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Psalm Fifty-two
New King James Version (NKJV)
YLT
To the Overseer. -- An instruction, by David, in the coming in of
Doeg the Edomite, and he declareth to Saul, and saith to him, `David came in
unto the house of Ahimelech.'
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 52
To the chief Musician, Maschil, cf15I A Psalm of David, when
Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the
house of Ahimelech. Of the title "Maschil", See Gill on Psalm 32:1, title.
The occasion of this psalm is here related, the history of which is in 1 Samuel 21:7. The
sum of it is this; David having fled from Saul, came to Ahimelech the priest at
Nob, and desired bread and a sword of him, which were given him, Doeg the
Edomite being present at the same time. Sulpicius SeverusF19Sacr.
Hist. l. 1. p. 43. calls him a Syrian, following the Greek version of 1 Samuel 21:7; and
so does JosephusF20Antiqu. l. 6. c. 12. s. 1. 4. , through a mistake
of the letter ד for ר, an
Aramite instead of an Edomite; See Gill on 1 Samuel 21:7 and
See Gill on 1 Samuel 22:9; this
man observed what was done for David by the priest; and when Saul complained to
his captains that they all conspired against him, and no man was sorry for him,
or showed him the intrigue between David and his son; Doeg stood up and related
what, and more than what he had heard and seen pass between David and
Ahimelech; upon which Saul sent for the priest, and all his father's house with
him, and charged him with treasonable practices; and though he solemnly
protested his innocency, Saul would not believe him, but ordered his footmen to
fall upon him, and upon all the priests with him; but they refusing, he
commanded Doeg to do it, who accordingly did, and slew eighty five priests, and
destroyed all in the city of Nob, men, women, children, and sucklings, oxen,
asses, and sheep; only Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, escaped, who fled to
David, and reported the whole affair; upon which he penned this psalm: in which
he has respect not only to the then present case, but to future times, Doeg
being a type of antichrist, the man of sin; in his name, which signifies
"anxious [and] solicitous"F21A rad. דאג,
"solicitus, anxius fuit", Buxtorf. , as he was to gain the king's
favour, and obtain wealth and honour; so is antichrist to grasp all power,
civil and ecclesiastical, and to get worldly honour and riches: in the country
he was of, being an Edomite; and it is easy to observe, that Edom is the name
which the Jews commonly give to the Roman empire, in which antichrist has his
seat and power: in his religion, being a proselyte of the Jews, and was at an
act of devotion, detained before the Lord, when he saw and heard what passed
between David and Ahimelech; so antichrist appeared with the mask of religion,
rose up out of the church, and sat in the temple of God, showing himself as
though he was God: in his office, the chiefest of the herdmen, or mightiest among
the shepherds of Saul; so antichrist calls himself "princeps
pastorum", that is, "the chief of pastors"; assuming to himself
the title which belongs to Christ, the chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls: and,
lastly, in his cruelty in slaying the priests of the Lord. Antichrist is
notorious for shedding and drinking the blood of the saints, the faithful
confessors and witnesses of Jesus Christ. In this psalm David upbraids him with
his glorying in his wickedness, and checks it by observing that the grace and
goodness of God to his people ever endures, Psalm 52:4; charges
him with devising mischief, and loving it, Psalm 52:2; and
foretells his everlasting ruin and destruction, Psalm 52:5; which
will be seen by the righteous with pleasure, who will have just reason to
insult over him, Psalm 52:6; and the
psalm is concluded with an account of the happy condition and comfortable frame
of soul the psalmist was in, in a view of all his troubles and enemies; he was
flourishing in the church of God, trusted in the mercy of God for ever, and
determined always to praise him and wait upon him, which is good for the saints
to do, Psalm 52:8.
Psalm 52:1 Why
do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures
continually.
YLT
1What, boasteth thou in
evil, O mighty one? The kindness of God [is] all the day.
