PSALM 64
David asks God for protection from plots of wicked verse 1- 6
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
David believes God will intervene verse 7
But God shall shoot at them with an arrow
suddenly shall they be wounded
The tongues of the wicked will convict them verse 8
So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves
all that see them shall flee away
People will fear the work of the God verse 9
And all men shall fear – and shall declare the work of God
for they shall wisely consider of HIS doing
David wants the godly to rejoice in the LORD verse 10
The righteous shall be glad in the LORD
and shall trust in HIM
and all the upright in heart shall glory
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 “Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). (Hear – 8085 שָׁמַע, שֶׁמַע [shamaʿ /shaw·mah/] v n m. A primitive root; TWOT 2412, 2412a; GK 9048 and 9049; 1159 occurrences; AV translates as “hear” 785 times, “hearken” 196 times, obey” 81 times, “publish” 17 times, “understand” nine times, “obedient” eight times, “diligently” eight times, shew” six times, “sound” three times, “declare” three times, discern” twice, “noise” twice, “perceive” twice,“tell” twice, “reported” twice, and translated miscellaneously 33 times. 1 to hear, listen to, obey. 1A (Qal). 1A1 to hear (perceive by ear). 1A2 to hear of or concerning. 1A3 to hear (have power to hear). 1A4 to hear with attention or interest, listen to. 1A5 to understand (language). 1A6 to hear (of judicial cases). 1A7 to listen, give heed. 1A7A to consent, agree. 1A7B to grant request. 1A8 to listen to, yield to. 1A9 to obey, be obedient. 1B (Niphal). 1B1 to be heard (of voice or sound). 1B2 to be heard of. 1B3 to be regarded, be obeyed. 1C (Piel) to cause to hear, call to hear, summon. 1D (Hiphil). 1D1 to cause to hear, tell, proclaim, utter a sound. 1D2 to sound aloud (musical term). 1D3 to make proclamation, summon. 1D4 to cause to be heard. 2 sound. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).
DEVOTION: Often we are in a battle with ourselves as to how to pray for our enemies. Do we pray against them or do we love and be compassionate toward them? David had no trouble asking God for His assistance when his enemies rose up against him. It seems that David would recount to the Lord that which he knew his enemies were guilty of and ask the Lord to act on those sins. In the lament psalms the psalmist continually asks the Lord to work according to the principles and laws that he knew the Lord upheld. While David was abrupt and straight forward with his requests to the Lord we tend to be less confrontational. Could it be that David was acting within his rights and knew to come boldly before the Lord? (Hebrews 4:16)
We need to be careful in our attitudes and presentation before the Lord, but we do need to speak as a son or daughter to our Father knowing that he does have our best interest at the center of His will.
CHALLENGE: Evaluate your attitude before stepping into the Lord’s presence but then go boldly and confidently! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity. (7285 “insurrection” [regesh] means unrest, agitation, a state of commotion and noise and confusion, throng, to make a tumult, or scheming.)
DEVOTION: Again, we find David writing a Psalm or hymn to sing during worship services or just during a time of family devotion or personal devotion. I am not a good singer. I have trouble staying on key but I like to lead the song service if there is not someone who is excited about worshiping the LORD.
I have been in services where the singing was like a funeral. God wants us to praise HIM with our whole heart and that means that we should make a joyful noise to the LORD with our whole being Here David wants to be hidden or not part of the counsel of the wicked. The wicked are those who don’t want to put God first in their life. There were individuals in the nations of Israel who were not true worshipers of the LORD. They might come to the tabernacle to worship. They might even offer sacrifices to the LORD but their heart was not in it. They were just going through the motions. It was not worship from the heart. David knew that there were people who had secret meeting to find a way to take him off the throne of Israel. There were people who wanted to lead revolts against the LORD who were part of the nation.It is sad that the LORD saved the nation and that most of the people seemed to not want to worship HIM in spirit and in truth.We have the same problem today. If a nation is founded on the belief that God is in heaven and is still ruling the earth and when they finally have freedom from a group that doesn’t want to worship the LORD they decide to not worship HIM either.Israel had a majority that didn’t want to worship the LORD and we have a nation today that the majority don’t want to worship the God of the Bible.David wanted to hide from those who didn’t want to worship the LORD and we sometimes think we need to do the same thing too.
CHALLENGE: We need to worship the LORD and make sure that we are not following the wrong people around us.
