2 When evil-doers, mine adversaries and mine enemies, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, eating up my people [as] they eat bread? They call not upon Jehovah.
Why do ye persecute me as ùGod, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Judas therefore, having got the band, and officers of the chief priests and Pharisees, comes there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that were coming upon him, went forth and said to them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus the Nazaraean. Jesus says to them, I am [he]. And Judas also, who delivered him up, stood with them. When therefore he said to them, I am [he], they went away backward and fell to the ground.
If the men of my tent said not, Who shall find one that hath not been satisfied with his meat? --
When mine enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished at thy presence:
I crushed them, and they were not able to rise: they fell under my feet. And thou girdedst me with strength to battle; thou didst subdue under me those that rose up against me. And mine enemies didst thou make to turn their backs unto me, and those that hated me I destroyed. They cried, and there was none to save; -- unto Jehovah, and he answered them not. And I did beat them small as dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the mire of the streets.
For dogs have encompassed me; an assembly of evil-doers have surrounded me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
How long will ye assail a man; will ye [seek], all of you, to break him down as a bowing wall or a tottering fence? They only consult to thrust [him] down from his excellency; they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth, but in their inward part they curse. Selah.
They encompassed me like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of Jehovah have I destroyed them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 27
Commentary on Psalms 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 27
Ps 27:1-14. With a general strain of confidence, hope, and joy, especially in God's worship, in the midst of dangers, the Psalmist introduces prayer for divine help and guidance.
1. light—is a common figure for comfort.
strength—or, "stronghold"—affording security against all violence. The interrogations give greater vividness to the negation implied.
2. eat … my flesh—(Job 19:22; Ps 14:4). The allusion to wild beasts illustrates their rapacity.
they stumbled—"they" is emphatic; not I, but they were destroyed.
3. In the greatest dangers.
in this—that is, then, in such extremity.
4, 5. The secret of his confidence is his delight in communion with God (Ps 16:11; 23:6), beholding the harmony of His perfections, and seeking His favor in His temple or palace; a term applicable to the tabernacle (compare Ps 5:7). There he is safe (Ps 31:21; 61:5). The figure is changed in the last clause, but the sentiment is the same.
6. head be lifted up—I shall be placed beyond the reach of my enemies. Hence he avows his purpose of rendering joyful thank offerings.
7. Still pressing need extorts prayer for help.
cry with my voice—denotes earnestness. Other things equal, Christians in earnest pray audibly, even in secret.
8. The meaning is clear, though the construction in a literal translation is obscure. The English Version supplies the implied clause. To seek God's face is to seek His favor (Ps 105:4).
9. Hide not, &c.—(Ps 4:6; 22:24). Against rejection he pleads former mercy and love.
10. In the extremity of earthly destitution (Ps 31:11; 38:11), God provides (compare Mt 25:35).
11. thy way—of providence.
a plain path—(Ps 26:12).
enemies—literally, "watchers for my fall" (Ps 5:8).
12. will—literally, "soul," "desire" (Ps 35:25).
enemies—literally, "oppressors." Falsehood aids cruelty against him.
breathe out—as being filled with it (Ac 9:1).
13. The strong emotion is indicated by the incomplete sentence, for which the English Version supplies a proper clause; or, omitting that, and rendering, "yet I believed," &c., the contrast of his faith and his danger is expressed.
to see—is to experience (Ps 22:17).
14. Wait, &c.—in confident expectation. The last clause is, literally, "and wait," &c., as if expecting new measures of help.