Psalms 27:2

Psa 27:2 When the wicked, [even] mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

Ver. 2. When the wicked, even mine enemies, came upon me] Made impression upon me, with utmost violence and open mouth, as if they would have devoured me, like a cannibal; or as a lion doth a sheep, inhumanissime, ferarumque more, saith Junius, barbarously and beastly.

They stumbled and fell] Irritis conatibus corruerunt, they utterly lost their design, as did those Amalekites who had sacked Ziklag, 1Sa 30:16-19, and Saul often. If a man stumble and fall not, he gets ground; but if after much blundering he kiss the ground, he falleth with a force. David’s enemies did so, corruerunt et conciderunt; they were irreparably ruined.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_27:2

They stumbled and fell.

Gods preservation of David in extreme danger

I. the state and condition of Davids enemies, They are wicked men. The reason whereof is the enmity put by God Himself between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (Gen_3:15), which David found (Psa_38:19-20; Joh_15:15; Joh_16:33). Uses--

1. For instruction. The godly must expect bitter opposition and enmity from the wicked (Mat_10:16).

2. For admonition.

(1) To the wicked: that they consider their state in Gods sight, when they are so spitefully bent against the godly.

(2) To the godly: to be both wise as serpents and harmless as doves, and to beware of men.

3. For comfort to the godly, that their adversaries are wicked men, for they may hereon rest assured that God will not join with their enemies unless it be for trial of grace, as in Job, or for the sins of the godly, in forsaking Him.

II. the purpose and attempt of Davids enemies against him. They came upon him to eat up his flesh; that is, utterly to destroy him.

1. Because of his religion and piety, with which their corruption could admit no accord (Psa_38:20; 2Co_6:14; 1Jn_3:12).

2. Because of the honour and dignity whereto God had advanced him (Psa_4:2; Psa_62:4). Uses--

1. For instruction.

(1) To discover the exceeding measure of corruption that is in natural men, and thereupon their fearful state in soul to Godward (Psa_53:1; Psa_53:3-4; Psa_83:4; Act_22:22).

(2) To manifest that there is a special providence of God over His Church and children, that preserves and keeps them, notwithstanding all the spite and rage of the wicked against them (Psa_105:12-14).

2. For admonition.

(1) To the wicked, to consider of their corrupt affection, in spite and hatred against the godly, whence it comes, that so they may discern their fearful state in soul, and labour to alter it.

(2) To the godly, often to bethink themselves what their religion may bring upon them from the wicked; that so they may get the sure shelter from it, viz. to have God for them.

III. the issue and success of the cruel attempt of Davids enemies against him.

1. They did not only fail of their purpose against David, but even themselves stumbled and fell.

2. The reason or cause hereof was in God, who for just causes stood for David, and set Himself against Davids enemies.

(1) He found him out, and chose him to do Him service, in that place and state wherein he was so mightily opposed by his enemies (Psa_89:20-21).

(2) David trusted in God, and so was holpen (Psa_60:1-3).

(3) David prayed unto the Lord, and so was preserved (Psa_56:9; Psa_34:4).

(4) David made conscience of sin, and walked in obedience (Psa_18:21; Psa_18:24).

(5) God would not be with his enemies, because they were not called of God, nor sent by Him against David; they were wicked men, workers of iniquity; they did neither regard Gods word nor Gods works; they trusted in their own might and outward means.

Uses--

1. For instruction.

(1) See what a great blessing and privilege it is to stand rightly in covenant with God; whereby He becometh light or salvation to a man or to a people, and the strength of their life.

(2) See the misery of those that be out of covenant with God, for the Lords power is ever against them.

2. For admonition: to give all diligence to be truly in covenant with God, that so it may be with us as it was with David.

