Psalm 64 (63):8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Where can we find this brutality? Where is the fierce shout of the lion, echoed by the voices of the crowd demanding, “Crucify, crucify”? Where do the men rest, preparing their bows? Have their blows not turned into the feeble darts of children? You are aware that children craft arrows from reeds. What do they aim at, or where is their target? What constitutes a hand, or what defines a weapon? What are arms, and what significance do limbs hold?

The arrows of children served as their afflictions. Following his mention of their elevation before the sacred heralds, he also recounts their downfall.

The afflictions of the innocent shall be their trials, and their words shall weary themselves against the righteous. Despite their cleverness, they failed to achieve their intentions. Just as arrows released by children cause no injury to their targets, so too did their words inflict no damage on those they aimed to harm; rather, the consequences fell back upon them.

And God will rise. It might be that another will join my deceitful foes, lending support to their wicked designs against me, soothing them with promises to act in their favor. Yet, this individual will be profound in heart—wise, but in an evil sense, similar to the good-hearted wise man. Nevertheless, he will not prevail against me; hence, God will be elevated and glorified even further, ensnaring the cunning in their own traps, punishing them and revealing, as Theodoret describes, the thoughts of all those mentioned as ineffective and futile.

David, confident that his supplications were not in vain and sensing that the Lord had already acknowledged them, found encouragement in his spirit and embraced renewed hope. While he had yet to witness the retribution of God against his adversaries, he maintained his expectation for divine justice, which he proclaims to them, thus demonstrating a profound commitment to his faith. Observing the wicked thriving and boasting in their prosperity, devoid of reverence for God and His wrath, he did not succumb to despair or hopelessness. Instead, he elevated his spirit, patiently awaiting the Lord to manifest His righteousness. Simultaneously, in light of their malignity, he chose to forgive those who wronged him. He remarked that their wounds could only be likened to arrows launched by the hands of children, as those hands are feeble and incapable of inflicting significant harm.

Consider this psalm, inspired by the Holy Spirit and penned by David, which reflects the prophet's sorrow over his oppressors as he seeks divine assistance against them, trusting that God will recompense them for their actions. Central to this psalm is a supplication made to God the Father and to Christ the Lord amid His passion, encompassing all His devoted followers, the righteous, and the martyrs.

The Lord will rise, meaning that He reigns above our hearts; the mysteries of His nature and the depths of His wisdom are boundless, and His purposes are beyond human understanding, even surpassing the knowledge of the Cherubim. Thus, is it not presumptuous for humans, who are unable to discern the secrets of their own hearts, to seek to unravel the divine mysteries? The prophet Jeremiah articulates this profound truth: The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind (Jeremiah 17:9). Likewise, the Apostle John affirms that God is greater than our hearts and knows everything (1 John 3:20). The ineffective words of the naive serve as their own downfall.