Why boastest thou thyself in mischief?.... Or
"in evil"F23ברעה "in
malo", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus. ; in that which is
sinful; to glory in riches, wisdom, and strength, which are not in themselves
evil, is wrong; and to rejoice in such boastings, all such rejoicing is evil;
to be a doer of mischief, or sin, is bad; to make a sport of it, worse; but to
glory in it, and boast of it when done, is worse still: to be boasters of evil
things, is the character of antichrist and his followers, 2 Timothy 3:2; who
not only boast of their merit, their good works, and works of supererogation,
and of their riches, and honour, and grandeur, saying, "I sit as a
queen", Revelation 18:7;
but of their wickedness in shedding the blood of the saints, thinking thereby
they do God good service, and merit heaven, and eternal happiness; as Doeg
boasted of his slaughter of the priests, and of his gaining the king's favour
by it;
O mighty man! referring either to his office, being the
chief of Saul's herdmen, and set over his servants, 1 Samuel 21:7; or
ironically, to the mighty deed he had done, in slaying the unarmed priests, and
putting to death the very sucklings at the breast, and even the innocent sheep,
oxen, and asses; or to his great wickedness and power to commit it; though man
has no power and free will to that which is good, yet he has to that which is
evil; so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and the eastern versions render it,
"O thou! mighty in wickedness"; and to the same purpose the Targum
paraphrases it, "mighty to shed innocent blood"; and the note of Aben
Ezra is, "mighty to do evil". A learned writerF24Delaney's
Life of King David, vol. 1. p. 119. thinks this relates to Saul, and describes
him as a man of power and dignity. The character well agrees with the little
horn and Romish beast, Daniel 7:20;
the goodness of God endureth continually: that is, the
love, grace, and mercy of God; this is observed as what is the matter of the saints'
boasting, in opposition to the wicked boasting of Doeg; they glory in the love
of God, and in that they know him who exerciseth lovingkindness, which is the
source of all the blessings of grace and goodness; and in Christ, through whom
all are communicated to them; and in him, as made every blessing to them,
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption: they ascribe the whole
of their salvation, and all they have, to the grace of God, and glory in
nothing as of themselves, and as though not received of the Lord. Moreover, the
psalmist may take notice of this, as what was his support under all the
persecutions he endured from men; that he had an interest in the grace and
goodness of God, which is immutable and everlasting, invariably the same in all
states and conditions; and that he was encompassed about with the favour of God
as with a shield; and that it was not in the power of his most implacable
enemies to separate him from the love of God; and therefore it was egregious
folly in Doeg to boast himself in mischief; for, be he as mighty as he might,
he could not prevent his sharing in the divine goodness, which always
continues.
Psalm 52:2 2 Your tongue devises
destruction, Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
YLT
2Mischiefs doth thy tongue
devise, Like a sharp razor, working deceit.
Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs,.... Abundance of
mischiefs, in a variety of ways, against many persons, even all good men. What
properly belongs to the heart is here ascribed to the tongue; because, as Aben
Ezra observes, it is the interpreter and discoverer of the thoughts of the
heart: out of the abundance of that the tongue speaks and declares the mischief
it has devised. Doeg intended mischief to David, when he spoke to Saul, 1 Samuel 22:9; so
antichrist devises mischiefs against the saints of the most High, to wear them
out, and thinks to change times and laws, Daniel 7:25;
like a sharp razor, working deceitfully; that is, his
tongue was like a razor; the razor is but a small instrument, and the tongue is
but a little member: the razor is a sharp and cutting one, and so is the
tongue; and therefore compared to a sharp sword, Psalm 57:4; see Jeremiah 18:18; the
razor takes off the beard cleanly and wholly; Doeg's tongue was the cause of
the utter ruin of Ahimelech's family and the city of Nob; and as a razor may be
said to "work deceitfully", when it turns aside in the hand of him that
useth it, and with the hair takes off more than it should, even skin and flesh,
or cuts the man's throat; so in a deceitful and insidious manner did Doeg work
the destruction of Ahimelech and the priests of the Lord.
Psalm 52:3 3 You love evil more than
good, Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah
YLT
3Thou hast loved evil rather
than good, Lying, than speaking righteousness. Selah.
Thou lovest evil more than good,.... Indeed not good at
all; such comparatives being strong negatives; see Psalm 118:8; a
wicked man loves evil, and nothing else; his carnal mind being enmity to all
that is good
and lying rather than to
speak righteousness; as appears by his affirming that Ahimelech inquired of the Lord
for David, when he did not, 1 Samuel 22:10; and
by suffering some things to pass for truths which were falsehoods, when it lay
in his power to have disproved them: and such a lover of lies is antichrist;
see 1 Timothy 4:2.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2. The
Targum renders the word "Selah" here "for ever", as in Psalm 52:5.
Psalm 52:4 4 You love all devouring
words, You deceitful tongue.
YLT
4Thou hast loved all
devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
Thou lovest all devouring words,.... Or "words of
swallowing up"F25דברי בלע "verba absorptionis", Vatablus, Gejerus,
Schmidt. ; such as lies, calumnies, and detractions are, which devour the
characters and reputations of men, and are the cause sometimes of their utter
ruin and destruction; of the devouring and blasphemous words of antichrist see Revelation 13:5;
O thou deceitful tongue; See Gill on Psalm 52:2.
Psalm 52:5 5 God shall likewise destroy
you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling
place, And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
YLT
5Also -- God doth break thee
down for ever, Taketh thee, and pulleth thee out of the tent, And He hath
uprooted thee Out of the land of the living. Selah.
