Psalms 64

The AIT Bible

0For the choirmaster. A psalm of David.

A Prayer Against Secret Plots

1Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; guard my life from dread of the enemy.

2Hide me from the secret council of evildoers, from the throng of workers of iniquity,

3who sharpen their tongue like a sword, who aim their arrow — a bitter word —

4to shoot at the blameless from hidden places; suddenly they shoot at him and are not afraid.

5They strengthen for themselves an evil word; they talk of laying snares in secret; they say, ‘Who will see them?’

6They search out injustices: ‘We have perfected a well-searched scheme!’ The inward part of a man and the heart are deep.

7But God shoots at them an arrow; suddenly their wounds appear.

8They cause him to stumble; their own tongue is against them; all who see them shake their heads.

9Then all mankind fears, and they declare the work of God, and they ponder what he has done.

10Let the righteous one rejoice in Yahweh and take refuge in him; and let all the upright of heart glory.

Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.

allusion Psalms 57:4 — Shared image of the tongue as a sharp sword and words as arrows to attack the innocent.
allusion Psalms 10:11 — The wicked presume God will not see their secret deeds ('Who will see them?' echoing 'God has forgotten... he will never see').
allusion Psalms 11:2 — Shared image of the wicked shooting arrows from hidden places at the upright/blameless.
allusion Psalms 32:11 — Shared closing call for the righteous and upright of heart to rejoice and glory in the LORD.
thematic James 3:6 — Both treat the tongue as a destructive weapon capable of great harm.
thematic Psalms 55:21 — Both develop the motif of speech/words as drawn swords used against the psalmist.
thematic Psalms 7:12 — Both portray God as an archer who turns his own weapons/arrows against the wicked.
thematic Psalms 7:16 — Both express poetic justice in which the schemers' own violence/tongue recoils upon themselves.
thematic Psalms 11:1 — Both depict the wicked shooting arrows in secret at the upright/blameless.