Psalm 64:1-10 NKJV
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,
3 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
4 That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
They say, “Who will see them?”
6 They devise iniquities:
“We have perfected a shrewd scheme.”
Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.
7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly they shall be wounded.
8 So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;
All who see them shall flee away.
9 All men shall fear,
And shall declare the work of God;
For they shall wisely consider His doing.
10 The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart shall glory.
In the first part of Psalm 64, David prays against those who were betraying and slandering him. He was referring to the likes of Absalom who committed treason in 2 Samuel 15, Ahithophel who plotted against David in 2 Samuel 17, and Doeg who was involved in the killing of many priests in 2 Samuel 22. These people and events in David’s life certainly caused him concern, and here he cried out to God that He would preserve his life and eventually stifle the evil plans of his enemies.
And yet, in great confidence, David also prayed that the words of the evildoers would come down on themselves, that they would “stumble over their own tongues,” and that their own actions would bring them down. David’s confidence in God is obvious. He does not trust in his own merits or abilities, but clearly turns the whole situation over to God for Him to handle. David knows and believes that God is bigger than all his troubles and will keep His promises.
You, dear saint, can take great comfort from this Psalm, even the same comfort that David had when he was inspired to write these words. You can pray to God in confidence that He will also deliver you from every evil, even as you pray in the Our Father, “deliver us from evil,” and know that God most certainly will do so. Your faith and trust are in the God who gave His Son into death to pay for all your sins and promised that you would be with Him in eternity when you die. Remember that “you are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (I John 4:4). And you who are righteous by God-given faith, “shall be glad in the Lord and trust in Him” (Ps 64:10).
Let us pray: Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.