Bible Strands
Psalms 64:4
ambushing the innocent in seclusion, shooting suddenly, without fear.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist describes hostile pursuers who have already sharpened their tongues like swords and aimed bitter words like arrows (Psalms 64:3). These adversaries operate covertly to ambush and strike down the blameless without facing immediate exposure or consequence.
The words — The Hebrew root יָרָה (yara), appearing here as לִירֹת (lirot) and יֹרֻהוּ (yoruhu), literally means to shoot or discharge a projectile. It targets תָּם (tam), the blameless or innocent, who becomes the victim of these sudden, concealed attacks.
The thread — This pattern of concealed violence against the vulnerable appears in Psalms 10:8, where an enemy lies in wait to slay the helpless, and aligns with the unrepentant boldness recorded in Psalms 55:19. The same tactic of hidden snares and unfeared aggression recurs in Psalms 64:5, where the conspirators boast, “Who will see them?”
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that malicious acts often advance through secrecy and sudden strikes rather than open conflict. A reader must accept that such unfeared aggression cannot be stopped by human vigilance alone and demands direct divine exposure and judgment.
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
That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
Cross-references
- Psalms 55:19 God will hear and humiliate them—the One enthroned for the ages—Selah because they do not change and they have no fear of God.
- 1 Peter 2:22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
- Psalms 10:8 He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
- Psalms 11:2 For behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrow on the string to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
- 1 Samuel 18:11 and he hurled it, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.
- 1 Samuel 19:10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But David eluded him and the spear struck the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
- 2 Samuel 15:14 And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”
- Nehemiah 4:11 And our enemies said, “Before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work.”
- Psalms 59:3 See how they lie in wait for me. Fierce men conspire against me for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD.
- Psalms 64:7 But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be wounded.