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Psalm Sixty-four
Psalm 64
Chapter Contents
Prayer for deliverance. (1-6) The destruction of the
wicked, encouragement to the righteous. (7-10)
Commentary on Psalm 64:1-6
(Read Psalm 64:1-6)
The psalmist earnestly begs of God to preserve him from
disquieting fear. The tongue is a little member, but it boasts great things.
The upright man is the mark at which the wicked aim, they cannot speak
peaceably either of him or to him. There is no guard against a false tongue. It
is bad to do wrong, but worse to encourage ourselves and one another in it. It
is a sign that the heart is hardened to the greatest degree, when it is thus
fully set to do evil. A practical disbelief of God's knowledge of all things,
is at the bottom of every wickedness. The benefit of a good cause and a good
conscience, appears most when nothing can help a man against his enemies, save
God alone, who is always a present help.
Commentary on Psalm 64:7-10
(Read Psalm 64:7-10)
When God brings upon men the mischiefs they have desired
on others, it is weight enough to sink a man to the lowest hell. Those who love
cursing, it shall come upon them. Those who behold this shall understand, and
observe God's hand in all; unless we do so, we are not likely to profit by the
dispensations of Providence. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord; not glad
of the misery and ruin of their fellow-creatures, but glad that God is
glorified, and his word fulfilled, and the cause of injured innocence pleaded
effectually. They rejoice not in men, nor in themselves, nor in any creature,
or creature enjoyments, nor in their wisdom, strength, riches, or
righteousness; but in Christ, in whom all the seed of Israel are justified and
glory, and in what he is to them, and has done for them.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 64
Verse 6
[6] They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent
search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.
Iniquities — They study diligently, to find
new ways of doing mischief.
Deep — Cunning, both to contrive and conceal, and to execute
their plots.
Verse 8
[8] So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon
themselves: all that see them shall flee away.
Flee — Through fear of being involved in their destruction.
Verse 10
[10] The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust
in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.
Glad — For the honour of God, which by this means is
vindicated.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
TITLE. To the
Chief Musician. The leader of the choir, for the time being, is charged
with this song. It were well if the chief musicians of all our congregations
estimated their duty at its due solemnity, for it is no mean thing to be called
to lead the sacred song of God's people, and the responsibility is by no means
light. A Psalm of David. His life was one of conflict, and very seldom
does he finish a Psalm without mentioning his enemies; in this instance his
thoughts are wholly occupied with prayer against them.
DIVISION. From Ps 64:1-6
he describes the cruelty and craftiness of his foes, and from Ps 64:7-10 he
prophesies their overthrow.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer. It often helps
devotion if we are able to use the voice and speak audibly; but even mental
prayer has a voice with God which he will hear. We do not read that Moses had
spoken with his lips at the Red Sea, and yet the Lord said to him, "Why
criest thou unto me?" Prayers which are unheard on earth may be among the
best heard in heaven. It is our duty to note how constantly David turns to
prayer; it is his battle axe and weapon of war; he uses it under every pressure,
whether of inward sin or outward wrath, foreign invasion or domestic rebellion.
We shall act wisely if we make prayer to God our first and best trusted
resource in every hour of need. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. From
harm and dread of harm protect me; or it may be read as an expression of his
assurance that it would be so; "from fear of the foe thou wilt preserve
me." With all our sacrifices of prayer we should offer the salt of faith.
Verse
2. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked. From their
hidden snares hide me. Circumvent their counsel; let their secrets be met by
thy secret providence, their counsels of malice by thy counsels of love. From
the insurrection of the workers of iniquity. When their secret counsels break
forth into clamorous tumults, be thou still my preserver. When they think evil,
let thy divine thoughts defeat them; and when they do evil, let thy powerful
justice overthrow them: in both cases, let me be out of reach of their cruel
hand, and even out of sight of their evil eye. It is a good thing to conquer
malicious foes, but a better thing still to be screened from all conflict with
them, by being hidden from the strife. The Lord knows how to give his people
peace, and when he wills to make quiet, he is more than a match for all
disturbers, and can defeat alike their deep laid plots and their overt
hostilities.
