Psalm 64

Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint;
    protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
    from the plots of evildoers.
They sharpen their tongues like swords
    and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.
They shoot from ambush at the innocent;
    they shoot suddenly, without fear.
They encourage each other in evil plans,
    they talk about hiding their snares;
    they say, “Who will see it?”
They plot injustice and say,
    “We have devised a perfect plan!”
    Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.
But God will shoot them with his arrows;
    they will suddenly be struck down.
He will turn their own tongues against them
    and bring them to ruin;
    all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
All people will fear;
    they will proclaim the works of God
    and ponder what he has done.
The righteous will rejoice in the Lord
    and take refuge in him;
    all the upright in heart will glory in him!

• Psalm 64:1-10

Type of Psalm

Psalms of Affliction: Psalms where the psalmist is crying out in pain or distress, asking God where He is in the psalmist’s time of need.  But no matter how dire the circumstances or how long the lament, there seems to always be a word of praise.  Otherwise, why do we go to God in such times, other than to recognize Him as the only one who can help us?

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This whole psalm has reference to David’s enemies, persecutors, and slanderers; many such there were, and a great deal of trouble they gave him, almost all his days, so that we need not guess at any particular occasion of penning this psalm. I. He prays to God to preserve him from their malicious designs against him, ver. 1-2. II. He gives a very bad character of them, as men marked for ruin by their own wickedness, ver. 3-6. III. By the spirit of prophecy he foretels their destruction, which would redound to the glory of God and the encouragement of his people, ver. 7-10. In singing this psalm we must observe the effect of the old enmity that is in the seed of the woman against the seed of the serpent, and assure ourselves that the serpent’s head will be broken, at last, to the honour and joy of the holy seed.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 64:5 Who will see them? “This was a question of brazen autonomy. They mock the omniscience of God (cf. Ps. 59:7).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

We finally reach the last of six psalms of affliction, Ps. 59-64.

This psalm begins with entreaties to God to hear our plight, and to protect us.

The psalmist asks God to hide us from the conspiracies of the wicked, their plots and their wicked plans.

Then the psalmist talks of God shooting the enemy with arrows.  Since God is unseen, arrow seemingly coming from nowhere provoke fear among the people, but the righteous will rejoice.

We see a sort of arrow killing the army of Sennacherib during the reign of King Hezekiah.  The Angel Armies made the enemy blind in the time of Elisha.  So, there is proof that God works with such methods.

Psalm 65

Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;
    to you our vows will be fulfilled.
You who answer prayer,
    to you all people will come.
When we were overwhelmed by sins,
    you forgave our transgressions.
Blessed are those you choose
    and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
    of your holy temple.
You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
    God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas,
who formed the mountains by your power,
    having armed yourself with strength,
who stilled the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    and the turmoil of the nations.
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
    where morning dawns, where evening fades,
    you call forth songs of joy.
You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with grain,
    for so you have ordained it.
You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.
The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
    the hills are clothed with gladness.
The meadows are covered with flocks
    and the valleys are mantled with grain;
    they shout for joy and sing.

• Psalm 65:1-13

Type of Psalm

Psalms of praise: Exactly as stated.  God is being praised.

Psalms of thanksgiving for God’s goodness to Israel:  Giving God thanks as noted.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“In this psalm we are directed to give to God the glory of his power and goodness, which appear, I. In the kingdom of grace (ver. 1), hearing prayer (ver. 2), pardoning sin (ver. 3), satisfying the souls of the people (ver. 4), protecting and supporting them, ver. 5. II. In the kingdom of Providence, fixing the mountains (ver. 6), calming the sea (ver. 7), preserving the regular succession of day and night (ver. 8), and making the earth fruitful, ver. 9-13. These are blessings we are all indebted to God for, and therefore we may easily accommodate this psalm to ourselves in singing it.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 65:1 : ”Whatever else we do, let us be sure our souls magnify the Lord and abhor the idea of self-glorification. If the Lord has blessed us, let us shake off any idea of ascribing praise to ourselves, as Paul shook off the viper from his hand. We are mere vanity and to us belongs shame. This is our possession-the only inheritance our fathers have left to us. What are we that the Lord should bless us? Did I bring a soul to Christ the other day? I bless the Holy Spirit who helped me by his power to do so divine a deed. Did I bear bold testimony for the truth but yesterday? I bless him who is the faithful and true witness, that at his feet I learned how to be true and by his Spirit was enabled to be brave. With vehemence we put down the idea of honoring ourselves. Again and again we put away the usurper’s crown that Satan offers us.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from his sermon illustrations

My Thoughts

This psalm is a psalm of praise and thanksgiving.  The Lord is praised in the first third.  Vows are fulfilled, and the sins of the people are forgiven.

Then the middle portion of this psalm could be classified under the Dietrich Bonhoeffer classification of a Creation psalm.  God made the mountains.

