Psalms 27:2

2 When evildoers drew near against me to eat my flesh-- my adversaries and my enemies [who drew near] to me-- they themselves stumbled and fell.

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 Yahweh [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Yahweh [is] the refuge of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers drew near against me to eat my flesh-- my adversaries and my enemies [who drew near] to me-- they themselves stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear. Though war arise against me, [even] in this I [will] remain confident.
4 One [thing] I have asked from Yahweh; it I will seek: [that] I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Yahweh, and to consider his temple.
5 Because he will hide me in his shelter in [the] day of trouble. He will conceal me in the hiding place of his tent. He will set me high upon a rock.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.