Verse
3. Who whet their tongue like a sword. 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. As warriors grind their swords, to give them
an edge which will cut deep and wound desperately, so do the unscrupulous
invent falsehoods which shall be calculated to inflict pain, to stab the
reputation, to kill the honour of the righteous. What is there which an evil
tongue will not say? What misery will it not labour to inflict? And bend their
bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words. Far off they dart their
calumnies, as archers shoot their poisoned arrows. They studiously and with
force prepare their speech as bent bows, and then with cool, deliberate aim,
they let fly the shaft which they have dipped in bitterness. To sting, to
inflict anguish, to destroy, is their one design. Insult, sarcasm, taunting
defiance, nicknaming, all these were practised among Orientals as a kind of
art; and if in these Western regions, with more refined manners, we are less
addicted to the use of rough abuse, it is yet to be feared that the less
apparent venom of the tongue inflicts none the less poignant pain. However, in
all cases, let us fly to the Lord for help. David had but the one resource of
prayer against the twofold weapons of the wicked, for defence against sword or
arrow he used the one defence of faith in God.
Verse
4. That they may shoot in secret at the perfect. They lie in
ambush, with bows ready bent to aim a coward's shaft at the upright man.
Sincere and upright conduct will not secure us from the assaults of slander.
The devil shot at our Lord himself, and we may rest assured he has a fiery dart
in reserve for us; He was absolutely perfect, we are only so in a relative
sense, hence in us there is fuel for fiery darts to kindle on. Observe the
meanness of malicious men; they will not accept fair combat, they shun the open
field, and skulk in the bushes, lying in ambush against those who are not so
acquainted with deceit as to suspect their treachery, and are to manly to
imitate their despicable modes of warfare. Suddenly do they shoot at him, and
fear not. To secrecy they add suddenness. They give their unsuspecting victim
no chance of defending himself; they pounce on him like a wild beast leaping on
its prey. They lay their plans so warily that they fear no detection. We have
seen in daily life the arrow of calumny wounding its victim sorely; and yet we
have not been able to discover the quarter from which the weapon was shot, nor
to detect the hand which forged the arrowhead, or tinged it with the poison. Is
it possible for justice to invent a punishment sufficiently severe to meet the
case of the dastard who defiles my good name, and remains himself in
concealment? An open liar is an angel compared with this demon. Vipers and
cobras are harmless and amiable creatures compared with such a reptile. The
devil himself might blush at being the father of so base an offspring.
Verse
5. They encourage themselves in an evil matter. Good men are
frequently discouraged, and not infrequently discourage one another, but the
children of darkness are wise in their generation and keep their spirits up,
and each one has a cheering word to say to his fellow villain. Anything by
which they can strengthen each other's hands in their one common design they
resort to; their hearts are thoroughly in their black work. They commune of
laying snares privily. Laying their heads together they count and recount their
various devices, so as to come at some new and masterly device. They know the
benefit of cooperation, and are not sparing in it; they pour their experience
into one common fund, they teach each other fresh methods. They say, Who shall
see them? So sedulously do they mask their attacks, that they defy discovery;
their pitfalls are too well hidden, and themselves too carefully concealed to
be found out. So they think, but they forget the all seeing eye, and the all discovering
hand, which are ever hard by them. Great plots are usually laid bare. As in the
Gunpowder Plot, there is usually a breakdown somewhere or other; among the
conspirators themselves truth finds an ally, or the stones of the field cry out
against them. Let no Christian be in bondage through fear of deep laid
Jesuitical schemes, for surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, nor
divination against Israel; the toils of the net are broken, the arrows of the
bow are snapped, the devices of the wicked are foiled. Therefore, fear not, ye
tremblers; for the Lord is at your right hand, and ye shall not be hurt of the
enemy.
