Psalms of David

They say that first impressions are important, and my first impression of Psalm 64 was not positive. I had no idea at all as to what it meant. It is a bit of a mess, going in and out of metaphor.

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Psalms in Book 2 are like Book 1 in that they are mostly lament and distress although they now include a communal voice in addition to the singular voice of the first book.

The books of Psalms are roughly themed like this:

Book 1: Psalms 1 – 41: God is beside us.
Book 2: Psalms 42 – 72: God goes before us
Book 3: Psalms 73 – 89: God is all around us.
Book 4: Psalms 90 – 106: God is above us.
Book 5: Psalms 107 – 150: God is among us.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

A. 64 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

B. ² Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
from the throng of evildoers,

C ³ who whet their tongues like swords,
 who aim bitter words like arrows,

D ⁴ shooting from ambush at the blameless,
shooting at him suddenly and without fear.

E ⁵ They hold fast to their evil purpose;
they talk of laying snares secretly,

thinking, “Who can see them?”

E’ ⁶They search out injustice,
saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep!

D’ ⁷ But God shoots his arrow at them;
they are wounded suddenly.

C’ ⁸ They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;
all who see them will wag their heads.

B’ ⁹ Then all mankind fears;
they tell what God has brought about
 and ponder what he has done.

A’ ¹⁰ Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart exult!

Psalm 64 ESVUK with the format altered to show the psalms structure

To get the obvious out of the way first. Psalm 64 is not supposed to be taken literally. It is both poetry and Wisdom literature, that early form of Jewish philosophy that uses figurative language. But taking the poetry angle first, let’s look at the structure of the song and see if that brings any structure to the meaning.

I included a spoiler to the structure in the way I arranged the words in the form of a chiasm. Chiasm, meaning crossing over, is a form used in nearly all Psalms and is a repetition of similar ideas in the reverse sequence. This one is very easy, almost a verse to each part. Here is the structure:

A – God, the Lord
B – Work, in Hebrew, but translated as plots in v. 2 and brought about in v. 9. The works of people are compred with the works of God.
C – Tongues.
D – There are two links, shooting and suddenly.
E – Secret. The Hebrew word taman, meaning secret, is in both verses 5 and 6.

Then in the centre there is a short phrase, who can see them? People think they can get away with things that they do in secret, or not so secret if they have people who will cover for them. This attitude can be seen in the abuse of Jimmy Savile, the way some people use social media to put others down and in gossip. They think their abuse will not come back on them.

David is clear in this psalm that the abuse he suffers is about words. The arrows he suffers are his way of describing the pain that words can bring. People’s arrows are their words intended to hurt. God’s arrows are also words, but not God’s words, God does not condemn people in this psalm. God’s arrows are the words these people have spoken, they condemn themselves.

The structure also makes sense of the use of metaphore in Psalm 64, sections A, B and C and their repeats speal directly whilst D, E and the central words use the metaphore of weapons of war to describe the effects that gossip and rumour can have.

So taking the theme of the psalm from the middle section, people maliciously cause trouble thinking they can get away with it. Two important word here, but God…

I could continue with, “But God says,” but what God says in this psalm are not recorded. God fires his arrows, but God’s weapons against gossips and slanderers are not his own words but the words of the gossips and slanderers. My But God statement is, But God says no, they will not get away with it, their own words will condemn them. Do you think God does not see what goes on. These people will be brought to ruin with their own tongues, their own words, turned against them. The poetic justice of God, you reap what you sow.

Who has not hurt people by their deliberate words or by their idle words or perhaps what they haven’t said but should have done? It is your words, or lack of them, that do the damage. All you can do is fall on the mercy of God. Forgivness is offered to those who turn to him.

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