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: 3 “Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words.” (“Tongue,” 3956 לָשֹׁון [lashown] AV translates as “tongue” 98 times, “language” 10 times, “bay” three times, “wedge” twice, “babbler” once, “flame” once, “speaker + 376” once, and “talkers” once. 1 tongue. 1a tongue (of men). 1a1 tongue (literal). 1a2 tongue (organ of speech). 1b language. 1c tongue (of animals). 1d tongue (of fire). 1e wedge, bay of sea (tongue-shaped). [Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.]).
DEVOTION: In this psalm, David notes that those who are opposed to him are the harshest in the use of their tongues toward him. The tongue is used as a figure of speech for the way that people speak about one another. David complains to God about those who are attacking him in what they say about him.
This raises the question of how we use our tongue to tear down other people (or even gossip bout them), rather than building them up. We should be quick to use our tongues to encourage one another (Ephesians 4:29, Colossians 4:6), and not use them to criticize others (James 3:9-10). That requires that we always are thinking the best about others, truly love them, and are prepared to say something that is edifying.
The other question that is raised is how I react when my reputation is attacked by another or I am offended by what someone else says about me. I need to realize that my Heavenly Father is ultimately the judge about what happens to me, and that He will make all things right in His timing. For this reason, I can surrender my reputation to Him and allow Him to protect it (or not) when I am criticized by other brothers or sisters. Obviously, I need to be willing to listen to others in terms of their humble correction and be teachable, yet I do not need to react to criticism which is not shared in love.
So God is definitely interested in our speech. What we say is a mirror on our souls, and shows whether we are more interested in ourselves or in others.
CHALLENGE: Who will you seek to build up today by what you say? Be intentional to go out of your way to speak kindly with someone you would not otherwise be inclined to speak nicely to. Then wait and watch how God uses your humility! (Dr. Marc Wooten – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 4 That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. (8535 “perfect” [tawm] means healthy, complete, well-behaved, guiltless, a person who is free of guilt or not subject to blame, flawless, or wholesome.)
DEVOTION: There are people who are not followers of the LORD who are not just satisfied with their position but want everyone else to believe the same way they do. If a person doesn’t want to follow them then they want to hurt that person anyway they can. Here we find that they want to shoot at those who are trying to obey the LORD but they are trying to do it in secret. They don’t want others to know what they are doing except those who believe the same way they do.
There are groups who like to put down anyone who believes in the LORD and follows HIM. This has happened since the beginning of time. Satan was alone against Adam and Eve but since then there have always been those who don’t want to follow the LORD and want to hurt those who do.
It is true that those who don’t love the LORD are not afraid of hurting those who do believe in the LORD. The problem is that the majority of those in our world DON’T love the LORD and want to hurt those who do.
David faced this truth in his day. Remember that he was not perfect but he was trying to follow the LORD the majority of time and when he sinned he confessed his sin and served the LORD again.
We face the same circumstances today. There are people outside the church who want to say things against those who are in the church. They are always looking for faults and they will find them because there are no Christians that are perfect, just forgiven.
So, we need to realize what we are facing each day we try to serve the LORD. HE will give us the strength to fight those who give us a hard time. Their day is coming when they will stand before the LORD and be judged for eternity to a place called hell in the Bible.
CHALLENGE: We need to realize the fight we are in and depend on the LORD to deal with those who don’t love HIM or us.
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: 6 They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. (6013 “deep” [‘amoq] means unsearchable, mysterious, cunning, crafty, or pertaining to being sly and wily as a moral deviation.)
DEVOTION: Those outside of Christ are not dumb. There are many individuals who are worldly smart but Biblically ignorant and like it that way. They know how to sin and seem to get away with it. The Bible describes those outside of Christ as wicked.
Remember that all are born with a sin nature. All are sinners on their way to the Lake of Fire for eternity. However, Christ died on the cross for those who become followers of Jesus Christ. HE is the only way to heaven. HE shed HIS blood for all those who will be in heaven. There is no cure for the human sin nature but there is forgiveness provided for those who trust in the LORD.
David is praying for preservation from those who are workers of iniquity. The workers of iniquity search a righteous or upright person’s life to find any sin they can possibly find. They are putting snares in the way of righteous individuals. They have a plan on how to cunningly cause the downfall of the righteous person. They use bitter words. They don’t think that there is a God who sees what they are doing. Their entire thought life is occupied with thoughts of how to plan iniquity or sin.
David is asking the LORD to stop them from doing this to him. This is a great description of the unsaved world’s relationship to the Christians in our world. The problem that we see all too often is that Christians are doing this to other Christians. What are we thinking?
Our purpose is to encourage one another. Our purpose is to help those who are struggling to return to fellowship with the LORD. Remember that the LORD deals with those children of HIS that are living in sin. HE sends weakness, sickness and pre-mature death to those who don’t listen to HIS warnings.
