Psalms 37:14

14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To kill those who are upright in the way.

Psalms 37:14 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 37:14

The wicked have drawn out the sword
That is, out of the scabbard; they drew upon the righteous, in order to sheath it in them; or they sharpened the sword, as Aben Ezra observes some interpret the word; it may be literally rendered, "opened the sword" ^F17, which before lay hid in the scabbard:

and have bent their bow;
having put the arrow in it, in order to shoot. The former expression may design the more open, and this the more secret way of acting against the righteous; and their view in both is

to cast down the poor and needy,
who are so, both in a temporal and spiritual sense; to cause such to fall either into sin, or into some calamity or another:

[and] to slay such as be of upright conversation;
who walk according to the rule of the word of God, and as becomes the Gospel of Christ: nothing less than the blood and life of these men will satisfy the wicked; and it is an aggravation of their wickedness that they should attempt to hurt men of such character who are poor and needy, holy, harmless, inoffensive, and upright; and this points at the reason why they hate them, and seek their ruin, because of the holiness and uprightness of their lives; see ( John 15:19 John 15:20 ) ( 1 Peter 4:3 1 Peter 4:4 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (wxtp brx) "aperuerunt gladium", Gejerus.

Psalms 37:14 In-Context

12 The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth.

13 The Lord will laugh at him, For he sees that his day is coming.

14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To kill those who are upright in the way.

15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart. Their bows shall be broken.

16 Better is a little that the righteous has, Than the abundance of many wicked.