God will turn the tables on the adversaries of His people and defeat them at their own weapons,
therefore the righteous need not worry about the arts of self defense,
but may safely leave their avengement in His hands.
Psalm 1
1 Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
4 That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?
6 They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.
7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
8 So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.
9 And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.
10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.
Psalm 1 – J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 64 – Deliverance from Powerful Foes
Another of the psalms dating from Saul’s persecution. There are two stanzas.
Prayer for preservation, Psalm 64:1-6
Insult, sarcasm, and slander still fall to the lot of those who will live godly in this world. Very few of us are safe from poisoned arrows. Because the world is so full of evil men, who are disposed to put the worst construction on every act, we should be constantly on our guard to give no needless cause to the enemy to blaspheme, II Samuel 12:14. Daniel gives us an admirable illustration of this, since his enemies had no cause against him, save as it concerned the law of his God, Daniel 6:5.
Assurance of divine vindication, Psalm 64:7-10
David felt that God had undertaken to be his champion. His arrows were flying through the air thick and fast. Curses come home to roost, and the overthrow of wickedness by the floating mines set to wreck the righteous, is evidence of God’s government of the world. Let the righteous look forward with quiet confidence to the time when the world shall be righted, and when the water-pots that are now filled to the brim with tears shall yield the wine of the wedding-feast. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 64:10—The righteous shall be glad in the LORD.
Are you glad in your Christian life? Gladness is the perquisite of children and childlike hearts, and there is nothing which is more distinctively characteristic of the work of grace in the heart than Christian gladness. The world may simulate it, but it is conscious of its dreary failure. Often faded worldlings will come to the true Christian, saying, What is the secret of your perennial gladness?
The glad heart is conscious of the love of God; knows that it is reconciled through the blood of the cross; realizes that there is nothing between itself and the light of the Father’s smile; is conscious of rectitude in intention and tenderness of yearning love and pity. In every difficult circumstance it recognizes the Father’s appointment; in every archipelago of rocks it is aware of the presence of God aboard the vessel, holding the helm and keeping the keel in the deepest current.
O souls, get right with God! avail yourselves of the perfect righteousness of Christ; watch that there be nothing between you and Him; walk in the light as He is in the light; cultivate the habit of considering what has been given rather than what has been withheld—and you will find that He will make you glad in proportion to the days in which He has afflicted you, and the years in which you have seen evil. The sad heart tires in a mile. The glad one mounts up with wings as eagles. After his vision Jacob “went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east” (Genesis 29:1).
“Oh for the joy thy presence gives–
What peace shall reign when Thou art here!
Thy presence makes this den of thieves
A calm, delightful house of prayer.” —Our Daily Homily