Let their way be dark and slippery
In which they run before the angel, chasing and pursuing them; so
that they know not where they are, at what they stumble, whither
to flee, nor how to stand; the ways of wicked men are as
darkness, they know not in what condition they are, and whither
they are going; and utter darkness, even blackness of darkness,
is reserved for them: but here it means a calamitous,
uncomfortable, fickle, and unstable situation in this life; see (
Jeremiah
23:11 Jeremiah
23:12 ) . The allusion is to some of the valleys in the land
of Palestine, which were dark, and the roads in them very smooth
and slippery, as travellers in those parts have observed
F17;
and let the angel of God persecute them; (See Gill on Psalms 35:5).