| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Psalm Eleven
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 11
To the chief Musician, cf15I A Psalm of David.
This
psalm has no name; it is neither called a psalm, nor hymn, nor song, nor
prayer, only said to be David's; and is inscribed and directed as others to the
chief musician, or master of the song, to be used in public service; and seems
to be written much upon the same subject with the two preceding psalms.
According to Theodoret it was written when David was persecuted by Saul, and
was advised by some to flee for his safety.
Psalm 11:1 In
the Lord
I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your
mountain”?
YLT
1To the Overseer. -- By
David. In Jehovah I trusted, how say ye to my soul, `They moved [to] Thy
mountain for the bird?
In the Lord put I my trust,.... Not in himself, in
his own heart, nor in his own righteousness and strength; nor in men, the
greatest of men, the princes of the earth; nor in his armies, or any outward
force; but in the Lord, as the God of providence and of grace; and in the Messiah,
in his person and righteousness; so the Chaldee paraphrase renders it, "in
the Word of the Lord do I hope": and the phrase denotes a continued
exercise of faith in the Lord; that he was always looking to him, staying
himself on him, and committing himself and all his concerns to him; for he does
not say, I "have", or I "will", but I "do", put
my trust in the Lord; at all times, even in the worst of times, and in the
present one; wherefore he is displeased with his friends for endeavouring to
intimidate him, persuading him to flee and provide for his safety, when he had
betaken himself to the Lord, and was safe enough;
how say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain? they compare
him to a little, fearful, trembling bird, wandering from its nest, moving
through fear from place to place, whereas his heart was fixed, trusting in the
Lord; and this gave him a disgust: they advise him to flee either
"from" his mountain, so Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; that is,
either from Judea, which was a mountainous country, especially some parts of
it; or from Mount Zion, or rather from the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph,
or the hill of Hachilah, where David sometimes was, 1 Samuel 23:14; or it may be rendered
"to your mountain", as we, so the Targum; that is, to the said place
or places where he had sometimes hid himself; and this they said to his
"soul", which was very cutting and grieving to him; the word rendered
"flee" in the "Cetib", or writing of the text, is נודו, in the plural, "flee ye"; but is pointed
for, and in the "Keri", or marginal reading, is נודי,
"flee thou"; the latter agrees with this being said to David's soul,
the former with the phrase "your mountain", and both are to be taken
into the sense of the words; not as if the one respected David's soul only, and
the other both soul and body, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; but the one
regards David's person, and the other his companions, or the people with him;
and contains an advice, both to him and them, to flee for their safety; the
reasons follow.
Psalm 11:2 2 For look! The wicked bend their
bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at
the upright in heart.
YLT
2For lo, the wicked tread a
bow, They have prepared their arrow on the string, To shoot in darkness at the
upright in heart.
For, lo, the wicked bend their bow,.... Are
devising mischief, and making preparations to accomplish it;
they make ready their arrow upon the string; of the bow,
and are just about to execute their wicked designs;
that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart; such as
David, and those that were with him, were; they were men whose hearts were
upright before God, and were of upright conversations before men, and so became
the butt of the malice and resentment of wicked men; against these they formed
evil purposes, delivered out bitter words, which were like sharp arrows of the
mighty; threatened them with ruin and destruction, and took methods to bring
about their designs and make good their words, in the most private and secret
manner. Hence some of David's friends thought it most advisable for him to make
his escape; adding,
Psalm 11:3 3 If the foundations are
destroyed, What can the righteous do?
YLT
3When the foundations are
destroyed, The righteous -- what hath he done?
If the foundations be destroyed,.... Or, "for the
foundations are destroyed"F19כי השתות יהרסון "nam fundamenta
destruuntur", Piscator, Michaelis; "quoniam", Pagninus,
Montanus; so Ainsworth. ; all things are out of order and course both in church
and state; the laws, which are the foundations of government, are despised and
disregarded; judgment is perverted, and justice stands afar off; the doctrines
and principles of religion are derided and subverted; so that there is no
standing, either in a political or religious sense. Jarchi interprets this of
the priests of the Lord, the righteous, who are the foundations of the world,
particularly the priests of Nob, slain by Doeg. Other Jewish writers, as Aben
Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, understand it of the purposes and counsels, nets
and snares, laid by the wicked for the righteous, which are broken and
destroyed; not by them, for what can they do? but by the Lord, who is in his
holy temple. So it
what can the righteous do? or "what does the
righteous one do"F20צדיק מה פעל "justus quid operatus
est?" Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Gejerus; "quid facit?" Syr.
