares; they say, ‘Who will see
them?’” (vs. 5). Sadly, there is great loyalty in the
brotherhood of the evil. They ever encourage each
other.
In verse 4, we saw that the shots David’s enemies were
fired “without fear.” They feared not man nor God.
Here we see that they encourage each other in their
defiant lack of fear of God, saying of the snares they
lay, “Who will see them?” “Godless men are
dangerous enemies, for they fear not God, and so have
no powerful restraint within them from doing any
mischief, and the more they sin, they acquire the
greater boldness to sin more… Yea, Satan so blindeth
them, that they neither look to God, the avenger of
such plots and practices, nor do they consider that God
seeth them, and they think their pretences before men
are so thick a covering, that no man can see through
them” [Dickson, 377]. “They please themselves with
an atheistical conceit that God Himself takes no notice
of their wicked practices. A practical disbelief of God’s
omniscience is at the bottom of all the wickedness of
the wicked” [Henry]. The fear of God is a healthy
thing, keeping us on the path of the righteous.
“They plot injustice and say, ‘We have devised a
perfect plan!’ Surely the mind and heart of man are
cunning” (vs. 6). They don’t just do evil, they “plot
injustice.” “They rack their invention and ransack
their memory for modes of doing mischief”
[Alexander, 282]. “They are very industrious in
putting their projects in execution” [Henry]. If only
such effort was put toward constructive purposes.
Does not all look hopeless for David? Yet, how quickly
can the situation change! With just two words, one’s
whole perspective on his troubles can be transformed:
“But God…” As David continues: “But God will
shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be struck
down” (vs. 7). “By an abrupt but beautiful transition
he describes the tables as completely turned upon the
enemy” [Alexander, 282]. God can turn things around
on a dime.
David was confident that God would use the sin of the
evildoers to bring about their downfall: “He will turn
their own tongues against them and bring them to
ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in
scorn” (vs. 8). Seeing the punishment of the wicked
will enhance the fear and reverence of God in His
people: “All mankind will fear; they will proclaim
the works of God and ponder what He has done” (vs.
9).
Seeing God bring about justice is a cause for the
righteous to rejoice: “Let the righteous rejoice in the
Lord and take refuge in Him; let all the upright in
heart praise Him!” (vs. 10). “When woe and wrack
come upon the wicked, then joy and comfort come to
the godly, not so much for the damage of the wicked,
as for the manifestation of the glory of God” [Dickson,
378]. “Their observation of providence shall increase
their faith; since He who fulfills His threatenings will
not forget His promises” [Spurgeon].
As can be inferred from his psalms, David led a life
full of woe and trouble. For those of us who live in
relative peace and tranquility, we can praise the Lord.
However, there can be danger too in living tranquil
life. “What an unspeakable blessing it is to be allowed
to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty, free from the tempests which have tossed the
barks of so many good men, of whom David was but a
sample. But let us not forget that a calm which puts us
to sleep may be more fatal than a storm which keeps
us wide awake. David was in more danger when he
was attracted by the beauty of Bathsheba, than when
Saul was pursuing him in the wilderness” [Plumer].
-----------
Bibliography and Suggested Reading
Alexander,
Joseph
Addison.
The
Psalms
Translated
and
Explained
. Edinburgh: Andrew Elliot, 1864.
Anonymous.
A
Plain
Commentary
on
the
Book
of
Psalms
.
Philadelphia: Henry Hooker and Co., 1857.
Barnes,
Albert.
Notes
on
the
Book
of
Psalms
.
New
York:
Harper & Brothers Publishing, 1871.
Bonar,
Andrew.
Christ
and
His
Church
in
the
Book
of
Psalms
. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860.
Calvin,
John.
A
Commentary
on
the
Book
of
Psalms
.
3
Vols.
Oxford:
D.
A.
Talboys,
1840.
(Originally
published in Latin in 1557).
Clarke,
Adam.
