Read
Psalm 64:5
They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?”
3who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words,
4to shoot innocent men from ambushes. They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly.
5They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?”
6They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!” Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.
7But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.
Notice
Secret snares and shared encouragement expose a frightening kind of wrongdoing: people strengthening their resolve to harm others while counting on escaping notice.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What stands out to you about people encouraging themselves in evil plans?
Write on thisWhat changes in your reading when you follow the hidden snares through to God’s arrow in verse 7?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Jeremiah 5:26For wicked men are found among my people. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.Both passages describe people setting traps for other people, using the language of hunting to expose deliberate harm.
Psalm 140:5The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah.Hidden snares appear in both psalms, portraying harm prepared in secret for someone else to encounter.
Psalm 10:11He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.”Both portray wrongdoers counting on escaping notice; Psalm 10 names God as the one they think will never see.
Matthew 12:34You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.Both connect evil with speech: the psalm describes talk of hidden snares, and Jesus speaks of words coming from the heart.
Job 22:13You say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?The plotters question who will see their snares; Eliphaz accuses Job of questioning whether God can judge through darkness.
Ezekiel 8:12Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘The …Both describe concealed conduct accompanied by claims about escaping notice; Ezekiel’s elders claim that the LORD does not see them.
Genesis 11:3They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.Both describe people talking together about a shared undertaking; the brickmaking verse alone does not name an evil purpose.
Psalm 59:7Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, “For”, they say, “who hears us?”Both portray harmful speech joined to a confident question about detection: who will see, or who will hear.
Psalm 94:7They say, “The LORD will not see, neither will Jacob’s God consider.”Both record claims about escaping notice, with Psalm 94 naming the LORD as the one presumed unaware.
Isaiah 47:10For you have trusted in your wickedness. You have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and your knowledge has perverted you. You have said in your heart, ‘I am, …Both link wrongdoing with confidence in concealment: the plotters question who will see, while Isaiah records a claim that no one sees.
Jeremiah 36:24The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn’t tear their garments.Both mention a group and its words; Jeremiah describes an unafraid response, while the psalm describes secret plotting.
Genesis 20:13When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is …Both describe speech used to arrange a plan involving others; Genesis here gives no mention of snares.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. work conflict. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Hidden traps are real threats in this psalm. Yet the plotters’ confidence does not settle the outcome: the next lines describe God striking them down.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).