1 To the chief musician; a psalm of David.
2 Hear, O God, my voice in my meditation; from fear of the enemy thou wilt preserve my life.
3 Thou wilt hide me from the secret of evil-doers, from the tumult of workers of iniquity,
4 Who have sharpened like the sword their tongue, have bent their arrow, a bitter word, to shoot in the secret places at the perfect;
5 Suddenly they shoot [at him] and fear not.
6 They strengthen to themselves an evil matter; they concert to hide snares; they have said, Who will see them?
7 They devise (or search out) iniquities: We are ready (finished)! a well-devised device! and each one’s inward [thought] and heart [is] deep.
8 But God shall shoot at them: [with] an arrow suddenly the wounds have been theirs.
9 And they shall be made to stumble, their own tongue against them; all that see them shall flee away.
10 And every man shall fear, and shall declare God’s doing, and his work they shall understand.
11 The righteous one shall be glad in Jehovah, and trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.
Notes on Psalm 64
It is “To the chief musician, a psalm of David.” Thus the godly are consoled by the assurance of God’s sudden and retributive judgment of their enemies, who are here described not as reprobates only but as malicious against the righteous, plotting and conspiring. But suddenly God’s judgment falls, others fear as they behold God’s doing, and the righteous rejoice in Jehovah Who has thus appeared at length in vindication of His name.