Do You also Want to Go Away – Psalm 64

“To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.” Psalm 64:1

Fear is the opposite of faith. The devil wants to place “worst-case scenario” images in our minds to paralyze us with fear. He doesn’t want us to testify for Jesus Christ. He uses fear of failure to mute us. Paul urged us to rely on the Holy Spirit to overcome our fears. In 2 Timothy 1:7, he wrote, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” In 1 John 4:4, the apostle John wrote, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” God’s Word to us in Joshua 1:9 is, “Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

“Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity, who sharpen their tongue like a sword and bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words, that they may shoot in secret at the blameless. Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear. They encourage themselves in an evil matter. They talk of laying snares secretly. They say, ‘Who will see them?’ They devise iniquities: ‘We have perfected a shrewd scheme.’ Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.” Psalm 64:2-6

When our Heavenly Father grants us His servants favor with people, the servants of Satan are angry. They begin to fire off words like marksmen shooting arrows to pierce our hearts. As if the arrows were not enough, they will set traps for us as well. In 2 Timothy 3:12, Paul wrote, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”

In Matthew 26:59-61, “The chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, ‘This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ They mischaracterized what Jesus had said. Jesus had spoken of the destruction and resurrection of His body. They falsely accused Jesus of being a terrorist who planned to destroy the temple which they loved.

In Acts 10:38, Peter said of Jesus, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Jesus made the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the dead to resurrect and the poor to hear good news, but even so, the religious leaders refused to believe in Him.

In 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, Paul wrote that he and his fellow apostles were treated as spectacles by the world and as fools for Christ. They experienced hunger and thirst, poor clothing, beatings and homelessness. They worked with their own hands. Being reviled, they blessed! Being defamed, they responded with kindness. In Galatians 6:17, Paul shared that he bore in his “body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”

In 1 Peter 2:21-23, Peter wrote, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth,’ who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”

“But God shall shoot at them with an arrow. Suddenly they shall be wounded. So He will make them stumble over their own tongue. All who see them shall flee away. All men shall fear and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider His doing.” Psalm 64:7-9

Cruel people shot at David secretly and suddenly, to wound him. Thus, God prepared His arrows for them. “God’s arrows will hit surer, and fly swifter, and pierce deeper, than theirs do or can. God also has an arrow named death.” [1]

Some think that the Lord’s prophetic word to David in Psalm 64:7-9 was fulfilled in 1 Samuel 31:7... “When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.”

Saul’s criminal accomplices abandoned him when he died.

In a similar fashion, the 250 people who had supported Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in their rebellion against Moses fled when they realized God was about to bring them down.

In Numbers 16:1-7, Korah with Dathan and Abiram rose up before Moses with 250 others. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

In Numbers 16:4, when Moses heard their words, he fell on his face before the Lord.

On the next day, in Numbers 16:26-30, Moses said to the people, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.” So they got away from around their tents. And Moses said: “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”

Then, in Numbers 16:31-33, “the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit. The earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.”

When David’s son Absalom rebelled against him, at first David retreated from him. He did not want to lose his son. But ultimately, the rebellion had to be put down. Absalom was killed against David’s wishes by Joab the commander of Israel’s army. David wept bitterly.

Sometimes followers depart from their leaders. Departures hurt! In John 6:32-66, after Jesus taught that people needed to eat His flesh and drink His blood to have eternal life, many of His disciples departed and never returned to Him. In John 6:67-69, when Jesus asked His twelve disciples if they too would depart from Him, Peter answered on behalf all of them saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

“Just as physical food sustains the body, ‘eating’ Jesus’ flesh and ‘drinking’ His blood means taking the reality of His death on the cross—His body broken and blood shed for the forgiveness of sins—and internalizing it by faith. To consume Him is to make His life part of your own. It is to allow His teachings and Spirit to abide within you. In John 6:63, Jesus says, ‘The flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life,’ which many interpret as a direct hint that the eating is spiritual, not physical.” [2]

Later, Jesus instituted Holy Communion with His disciples. In that moment, Jesus announced a new covenant in which eating bread and drinking the fruit of the vine was to eat His flesh and drink His blood. We take Holy Communion to remember that our Savior Jesus Christ gave His body and blood on the cross for our forgiveness and salvation. And as we eat the communion bread and drink from the communion cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He returns. [3]

In John 17:20-23, before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed to the Father to keep His disciples as one. He prayed, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

Globally, people have varying views about politics, morality, and Bible interpretation. Only God, the Holy Spirit can bring us into one accord and keep us in one accord with Christ.

In Philippians 2:3, Paul urged Christians “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

In 1 Peter 3:8, Peter urged Christians to “be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous.”

According to 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, love is patient and kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself. Love is not puffed up. Love does not behave rudely. Love does not seek its own. Love is not provoked. Love thinks no evil. Love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

“The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.” Psalm 64:7-10

What does the Lord’s righteousness do for us? His righteousness makes us glad. His righteousness helps us to trust in Him. He doesn’t betray us when we believe in Him. His uprightness in our hearts, helps us to bring Him glory which yields for us great joy!



[1] Matthew Henry’s Commentary
[2] DesirngGod.org
[3] See In Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:26