3. For comfort to the godly, fighting the Lords battles, and yet overmatched. (T. Pierson.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 27:2-3. When my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh — Greedy to devour me: aiming at no less than my utter destruction, and confident they should effect it; they stumbled and fell — Not, I smote them and they fell, but they stumbled, namely, of their own accord, without my lifting a hand against them; and fell — They were so confounded and weakened that they could not go on with their enterprise. Thus they that came to take Christ were, by a word of his, made to stagger and fall to the ground, Joh 18:6. The ruin of some of the enemies of God’s people is an earnest of the complete conquest of them all. And, therefore, these being fallen, he is fearless of the rest. Though a host should encamp, &c. — Though my enemies be numerous as a host; though they be daring, and their attempts threatening; though they encamp against me, an army against one man; though they wage war upon me, yet my heart shall not fear — Hosts cannot hurt us, if the Lord of hosts protect us.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. (Psa 27:2) In the drawing near against me of evil-doers, to devour my flesh, (in the drawing near of) my adversaries and my enenies to me, (it is) they (that) have stumbled and fallen. Even in the most imminent dangers which have hitherto befallen me, the divine protection has enabled me to see those who sought to overwhelm me, overwhelmed themselves. Evil-doers, not only against me, but in general. It was not because they were his enemies merely, but because they were the enemies of God, that he so easily subdued them.—To eat my flesh, a figure borrowed from the habits of wild beasts. Compare Job 19:22, Psa 14:4; Psa 35:1.—To me is to be construed not with enemies, but with the verb, as in Job 33:22. See below, on Psa 55:19. The pronoun expressed in the last clause is emphatic, "Tjin this will I be confident, although ambiguous, appears to mean, "I will confide in this, i.e. in the fact that Jehovah is my light and my salvation." This construction is grammatical, and yields a good sense, but the other is more pointed and emphatic, and the absolute use of the Hebrew in the sense of safe, secure, is justified by Jdg 18:27, Jer 12:5, Pro 11:15.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27:2 The psalmist’s enemies seek to devour him by living at his expense (see study note on 14:4).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

eat . . . my flesh-- (Job 19:22; Psa 14:4). The allusion to wild beasts illustrates their rapacity.

they stumbled--"they" is emphatic; not I, but they were destroyed.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. When the wicked - came upon me] Near as I appeared to you to be in danger of losing my life, I was safe enough in the hands of the Lord; and those who thought to have eaten me up, stumbled, failed of their purpose, and fell; the Philistine lost his own life.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. When the wicked, etc. There is no reason for translating this sentence, as some interpreters do, into the future tense. The rendering of the learned Castellio is, “Si invadant — offensuri sunt atque casuri;” — “If they invade me they shall stumble and fall The Hebrew verbs for “stumble” and “fall”

French and Skinner read, “to devour my flesh;” and observe, that “this image is taken from a wild beast. Compare Psalm 3:7, and Psalm 22:13.”

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(2) When . . .—Literally, In the coming against me (of) the wicked to devour my flesh—my enemies and my foes to me—themselves stumbled and fell. Job_19:22 would allow us to understand those who eat up flesh, as a figure for calumniators and detractors; but the context marks out the situation so clearly as that of a warrior, that we rather take it as a general metaphor for savage and violent attacks. To me, is an emphatic repetition—my enemies, mine.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. When evil-doers came near against me to eat my flesh,

Even mine adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.

This may refer to past experience, or it may be a confident anticipation of the discomfiture of his foes. According to a common Hebrew idiom the perfect tense may realise their defeat as an accomplished plished fact. See Appendix, Note IV. He compares his assailants to wild beasts, eager to devour him. Cp. Psa_3:7.

stumbled and fell] Cp. Isa_8:15; Jer_46:6.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me,.... They are wicked men, men of malignant spirits, and evildoers, who are the enemies and foes of the people of God, and who hate them with an implacable hatred, and do everything they can to distress and afflict them; and such enemies David had, who were many and mighty; and these "came upon" him, or "approached against" him (c), they drew near to him to make war with him, as the word signifies (d); they attacked him in an hostile manner; and their view was, as he says,

to eat up my flesh, as they eat bread, Psa 14:4; to devour him at once, to make but one morsel of him, to destroy his life, to strip him of his substance, to take away his wives and children, as the Amalekites at Ziklag, Sa1 30:1;

they stumbled and fell; the Lord put stumbling blocks in their way, and retarded their march, and hindered them from executing their designs; and they fell into the hands of David, and were subdued under him, or fell by death; and these past instances of divine goodness the psalmist calls to mind, to keep up his heart and courage, and animate and strengthen him against the fears of men, of death and hell.

(c) "cum appropinquaverint adversum me", Pagninus; so Gejerus. (d) "Belligerantibus contra me", Junius & Tremellius; so Piscator & Ainsworth.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me - This refers, doubtless, to some particular period of his past life when he was in very great danger, and when God interposed to save him. The margin here is, “approached against me.” The literal rendering would be, “in the drawing near against me of the wicked to eat up my flesh.” The reference is to some period when they purposed an attack upon him, and when he was in imminent danger from such a threatened attack.

To eat up my flesh - As if they would eat me up. That is, they came upon me like ravening wolves, or hungry lions. We are not to suppose that they literally purposed to eat up his flesh, or that they were cannibals; but the comparison is one that is drawn from the fierceness of wild beasts rushing on their prey. Compare Psa 14:4.

