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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 64

Psalm 64: bitter words shot in secret, and God's sudden arrow

General context

The speaker asks God to hear his voice in prayer and preserve his life from fear of the enemy, to hide him from the secret counsel of the wicked and the insurrection of the workers of iniquity. They whet their tongue like a sword and bend their bows to shoot arrows, bitter words, so that they may shoot in secret at the perfect; they shoot suddenly and do not fear. They encourage themselves in an evil matter, talk together of laying snares privately, and ask who will see them. They search out iniquities and accomplish a diligent search; the inward thought and heart of every one of them is deep. But God will shoot at them with an arrow and they will suddenly be wounded; they will make their own tongue fall on themselves, and all who see them will flee away. All men will fear and declare the work of God, for they will wisely consider what he has done. The righteous will be glad in the Lord and trust in him, and all the upright in heart will glory.

Cited passages: Psalms 64:1, Psalms 64:2, Psalms 64:3, Psalms 64:4, Psalms 64:5, Psalms 64:6, Psalms 64:7, Psalms 64:8, Psalms 64:9, Psalms 64:10

Psalms 64 (KJV)

1Hear 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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The text as printed here carries no heading; verse 1 opens with "Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer", so this source names no author, occasion or musical direction. The speaker is a single "I" who addresses God in verses 1 and 2 and then describes the wicked and their fate in the third person; God is not addressed again after verse 2. The enemies are "the wicked" and "the workers of iniquity", plural and unnamed; their target is called "the perfect", and the text does not say outright that this is the speaker himself, though the prayer is for his own life. Their weapons are words, "bitter words" and a tongue whetted "like a sword", and their method is secrecy, "secret counsel", shooting "in secret", snares laid "privily". Their question "Who shall see them?" is quoted as their own words. The wounding by God's arrow and the fear of "all men" are stated in the future, and no event is narrated. There is no Selah in this psalm.

Cited passages: Psalms 64:1, Psalms 64:2, Psalms 64:4, Psalms 64:3, Psalms 64:5, Psalms 64:7, Psalms 64:9

Literary context

The poem turns on one word used twice: the wicked shoot "suddenly" at the perfect, and "suddenly" they are wounded by God's arrow. Their weapons are taken from them and turned round: they bend bows to shoot bitter words, and God "shall shoot at them with an arrow"; they whet their tongue like a sword, and "their own tongue" falls on themselves. Secrecy is their whole method, counsel, snares, the question "Who shall see them?", and the answer of the poem is that "all that see them shall flee away" and "all men shall fear". The description of the plotters ends on depth, "the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep", and God's arrow is the one line that follows. The psalm widens as it closes, from the single speaker to all men to the righteous and the upright in heart, and ends on gladness and trust rather than on the enemies. Like Psalm 63, it closes with lying or bitter mouths undone and with glorying.

Cited passages: Psalms 64:4, Psalms 64:7, Psalms 64:8, Psalms 64:5, Psalms 64:6, Psalms 64:10, Psalms 63:11

Key moments

  1. Preserve my life from fear (Psalms 64:1). The speaker asks God to hear him and preserve his life from fear of the enemy.
  2. Tongues like swords, words like arrows (Psalms 64:3). The wicked whet their tongues and shoot bitter words.
  3. Who shall see them? (Psalms 64:5). They lay snares in private and ask who will see.
  4. God's sudden arrow (Psalms 64:7). God shoots at them and they are suddenly wounded.
  5. Their own tongue falls on them (Psalms 64:8). Their words turn back on themselves and onlookers flee.
  6. All men shall fear (Psalms 64:9). Everyone will fear and declare the work of God.
  7. The upright shall glory (Psalms 64:10). The righteous will be glad in the Lord and the upright in heart will glory.

For reflection

The plotters ask who will see them, and the poem answers with everyone seeing them fall; what does the psalm think secrecy is for, and what does it think undoes it?

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