Psalm 64:4

That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) And fear not.—These are utterly unscrupulous, fearing neither God nor man.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

64:1-6 The psalmist earnestly begs of God to preserve him from disquieting fear. The tongue is a little member, but it boasts great things. The upright man is the mark at which the wicked aim, they cannot speak peaceably either of him or to him. There is no guard against a false tongue. It is bad to do wrong, but worse to encourage ourselves and one another in it. It is a sign that the heart is hardened to the greatest degree, when it is thus fully set to do evil. A practical disbelief of God's knowledge of all things, is at the bottom of every wickedness. The benefit of a good cause and a good conscience, appears most when nothing can help a man against his enemies, save God alone, who is always a present help.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That they may shoot in secret - From an unobserved quarter; from a place where they are so concealed that it cannot be known where the arrows come from. There was a purpose to ruin him, and at the same time to conceal themselves, or not to let him know from what source the ruin came. It was not an open and manly fight, where he could see his enemy, but it was a warfare with a concealed foe.

At the perfect - At the upright; at one who is perfect so far as his treatment of them is concerned. Compare Psalm 18:20, note; Psalm 18:23, note.

Suddenly do they shoot at him - At an unexpected time, and from an unlooked-for quarter. They accomplish what they intended; they carry out their design.

And fear not - They feel confident that they are not known, and that they will not be detected. They have no fear of God or man. Compare Psalm 55:19.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. the perfect—one innocent of the charges made (Ps 18:23).

fear not—(Ps 55:19), not regarding God.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In secret; lying in ambush, or hiding themselves in secret places, as fowlers commonly do.

The perfect; or, upright man; i.e. at me, who in spite of all their calumnies dare avow that my heart is perfect with God, and that I am blameless as to them, having given them no just provocation.

Suddenly; at the very first opportunity.

Fear not; neither men, because they conceal it from them, as appears from the foregoing and following words; nor God, whose judgments they despise.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

That they may shoot in secret at the perfect,.... Meaning himself, who though not without sin, and far from perfection in himself, in the sight of God and with respect to his righteous law, which was exceeding broad; and therefore he saw an end of all perfection, and desired that God would not enter into judgment with him; but yet, in the case of Saul, he was quite clear and innocent, and without fault. Likewise the Messiah, of whom David was a type, may be meant; who has all the perfections of the divine and human nature in him, and is without sin, holy, harmless, pure, and undefiled: and it may be applied to the church and people of God, who, though they are not perfect in themselves, far from it, sin being in them, and their graces weak; unless it be in a comparative sense; yet they are perfect in Christ Jesus, their souls being clothed with his righteousness, and so are the spirits of just men made perfect. And this character may also respect the truth and sincerity of grace in them, and the uprightness of their hearts and conversation; and such as these wicked men level their arrows at, and direct their spite and venom against, and that in the most private and secret manner;

suddenly do they shoot at him; as unseen by him, so unawares to him;

and fear not; neither God nor judgment to come. Though some understand this of the perfect who, though shot at in this manner are intrepid and courageous, and have no fear of their enemies; but the former sense seems best, which describes persons that neither fear God, nor regard man.

Geneva Study Bible

That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and {e} fear not.

(e) To be without fear of God and reverence of man, is a sign of reprobation.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. That they may shoot] Cp. Psalm 11:2.

in secret] R.V., in secret places, as Psalm 10:8; Psalm 17:12.

the perfect] The upright, blameless man, an epithet often applied to Job (Job 1:1, &c.). Cp. Psalm 37:37; Proverbs 29:10, and see note on the cognate word in Psalm 15:2.

fear not] They neither fear God nor regard man. Cp. Psalm 55:19.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - That they may shoot in secret at the perfect; or, in their hiding places. David does not scruple to call himself "perfect," using the word in the sense in which it is used of Job (Job 1:1; Job 2:3), meaning a sincere and upright man. Suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. They are not afraid, though it is "the anointed of the Lord," whom to attack is not only rebellion, but sacrilege (see 2 Samuel 1:14). Psalm 64:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Psalm opens with an octostich, and closes in the same way. The infinitive noun שׂיח signifies a complaint, expressed not by the tones of pain, but in words. The rendering of the lxx (here and in Psalm 55:3) is too general, ἐν τῷ θέεσθαί με. The "terror" of the enemy is that proceeding from him (gen. obj. as in Deuteronomy 2:15, and frequently). The generic singular אויב is at once particularized in a more detailed description with the use of the plural. סוד is a club or clique; רגשׁה (Targumic equals המון, e.g., Ezekiel 30:10) a noisy crowd. The perfects after אשׁר affirm that which they now do as they have before done; cf. Psalm 140:4 and Psalm 58:8, where, as in this passage, the treading or bending of the bow is transferred to the arrow. דּבר מר is the interpretation added to the figure, as in Psalm 144:7. That which is bitter is called מר, root מר, stringere, from the harsh astringent taste; here it is used tropically of speech that wounds and inflicts pain (after the manner of an arrow or a stiletto), πικροὶ λόγοι. With the Kal לירות (Psalm 11:2) alternates the Hiph. ירהוּ. With פּתאם the description takes a new start. ולא ייראוּ, forming an assonance with the preceding word, means that they do it without any fear whatever, and therefore also without fear of God (Psalm 55:20; Psalm 25:18).