Arab. ? that is, the righteous Lord, he sits in the heavens, he beholds all the
actions of the wicked, he distinguishes the righteous from them, and rains a violent
storm of wrath upon them, as in the following verses; or "what has the
righteous man done"F21"Justus quid fecit?" V. L.
Munster, Tigurine versiom, Piscator; so Ainsworth. ? what has David done, that
the priests of Nob should be slain? nothing that was criminal; nor shall he
bear the sin, but they, according to Jarchi's sense; or rather, what has he
done that the wicked should bend their bow, prepare their arrow, and attempt to
shoot privily at him, and to overturn the foundations of justice and equity?
nothing that deserves such treatment: or if the fundamental doctrines of true
religion and everlasting salvation be subverted, what can the righteous do? he
can do nothing to obtain salvation, nor do any good works of himself; the
Chaldee paraphrase is, "wherefore does he do good?" he can have no
principle, motive, or end to do good, if fundamental truths are destroyed: or
"what should he do"F23"Quid fuerit operatus
justus?" Junius & Tremellius; "quid fecerit?" Schmidt. ?
something the righteous ones may do, and should do, when men are attempting to
undermine and sap the foundation articles of religion; they should go to the
throne of grace, to God in his holy temple, who knows what is doing, and plead
with him to put a stop to the designs and attempts of such subverters of
foundations; and they should endeavour to build one another up on their most
holy faith, and constantly affirm it while others deny it; and should contend
earnestly for it, and stand fast in it.
Psalm 11:4 4 The Lord is in
His holy temple, The Lord’s
throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
YLT
4`Jehovah [is] in his holy
temple: Jehovah -- in the heavens [is] His throne. His eyes see -- His eyelids
try the sons of men.
The Lord is in his holy temple,.... Not in
the temple at Jerusalem, which as yet was not built; nor in the temple of
Christ's human nature; but rather in the church, where he dwells, which is an
holy temple to the Lord; and which is an argument for trust in him, and a
reason against the fears of men in the worst of times; see Psalm 46:1. Though it may be best to
understand it of heaven, the habitation of God's holiness, and which is the
true sanctuary; and which the holy places made with hands were only a figure
of; since it follows,
the Lord's throne is in heaven; yea, the
heaven is his throne; here he sits on a throne of grace, and here he has
prepared his throne for judgment; and both this and the preceding clause are
expressive of his glory and majesty; and are said to command awe and reverence
of the Divine Being, and to inject terror into the wicked; and to show that God
is above the enemies of his people, and to encourage the saints' trust and
confidence in him; and are mentioned as a reason why David put his trust in
him; and are, with what follows in Psalm 11:5, opposed to the advice and
reasonings of some of his friends in the preceding ones;
his eyes behold; all men, and all their actions; he sees
what the wicked are doing in the dark, what preparations for mischief they are
making, and beholds them when they shoot privily at the upright in heart; he
can turn the arrow another way, and cause it to miss the mark: his eyes run to
and fro throughout the earth, in favour of those whose hearts are perfect and
sincere. God's omniscience, which is denied by wicked men, who are therefore
hardened in sin, and promise themselves impunity, is used by the saints as an
argument to encourage their faith and trust in God, with respect to their
preservation and deliverance. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and
Ethiopic versions, read, "his eyes look unto the poor"; but this is
an addition to the text not suitable to the context;
his eyelids try the children of men; he tries their reins, he
searches into their very hearts, and into the inmost recesses of them, and
takes cognizance of their thoughts, intentions, and designs; and confounds and
disappoints them, so that they cannot perform their enterprises.