Verse
6. They search out iniquities. Diligently they consider,
invent, devise, and seek for wicked plans to wreak their malice. These are no
common villains, but explorers in iniquity, inventors and concoctors of evil.
Sad indeed it is that to ruin a good man the evil disposed will often show as
much avidity as if they were searching after treasure. The Inquisition could
display instruments of torture, revealing as much skill as the machinery of our
modern exhibitions. The deep places of history, manifesting most the skill of
the human mind, are those in which revenge has arranged diplomacy, and used
intrigue to compass its diabolical purposes. They accomplish a diligent search.
Their design is perfected, consummated, and brought into working order. They
cry "Eureka; "they have sought and found the sure method of
vengeance. Exquisite are the refinements of malice! hell's craft furnishes inspiration
to the artistes who fashion deceit. Earth and the places under it are
ransacked for the material of war, and profound skill turns all to
account. Both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.
No superficial wit is theirs; but sagacity, sharpened by practice and keen
hatred. Wicked men have frequently the craft to hasten slowly, to please in
order to ruin, to flatter that ere long they may devour, to bow the knee that
they may ultimately crush beneath their foot. He who deals with the serpent's
seed has good need of the wisdom which is from above: the generation of vipers
twist and turn, wind and wiggle, yet evermore they are set upon their purpose,
and go the nearest way to it when they wander round about. Alas! how dangerous is
the believer's condition, and how readily may he be overcome if left to
himself. This is the complaint of reason and the moan of unbelief. When faith
comes in, we see that even in all this the saints are still secure, for they
are all in the hands of God.
Verse
7. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow. They shot, and
shall be shot. A greater archer than they are shall take sure aim at their
hearts. One of his arrows shall be enough, for he never misses his aim. The
Lord turns the tables on his adversaries, and defeats them at their own
weapons. Suddenly shall they be wounded. They were looking to surprise the
saint, but, lo! they are taken at unawares themselves; they desired to inflict
deadly wounds, and are smitten themselves with wounds which none can heal.
While they were bending their bows, the great Lord had prepared his bow
already, and he let slip the shaft when least they looked for such an unsparing
messenger of justice. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the
Lord." The righteous need not learn the arts of self defence or of attack,
their avenging is in better hands than their own.
Verse
9. And all men shall fear. They shall be filled with awe by
the just judgments of God, as the Canaanites were by the overthrow of Pharaoh
at the Red Sea. Those who might have been bold in sin shall be made to tremble
and to stand in awe of the righteous Judge. And shall declare the work of God.
It shall become the subject of general conversation. So strange, so pointed, so
terrible shall be the Lord's overthrow of the malicious, that it shall be
spoken of in all companies. They sinned secretly, but their punishment shall be
wrought before the face of the sun. For they shall wisely consider of his
doing. The judgments of God are frequently so clear and manifest that men
cannot misread them, and if they have any thought at all, they must extract the
true teaching from them. Some of the divine judgments are a great deep, but in
the case of malicious persecutors the matter is plain enough, and the most
illiterate can understand.
Verse
10. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord. Admiring his
justice and fully acquiescing in its displays, they shall also rejoice at the
rescue of injured innocence yet, their joy shall not be selfish or sensual, but
altogether in reference to the Lord. And shall trust in him. Their observation
of providence shall increase their faith; since he who fulfils his threatenings
will not forget his promises. And all the upright in heart shall glory. The
victory of the oppressed shall be the victory of all upright men; the whole
host of the elect shall rejoice in the triumph of virtue. While strangers fear,
the children are glad in view of their Father's power and justice. That which
alarms the evil, cheers the good. Lord God of mercy, grant to us to be
preserved from all our enemies, and saved in thy Son with an everlasting
salvation.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. This Psalm is applied by R. Obadiah to Haman and Mordecai. The
enemy is Haman, the perfect man shot at is Mordecai; about whom Haman communed
with his friends to lay snares for him, and search diligently for occasions
against him and his people, which issued in his own destruction. The ancient
Midrash of the Jews applies it to Daniel, when cast into the den of lions; and
Jarchi supposes that David, by a spirit of prophecy, foresaw it, and prayed for
him who was of his seed; and that everything in the Psalm beautifully falls in
with that account. Daniel is the perfect man aimed at; the enemy are the
princes of Darius's court, who consulted against him, communed of laying snares
for him, and gained their point, which proved their own ruin. But the Psalm
literally belongs to David, by whom it was composed. John Gill.
