Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 143:9
Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
9. Deliver me from mine enemies ] As Psa 59:1; cp. Psa 31:15; Psa 142:6.
I flee unto thee to hide me ] The general sense is probably right, though it can hardly be got out of the present text. The Heb. verb denotes to cover or conceal, but not to hide (intransitively). Some commentators suppose that unto thee have I covered may mean ‘unto thee have I secretly confided my cause’: others think that it may bear the sense given by the A.V. Neither explanation is satisfactory, and probably we should read, with the change of a single letter ( for ), unto thee have I fled for refuge. So the LXX .
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies – See the notes at Psa 69:14.
I flee unto thee to hide me – Margin, Hide me with thee. The Hebrew is, I hide myself with thee; that is, I take refuge with thee; I put myself under thy protection; I make myself thus secure, as thou art secure. See the notes at Psa 17:8. Compare Psa 27:5; Psa 31:20.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 143:9
I flee unto Thee to hide me.
Soul flight
I. How? On the pinions of thought our souls often fly more swiftly than lightnings to the remotest periods and places. This power of flight is the glory of our nature; it defies granite walls and massive chains and bolts.
II. Whither? To Him, the eternal Source of all life, and of all good, we should ever direct our flight. We should fly to Him in all our difficulties.
III. Why? There is danger. (David Thomas, D. D.)
Flight to God
I. A perception of danger. No man will flee if he is not afraid; there must be a knowledge and apprehension of danger, or there will be no flight.
1. Men perish in many instances because they have no cause of danger. The noxious air is not observed, the sunken reef is not seen, the train rushes to collision unwarned. Ignorance of danger makes the danger inevitable.
(1) Men will dare to die without fear of hell.
(2) Men will sin and have no dread of any ill consequences.
(3) Men will play with an evil habit and will not believe in its power to enslave them.
(4) Men will toy with a temptation and refuse to see how certain it is to lead them into actual wrong-doing.
2. Every man is really in danger. The sinner is asleep on the top of a mast. Young and old are both in jeopardy. Even the saints are in peril of temptation from many sources.
3. Some dangers are slowly perceived. Those connected with sweet sin, those which grow out of a boastful mind, those which are countenanced by the examples of others, etc. The more dangerous the serpent, the less likely to be seen.
4. The spiritual man is led to perceive dangers by inward monitions, by a spiritual sensitiveness which is the result of devotion, by experience, by perceptible declensions, or by observing the effect of certain things upon others.
II. A sense of weakness. No man will flee for hiding if he feel able to fight the matter through in his own strength.
1. We are all weak and unable to cope with sin.
2. Some think themselves mighty men of valour, but these are among the vary weakest of the weak.
3. Past failure should teach us not to trust our own strength.
4. In a deep sense of weakness we are made strong: in fancied strength lies the worst form of weakness.
III. A prudent foresight. I flee unto Thee to hide me.
1. He would not venture into the danger or wait till it overtook him; but he took time by the forelock and fled. Often this is the highest form of courage.
2. Escape through fear is admirable prudence. It is not a mean motive; for Noah, moved by fear, prepared an ark.
3. While we can flee we should; for time may come when we shall be unable. David says, I flee: he means–I am fleeing, I always do flee unto Thee, my God. A man should not live like a beast, who sees no further than the meadow in which he feeds. He should foresee evil and hide himself; for this is common prudence (Pro 22:3).
IV. A solid confidence. To Thee to hide me. He was sure–
1. That there was safety in God.
2. That he might flee to God.
3. That he might flee there and then.
V. An active faith. He did not lie passive, but aroused himself. This may be clearly seen–
1. In his fleeing to God. Directness, speed, eagerness.
2. In his after-prayers. Teach me to do Thy will; lead me; quicken me.
(1) Expect your share of enemies, and prepare for them.
(2) Secure your best friend. Be reconciled to Him in Christ Jesus.
