Psalm 27:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.

NIV: When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.

NASB: When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.

CSB: When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.

NLT: When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.

KJV: When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

NKJV: When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.

David expresses confidence that his enemies will not succeed. If they try to attack and destroy him, David is sure they will fail. In fact, he is certain they will fail. By identifying his foes as "evildoers," David indicates they are not just his enemies but God's enemies as well. It is certain, therefore, that they will stumble and fall.

David lived out that level of assurance when he engaged Goliath in combat. Goliath thought he would give David's flesh to the birds and wild animals, but David told Goliath that the Lord would deliver him into his hand, and David would give the Philistines' dead bodies to the birds and wild animals (1 Samuel 17:44–46). The apostle John realized our enemies—Satan and his followers—want to destroy believers, but he encouraged us to rely on the Lord for victory. He wrote, "Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in [the evil world system]" (1 John 4:4).

Psalm 27:1–6 demonstrates David's confidence in the Lord. He trusts God will protect him from his enemies and restore him to Jerusalem, where he will offer sacrifices. Psalm 22:8–26 is a parallel passage. It's possible David wrote this psalm when he was in the Negev, as a fugitive from King Saul, or during the violent rebellion of his son, Absalom. In the second half of this psalm, David pleads with God for the very deliverance he seems assured of in the first half—demonstrating that "knowing" not to be afraid does not make a person immune to the emotion of fear.

David lays out the reasons he should be confident in God's protection. David then transitions, almost abruptly, into heartfelt pleas for God to rescue him from his enemies. The impression is that David is experiencing natural human anxiety and responding by reminding himself of God's goodness. The psalm ends with the same assurance expressed when it began.

Most Bible scholars believe David wrote Psalm 27 when he was in exile, with King Saul in hot pursuit. If so, the psalm aligns with other writings David composed during this time. Psalms 21, 26, and 28 are good examples. Others think this might have been written when David was fleeing from his violently rebellious son, Absalom. For the most part, Psalm 27 expresses David's confidence in the Lord as his guide and deliverer, but he also demonstrates his human fears by pleading with God for the exact thing he has been so confident of.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.

Accessed 5/4/2024 12:37:55 AM