A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM LXIV.
_David prayeth for deliverance, complaining of his enemies.—He promiseth himself to see such an evident destruction of his enemies, as the righteous shall rejoice at it._ To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity. Who whet their tongue like a sword, _and_ bend _their bows to shoot_ their arrows, _even_ bitter words; That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. They encourage themselves _in_ an evil matter; they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward _thought_ of every one _of them_, and the heart, _is_ deep. But God shall shoot at them _with_ an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves; all that see them shall flee away. And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God: for they shall wisely consider of his doing. The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory. This is a most ardent prayer, full of the feelings of a heart under great straits, by reason of the unceasing and infinite malice of the devil, the perfidy of men, and the ingratitude of the world.
David here cries unto God, on account of having experienced so much treachery, even from those of his own household, (as always is the case, in the cause of religion). He cries to the Lord against his betrayers and his most virulent slanderers,—those vipers, who, by wicked speeches, and all the arts of perfidy and malice, did not cease to plot against him. Of this base gang were his own son Absalom, Ahithophel, and others like them; and especially many in the court of Saul; Doeg, &c. He continues, however, perseveringly to comfort and console himself;—that, by the just judgment of God, these same enemies shall bring evil upon their own heads; and that those very base and viperous tongues, which now cannot rest nor cease to slander, shall only wound themselves; as, in the end, it happened unto Absalom, Ahithophel, and Doeg. In the same way also, we ought to pray against all those vipers, our enemies, in the halls of kings, bishops, and princes: who attack us with satanic craft and hatred, and with all the arts of wickedness. But they shall fall themselves into the snares which they have laid, (as we have seen it exemplified in numberless instances;) and they shall only plan mischief which shall fall upon their own heads; that men may openly behold and see the works of God, and acknowledge that God himself has visited them.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.