Psalms 49:5
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when wicked usurpers surround me?
BSB
ASV
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, When iniquity at my heels compasseth me about?
KJV
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil,.... This is the principal thing that all are before called to hearken to. This is the wisdom and understanding the psalmist had been meditating upon, and was about to utter; this is the parable he inclined his ear to, and the dark saying he would open; namely, that a saint has nothing to fear in the worst of times; which is a riddle to a natural man.
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? The man of God looks calmly forward to dark times when those evils which have dogged his heels shall gain a temporary advantage over him. Iniquitous men, here called in the abstract iniquity, lie in wait for the righteous, as serpents that aim at the heels of travellers: the iniquity of our heels is that evil which aims to trip us up or impede us.
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 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
Proverbs 24:10If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!
leads to
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching…
So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
Do not let your heart grow faint, and do not be afraid when the rumor is heard in the land; for a rumor will come one year—and then another the next year—of violence in…
Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the…
Through
Philippians 1:28without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, and it is from God.
leads to
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
All this is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment. And so you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.