The
Holy
Bible
with
a
Commentary
and
Critical
Notes
.
Vol.
III.
London:
William
Tegg
&
Co.,
1854. (Originally published in 1831).
Cowles,
Henry.
The
Psalms
with
Notes,
Critical,
Explanatory
and
Practical
.
New
York:
D.
Appleton
&
Co., 1872.
Darby,
John
Nelson.
Practical
Reflections
on
the
Psalms
.
London: Robert L. Allan, 1870.
Delitzsch,
Franz.
Biblical
Commentary
on
the
Psalms.
Edinburgh:
T
&
T
Clark,
1892.
(Originally
published
in 1860).
Dickson,
David.
An
Explication
of
the
Other
Fifty
Psalms,
from
Ps.
50
to
Ps.
100.
Cornhill,
U.K.:
Ralph
Smith,
1653.
Exell,
Joseph
S.
and
Henry
Donald
Spence-Jones,
eds.
The
Pulpit
Commentary
.
Vols.
17,
18,
&
19.
New
York:
Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1884.
Hengstenberg,
F.
W.
Commentary
on
the
Psalms
.
Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1864.
Henry,
Matthew.
An
Exposition
of
All
the
Books
of
the
Old
and
New
Testament
.
Vol.
II.
London:
W.
Baynes,
1806. (Originally published in 1710).
Horne,
George.
A
Commentary
on
the
Book
of
Psalms.
New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1854.
Jamieson,
Robert;
Fausset,
A.
R.;
Brown,
David.
A
Commentary:
Critical,
Experimental,
and
Practical
on
the
Old
and
New
Testaments.
Glasgow:
William
Collins,
Queen’s Printer, 1863.
Kidner,
Derek.
Psalms
(in
2
Vols.).
Downers
Grove,
IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2008 (first published in 1975).
Kirkpatrick,
A.
F.
The
Book
of
Psalms
with
Introduction
and
Notes
–
Books
II
and
III
(from
The
Cambridge
Bible
for
Schools
and
Colleges).
Cambridge,
UK:
University Press, 1895.
Lange,
John
Peter,
ed.
and
Philip
Schaff,
trans.
A
Commentary
on
the
Holy
Scriptures:
Critical,
Doctrinal,
and
Homiletical
.
New
York:
Charles
Scribner
&
Co.,
1865.
Maclaren,
Alexander.
The
Psalms
(in
3
Vols.,
from
The
Expositor’s
Bible,
ed.
by
W.
R.
Nicoll).
New
York:
A.
C. Armstrong and Son, 1901.
Perowne,
J.
J.
Stewart.
The
Book
of
Psalms:
A
New
Translation
with
Explanatory
Notes
.
London:
George
Bell & Sons, 1880.
Plumer,
William
S.
Studies
in
the
Book
of
Psalms
.
Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1872.
Scott,
Thomas.
Commentary
on
the
Holy
Bible
,
Vol.
III.
London: James Nisbet, 1866.
Spurgeon,
Charles.
The
Treasury
of
David
.
6
Vols.
London: Marshall Brothers, Ltd., 1885.
Tholuck,
Augustus.
A
Translation
and
Commentary
of
the Book of Psalms
. Philadelphia: Martien, 1858.
Trapp,
John.
A
Commentary
on
the
Old
and
New
Testaments
.
Vol.
II
(Ezra
to
Psalms).
Edmonton,
Canada:
Still
Waters
Revival
Books
(www.PuritanDownloads.com).
(Originally
published c. 1660).
VanGemeren,
Willem
A.,
(Gaebelein,
Frank
E.,
ed).
Expositor’s
Bible
Commentary
,
Vol.
5
–
Psalms
to
Song
of Songs. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991.
--
Most
of
these
books
(those
in
the
public
domain)
can
be
downloaded,
free
of
charge,
from
the
Classic
Christian Library,
at:
http://www.ClassicChristianLibrary.com
