Psalms 64:1-5

Context

Psalm 64¹

For the music director; a psalm of David.

64:1 Listen to me,² O God, as I offer my lament!

Protect³ my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks.⁴

64:2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,

from the crowd of evildoers.⁵

64:3 They⁶ sharpen their tongues like a sword;

they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge,⁷

64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent⁸ in secluded places.

They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation.⁹

64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed.¹⁰

They plan how to hide¹¹ snares,

and boast,¹² “Who will see them?”¹³

[64:1] ¹sn Psalm 64. The psalmist asks God to protect him from his dangerous enemies and then confidently affirms that God will destroy his enemies and demonstrate his justice in the sight of all observers.

[64:1] ²tn Heb “my voice.”

[64:1] ³tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s request.

[64:1] ⁴tn Heb “from the terror of [the] enemy.” “Terror” is used here metonymically for the enemy’s attacks that produce fear because they threaten the psalmist’s life.

[64:2] ⁵tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”

[64:3] ⁶tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[64:3] ⁷tn Heb “a bitter word.”

[64:4] ⁸tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.

[64:4] ⁹tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[64:5] ¹⁰tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”

[64:5] ¹¹tn Heb “they report about hiding.”

[64:5] ¹²tn Heb “they say.”

[64:5] ¹³tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).