Bible Strands
Psalms 63:9
But those who seek my life to destroy it will go into the depths of the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks from a context of active pursuit, positioning his declaration between his personal reliance on God in verse 8 and the detailed fate of his enemies in verse 10. He addresses God directly while describing the imminent judgment on those hunting him down.
The words — The Hebrew phrase לְשׁוֹאָה (le-sho’ah) literally means "to destruction," coupled with יָבֹאוּ (yaḇō’û) "they will go" to establish the pursuers' fixed destination. This verbal pairing frames the threat not as a temporary setback but as a guaranteed descent.
The thread — The descent motif runs through Psalms 55:15 and 9:17, where the wicked are sent to Sheol or the lower parts of the earth. Psalms 40:14 mirrors the plea by asking that those seeking the psalmist's life be confounded and repelled rather than granted success.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to accept that divine judgment operates on a timeline separate from human urgency. It demands the abandonment of personal retaliation in favor of trusting God's stated outcome for active threats.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
Cross-references
- Psalms 55:15 Let death seize them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is with them in their homes.
- Psalms 9:17 The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations who forget God.
- Psalms 40:14 May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.
- 1 Samuel 25:29 And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.
- Numbers 16:30 But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.”
- Psalms 86:13 For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.
- Isaiah 14:19 But you are cast out of your grave like a rejected branch, covered by those slain with the sword, and dumped into a rocky pit like a carcass trampled underfoot.
- Job 40:13 Bury them together in the dust; imprison them in the grave.
- Psalms 35:4 May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plan to harm me be driven back and confounded.
- Psalms 35:26 May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.