Psalm 64: 1 – 10
Encouraged in an evil manner
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity, 3 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words, 4 That they may shoot in secret at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear. 5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, “Who will see them?” 6 They devise iniquities: “We have perfected a shrewd scheme.” Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep. 7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they shall be wounded. 8 So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; All who see them shall flee away. 9 All men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; For they shall wisely consider His doing. 10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.
I would say that most Americans are familiar with the name Benedict Arnold. One person who served with this traitor escaped attention and to a large degree has faded away in American History as a traitor.
His name was Aaron Burr. He was the man who shot and killed Alexander Hamilton is a duel.
Burr was a man who defended his schemes and encouraged himself in an evil manner. Here is a direct quote he said in later years as to his prior actions. ‘Law is whatever is boldly asserted and plausibly maintained. I was only 30 years too soon. What was treason in me 30 years ago is patriotism today. —Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr was the third vice president of the United States, serving under President Thomas Jefferson as a Democratic-Republican.
Aaron Burr was born in Newark, New Jersey, on February 6, 1756, to a long line of English gentry who had been active in politics. Burr's father was a Presbyterian minister and the president of the College of New Jersey (Rutgers University). After the loss of both of his parents, Burr and his sister went to live with their wealthy maternal uncle.
In 1769, at the age of 13, Burr enrolled at the College of New Jersey, graduating summa cum laude in only three years.
After graduating from the College of New Jersey, Burr began attending Litchfield Law School in Connecticut. His studies were soon put on hold, however, with the start of the Revolutionary War.
As a revolutionary soldier, Burr joined Benedict Arnold's men in their expedition to Quebec. By the spring of 1776, Burr had achieved the rank of major, and was appointed to serve under George Washington at his home in New York. He eventually transferred to the staff of General Israel Putnam, under whom he fulfilled an array of posts until he retired from his commission in 1779.
The following year, Burr returned to studying law. In 1782, he became a licensed attorney and was admitted to the bar. After opening a successful private practice in Albany, New York, Burr moved to New York City, where he would spend the next six years practicing law. In 1789, he was appointed attorney general of New York.
Just after passing the bar, Burr married a widow named Theodosia Prevost. In 1783, Theodosia gave birth to the couple's only child, a daughter who was named after her mother. Burr and the elder Theodosia would remain happily married until her death in 1794.
In 1791, Burr beat General Philip Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton's father-in-law, for a seat in the U.S. Senate. This marked the onset of an ongoing rivalry between Burr and Hamilton. After six years in the Senate, Burr lost re-election to Schuyler. Bitter about the loss, Burr blamed Hamilton for ruining his reputation and turning voters against him.
In 1800, Burr ran for the U.S. presidency with Thomas Jefferson. Because they each received the same number of electoral votes, members of the House of Representatives were left to determine the winner. When the House met to discuss the election, Burr's rival, Hamilton, vocalized his support for Jefferson and his disapproval of Burr. In the end, Jefferson secured the presidency and Burr became vice president under the Democratic-Republican Party. Burr was incensed, believing that Hamilton had manipulated the vote in Jefferson's favor.
Nearing the end of his term as vice president, Burr ran for the governorship of New York, but lost. Again, he blamed Hamilton for slandering him as a candidate, and, eager to defend his honor, challenged Hamilton to a duel. Hamilton accepted, and the face-off took place on the morning of July 11, 1804; it ended when Burr shot Hamilton to death. The public was outraged. Burr fled New York and New Jersey but eventually returned to Washington, DC where he completed his term safe from prosecution. The indictments in the case never reached trial.
Nearly 200 years later, the exact details of what became known as the Burr Conspiracy -- Aaron Burr's attempt to detach the Western states and the Louisiana Territory from the Union -- remain unknown. But the conspiracy probably began sometime in early 1804, just months before Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Vice President Burr's political hopes in the East were fading by then. And after he killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel on July 11, they would die completely. But Burr saw a chance to revive his fortunes. If the East wouldn't crown him, the West just might.
Burr cast his eyes on the newly acquired Territory of Louisiana. The land was mostly unsettled. Its borders were disputed by Spain. And many of its residents talked openly of secession. Burr believed that with a relatively small and well-armed military force, he could pry territory from Louisiana and build his own empire. Perhaps he might even take Mexico.
