Psalms · psalm 64 of 150
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Psalm 64 is David's prayer that God would protect him from evildoers who sharpen their tongues like swords and shoot bitter words from ambush. They believe no one sees them, but God suddenly shoots an arrow at them and their own tongue brings them down. The psalm ends with the joy of the righteous, who take refuge in the Lord.
The title attributes this psalm to David and addresses it to the choirmaster. It belongs to Book II and is a prayer of lament and trust, whose theme is the harm done by words and hidden plans. It does not say in what circumstances David wrote it, but conflict with King Saul or with hostile advisers fits what it describes. Its movement runs from complaint, to God's action, to final joy.
David begins by asking God to hear his complaint and to preserve his life from dread of the enemy. He asks to be hidden from the secret counsel of the wicked and from the crowd of evildoers.
Verses 3 to 6 describe the adversaries. They sharpen their tongues like a sword and aim bitter words like arrows. They shoot from ambush at the blameless man, suddenly and without fear. They encourage one another in an evil purpose, plan to lay snares and ask who will see them. They search out injustice and say they have finished the search, for the human heart and mind are deep.
In verses 7 to 9 the change is sudden: God himself shoots an arrow at them and they are wounded at once. Their own tongue is turned against them, and all who see them wag their heads. All people fear, declare the work of God and understand what he has done. The psalm closes with the righteous, who rejoices in the Lord and takes refuge in him, and all the upright in heart exult.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David asks God to hear his complaint and to guard his life from dread of the enemy. He begins by bringing his problem to God, before seeking human defense or revenge.
The enemies sharpen their tongues like a sword and shoot bitter words like arrows. The psalm takes seriously the real harm that slander and cruel words cause.
God himself shoots an arrow at them and they are suddenly wounded. Those who thought they were acting in secret find that God sees them and answers.
The righteous rejoices in the Lord and takes refuge in him. The way out of the psalm is not personal revenge but the confident joy of someone who rests in God's justice.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: From dread of the enemy. — Psalm 64:1
Answer: A sharpened sword; their bitter words are like arrows. — Psalm 64:3
Answer: They ask who will see them. — Psalm 64:5
Answer: He shoots an arrow at them and they are suddenly wounded. — Psalm 64:7
Answer: They are turned against the evildoers themselves and bring them down. — Psalm 64:8
Answer: They rejoice in the Lord, take refuge in him, and the upright in heart exult. — Psalm 64:10
Psalm 64 is helpful for those who have suffered through gossip, lies or decisions made behind their backs. David does not minimize the pain or answer with the same weapons: he brings it to God. In a Sunday school class you can talk about how to respond to slander with prayer and patience, without ceasing to seek the truth by honest means.
It is also a warning about our own words. The tongue can be a sword or an arrow, and believers are called to use it to build up. A good group exercise is to review the week and think of one word that hurt and one that healed.
Psalm 64 ends with the righteous rejoicing and taking refuge in the Lord. Psalm 65 widens that joy into praise that covers the whole earth, from Zion to the harvests of the field.
The psalm gives no names. It speaks of evildoers who conspire in secret and wound with their words, which allows it to be applied to many situations of slander and betrayal. That lack of detail makes the psalm prayable in different eras by different people.
It is a poetic picture that reverses the evildoers' own: they shoot arrows of words from the shadows, and God answers with an arrow far more accurate. It expresses that evil does not have the last word and that God brings the wicked down by their own actions.