But God does not just create; God maintains.  God uses the rain and the flowing streams to make the land abundant in production of crops.

Psalm 66

Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
    Sing the glory of his name;
    make his praise glorious.
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
    So great is your power
    that your enemies cringe before you.
All the earth bows down to you;
    they sing praise to you,
    they sing the praises of your name.”
Come and see what God has done,
    his awesome deeds for mankind!
He turned the sea into dry land,
    they passed through the waters on foot—
    come, let us rejoice in him.
He rules forever by his power,
    his eyes watch the nations—
    let not the rebellious rise up against him.
Praise our God, all peoples,
    let the sound of his praise be heard;
he has preserved our lives
    and kept our feet from slipping.
For you, God, tested us;
    you refined us like silver.
You brought us into prison
    and laid burdens on our backs.
You let people ride over our heads;
    we went through fire and water,
    but you brought us to a place of abundance.
I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
    and fulfill my vows to you—
vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
    when I was in trouble.
I will sacrifice fat animals to you
    and an offering of rams;
    I will offer bulls and goats.
Come and hear, all you who fear God;
    let me tell you what he has done for me.
I cried out to him with my mouth;
    his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
    the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened
    and has heard my prayer.
Praise be to God,
    who has not rejected my prayer
    or withheld his love from me!

• Psalm 66:1-20

Type of Psalm

Psalms of praise: Exactly as stated.  God is being praised.

Psalms of thanksgiving for God’s goodness to Israel:  Giving God thanks as noted.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This is a thanksgiving-psalm, and it is of such a general use and application that we need not suppose it penned upon any particular occasion. All people are here called upon to praise God, I. For the general instances of his sovereign dominion and power in the whole creation, ver. 1-7. II. For the special tokens of his favour to the church, his peculiar people, ver. 8-12. And then, III. The psalmist praises God for his own experiences of his goodness to him in particular, especially in answering his prayers, ver. 13-20. If we have learned in every thing to give thanks for ancient and modern mercies, public and personal mercies, we shall know how to sing this psalm with grace and understanding.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 66:5 “We need to hear that God is still in control. We need to hear that it’s not over until he says so. We need to hear that life’s mishaps and tragedies are not a reason to bail out. They are simply a reason to sit tight.
“Corrie ten Boom used to say, ‘When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through’ …
“The way to deal with discouragement? The cure for disappointment? Go back and read the story of God. Read it again and again. Be reminded that you aren’t the first person to weep. And you aren’t the first person to be helped.
“Read the story and remember, [the] story is yours!”

• Max Lucado, He Still Moves Stones

My Thoughts

Shout for joy.  God has performed great deeds.  Come and see the awesome deeds of God.

Here is another psalm of praise and thanksgiving.

While some psalms remind the people of the crossing of the Red Sea and delivering of the people from Egyptian rule, this psalm alludes to these events: seas drying up (Red Sea and/or the Jordan River), the hands of oppression over them but then God delivered them.  This could be Egypt or any of God’s deliverances using an appointed judge, like Deborah, Gideon, or Samson.  In praising God with conceptual things, each generation could praise God accordingly, as those who trust in God see God at work in our current events.  God’s great deeds are not restricted to the times of Moses and Joshua.

But after the deliverance, the psalm points out that the people move into a land of abundance.

The psalmist ends with vows to make sacrifices.  And the psalm ends with a call for all who fear God to worship Him.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Psalm 64

“1. Do you feel ambushed? Threatened? How so? Does anyone think of you as ‘the enemy’?
“2. Have you seen evil turn back on those who planned it?
“3. What is most important to you about God’s judgment: (a) Its certainty? (b) Swiftness? (c) ‘Tit­ for-tat’ fairness? (d) It foils the cleverest of plans?
“4. Which is more sinful: thoughts or actions? Why do you think so?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Psalm 65

“1. What aspect of God is most exciting to you today: Creator? Provider? Redeemer? What does it mean to you that God not only forgives your sin but brings you near to ‘live in his courts’ (vv.3-4)?
“2. David expressed God’s provision in terms of a harvest: How would you rewrite verses 9-13 to praise God’s provision for you?
“3. How would you explain these verses to a people living in drought or famine? Why doesn’t God provide for them? What can the group do to help them?”

Psalm 66

“1. What could you say God has done for you lately? What about God and his ways of dealing with all people would we learn from your testimony?
“2. Have you ever ‘made a deal’ with God? Did God do his part? What about your part?
“3. All the earth does not bow to God. What is the point of saying so (v.4)? What is your vision of a world at peace with God?
“4. Do you feel God is testing you? How? Why? What ‘abundant place’ do you hope for?
“5. What sacrifices should you make this week for the Lord? What would be your equivalent to ‘bulls and goats’?”

There is one set of questions for each of these psalms.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.