Whole
Psalm. A cry of God's elect, when persecuted for righteousness' sake, to
their Deliverer and sure Avenger. The general principle stated is very clear.
The Psalm will adjust itself, as an experimental utterance, to the lips of
Christian faith wherever brought into contact with the evil forces of the
prince of this world, so as to suffer affliction for the gospel's sake; for it
expresses the condition and the hope of one actually imperilled for the truth.
How aptly a portion of this Psalm applies to the suffering Truth Himself in the
days of his affliction, when, pierced in his spirit by lying words, he endured
the contradiction of sinners against himself, needs not be pointed out. Arthur
Pridham, in "Notes and Reflections on the Psalms," 1869.
Verse
1. Preserve my life. Hebrew, lives; so called for the
many faculties, operations, revolutions, and commodities of life. John
Trapp.
Verse
3. Who whet their tongue, etc. The verb means, says
Parkhurst, "to whet, sharpen, "which is performed by reiterated
motion of friction; and by a beautiful metaphor it is applied to a wicked
tongue. It has, however, been rendered, vibrate, as it is certain a
serpent does his tongue. Richard Mant.
Verse
3. 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. The list of the former is found in military
writings. But the various forms of evil speaking can hardly be catalogued. Evil
speakers have arrows, sharp, barbed, dipped in poison. They have "swords,
flaming swords, two edged swords, drawn swords, drawn in anger, with which they
cut, and wound, and kill the good name of their neighbour." Sins of the
tongue are commonly very cruel. When slander is secret, as it commonly is, you
cannot defend yourself from its assaults. Its canons are infernal. One of them
is, "If a lie will do better than the truth, tell a lie." Another is,
"Heap on reproach; some of it will stick." William S. Plumer.
Verses
3-4. We saw in the Museum at Venice an instrument with which one of
the old Italian tyrants was accustomed to shoot poisoned needles at the objects
of his wanton malignity. We thought of gossips, backbiters, and secret
slanderers, and wished that their mischievous devices might come to a speedy
end. Their weapons of innuendo, shrug, and whisper, appear to be as
insignificant as needles: but the venom which they instil is deadly to many a
reputation. C. H. Spurgeon, in "Feathers for Arrows; or, Illustrations
for Preachers and Teachers," 1870.
Verses
3-4. David, upon sad experience, compares a wicked, reviling tongue to
three fatal weapons—a razor, a sword, and an arrow. To a razor,
such a one as will take off every little hair: so a reviling tongue will not
only take advantage of every gross sin committed by others, but those
peccadilloes, the least infirmities which others better qualified cannot so
much as discern; secondly, to a sword that wounds: so the tongues of
reproaching men cut deeply into the credits and reputations of their brethren,
but a sword doth mischief only near hand, not afar off; and, therefore, it is
in the third place compared to an arrow, that can hit at a distance: and
so revilers do not ill offices to those only in the parish or town where they
live, but to others far remote. 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. Jeremiah Burroughs.
Verses
3, 7-8. The most mischievous weapons of the wicked are words, even
bitter words; but the Word is the chief weapon of the Holy Spirit:
and as with this sword the great Captain foiled the tempter in the wilderness,
so may we vanquish "the workers of iniquity" with the true Jerusalem
blade. J. L. K.
