Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 64. This psalm shares many themes with Psalm 63, namely, confidence in God's victory over those who bring troubles on the righteous. However, since the psalm begins with a request, it is best to see it as an individual lament. The psalm has two parts: a request for help against deadly schemes (vv. 1-6), and confident expectation that God will fight on behalf of his faithful (vv. 7-10). The psalm presents God's purpose for his victory as instruction for mankind (v. 9) and the bringing of joy to the godly (v. 10).

64:1-6 Hide Me from the Secret Plans of the Wicked. This psalm lays out the danger to the devoted believer with three requests (hear my voice, preserve my life, hide me) and an extensive description of the enemies and their malevolent schemes. As usual in these psalms of lament, the enemy is made up of wicked people (v. 2) who have an evil purpose (v. 5) to carry out injustice (v. 6) against the faithful (the blameless, v. 4). The particular strategy is to use bitter words (vv. 3-4), which form snares secretly (v. 5); these terms are vague enough to range from lies that sow discord or despair to slander that destroys reputations. (This breadth of possibilities is probably intentional, allowing the psalm to be relevant to a variety of situations.)