Burr would need manpower to accomplish his objectives. His foremost co-conspirator was General James Wilkinson, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army. Arrogant, unscrupulous, and overly fond of liquor, Wilkinson had befriended Burr during the Revolution. Burr had convinced President Thomas Jefferson to name Wilkinson as governor of Northern Louisiana.
Despite his faults, Wilkinson represented a logical choice for Burr. As commander-in chief, Wilkinson controlled the military and could move about the West without suspicion to cultivate alliances. But Burr also trolled the waters for supporters with even more power.
In August 1804 the vice president contacted Anthony Merry, Britain's Minister to the United States. Burr offered to help Britain take Western territory from the United States. Merry immediately sent a dispatch to Britain, detailing Burr's offer to "effect a separation of the western part of the United States" from the rest of the country. In return, Burr wanted money and ships to carry out his conquest.
In April 1805, shortly after his term as vice president ended, Burr journeyed West on a reconnaissance mission. In town after town, he dropped hints of the expedition to come. And in town after town, he met men that he believed would support him in his enterprise. One of these men, Harman Blennerhassett, would prove a loyal follower.
Blennerhassett, an eccentric Irish gentleman, had come to the United States with a fortune in hand. On a small island in the Ohio River near Marietta, he had built himself a mansion. There, with his wife and children, he lived a life of luxury. But thanks to Aaron Burr's scheme, Blennerhassett's paradise would soon crumble.
Burr continued his Western odyssey, visiting with Wilkinson at a western fort and dropping south to New Orleans. By the time Burr returned to Washington in November, he had enlisted several supporters, including former U.S. Senator Jonathan Dayton and members of the Mexico Society, a group of New Orleans businessmen who favored annexation of Mexican territory in the West.
Still, problems remained. Support from the British had not yet arrived. In fact, it never would -- nor would assistance from Spain. Perhaps worse, rumors about Burr's plans had begun to circulate and had even been published in Eastern newspapers. Unshaken, Burr continued his quest for support.
Meanwhile, the border conflict with Spain had begun to heat up. This fit perfectly into Burr's plan. Jefferson would order Wilkinson to Louisiana with U.S. troops. In the name of U.S. sovereignty, Wilkinson and Burr could attack Texas or even Mexico. Burr could then declare himself ruler of the conquered lands.
At last ready to move forward, Burr sent a coded letter to Wilkinson outlining his plans. The document would become known as the Cipher Letter and would figure prominently at Burr's treason trial. Burr set out from Pittsburgh in August 1806. His first stop was Blennerhassett's, where he ordered the Irishman to outfit his island as a military encampment.
As Burr hobnobbed around Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, the trickle of rumors about him became a torrent. Particularly problematic for Burr was the U.S. Court in Frankfort, Kentucky. Burr was called by the court three times to answer charges of treason. Each time he was acquitted.
By the beginning of December 1806, Burr's plan was in total collapse, although he didn't know it. Wilkinson, who by now believed Burr's plan would fail, opted to save his own hide. On October 9, he had sent a letter to President Thomas Jefferson outlining the conspiracy, but without naming Burr. Jefferson responded with a cease and desist order. Burr was not named specifically, but he didn't need to be. The newspapers were full of treason talk, and Burr's name was prominently featured.
On December 9, 1806, authorities struck the first blow against Burr. Ohio militiamen captured most of his boats and supplies at a Marietta boatyard. On December 11, the militia raided Blennerhassett's Island, but most of the men had already fled downriver. Blennerhassett's mansion was ransacked.
When Burr rendezvoused with Blennerhassett on the Ohio River near the end of December, he expected to meet a small army. Instead, he met a force of less than 100 men. A less ambitious (or wiser) leader would have quit. But Burr proceeded, picking up what new recruits he could as they drifted down the Mississippi.
At Bayou Pierre, just 30 miles above New Orleans, the final blow came. A friend handed Burr a New Orleans newspaper. It announced a reward for the capture of Aaron Burr and reproduced in full a translation of the coded letter Burr had sent to Wilkinson.
