Psalms 64King James Version
Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord.
A petition against secret plotters. Enemies whet their tongue like a sword and shoot bitter words from ambush. They encourage each other, sure no one will see. God's response is swift and symmetrical: he will shoot at them with an arrow and their own tongue will fall upon them. The psalm pivots from the precision of their plotting to the precision of divine retaliation, closing in fear, wonder, and praise.
The conspiracy that hides itself in secret is not hidden from God, and the very weapon of its destruction is the same tongue it wielded against the innocent.
verse: "But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded." The symmetry is exact: they shot secret arrows; God shoots one visible arrow and ends it.
Superscription: 'To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.' No historical event specified. The precise description of coordinated slander may reflect royal court intrigue. The 'deep' heart (v6) of the conspirators is a psychological observation: their evil is layered and internalized, not impulsive.
David as the petitioner needing preservation; unnamed conspirators who shoot words and lay secret snares; God as the counter-archer; all mankind who will see and declare the work of God.
Psalm 64 exemplifies the lex talionis principle embedded in the wisdom tradition: the wicked are brought down by the same means they used to harm others. The specific description of coordinated conspiracy (vv5-6) reads almost forensically. The psalm's confident final pivot to universal wonder and praise is characteristic of Book 2.
For when you know people are working against you in private and you cannot expose them or stop them. The psalm does not require you to act; it delegates the action.
1[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.] Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
3Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
4That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
5They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?
6They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.
7But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
8So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.
9And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.
10The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.