| Psalm 64 | |
| Subtitle: | "Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer" |
| Image Upright: | 1.2 |
| Language: | Hebrew (original) |
Psalm 64 is the 64th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy". In the slightly different numbering system of the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible and the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 63. In Latin, it is known as "Exaudi Deus orationem meam".[1] [2] It is directed against the "wicked" (רעע) and "workers of iniquity" (פֹּעֲלֵי אָֽוֶן), whom God shall shoot with an arrow (וַיֹּרֵם אֱלֹהִים חֵץ). The psalm may be treated as a prayer for deliverance from enemies, or as a thanksgiving, or a testimony to divine judgement.[3]
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has been set to music.
The following table shows the Hebrew text[4] [5] of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).
| Verse | Hebrew | English translation (JPS 1917) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | For the Leader. A Psalm of David. | ||
| 2 | Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from the terror of the enemy. | ||
| 3 | Hide me from the council of evil-doers; from the tumult of the workers of iniquity; | ||
| 4 | Who have whet their tongue like a sword, and have aimed their arrow, a poisoned word; | ||
| 5 | That they may shoot in secret places at the blameless; suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. | ||
| 6 | They encourage one another in an evil matter; they converse of laying snares secretly; they ask, who would see them. | ||
| 7 | They search out iniquities, they have accomplished a diligent search; even in the inward thought of every one, and the deep heart. | ||
| 8 | But God doth shoot at them with an arrow suddenly; thence are their wounds. | ||
| 9 | So they make their own tongue a stumbling unto themselves; all that see them shake the head. | ||
| 10 | And all men fear; and they declare the work of God, and understand His doing. | ||
| 11 | The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall take refuge in Him; and all the upright in heart shall glory. |
Verses 6–7 (Vulgate: Psalm 63:7-8) have been the subject of confusion in early Bible translations: the King James Version translates the Hebrew as:
"They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded."
But in the Vulgate, Jerome, based on the Septuagint text, rendered this as
Scrutati sunt iniquitates; defecerunt scrutantes scrutinio. Accedet homo ad cor altum, et exaltabitur Deus. Sagittæ parvulorum factæ sunt plagæ eorum,which translates to "They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search. Man shall accede to a lofty heart: And God shall be exalted. The arrows of children are their wounds."
The adjective altum in Latin has both the meanings "high" and "deep", and it is here used to translate LXX βαθεῖα "deep", but it offered itself to an interpretation of an "exalted heart". The "arrows of children" (Sagittæ parvulum) render LXX βέλος νηπίων, which has no correspondence in the Hebrew text as it has come down to us.
Jerome's translation gave rise to mystical interpretations involving the Sacred Heart in early modern Christian tradition. For example, Serafino Porrecta, in his Commentaria in Psalterium Davidicum, interprets this in terms of Christ himself being the Man who can "accede to that exalted heart", Hic [Christus] solus accessit ad illum cor altum.[6]
The arrow of God leads to a turning to God. In verse 4 the wicked shoot arrows secretly at the righteous. In verse 7, God shoots an arrow (arrows, plural, in some translations) at the wicked, but for some these will be saving arrows, as in verse 9: men will "proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done".[7]
This psalm was chosen by St. Benedict of Nursia around 530, for the solemn office at the lauds of Wednesday. In the Rule of St. Benedict, it was recited or sung after Psalm 51 (50) and followed by Psalm 65 (64) (chapter XIII). A number of abbeys still retain this tradition dating from the 6th century.[8] [9]
In the current Liturgy of the Hours, Psalm 64 is recited or sung at the midday office on the Saturday of the second week of a four-weekly cycle of liturgical prayers.
In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the 12th day of the month.[10]
Heinrich Schütz set Psalm 64 in a metred version in German, "Erhör mein Stimm, Herr, wenn ich klag", SWV 161, as part of the Becker Psalter, first published in 1628. Zdeněk Fibich composed a setting, Hud. 155, for mixed choir in 1879.