Verse
4. That they may shoot in secret. The wicked are said to
shoot their arrows in secret at the perfect; and then "they say,
Who shall see them?" Ps 64:5. Thus Satan lets fly a temptation so
secretly, that he is hardly suspected in the thing. Sometimes he useth 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 chides and is angry, when it is the devil tempts him to
think so, and only counterfeits God's voice. William Gurnall.
Verse
8. (first clause).
In
these cases,
We still have judgment here, that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor: This even handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips. William Shakespeare.
Verse
8. Their own tongue to fall upon themselves. That is, their
own words shall be brought as a testimony against them, and condemn them.
"The tongue is a little member" (Jas 3:5), and therefore a light
member; yet it falls heavy, as heavy as lead. A man were better have his house
fall upon him, than that, in this sense, his tongue should fall upon him. Some
have been pressed to death because they would not speak, but stood mute before
the judge; but more have been pressed to death by their sinful freedom, or
rather licentiousness in speaking; this hath brought them to judgment, and cast
them in judgment... A strange thing, that the fall of a man's tongue should
oppress his body and whole estate; yet so it is, the weight of a man's tongue
falling upon him crushes him to powder. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
8. Their own tongue to fall upon themselves. The arrows of
idle words, though shot out of sight, and possibly quite forgotten, will
hereafter drop down upon the heads of such as drew the bow. Words are but wind,
is the common saying, but they are such wind as will either blow the soul to
its haven of rest, if holy, wholesome, savoury, spiritual, and tending to
edification, or else sink it into the Dead Sea and bottomless gulf of eternal
misery, if idle, profane, frothy, and unprofitable. Edward Reyner
(1600-1670) in "Rules for the Government of the Tongue."
Verse
10. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in
him. That is, if they have failed in their trust heretofore, and not given
God honour by confiding in him, yet these wonderful works of God (of which he
speaks in the Psalm) work this hope. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
10. All the upright in heart. The word of this text, jashar,
signifies rectitudinem, and planitiem, it signifies a direct way;
for the devil's way was circular, compassing the earth; but the angel's way to
heaven upon Jacob's ladder was a straight, a direct way. And then it signifies,
as a direct and straight, so a plain, a smooth, an even way, a way that hath
been beaten into a path before, a way that the fathers and the church have
walked in before, and not a discovery made by our curiosity, or our confidence,
in venturing from ourselves, or embracing from others, new doctrines and
opinions. The persons, then, whom God proposes to be partakers of his
retributions, are first, recti (that is, both direct men, and plain
men), and then recti corde, this qualification, this straightness and
smoothness must be in the heart; all the upright in heart shall have it. Upon
this earth, a man cannot possibly make one step in a straight and a direct
line. The earth itself being round, every step we make upon it must necessarily
be a segment, an arc of a circle. But yet, though no piece of a circle be a straight
line, yet if we take any piece, nay, if we take the whole circle, there is no
corner, no angle in any place, in any entire circle. A perfect rectitude we
cannot have in any way in this world; in every calling there are some
inevitable temptations. But, though we cannot make up one circle of a straight
line (that is impossible to human frailty), yet we may pass on without angles
and corners, that is, without disguises in our religion, and without the love
of craft, and falsehood, and circumvention, in our civil actions. A compass is
a necessary thing in a ship, and the help of that compass brings the ship home
safe, and yet that compass hath some variations, it doth not look directly
north; neither is that star which we call the north pole, or by which we know
the north pole, the very pole itself; but we call it so, and we make our uses
of it, and our conclusions by it, as if it were so, because it is the nearest
star to that pole. He that comes as near uprightness as infirmities admit, is
an upright man, though he love some obliquities. John Donne.
