The One Who Hides in God Shall Yet Rejoice

Introduction

"Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy" (Ps. 64:1).

David opens this psalm with a cry of entreaty. The phrase "my prayer" in verse 1 translates the Hebrew שִׂיחִי (siḥî, 'a groaning poured out from within,' 'words long kept to oneself'). David had been carrying something alone. The words of his enemies felt like a sword (v. 3); their plots flew at him like arrows (v. 3). The weight of it all had built until at last it broke open before God. This is where Psalm 64 begins.

When we hear words in the congregation that cut us to the quick, when we sense that others are conspiring against us, when it seems that no one is on our side — we know this siḥî. Psalm 64 begins in that very place.

I. The Attacks of the Wicked Cast the Righteous into Fear (vv. 1–6)

What David experienced was no ordinary conflict. In verse 2 he prays, "Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity." The wicked were organized. Verse 4 describes their method in detail: "That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not." Their tongues had been sharpened "like a sword" (v. 3), and even after they struck, they felt no fear.

Verse 6 lays bare their inner disposition: "They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search." The word "search out" is the Hebrew חָפַשׂ (ḥāphaś, 'to ransack,' 'to dig through'). The wicked were methodically probing for any crack in David's defenses through which they could bring him down. All the while, they assured themselves: "Who shall see them?" (v. 5).

David was afraid. He says so plainly in verse 1 — "fear of the enemy." Faith is not the absence of fear. David did not try to suppress his fear or overcome it by his own resolve. He took his fear and brought it before God.

Key Point: Faith is not the absence of fear — it is hiding in God in the midst of fear.

II. God Turns the Weapons of the Wicked upon Themselves (vv. 7–9)

Through verse 6, the subject of this psalm has consistently been "they." They conspired; they dug the pit; they shot their arrows. The wicked seemed to dominate the entire poem.

But in verse 7, the subject changes. "But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded." The arrows the wicked had aimed at David now change direction. Verse 8 presses further: "So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves." לָשׁוֹן (lāšôn, 'the tongue') — the very tongue they had sharpened like a sword becomes the instrument of their own ruin. Their words become their snare.

Verse 9 announces the outcome: "And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing." The righteous need not avenge themselves. God takes his place as judge over his own people, acts in righteousness himself, and his deeds become visible to all who look on.

Key Point: God becomes the judge of his people and executes justice himself. The righteous have no need to repay.

III. The One Who Hides in God Shall Come at Last to Joy (v. 10)

Psalm 64 begins in fear and ends in joy. Verse 10 declares: "The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory."

The ground of this joy is not a change in circumstances. The text does not say the enemies have vanished. The ground of joy is God himself. The righteous one hid in God amid fear, witnessed the justice of God, and that experience gave birth to בָּטַח (bāṭaḥ, 'to trust,' 'to lean upon without wavering'). And that trust became joy.

The fear has not disappeared. What has happened is that the righteous have met a God who is greater than their fear. And so David does not boast of his enemies' defeat, nor of his own endurance. He boasts in God — a boast that can only be made by one who has experienced the justice of God firsthand.

Key Point: The one who hides in God amid fear will experience the justice of God and come at last to rejoice in God himself.

Conclusion

There are times when we too suffer injustice within the community of God's people. There are times when the words of others feel like swords. We want to hide. We feel wronged. We burn with indignation.

But Psalm 64 does not teach us to take revenge. It teaches us to hide in God. Like David in verse 1 — to take our siḥî (שִׂיחִי), the groaning we have been carrying alone, and bring it before God.

Human wickedness runs deep. But the justice of God runs deeper still. The hand of God is greater than the sword of the enemy, and the judgment of God is more certain than the tongue of man. He becomes the judge of his own people, executes justice himself, and leads those who have hidden in him through fear into joy at last.

Therefore, the end of the righteous is not fear. It is joy.

The one who hides in God amid fear will experience the justice of God, and come at last to rejoice in God himself.