“How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.”
The rhetorical question addressing those who attack the psalmist and who all lean together like a wall asks why the enemies persist in their assault despite the psalmist's grounding in God. The image of leaning together suggests coordinated and unified opposition; all forces are arrayed against the supplicant. The wall imagery suggests that the opposition is substantial and difficult to breach. This verse articulates the reality of the threat while implicitly questioning whether such opposition can ultimately succeed against one grounded in God.
Church Fathers on Psalms 62:3
1. The title of it is, “Unto the end, in behalf of Idithun, a Psalm to David himself.” I recollect that already to you has been explained what Idithun is....Let us see how far he has leaped over, and whom he has “leaped over,” and in what place, though he has leaped over certain men, he is situate, whence as from a kind of spiritual and secure position he may behold what is below....He being set, I say, in a certain fortified place, does say, “Shall not my soul be subject to…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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