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ps17.11
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1993-03-27
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EXPOSITION.
"_They have now compassed us in our steps_." The fury of
the ungodly is aimed not at one believer alone, but at all the
band; they have compassed _us_. All the race of the Jews were but
a morsel for Haman's hungry revenge, and all because of one
Mordecai. The prince of darkness hates all the saints for their
Master's sake. The Lord Jesus is one of the _us_, and herein is
our hope. He is the Breaker, and will clear a way for us through
the hosts which environ us. The hatred of the powers of evil is
continuous and energetic, for they watch every _step_, hoping
that the time may come when they shall catch us by surprise. If
our spiritual adversaries thus compass every step, how anxiously
should we guard all our movements, lest by any means we should be
betrayed into evil! "_They have set their eyes bowing down to the
earth_." Trapp wittily explains this metaphor by an allusion to a
bull when about to run at his victim; he lowers his head, looks
downward, and then concentrates all his force in the dash which
he makes. It most probably denotes the malicious jealousy with
which the enemy watches the steps of the righteous; as if they
studied the ground on which they trod, and searched after some
wrong footmark to accuse them for the past, or some
stumbling-stone to cast in their future path to trip them in days
to come.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Verse 11.--"_They have now compassed us in our steps:
they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth. A man who has
people watching him to find out a cause for accusation against
him to the king, or to great men, says, "Yes, they are around my
legs and my feet; their eyes are always open; they are ever
watching my "_suvadu_," "steps;" that is, they are looking for
the impress or footsteps in the earth. For this purpose the eyes
of the enemies of David were "_bowing down to the
earth_."--^Joseph Roberts.
Verse 11.--"_They have now compassed us in our steps_."
Like those who destroy game by battue [Ed. battue: interdiction],
and so make a ring around their prey from which their victims
cannot escape.--C. H. S.
Verse 11.--"_They have set their eyes bowing down to the
earth_." The allusion probably is to the huntsman tracing the
footmarks of the animal he pursues.--^Religious Tract Society's
Commentary.
Verse 11.--"_They have set their eyes bowing to the
earth_." It is an allusion, as I conceive, to hunters, who go
poring upon the ground to prick the hare, or to find the print of
the hare's claw, when the hounds are at a loss, and can make
nothing of it by the scent.--^Joseph Caryl.