Verse
10. All the upright in heart shall glory. The Psalm began in
the first person singular, Hear my voice, O God, but it ends by
comprehending all the righteous. He who is most anxious about his own salvation
will be found to be the man of the truest and widest love to others; while he
who talks most of unselfishness in religion is generally the most selfish. We
cannot take a more efficient method for benefiting others than by being
earnestly prayerful for ourselves that we may be preserved from sin. Our
example will in itself be useful, and our godliness, by putting power into our
testimony, will increase the value of every rebuke, exhortation, or
encouragement we may utter. Our sin is or will be the church's sorrow, and the
way to make all the upright rejoice is to be upright ourselves. C. H. S.
Verse
10. Shall glory. This retribution is expressed in the original
in the word halal; and halal, to those translators that made our
Book of Common Prayer, presented the signification of gladness, for so it is
there: They shall be glad. So it did to the translators that came after,
for there it is, They shall rejoice; and to our last translators it
seemed to signify glory, They shall glory, say they. But the first translation
of all into our language (which was long before any of these three), calls it praise,
and puts it into the passive: All men of rightful heart shall be praised.
And so truly jithhalelu, in the original, bears it, nay, requires it;
which is not of praise which they shall give to God, but of a praise that they
shall receive for having served God with an upright heart; not that they shall
praise God in doing so, but that godly men shall praise them for having done
so. All this shall grow naturally out of the root; for the root of this word is
lucere, splendere, to shine out in the eyes of men, and to create in
them a holy and a reverential admiration; as it was John Baptist's praise, that
he was "A burning and a shining lamp." Properly it is, by a
good and a holy exemplary life, to occasion others to set a right value upon
holiness, and to give a due respect for holy men... Shall glory. It is
so far from diminishing this glory, as that it exalts our consolation that God
places this retribution in the future; if they do not yet, certainly they shall
glory, and if they do now, that glory shall not go out, still they shall, they
shall for ever glory. John Donne.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1.
1. The
preservation of life desired.
(a)
The desire expressed.
(b) Qualified—from violent death, from fear of, etc.
2. The
preservation of life prayed for.
(a)
For self improvement.
(b) For usefulness.
(c) For the divine glory. G. R.
Verse
2. (first clause). Applied to Satan.
1. The
danger considered.
(a)
The enemy, wicked, mighty, malicious, experienced.
(b) His counsel. He tempts cunningly, and with deliberation.
(c) The secrecy of it. He may be exciting others against me, or sowing evil in
myself.
2. The
deliverance implored. Hide me.
(a)
Keep me from being tempted.
(b) Keep me from evil when tempted.
(c) Bring me out of it all unharmed.
(d) Meanwhile, let me be in thy secret place.
3. The
consolation of faith.
(a)
God does preserve praying ones.
(b) Our enemy is his enemy.
(c) He has preserved us.
(d) We are his own.
(e) His honour is involved.
Verse
3. Bitter words. An excellent topic in reference both to the
sinner and to professed saints.
Verse
3. The whetting of the tongue. Fresh faults discovered, evil
motives imputed, exaggerations invented, lies forged, innuendoes suggested, old
slanders furnished, and ancient hatreds rekindled.
Verse
6. (two first clauses). The fault hunter; his motive, his
character, his pretences, and his punishment.
Verse
9.
1. The
subject for consideration—Judgments upon the wicked.
(a)
As Judgments.
(b) As judgments from God—that work of God—his doing.
2. The
consideration of the subject.
(a)
They are intended to be considered by others.
(b) They are to be considered wisely.
3. The
effect of this consideration.
(a)
Fear of God.
(b) Praise to God; shall declare, etc. G. R.
Verses
9-10.
1.
An act of God; something of his doing.
2. Its effect upon men in general: All men shall fear, and shall declare,
etc.
3. A special duty resulting from it, incumbent on good men: The righteous,
etc. H. Dove.
Verse
10.
1. The
persons.
(a) What they are, in distinction from others; the righteous; the justified.
(b) What they are in themselves; upright in heart; not perfect, but sincere.
2. Their
privilege.
(a) Amidst all their persecutions to joy in God.
(b) Amidst all their dangers to trust in God. G. R.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》