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Psalm 64

Hide Me From the Conspiracy

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For the choir director. A psalm by David.

Opening Plea

Hear my voice, O God, when I complain.
Protect my life from the terror caused by the enemy.
Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the noisy mob of evildoers.

The Enemies’ Wickedness

They sharpen their tongues like a sword.
They shoot poison words like arrows.
They shoot at the innocent from hiding places.
Suddenly they shoot at him. They have no fear.
They strengthen each other in an evil plot.
They discuss where to hide snares.
They say, “Who will see them?”
They plot evil deeds and they say,
“We have come up with a perfect plot!”
The mind and heart of man are devious!

God’s Judgment

But God will shoot them.
Suddenly they are wounded with an arrow.
Their own tongues cause their downfall.[a]
Everyone who sees them will shake his head.

The Joy of the Godly

Then all people will be afraid.
They will proclaim the work of God.
They will consider what he has done.
10 Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him.
Let all the upright in heart be confident!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 64:8 Because of a mixture of singular and plural number, the translation is uncertain. Literally the Hebrew reads and they caused him/it to stumble, upon them, their tongue.

A Plea for Divine Retribution

For the music director. A psalm of David.[a]

64 Hear my voice, O God, in my lamenting.
Preserve my life from the fear of the enemy.
Hide me from the secret plots[b] of evildoers,
from the unrest of those who do iniquity,
who sharpen their tongue like a sword.
They bend their bow to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
to shoot from[c] their[d] hiding places at the blameless.
Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
They encourage themselves in the evil matter.
They talk of secretly laying snares.
They say, “Who will see them?”
They carefully plot[e] injustices saying,
“We have perfected the perfect plot!”[f]
Both the inner thought[g] and heart of a man are deep.
But God will shoot them;
with an arrow they will suddenly be wounded.
[h] And they who would cause him[i] to stumble,
their own tongue will be against them.
All who gaze on them will shake.[j]
And then[k] all men[l] will fear,
and will declare the working of God,
and will understand his doing.
10 The righteous will rejoice in Yahweh and take refuge in him,
and all the upright in heart will boast.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 64:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
  2. Psalm 64:2 Hebrew “plot”
  3. Psalm 64:4 Hebrew “in”
  4. Psalm 64:4 Hebrew “the”
  5. Psalm 64:6 Literally “They search out”
  6. Psalm 64:6 Literally “a plotted plot”
  7. Psalm 64:6 Literally “inward part”
  8. Psalm 64:8 The Hebrew of this verse is very difficult
  9. Psalm 64:8 That is, the psalmist
  10. Psalm 64:8 Perhaps a shaking of the head; a similar Hebrew form could be translated “will flee”
  11. Psalm 64:9 Hebrew “and”
  12. Psalm 64:9 Hebrew “man”