Psalms 63:9

63:7-11 True Christians can, in some measure, and at some times, make use of the strong language of David, but too commonly our souls cleave to the dust. Having committed ourselves to God, we must be easy and pleased, and quiet from the fear of evil. Those that follow hard after God, would soon fail, if God's right hand did not uphold them. It is he that strengthens us and comforts us. The psalmist doubts not but that though now sowing in tears, he should reap in joy. Messiah the Prince shall rejoice in God; he is already entered into the joy set before him, and his glory will be completed at his second coming. Blessed Lord, let our desire towards thee increase every hour; let our love be always upon thee; let all our enjoyment be in thee, and all our satisfaction from thee. Be thou all in all to us while we remain in the present wilderness state, and bring us home to the everlasting enjoyment of thee for ever.

But those that seek my soul to destroy it,.... Meaning his life; for as for his soul, that was immaterial and immortal, and could never be destroyed by man: but as for his natural life, his enemies laid snares for that, and sought to take it away, and nothing less would satisfy them; shall go into the lower parts of the earth; not the grave, whither the righteous go as well as the wicked; besides, by their being the portion of foxes, as follows, it seems that they should have no burial; but hell is meant, the bottomless pit. Some take it to be a prayer, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; "may they go", or "let them go", &c. see Psalm 55:15. The allusion may be thought to be to the death of Korah and his company.

Psalm 63:9-10 . But those that seek my soul, &c. — That seek to take away my life; shall go into the lower parts of the earth — Into the grave; and, if they repent not, into hell. God shall cut them off, and send them to their own place. Their enmity to David, and opposition to the counsel of God respecting him, he foresaw would be their death and their damnation, their ruin and their eternal ruin. They shall fall by the sword — Shall die in battle, as he foretold 1 Samuel 26:10 , and as was accomplished in Saul and his followers, who were David’s greatest enemies. They shall be a portion for foxes — The carcasses of some of them shall lie unburied upon the earth, and thereby shall become a prey to wild and ravenous beasts, and especially to foxes, which abounded in those parts.

9 But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. 10 They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes. 11 But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. Psalm 63:9 As David earnestly sought for God, so there were men of another order who as eagerly sought after his blood; of these he speaks: "But those that seek my soul, to destroy it." At his life they aimed, at his honour, his best welfare; and this they would not merely injure but utterly ruin. The devil is a destroyer, and all his seed are greedy to do the same mischief; and as he has mined himself by his crafty devices, so also shall they. Destroyers shall be destroyed. Those who hunt souls shall be themselves the victims. "Shall go into the lower parts of the earth." Into the pits which they digged for others they shall fall themselves. The slayers shall be slain, and the grave shall cover them. The hell which they in their curse invoked for others, shall shut its mouth upon them. Every blow aimed against the godly will recoil on the persecutor; he who smites a believer drives a nail in his own coffin. Psalm 63:10 "They shall fall by the sword." So David's enemies did.

They that take the sword shall perish with the sword; bloody men shall feel their own life gushing forth from them, when their evil day shall at last come, and they shall be given up to feel in their own persons the horrors of death. "They shall be a portion for foxes." Too mean to be fit food for the lions, the foxes shall sniff around their corpses, and the jackals shall hold carnival over their carcasses. Unburied and unhonoured they shall be meat for the dogs of war. Frequently have malicious men met with a fate so dire as to be evidently the award Of retributive justice. Although the great assize is reserved for another world, yet even here, at the common sessions of providence, justice often bears her avenging sword in the eyes of all the people. Psalm 63:11 "But the king shall rejoice in God." Usurpers shall fade, but he shall flourish; and his prosperity shall be publicly acknowledged as the gift of God. The Lord's anointed shall not fail to offer his joyful thanksgiving: his well-established throne shall own the superior lordship of the King of kings; his rejoicing shall be alone in God. When his subjects sing, "Io triumphe," he will bid them chant, "Te Deum." "Every one that sweareth by him shall glory." His faithful followers shall have occasion for triumph: they shall never need to blush for the oath of their allegiance. Or, "swearing by him," may signify adherence to God, and worship paid to him.

Verse 9. - But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. Professor Cheyne notes that "the psalmist has no sense of any incongruity between deeply spiritual musings and vehement denunciations of his enemies." And this is certainly true. But it is to be remembered that he views his enemies, not merely as his own fees, but as the foes of God and of Israel. As the servant of God, he must hate those who are opposed to God; as the King of Israel, he must hate those who seek to injure and ruin his people. He does not, however, desire for them suffering or torment; he only asks that they may be removed from this sphere into another world. (On David's conception of the lower world, see the comment upon Psalm 16:10 and Psalm 86:13.) Psalm 63:9

To destroy it, i.e. to take away my life. Into the lower parts of the earth; either, 1. Into hell. Or rather, 2. Into their grave, as this phrase is used, Ezekiel 31:14,18 . But how is this true, when they are supposed to be devoured by foxes, Psalm 63:10 ? Answ . This may be understood, either, 1. Of divers persons. Some of their slain might be buried, and others lie unburied. Or, 2. Of the same persons; they did go into the earth, but not immediately, but were first devoured of foxes, and the remainders of them were buried, as is frequently done in such cases. Or this phrase may note not so much the place as the state of the dead; this being universally said of those that die, whether they are buried or unburied, that they return to the earth or dust , Job 1:21 Ecclesiastes 12:7 .

9 . But those &c.] They , his enemies, who are seeking his life, are emphatically contrasted with himself ( Psalm 59:15 ; Psalm 56:6 ). While his path is upward to God, theirs is downward to the depths of Sheol. It is possible to render (cp. R.V. marg.) But they shall be destroyed that seek my life, They shall go &c. into the lower parts of the earth ] Into Sheol, swallowed up like Korah and his company of rebels. Cp. for the phrase, Isaiah 44:23 ; Ezekiel 26:20 ; Psalm 86:13 ; Ephesians 4:9 ; Deuteronomy 32:22 : and for the thought, Psalm 9:15 ; Psalm 9:17 ; Psalm 55:15 ; Psalm 55:23 .

But those that seek my soul to destroy it - Who seek my life; who endeavor to kill me. This language would well describe the purposes of Absalom and his followers. Shall go into the lower parts of the earth - Shall descend into the earth; into the deepest graves. He would live; but they would perish.