That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
That they may shoot in secret places at the perfect: Suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
To shoot in secret places the perfect, Suddenly they shoot him, and fear not.
That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
Psalms — The canon's longest book — 150 Psalms edited into five doxology-bookended books, composed across a millennium, attributed to David, Asaph, Korah's sons, Moses, Solomon, Heman, Ethan, and anonymous voices. A ''Torah of David''; the Bible's longest continuous liturgical-devotional corpus.
Voices4
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.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
Ver. 4. That they may shoot in secret at the perfect. They lie in ambush, with bows ready bent to aim a coward's shaft at the upright man. Sincere and upright conduct will not secure us from the assaults of slander. The devil shot at our Lord himself, and we may rest assured he has a fiery dart in reserve for us; He was absolutely perfect, we are only so in a relative sense, hence in us there is fuel for fiery darts to kindle on.
But, (1.) Their tongues are their swords, flaming swords, two-edged swords, drawn swords, drawn in anger, with which they cut, and wound, and kill, the good name of their neighbours. The tongue is a little member, but, like the sword, it boasts great things, Jam. iii. It is a dangerous weapon.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
By the spirit of prophecy he foretels their destruction, which would redound to the glory of God and the encouragement of his people,
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The verses this one reaches12
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
God will hear and humiliate them— the One enthroned for the ages— Selah because they do not change and they have no fear of God.
He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
For behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrow on the string to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.
As soon as the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” “You take Him and crucify Him,” Pilate replied, “for I find no basis for a charge against Him.”
With his own spear You pierced his head, when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though ready to secretly devour the weak.
Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But the spear struck the wall and David eluded him, ran away, and escaped that night.
And our enemies said, “Before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work.”
And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”
7 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓
Every other verse the study tradition links to this one, in the Bible’s own order. The first links in each book carry a line of their text; every reference opens its full verse page.
Psalms3
Jeremiah1
Cross-references are drawn from classic Bible study tools and open, shareable Bible data.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Psalms 55:19God will hear and humiliate them— the One enthroned for the ages— Selah because they do not change and they have no fear of God.
leads to
The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’
And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’
When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
Through
John 19:6As soon as the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” “You take Him and crucify Him,” Pilate replied, “for I find no basis for a charge against Him.”
leads to
“You take Him and judge Him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “We are not permitted to execute anyone,” the Jews replied.
Through
Psalms 11:2For behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrow on the string to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
leads to
who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows,
For You will put them to flight when Your bow is trained upon them.
The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.
“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
