1Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of
the enemy.
2Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the
workers of iniquity,
3Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
And bend their bows to shoot
their arrows—bitter words,
4That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him and
do not fear.
5They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They talk of laying snares
secretly;
They say, “Who will see them?”
6They devise iniquities: “We have
perfected a shrewd scheme.”
Both the inward thought and
the heart of man are deep.
7But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly they shall be
wounded.
8So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;
All who see them shall flee
away.
9All men shall fear,
And shall declare the work of
God;
For they shall wisely consider
His doing.
10The righteous shall be glad in the Lord,
and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart
shall glory.
Commentary
Vs.
1 “Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of
the enemy.”
When a righteous person becomes effective, they then become a target. And so once again David is the target of evil and unjust people, people whom have set themselves against him. David begins his defense though not by his own might, nor by his own power, but by prayer, asking our God to hear his voice as he meditates on Him and his circumstances. In doing so David realizes an inner fear, for having already been through their threats and violence on several occasions, David knows that fear can easily overtake him, therefore he asks God to preserve him from it, so that he can keep living a life of faith, boldly.
Vs. 2-4 2Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the
workers of iniquity,
3Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
And bend their bows to shoot
their arrows—bitter words,
4That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him and
do not fear.
David’s prayer continues by asking God to hide him from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity. For that is what they do when they target a righteous person, they first begin by undermining them with defaming speech, using all kinds of bitter words so as to make others also hate them. Arousing then all kinds of ill will and distrust against them, they then look for the workers of iniquity, people of rebellion, people who do not fear God, people of low degree, to do their bidding for them. For they don't get their hands dirty in all of this, no they employ others to do their dirty work for them. And so first they sharpen their tongue like a warrior sharpens his sword before battle, for that is their weapon of choice, then they bend their bow so that they can shoot their arrows at the ones they hate, the righteous, the blameless, shooting at them with bitter words meant to awaken and arouse much hatred, fear, and violence against us. For they, and those who listen to them, do not fear God, for slandering someone or lying about them, to them is just a means to an end, a means to accomplish their evil desires on us by arousing peoples fears and anger and turning them against us.
Vs. 5-6 5They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They talk of laying snares
secretly;
They say, “Who will see them?”
6They devise iniquities: “We have
perfected a shrewd scheme.”
Both the inward thought and
the heart of man are deep.
Thus, united the workers of iniquity now encourage themselves in their evil plot, they talk brazenly amongst themselves of laying snares secretly so as to trap their victim in them. For they say, “Who will see them?” In other words, who will call them to account? For they have skillfully placed themselves in minds of others, or in positions of power and authority, so as to be thought of as the “good ones.” And so they devise iniquities, evil means meant ensnare someone so they might accuse them (consider Nehemiah 6:1-14), all the while saying amongst themselves, “We have perfected a shrewd scheme.” David then in his meditation comes to understand that, “Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.” In other words, the depths of evil men’s plots and schemes, the low levels that they will go to, cannot be measured.
Vs. 7-10 7But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly they shall be
wounded.
8So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;
All who see them shall flee
away.
9All men shall fear,
And shall declare the work of
God;
For they shall wisely consider
His doing.
10The righteous shall be glad in the Lord,
and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart
shall glory.
Even though people were plotting against David, he knows what they do not, and that is God will be the One to defeat them. For in His time and in His way he shall shoot at them, suddenly they who once were so confident in their evil ways shall be wounded! Indeed, their skilful tongues in which they trust God Himself will make them all to stumble over, and this He will do to them in the presence of men. All who see them, even those who once united themselves with them, will flee away when they see God’s judgment on them (vs.7-8). Indeed, all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God when they see His Judgment on them; for they shall wisely consider His doing (vs. 9). Therefore “the righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.” Vs. 10
For God will bring justice for those they have attacked and ruined, amen.
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
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