Psalm 11:5 5 The Lord tests the
righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
YLT
5Jehovah the righteous doth
try. And the wicked and the lover of violence, Hath His soul hated,
The Lord trieth the righteous,.... As gold is tried in
the fire, by afflictive providences; hereby he tries their graces, their faith,
and patience, their hope, and love, and fear; and, by so doing, expresses his
love to them, since this is all for their good: and therefore, when he suffers
the wicked to go great lengths in persecuting and distressing them, this should
not weaken, their confidence in him; he still loves them, and loves when he
rebukes and chastises them;
but the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth; that is, such
who live in a course of sin and wickedness, and who not only do injury to the
persons, characters, and properties of men, but love it, and delight therein,
and also take pleasure in them that do the same: these God has a continued and
inward aversion to; sin and wickedness being the abominable thing his righteous
soul hates: and he shows his hatred to them, by not chastising them now, as he
does his own people, but reserving everlasting punishment for them hereafter;
see Proverbs 13:24.
Psalm 11:6 6 Upon the wicked He will
rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion
of their cup.
YLT
6He poureth on the wicked
snares, fire, and brimstone, And a horrible wind [is] the portion of their cup.
Upon the wicked,.... The wicked one, the man of sin,
antichrist, and upon all that worship the beast and his image, on all
persecutors, and upon all wicked men in general:
he shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this will be
in hell, as Jarchi observes. The allusion is to the Lord's raining fire and
brimstone from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah, which was an example and emblem
of eternal fire; see Genesis 19:24. For the beast and the false
prophet, and all the antichristian party, and all wicked men, will have their
part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. The phrases used express
the dreadfulness and horribleness of their punishment; the suddenness,
violence, and force, with which it will come; and the rise of it, it will be
from heaven; God himself will rain this shower of wrath upon them, Job 20:23; nor will there be any escaping
it, it will be inevitable: therefore "snares" are said to be
"rained"; the wicked will be snared in the works of their own hands;
they will be taken and held in the cords of their own sins; and full and
deserved punishment will be inflicted on them, which will be very severe and
terrible. All that is dreadful in a storm is here expressed, even in a storm of
fire. The word rendered "snares" is by some thought to be the same
with פחמים, "burning coals"; and may
signify burning stones, hot thunderbolts; see Psalm 18:13; "fire" may signify
lightning, with its dreadful flashes, and which burn and consume in an instant;
and "brimstone" the nauseous scent and smell, which always attend
lightning and thunder, as naturalists observeF24Senecae Nat. Quaest.
l. 2. c. 21, 53. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 35. c. 15. : and the words for "an
horrible tempest" signify a burning wind: so that they all serve to convey
horrible ideas of the punishment of the wicked in hell. The Targum calls them
"showers of vengeance";
this shall be the portion of
their cup; which will be measured out to them in proportion to their sins,
and which God, in righteous judgment, has appointed for them; and which they
shall all drink of, and wring out the very dregs of it.
Psalm 11:7 7 For the Lord is
righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.[a]
YLT
7For righteous [is] Jehovah,
Righteousness He hath loved, The upright doth His countenance see!'
For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness,.... The Lord
is righteous in himself, and in all his ways and works; and therefore
righteousness, as it lies both in punishing the wicked, and in maintaining the
righteous cause of his people, must be loved by him, it being agreeable to his
nature: he loves to exercise righteousness in the earth, to administer it to
and among men; this he delights in. He is well pleased with the righteousness
of his Son, it being satisfactory to his justice, and that by which his law is
magnified and made honourable; and he is well pleased with his people, as they
are clothed with it: and he approves of their righteous actions, as they are done
in obedience to his righteous law, in faith, from a principle of love, and with
a view to his glory; these are acceptable to him in Christ;
his countenance doth behold the upright; whom wicked
men privily shoot at, Psalm 11:2; God looks with pleasure upon
them, and takes delight in them, and takes care of them, protects and defends
them, and at last saves them; and which, with all that goes before, was an
encouragement to David to trust in the Lord; see Psalm 7:10; and moreover, the Lord lifts up
the light of his countenance on such, and indulges them with his gracious
presence, than which nothing is more comfortable and desirable. Some choose to
render the word, "their countenance"F25פנימו
"facies eorum", Genebrardus, Vatablus, Gussetius; so R. Japhet in
Aben Ezra, who compares it with Genesis xx. 13. , meaning the trinity of
Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, who all have a gracious regard to such:
others render the clause thus, "the upright shall see his face", the
face of God; so the Chaldee paraphrase and the Arabic version; see Psalm 17:15.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)