Psalms 27:2

2 When evildoers come at me trying to eat me up— it's they, my foes and my enemies, who stumble and fall!

Psalms 27:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 27:2

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 F3, they drew near to him to make war with him, as the word signifies F4; they attacked him in an hostile manner; and their view was, as he says,

to eat up my flesh,
as they eat bread, ( Psalms 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, ( 1 Samuel 30:1-6 ) ;

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.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 (yle brqb) "cum appropinquaverint adversum me", Pagninus; so Gejerus.
F4 "Belligerantibus contra me", Junius & Tremellius; so Piscator & Ainsworth.

Psalms 27:2 In-Context

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation. Should I fear anyone? The LORD is a fortress protecting my life. Should I be frightened of anything?
2 When evildoers come at me trying to eat me up— it's they, my foes and my enemies, who stumble and fall!
3 If an army camps against me, my heart won't be afraid. If war comes up against me, I will continue to trust in this:
4 I have asked one thing from the LORD— it's all I seek: to live in the LORD's house all the days of my life, seeing the LORD's beauty and constantly adoring his temple.
5 Because he will shelter me in his own dwelling during troubling times; he will hide me in a secret place in his own tent; he will set me up high, safe on a rock.
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