We are to be glad that the LORD is going to deal with those who want our downfall. We are the ones who will trust HIM to help us. We will praise HIS name for HIS help. Let us not be ones who are thinking of how to harm or hurt a fellow believer.
CHALLENGE: The devil knows his time is short and is using his followers to discourage believers. Don’t help him!!!!
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Prayer for preservation of righteous verse 1- 10
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 1, 7, 9
God shoots at the workers of iniquities verse 7
All men shall fear verse 9
Work of God verse 9
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 10
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Enemy verse 1
Wicked verse 2
Take counsel against David
Workers of Iniquity verse 2 – 10
Insurrection
Use their tongue like a sword
Use bitter words
Shoot in secret at the perfect
No fear of God
Encourage themselves in evil matters
Lay snares privily for righteous
Have iniquities in their heart
God shoots at them and they are wounded
Their tongue falls upon themselves
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Wicked verse 2
Insurrection verse 2
Workers of Iniquity verse 2
Bitter words verse 3
No fear of God verse 4
Evil verse 5
Laying snares for believers verse 5
Iniquities verse 6
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Heard by the LORD verse 1
Prayer verse 1
Preservation verse 1
Hide verse 2
Perfect verse 4
God judges those who oppress believers verse 7
Declare the works of God verse 9
Wisely consider the LORD’s doing verse 9
Righteous verse 10
Glad verse 10
Trust verse 10
Upright verse 10
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
David verse 1- 10
He wants the LORD to hear his voice
He wants God to preserve his life
He wants the LORD to hide him
People who see workers of iniquity
will flee away verse 8
All men shall fear verse 9
Upright in heart shall glory verse 10
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
10. So the prayer of verse 1, to be preserved from panic, is more than answered. The judgment is still future, but joy can break out already. It is a sober joy, with the facts faced at their worst, but also at their overwhelming best. (Kidner, D. (1973). Psalms 1–72: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 15, p. 247). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
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64:8b–10. Everyone who would see them would scorn them for their evil plans. Moreover, seeing the destruction of the wicked, people would fear (cf. “fear” in v. 4) the Lord and tell of His works. God’s judgment would have a lasting effect on people. As for the righteous, they will have reason to rejoice, to renew their trust in Him as their Refuge, and to praise Him. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 841). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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As the nation watched the defeat of David’s enemies and his exaltation as king, it all brought great glory to the Lord. Some people stood and shook their heads in disbelief (v. 8a). Dr. Bob Cook used to say, “If you can explain what’s going on, the Lord didn’t do it.” Faith expects to see God do the impossible! The nation had a new fear of the Lord as they saw sin judged and their godly king vindicated (59:9–13). The people praised the Lord for what He had done, and as they worshiped, they meditated on His character and His purposes. It isn’t enough to know the works of the Lord; we must also seek to understand His way and learn how to please Him (103:6–7). David’s great concern was that the Lord be glorified, and that was why God blessed Him. Rejoice! (Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be worshipful (1st ed., p. 216). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)
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Ver. 10. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, &c.] They rejoice at the vengeance executed on the wicked; but then their joy centres in the Lord: it is not at the ruin of the wicked, simply considered, but because of the glory of God’s justice displayed therein, and of his grace and mercy to them. They rejoice in the Lord, because of what he is unto them, and because of what he has done for them; because of his righteousness they are clothed with, from whence they are denominated righteous ones; and because of the salvation he has wrought out for them; and they are the more affected with it when they see the calamities, woes, and destruction of wicked men; see the note on Psal. 32:11. And shall trust in him; who is known by his judgments he executes on the wicked; and the more he is known, be it in what way it will, the more is he trusted in, Psal. 9:10, 16. The Targum paraphrases it, “and shall trust in his Word;” either in his word of promise, or rather in his essential Word, Christ. And all the upright in heart shall glory; not in men, nor in themselves, nor in any creature, or creature-enjoyments; nor in their wisdom, strength, riches, nor righteousness; but in Christ, in his wisdom, righteousness, and strength; in whom all the seed of Israel are justified and glory; and in what he is to them, and has done for them; of the upright in heart, see the note on Psal. 32:11. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 783). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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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. (Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 56-87 (Vol. 3, p. 85). London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.)