They stumbled and fell - They were overthrown. They failed in their purpose. Either they were thrown into a panic by a false fear, or they were overthrown in battle. The language would be rather applicable to the former, as if by some alarm they were thrown into consternation. Either they differed among themselves and became confused, or God threw obstacles in their way and they were driven back. The general idea is, that God had interposed in some way to prevent the execution of their purposes.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

To eat up my flesh; greedy to devour me at one morsel. Compare Job 19:22; 31:31.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 2. This verse records a past deliverance, and is an instance of the way in which experience should be employed to reassure our faith in times of trial. Each word is instructive. When the wicked. It is a hopeful sign for us when the wicked hate us; if our foes were godly men it would be a sore sorrow, but as for the wicked their hatred is better than their love. Even mine enemies and my foes. There were many of them, they were of different sorts, but they were unanimous in mischief and hearty in hatred. Came upon me advanced to the attack, leaping upon the victim like a lion upon its prey. To eat up my flesh, like cannibals they would make a full end of the man, tear him limb from limb, and make a feast for their malice. The enemies of our souls are not deficient in ferocity, they yield no quarter, and ought to have none in return. See in what danger David was; in the grip and grasp of numerous, powerful, and cruel enemies, and yet observe his perfect safety and their utter discomfiture! They stumbled and fell. God's breath blew them off their legs. There were stones in the way which they never reckoned upon, and over these they made an ignominious tumble. This was literally true in the case of our Lord in Gethsemane, when those who came to take him went backward and fell to the ground; and herein he was a prophetic representative of all wrestling believers who, rising from their knees shall, by the power of faith, throw their foes upon their faces.

Ver. 2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. There is no such dainty dish to a malicious stomach, as the flesh of an enemy; it goes down without chewing, and they swallow it up whole like cormorants. But though malice have a ravenous stomach, yet she hath but slow digestion; though her teeth be sharp, yet her feet are lame, at least apt to stumble; and this made well for David, for when his enemies came upon him to eat up his flesh, because they came upon the feet of malice, they stumbled and fell. A man may stumble and yet not fall; but to stumble and fall withal, is the proper stumbling of the wicked, and especially of the maliciously wicked; and such, it seems, was the stumbling of David's enemies, because the enemies were such; and such I doubt not shall be the stumbling of mine enemies, because mine are such; and of what then, of whom now, should I be afraid? Sir Richard Baker.

Ver. 2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. He describes his enemies by their malice and by their ruin. 1. His enemies were cruel enemies, blood suckers, eaters of flesh. We call them cannibals. As indeed men that have not grace, if they have greatness, and be opposed, their greatness is inaccessible, one man is a devil to another. The Scripture calls them "wolves, that leave nothing till morning." Zep 3:3. As the great fishes eat up the little ones, so great men they make no more conscience of eating up other men, than of eating bread; they make no more bones of overthrowing men and undoing them, than of eating bread. "They eat up my people as they eat bread." Ps 14:4. 2. But not withstanding their cruelty, they were overthrown. Saith David, When my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. For, indeed, God's children, when they are delivered, it is usually with the confusion of their enemies. God doth two things at once, because the special grievance of God's children it is from inward and outward enemies. He seldom or never delivers them but with the confusion of their enemies. This will be most apparent at the day of judgment when Satan, and all that are led by his spirit, all the malignant church, shall be sent to their own place, and the church shall be for ever free from all kind of enemies. When the church is most free, then the enemies of the church are nearest to destruction; like a pair of balances, when they are up at the one end, they are down at the other. So when it is up with the church, down go the enemies. Richard Sibbes.

Ver. 2. The wicked, mine enemies. The wicked hate the godly; there is enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent. Ge 3:15. As in nature there is an antipathy between the vine and the bay tree, the elephant and the dragon. Vultures have an antipathy against sweet smells: so in the wicked there is an antipathy against the people of God; they hate the sweet perfumes of their graces. It is true the saints have their infirmities; but the wicked do not hate them for these, but for their holiness; and from this hatred ariseth open violence: the thief hates the light, therefore would blow it out. Thomas Watson.

Ver. 2. There was great wisdom in the prayer of John Wesley: "Lord, if I must contend, let it not be with thy people." When we have for foes and enemies those who hate good men, we have at least this consolation, that God is not on their side, and therefore it is essentially weak. William S. Plumer.

Ver. 2. The character, number, power, and cruelty of the enemies of the church, and the mysterious way in which they have been defeated.

