Psalms 64:1

PSALM 64

EVIL SLANDERERS JUDGED BY THE LORD

SUPERSCRIPTION: FOR THE CHIEF MUSICIAN. A PSALM.

A SONG OF DAVID.

Again, there is no legitimate objection to receiving the superscription as correct. It is an older opinion, by many centuries, than those hypothetical ascriptions which represent it as "reflecting the situation between Mordecai and Haman,"[1] or as concerning the conflict "Between Daniel and his enemies in Babylon which found its climax in the lion's den."[2]

Not only are the words of this psalm applicable to both Mordecai and Daniel, but to many other persons and situations also.

David's life was troubled by many situations in which the words of this psalm might have been inspired; but very few scholars have even hazarded a guess as to what, exactly, the real occasion was. We respect the words of Rawlinson who named it.

"The author is probably David, as asserted in the title; and the occasion or time was that period a little preceding the open revolt of Absalom."[3]

The frequent mention of the "secrecy" of the enemies in the first part of the Psalm might indicate that the revolt of Absalom was in its formative stages. It is also true that there could have been many other occasions in the psalmists reign when similar opposition was manifested.

Seemingly, the most natural divisions of the psalm are (1) Psalms 64:1-4; (2) Psalms 64:5-6; and (3) Psalms 64:7-10.

Psalms 64:1-4

"Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint:

Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

Hide me from the secret counsel of evil-doers,

From the tumult of the workers of iniquity;

Who have whet their tongues like a sword,

And have aimed their arrows, even bitter words,

That they may shoot in secret places at the perfect:

Suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not."

"Preserve my life from fear of the enemy" (Psalms 64:1). The interest in this verse is that the psalmist does not pray for protection against the enemy, but that he may be delivered from the fear that might be caused by the situation. "This makes good sense, because such deliverance would put an end to all impediments to clear thinking and firm resistance."[4]

"Secret counsel ... secret places" (Psalms 64:1,4). A prominent feature of the activity of the evil-doers here is their secrecy. They did not come out openly against David, but contrived many devices by which they hoped to undermine his authority and eventually destroy him.

"They whet their tongues ... aim their arrows ... even bitter words" (Psalms 64:3). A second prominent feature of this conspiracy was simple enough. It was a campaign of secret slander. Spurgeon has a priceless little paragraph about that type of campaign.

"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 lovable creatures compared with such a reptile. The devil himself might blush at being the father of so base an offspring."[5]

"In this situation, the psalmist knows of his enemies but not when they may strike."[6] That is why he prays to be hidden (Psalms 64:2).

Speaking of all that activity of the enemies mentioned in Psalms 64:3, Matthew Henry observed: "If they spent half that much energy in the pursuit of righteousness, it might serve to save them."[7]