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This psalm begins with a petition and concludes with a call to rejoice in the Lord’s righteousness. (p 428, Expositor’s Bible Commentary Volume 5, Willem A. VanGermeren)
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The wicked, who are intent on exterminating the godly, lie in “ambush”… and wait for the opportune moment to make a kill. …. Whereas vv. 2-4 depict the wicked in thieer opposition to the innocent, vv. 5-6 sketch their united efforts in cunning and scheming. …. They foolishly believe that they are not accountable to anyone, as is expressed by their confident question “ Who will see?” (p. 430, Expositor’s Bible Commentary Volume 5, Willem A. VanGermeren)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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God’s character is encountered in his words even as ours is in our words. We encounter his wisdom, holiness, love, mercy, kindness, and compassion when we engage with what he has said, God is present to us through his words. And he has given us these words so that there will be consequences from them in our lives. (p. 212, GOD in the Whirlwind, by David F. Wells)
He wants us to heed the warnings, trust him in his promises, receive encouragement through his assurances, and learn obedience through the truth he has given us. ….
However, we should be in no doubt that we are always engaging with, and being engaged by, God – engaging with his goodness, faithfulness, righteousness, holiness, love and grace – when we are engaged with what he has said in his Word. (p. 212, GOD in the Whirlwind, by David F. Wells)
What this change pointed to is that in the church, as in a business, we have become preoccupied with the horizontal. We are focused on our clientele. We are adapting to their psychology. We have become sensitive to the fact that, in the church, we have an absolute authority which, in an age of hyper-autonomy, is likely to rub outsiders the wrong way. So our strategy has been to hide our authority. We obscure, as much as possible, the vertical dimension to Christian faith. We accentuate the horizontal. (p. 215, GOD in the Whirlwind, by David F. Wells)
That there is a church means that this praise will ascend to him form htose who know how deeply they need him. It is their joyous recognition of God’s “worthiness.” (p. 215, GOD in the Whirlwind, by David F. Wells)
It appears that most people go to church for consolation. In fact, we have now fallen upon times when religion is mostly for consolation. We are now in the grip of the cult of peace – peace of mind, peace of heart, peace of soul, and we want to relax and have the great God Almighty pat our heads and comfort us. This has become religion. (p. 168, Tozer Speaks Volume Two, A. W. Tozer)
We forget that all of the apostles except John died a martyr’s death. We forget that there were 13 million Christians slain during the first two generations of the Christian era. We forget tht they languished in prison, that they were starved, were thrown over cliffs, were fed to the lions, were drowned, that they were sewn in sacks and thrown into the ocean. …. They accepted their position on earth as soldiers in the army of God, fighting along with the Lord Jesus Christ in the terrible war against iniquity and sin. It was not a war against people but against sin and iniquity and the devil!!! (p 169, Tozer Speaks Volume Two, A. W. Tozer)
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ENTERING THE KINGDOM
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
Revelation 21:6
We must realize that Christ brings us into His kingdom by dying for us, by bearing our sins in His own body, by being made the Lamb of God for us; that He bears our punishment, and that He is our only way of deliverance and salvation. You believe it and you say:
Just as I am, without one plea
but that Thy blood was shed for me,
and that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come.
Charlotte Elliott
In other words, it means that you…cast yourself entirely into His hands….And if you do these things, the kingdom of God is within you. You have entered the kingdom, and the kingdom has entered you; you see that He is everything to you, and you are nothing. You see that Christ is “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” “He is the lily of the valley: the bright and morning star. He is the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.”
Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in Thee I find.
Charles Wesley
You just give yourself to Him and acknowledge Him as the Son of God and your personal Savior….Your one desire is to know Him, to be near Him, and to follow Him in order that you may be in glory with Him in the final regeneration when He comes at the end of time.
A Thought to Ponder: Your one desire is to know Him. (From The Kingdom of God, pp. 66-67, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Resisting the Devil
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)
The devil is far more powerful and intelligent (as well as subtle and seductive in his malignant purposes) than any combination of human enemies we could ever face, and we would be utterly unable to defeat him with our own human resources. Yet, God’s Word makes it plain that we are neither to yield to him nor flee from him. Instead, the admonition is: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
But how can we resist such a mighty foe? As in our text, we must constantly maintain sobriety and vigilance against his enticements, and be careful to remain “steadfast in the faith.” Otherwise, the pseudo-intellectualism and social peer pressure to which we are subjected daily could quickly persuade us to compromise the faith, or even to depart from the faith.
We are commanded not to yield and not to compromise. Instead, we must “put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” We have “the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the [wicked one],” and also “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:11, 16-17).
This mighty sword with which we can make Satan flee from us is literally “the saying of God”—that is, an appropriate individual word from the complete Word of God. This was the instrument with which the Lord Jesus Himself resisted the devil, parrying each temptation with an incisive thrust of Scripture. The result then—as it will be now with us also—was that the devil “departed from him for a season” (Luke 4:13). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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