Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
This psalm is suited to the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives, giving encouragement and assurance of divine help and final deliverance from their persecutors. It is part of a summons to the whole world to listen to Wisdom, who is Christ.
The question is why those who fear God should fear in the days of evil, meaning times of calamity, misfortune, or persecution, even when surrounded by malicious enemies lying in wait to trip and destroy them. The term for heels carries a secondary sense of waylayers, not only literal heels. Trust in God removes fear of the wicked, however rich or powerful they are, so the righteous need not fear calamity or persecution because such foes have little power to harm them.
The reason is the vanity of riches and their inability to redeem a soul from death, as known by One who knows what ransom is needed. The rich cannot ransom themselves or others, even a loved one, nor can wealth make the redeemed live forever without seeing corruption, so wealth and glory cannot help in deepest need and give no cause for fear. Those who rightly fear God need fear no one else, while those who do not fear God have everything to fear. Continuing wickedness, self-confidence and vainglory stand confronted as madness and guilt incurable from generation to generation.
The verse belongs to a contrast between the end of the wicked, who like sheep are laid in the grave, buried out of sight, forgotten and unmourned, and the end of the righteous, who receive dominion over them in the morning. That morning brings the righteous dominion and redemption from the power of the grave, a joy set before Christ and set before believers, which is a share in the first resurrection in which partakers live and reign with Christ.
This psalm is suited to the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives, giving encouragement and assurance of divine help and final deliverance from their persecutors. It is part of a summons to the whole world to listen to Wisdom, who is Christ.
The question is why those who fear God should fear in the days of evil, meaning times of calamity, misfortune, or persecution, even when surrounded by malicious enemies lying in wait to trip and destroy them. The term for heels carries a secondary sense of waylayers, not only literal heels. Trust in God removes fear of the wicked, however rich or powerful they are, so the righteous need not fear calamity or persecution because such foes have little power to harm them.
The reason is the vanity of riches and their inability to redeem a soul from death, as known by One who knows what ransom is needed. The rich cannot ransom themselves or others, even a loved one, nor can wealth make the redeemed live forever without seeing corruption, so wealth and glory cannot help in deepest need and give no cause for fear. Those who rightly fear God need fear no one else, while those who do not fear God have everything to fear. Continuing wickedness, self-confidence and vainglory stand confronted as madness and guilt incurable from generation to generation.
The verse belongs to a contrast between the end of the wicked, who like sheep are laid in the grave, buried out of sight, forgotten and unmourned, and the end of the righteous, who receive dominion over them in the morning. That morning brings the righteous dominion and redemption from the power of the grave, a joy set before Christ and set before believers, which is a share in the first resurrection in which partakers live and reign with Christ.