Psalms 27:3*

Ver. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Before the actual conflict, while as yet the battle is untried, the warrior's heart, being held in suspense, is very liable to become fluttered. The encamping host often inspires greater dread than the same host in actual affray. Young tells us of some"Who feel a thousand deaths in fearing one." Doubtless the shadow of anticipated trouble is, to timorous minds, a more prolific source of sorrow than the trouble itself, but faith puts a strengthening plaister to the back of courage, and throws out of the window the dregs of the cup of trembling. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. When it actually comes to push of pike, faith's shield will ward off the blow; and if the first brush should be but the beginning of a war, yet faith's banners will wave in spite of the foe. Though battle should succeed battle, and one campaign should be followed by another, the believer will not be dismayed at the length of the conflict. Reader, this third verse is the comfortable and logical inference from the second, confidence is the child of experience. Have you been delivered out of great perils? then set up your ensign, wait at your watch fire, and let the enemy do his worst.

Ver. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, etc. He puts the case of the greatest danger that can be. Though an host should encompass me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. Here is great courage for the time to come. "Experience breeds hope and confidence." David was not so courageous a man of himself; but upon experience of God's former comfort and assistance, his faith brake as fire out of the smoke, or as the sun out of a cloud. Though I was in such and such perplexities, yet for the time to come, I have such confidence and experience of God's goodness, that I will not fear. He that seeth God by a spirit of faith in his greatness and power, he sees all other things below as nothing. Therefore, he saith here, he cares not for the time to come for any opposition; no, not of an army. "If God be with us, who can be against us?" Ro 8:31. He saw God in his power; and then, looking from God to the creature, alas! who was he? As Micah, when he had seen God sitting upon his throne; what was Ahab to him, when he had seen God once? So when the prophet David had seen God once, then "though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, "etc. Richard Sibbes.

Ver. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, etc. If I love my God, and I love him with a noble spirited love, all my enemies will fight against me in vain; I shall never fear them, and the whole world cannot harm me. Charity cannot be offended, because she takes offence at nothing. Enemies, enviers, slanderers, persecutors, I defy you; if I love, I shall triumph over your attacks. Ye can take away my goods; but if my love has a generous spirit, I shall be always rich enough, and ye cannot take away my love, which alone makes all my riches and treasures. Ye may blacken my reputation; but as I hold you cheaply quit of all homage of praise and applause, I, with all my heart, give you a free leave to blame and to defame. Happily for me, ye cannot blacken me before my God, and his esteem alone makes amends to me, and rewards me, for all your contempt. Ye can persecute my body, but there I even will help you on by my penances; the sooner it shall perish, the sooner shall I be delivered from this domestic enemy, which is a burden to me. What harm, then, can ye do me? If I am resolved to suffer all, and if I think I deserve all the outrages ye can do me, ye will only give more loftiness of spirit to my love, more brilliancy to my crown. Jean Baptiste Elias Avrillon.

Ver. 3 Those who are willing to be combatants for God, shall also be more than conquerors through God. None are so truly courageous as those who are truly religious. If a Christian live, he knows by whose might he stands; and if he die, he knows for whose sake he falls. Where there is no confidence in God, there will be no continuance with God. When the wind of faith ceases to fill the sails, the ship of obedience cease to plough the seas. The taunts of Ishmael shall never make an Isaac disesteem his inheritance, William Secker.

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. To eat up my flesh—An image borrowed from the habits of beasts of prey. Job_19:22.

They stumbled and fell—An evident recognition of a great victory over his enemies. See 2 Samuel 18. Instead of devouring him, they themselves fell.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. A special occasion seems to be intended, so that the LXX have rightly, hsyenhsan kai epesan . Some unrecorded event in the war with Absalom before the final struggle, is probably alluded to. There is an emphasis on mine enemies," which implies that the adversaries were not the foes of the country, but David"s personal foes.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Light - My counsellor in all my difficulties, and my comforter and deliverer in all my distresses. Strength - The supporter and preserver of my life.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

to devour my flesh

Destroying someone completely is spoken of as if it were devouring a person's flesh. He did not mean that they wanted to eat his body. AT: "to destroy me" (See: Metaphor)

my adversaries and my enemies

These words mean the same thing. These are the evildoers who came near to him. (See: Doublet)

stumbled and fell

This represents the writer's enemies failing to fulfill their plans to harm the writer. AT: "did not succeed" or "failed" (See: Metaphor)

Though an army encamps against me

"though an army surrounds me" or "though an army puts its tents around me"

my heart will not fear

Here "heart" represents the whole person. AT: "I will not be afraid" (See: Synecdoche)

though war rises up against me

The writer's enemies are spoken of as if they themselves were a war. AT: "though my enemies come to fight against me" (See: Metaphor)

I will remain confident

"I will continue to trust God to help me"

translationWords

evildoer

devour

flesh

adversary

heart

fear

raise

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.