(3) Make constant use of Him. Flee to Him at all times. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The flight of the soul
Never was there an eagle with reach of wing long enough, or with pinions of sufficient strength to mount so high or fly so far afield as the soul of man. God has made us so like Himself that it is impossible for the mere accidents of poverty or wealth, of physical bondage or freedom, of pleasant or unpleasant surroundings, to dictate the spiritual history of the soul. The soul dictates its own destiny. It has the power to fly from its environment and take up its abode in an entirely different atmosphere. A wicked king could shut John Bunyan up in prison at Bedford, but he could not chain his soul there. God gave him wonderful soul-flight from that little jail. Now, if we inquire into the secret of John Bunyans joy and peace, we shall find that it was but a realization of our text. Bunyan fled from his sins to God, and found refuge in the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ. He started low enough, for he was a poor, drunken Bedford tinker, of no account to anybody till his Christian wife prayed for him and pleaded with him, until he fled for refuge to the Cross, and lost there the burden of his sin. And that is my message; that God is a refuge for every poor sinner who will flee to Him. But the fleeing is our part. We are free men and women, and God will not drive us into the kingdom. He will give us visions of the beauty of it, He will show us His own sympathy and love, and fling wide open the doors to the city of refuge; but unless we rise up and seek the refuge, we shall perish outside. (L. A. Banks, D. D.)
Flight from danger unto the Lord
We must fly to the Lord for shelter, not to an arm of flesh. The bird flies away to the thicket, and the fox hastens to its hole; every creature uses its refuge in the hour of danger, and even so in all peril or fear of peril let us flee unto Jehovah, the Eternal Protector of His own. No moat, portcullis, drawbridge, wall, battlement or dungeon could make us so secure as we are when the Lord of Hosts environs around. Our ramparts defy the beleaguered hosts of hell. The Lord of Hosts stands between us and their fury, and all other evil forces are turned aside. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. I flee unto thee to hide me.] That I may not be found by my enemies, who seek my life to destroy it.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Without whose care these caves and rocks can give me no protection.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. (Compare Ps31:15-20).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies,…. Either Saul and his courtiers, or Absalom and the conspirators along with him; who were many, and lively and strong, stronger than he; and therefore God only could deliver him, and to him he sought for it, and not to men; and so deliverance from spiritual enemies is only from the Lord;
I flee unto thee to hide me; from their rage and fury; who was the only asylum or place of refuge for him, where he could be safe. It may be rendered, “with thee have I hid” y; that is, myself: so Arama gives the sense,
“I have hid myself with thee.”
Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, interpret it to this purpose,
“I have hid my affairs, my straits and troubles, my difficulties and necessities, from men; and have revealed them unto thee, who alone can save.”
The Targum is,
“I have appointed thy Word to be (my) Redeemer.”
y “ad te abscondi me”, Montanus; “apud te”, Tigurine version; “ad te texi”, Cocceius, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
9. Deliver me, O Jehovah! from my enemies. This prayer is to the same effect, his enemies being so earnestly bent upon his destruction as to leave no outgate for him. The verb כסיתי, chisithi, some render to hope: the proper meaning is to cover, and I am unwilling to depart from it. The explanation some give is, that David upon perceiving the imminent danger to which he was exposed, betook himself to the covert of God’s shadow, and concealed himself under the protection of it. This seems a very natural rendering, at least I prefer it to another which has recommended itself to some as being ingenious — that David, instead of having recourse to various quarters for relief, was satisfied to have God cognizant of his case, and called upon him in a hidden manner and apart.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) I flee . . .Literally, unto thee have I hidden. A phrase which has been variously explained(1) to Thee I have confided my troubles: (2) and, better, as in the Authorised Version, to Thee I (have fled and) hid (myself). The reflexive use of the Hebrew verb is sufficiently established by Gen. 38:14; Deu. 22:12 (Jon. 3:6 is doubtful).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. I flee unto thee The latter part of this verse has perplexed translators, but our version is very correct and beautiful. “To thee have I given it for concealment” is the only other rendering favoured by the best critics, “it,” being “my trouble.” The version in our text is better.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 143:9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
Ver. 9. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies ] Deliverance from enemies is a fruit of our friendship with God.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Deliver me = pluck me [out of the hands of].
flee. Authorized Version, 1611, reads “fly”. Since 1629 the reading is “flee”.
unto. Some codices, with one early printed edition and Septuagint, read “in”. Compare Psa 143:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
flee unto thee: Heb. hide me with thee, Psa 34:2-4, Psa 56:9, Psa 61:3, Psa 61:4, Psa 142:5, Pro 18:10, Heb 6:18
Reciprocal: Psa 32:7 – my Psa 64:2 – Hide Psa 69:17 – hide Psa 119:86 – help Psa 139:10 – General Isa 26:20 – hide Isa 32:2 – an hiding 2Ti 2:7 – and
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
143:9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: {i} I flee unto thee to hide me.
(i) I hid myself under the shadow of your wings that I might be defended by your power.