Psalms 27:2

2 The while noisome men nigh on me; for to eat my fleshes. Mine enemies, that troubled me; they were made sick and felled down. (All the while harmful, or dangerous, men come near to me; to eat my flesh. But my enemies, those who trouble me, were made feeble, or weak; they all fell down.)

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 holy prayer of David. The Lord is my lightening, and mine health; whom shall I dread? The Lord is defender of my life; for whom shall I tremble [for whom shall I quake]? (The holy prayer of David. The Lord is my light, and my salvation, or my deliverance; who shall I fear? The Lord is the defender of my life; for who else shall I tremble, or shake over?)
2 The while noisome men nigh on me; for to eat my fleshes. Mine enemies, that troubled me; they were made sick and felled down. (All the while harmful, or dangerous, men come near to me; to eat my flesh. But my enemies, those who trouble me, were made feeble, or weak; they all fell down.)
3 Though castles stand together against me; mine heart shall not dread (Though hosts, or armies, stand together against me; my heart shall not fear). Though battle riseth against me; in this thing I shall have hope.
4 I asked of the Lord one thing; I shall seek this thing; that I dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I see the will of the Lord; and that I visit his temple. (I asked of the Lord only one thing; and I shall seek this thing; that I live in the House of the Lord all the days of my life. So that I can see the beauty of the Lord; and I can seek his guidance in his Temple.)
5 For he hid me in his tabernacle in the day of evils; he defended me in the hid place of his tabernacle. He enhanced me in a stone; (For he shall hide me in his Temple on the day of evil; he shall defend me in the hidden place of his Temple. He shall put me upon a stone;)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.