Burr surrendered to authorities at Bayou Pierre and was arraigned before a grand jury. Burr and his men insisted that they had no intention of attacking U.S. territory, and the jury failed to return an indictment. Still, one of the two judges involved in the case ordered Burr returned to the courtroom. Convinced he would be railroaded, Burr fled into the wilderness. On February 13, 1807, a soaking wet and bedraggled Burr was captured and carried back to the federal court at Richmond, Virginia, to face trial for treason.
The soldiers from Ft. Stoddert, Louisiana Territory, captured the fugitive Aaron Burr on a February morning in 1807, on a muddy road near the hamlet of Wakefield. Burr's fall from grace seemed total. The former vice president, who had dressed as magnificently as any head of state, wore a battered beaver hat and ragged wool coat. The dandy who had charmed women by the score sported a scruffy crop of whiskers. Aaron Burr had traveled West just six months before to carve out his own empire. Now, he would return East to stand trial for treason.
This was truly the trial of the century, and Aaron Burr battled for his life. Both the prosecution and the defense used the Cipher Letter to try and prove their case. But in the end, the Cipher Letter took a back seat to another, even more renowned document: the Constitution, which defines treason very specifically. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall insisted on absolute adherence to this strict definition -- which Burr's actions did not meet. And so he was acquitted.
But if Burr was victorious in court, he lost in the court of public opinion. Across America he was burned in effigy. Several states filed additional charges against him, and he lived in fear for his life. Wisely, Burr fled again -- this time to Europe, where he tried without success to convince Britain and France to support other North American invasion plots.
After four years in exile, Aaron Burr in 1812, returned to the United States. Broke, he attempted to rebuild his law practice in New York with moderate success. By 1830, he had grown dependent on his friends' financial support. Three years later, now at the age of 77 Burr married a wealthy widow, Eliza Jumel, but the marriage didn't last. Following the divorce, Burr suffered multiple strokes that left him partially paralyzed. He died under the care of his cousin on September 14, 1836, in the city of Port Richmond on Staten Island, New York.
Like the message here on Burr’s acquittal. He won the court decision on technicalities but loss out for eternity. We will learn from today’s study to not listen to yourself and try to encourage your sinful ways.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Once again, the Psalm is dedicated to the Chief Musician, it is a Psalm of David.
The Psalm can be divided into four sections as follows:
1). David prays for deliverance from those who plot against him and attack him verbally behind his back (64.1-4).
2). The Psalmists description of the whisperers who think that their schemes are undetected (64-5-6).
3). Our All Seeing and Knowing God has taken note and will turn their schemes back on their own heads so that all will see their folly and recognize in their demise the hand of God (64.7-9).
4). What happens in tespect of David will encourage the Righteous who consequently will rejoice n YHWH and take refuge in Him (64.10).
The Psalm was composed from one who was facing verbal assault. They snipe at him secretly behind his back. They ‘shoot at him in secret places. They lay ‘secret snares’ saying, “Who will see them?” Whenever we find ourselves the subjects of innuendoes hurled at us behind our backs, we can find comfort in this Psalm. Such a situation has been the lot of God’s people throughout all centuries.
1 Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity, 3 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words, 4 That they may shoot in secret at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
The Psalm opens with a prayer that God will hear the complaint that the Psalmist makes against the whisperers who whisper behind his back and calls on God to enable him not to be afraid of them, ‘preserve my life from the fear of the enemy’. They are not out to attack him physically, but by whispered innuendo, and secret plots behind his back.
David experienced such behavior when he was a Commander under Saul. He experienced it at the time of Absalom’s rebellion. And anyone who is in a position of authority is liable to be subject to such treatment, especially those who are faithful to God. It is a reminder that we can bring such matters to God and leave then there.
So, he calls on God to hide him from the ‘secret counsel of evildoers’, from the consequences of their secret planning; to protect him from the vicious disturbing harsh whispers and innuendoes (‘tumult’) of ‘workers of iniquity’.
Please note God’s verdict on whisperers. They are ‘evildoers’ and ‘workers of iniquity’, as are all whisperers.
There was nothing haphazard about these whispers. Those who whispered behind closed doors took a great deal of trouble about it. They sharpened their tongues as they would a sword. Their words were carefully aimed and let loose to cause the most damage. They shot from secret places where they could not be seen and identified. And it was all aimed at one who was blameless of what they accused him of. They spoke innuendoes and lies.
They are brazen in their efforts, and confident that they will not be identified ‘They shoot at him and are not afraid.’ Thus, they have no fear. But they are clearly afraid to come out into the open.
Whisperers in churches should take note of this. If they have complaints they should bring them out openly, not seek to undermine the authority of those in positions of responsibility by surreptitious means, otherwise they too are doing evil and working iniquity.
We have next a description of ‘things done by them in secret’ (Ephesians 5.12). They carefully prepare an evil scheme, seeking to ensure that it is strong enough for the purpose. They discuss together, laying secret snares to trap the unwary and undiscerning. They are confident that no one will know what they are doing. No one will take note. They are constantly on the look for weaknesses in David’s position, and search them out thoroughly. And they are all deep schemers. All is a carefully planned attempt to undermine David’s authority and position. They have left no stone unturned in their attempt to do so. Those who follow God wholly are often subject to such attacks.
5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, “Who will see them?” 6 They devise iniquities: “We have perfected a shrewd scheme.” Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.
The statement ‘They make strong for themselves (carefully prepare and ensure the strength of) an evil scheme’ is no off-the-cuff reaction. It is deep seated and determined. They want to bring David down from his exalted position. And they secretly scheme accordingly.
They discuss together ways in which they can win over the mass of the people by their schemes. They lay traps for them so that they will be deceived by them. They possibly also invent schemes by which David can be made to look foolish and incapable and uncaring. In the days of Absalom, he had become careless of the sensitivities of the people. In the days of Saul, he had not watched his back, trusting his compatriots.
They are confident that they are unobserved as they go about their schemes. They forget that God knows them through and through and is aware of all that they are doing. In a way they are unconsciously challenging God.
‘They search out iniquities’ means that they had sought to obtain details of all the ways in which David has failed, or that they search out different ways of carrying forward their evil.
Their claim is that “We have accomplished a diligent search.” They are either proud of their ability to sink to the depths of iniquity (they are ‘workers of iniquity’ - verse 2), or alternatively have researched in depths David’s failures and his coming short in his responsibilities, ignoring, of course, his successes.
His adversaries thought that no one noted what they were doing (verse 5), but they will soon find out that they were wrong. For God in turn will shoot His arrows at them, and ‘suddenly’ they will be wounded. He will return what they have been whispering on their own heads through the triumph of David. Thus, their own tongue will be against them, for it will have brought them into disrepute. In view of David’s continual triumphs over apparent disaster his adversaries continually found their harsh words returning on their heads and regretted that they had spoken them.
And all who see the retribution that David’s adversaries have brought on themselves, will shake their head at their folly. And they themselves will fear, and declare the work of God, taking notice of what He does. So, the folly of David’s adversaries will be a lesson to the world.
7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they shall be wounded. 8 So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; All who see them shall flee away. 9 All men shall fear and shall declare the work of God; For they shall wisely consider His doing.
They who have aimed their arrows (‘even bitter words’) at David ‘suddenly and without fear’ behind his back (verse 5), will themselves find that David’s God will shoot His arrows at them equally suddenly. His powerful word will go forward to do His will (Isaiah 55.10-13). God’s mysterious instruments of justice will make them stumble. With unexpected suddenness they will find themselves wounded. Their own tongues, with which they had been secretively attacking David, will react against them. They had acted without fear. But if they had known David’s God, and the forces at His disposal, they would have been afraid indeed.
All who see what happens to them will ‘wag their heads’ with amazement at their folly, and they will be afraid, for they will have seen what God can do. And they will declare what God has done, and wisely think about and consider it. Thus, will David’s tribulations bring glory to God.
And the righteous (those who are faithful to God’s covenant) especially will see what God has done and will gain confidence from it. They will be glad in YHWH will gain new confidence in the refuge that He provides.
10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.
There is nothing like seeing God’s activity on behalf of His own for making the righteous glad. They see, and wonder, and rejoice, and have their confidence renewed in His protecting hand. Filled with glory at what He does for His own, they take refuge in Him, with a new confidence in how secure it is. Thus, will what has happened to David not only make the world wonder and fear, but will also encourage His true people.