God shall likewise destroy thee for ever,.... As a just
retaliation for the mischief done to others; or, "therefore God shall
destroy"F26גם δια τουτο, Sept. "propterea", V. L. "idcirco etiam",
Piscator; "ideo etiam", Michaelis. , &c. even body and soul in
hell, with an everlasting destruction, which will be the case of every wicked
man, and particularly of the antichristian party, Revelation 14:10;
the word is used of breaking down the house in which the leprosy was, Leviticus 14:45;
and denotes the utter extinction of Doeg's family, and the irrecoverable ruin
of antichrist, Revelation 18:21;
he shall take thee away; as fire from the hearth,
Isaiah 30:14; or as
burning coals from the altar: a word from the root here used signifies a
censer: and the meaning is, that as his tongue was a fire, and set on fire of
hell, and he was as a burning coal, he was fit for nothing but to be cast into
everlasting burnings;
and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place;
"tent", or "tabernacle"F1מאהל
"de tabernaculo", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus; "e
tentorio", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius. ; referring to the
tents of shepherds, he being the chief of Saul's shepherds, or to some stately
palace he had built for himself to dwell in, upon his advancement at court; or
rather to the tabernacle of the Lord, where he had been an hypocritical
worshipper; but now should be cut off from the church of God, as a rotten
member, and cast out of the tabernacle of Jacob, Malachi 2:12; while
David flourished as an olive tree in the house of the Lord, Psalm 52:8;
and root thee out of the land of the living. In retaliation
for his rooting out Ahimelech's family, and the inhabitants of Nob; so in like
manner he and his should be destroyed root and branch, and not see the goodness
of the Lord in the land of the living, nor enjoy eternal life in the world to
come.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2. The
Targum renders the word "Selah" here "for ever", as in Psalm 52:3.
Psalm 52:6 6 The righteous also shall
see and fear, And shall laugh at him, saying,
YLT
6And the righteous see, And
fear, and laugh at him.
The righteous also shall see,.... The Targum adds,
"the punishment of the wicked"; particularly what is before predicted
of Doeg. The judgments of God upon the ungodly, as they are certain, so they
will be visible, either in this world, or in that to come, Revelation 15:4;
and fear; the Targum adds, "from before the Lord"; not with a
slavish fear, with a dread of the same punishment, from which they are free,
through the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, by which they are
denominated righteous ones; though the judgments of God on others strike them
with solemn awe and reverence, Psalm 119:120, but
with a filial godly fear; with a fear of God for his goodness to them, in
delivering them out of the hands of wicked men, which engages them more and
more to fear the Lord, and to serve and worship him; see Revelation 15:4;
and shall laugh at him; at Doeg; and so at any
other wicked man, when they see the vengeance of God upon him, Psalm 58:10; not
that they rejoice at that, barely considered in itself, or as it is an evil and
mischief to wicked men; for that does not become them, Proverbs 24:17; but
as it is expressive of the care of God over them, and love to them, in avenging
their enemies; and more especially as the glory of divine justice is displayed
therein; see Revelation 18:20;
for all this will be eminently fulfilled in the destruction of antichrist.
Psalm 52:7 7 “Here is the man who
did not make God his strength, But trusted in the abundance of his riches, And
strengthened himself in his wickedness.”
YLT
7`Lo, the man who maketh not
God his strong place, And trusteth in the abundance of his riches, He is strong
in his mischiefs.'
Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength,.... The
Targum renders it, "that made not the Word of the Lord his strength".
These are the words the righteous would say, when they should see the
destruction of Doeg: see the man, the mighty man, and his end; what all his ill
gotten honour and riches are come to; and what his wickedness, deceit, and
cruelty, have brought upon him. The righteous make the Lord their strength, put
their trust in him, in whom is everlasting strength; do all they do in his
strength; fly to him as their "strong hold", as the wordF2מעוזו "arcem suam", Cocceius; "presidium,
munimemtum", Michaelis. may be rendered; thither they run, and are safe:
but the rich man's wealth is his strong city, Proverbs 18:10;
there he thinks himself safe, and places his confidence in it, as follows:
but trusted in the abundance of his riches; See Gill on Psalm 49:6; so the
antichristian whore is represented as boasting of her riches and honour, and
trusting in them, that they would always continue, Revelation 18:7;
like the fool in Luke 12:19;
and strengthened himself in
his wickedness; encouraged and hardened himself in sin, gave up himself to it;
and, by art obstinate continuance in it, strengthened the vicious habits
contracted; stretched out his hand against God, and strengthened himself
against the Almighty; went on in a daring manner, promising himself impunity;
and as if his wickedness was his strength, his safeguard and protection: or in
his mammon, his wealth and substance; as the Targum interprets it; and so R.
Saadiah GaonF3Apud Kimchi in loc. , and with which the Syriac
version agrees; and then the sense is the same with the other clause. But,
alas! what are all such forces of strength, when wrath comes forth from the
Lord of hosts? Job 36:18.
Psalm 52:8 8 But I am like a
green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and
ever.
YLT
8And I, as a green olive in the
house of God, I have trusted in the kindness of God, To the age and for ever,
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God,.... Or rather
it should be supplied, "I shall be"F4"Ero",
Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus. ; since David was at this time an exile from the
house of God: and this expresses his faith and confidence, that,
notwithstanding his present troubles, he should be restored again, and be in a
very flourishing condition, in the church of God; which is here meant by
"the house of God": it being of his building, and where he dwells,
and where to have a place is the great privilege of the saints; they are
planted there by the Lord himself, and shall never be rooted up; they are fixed
there, and shall never go out; which was David's confidence, Psalm 23:6; and
where he believed he should be as "a green olive tree"; which is a
very choice and fruitful tree, has fatness in it, produces an excellent oil; is
beautiful to look at; delights in hot climates and sunny places; is found on
mountains, we read of the mount of Olives; is ever green and durable, and its
leaves and branches are symbols of peace: all which is applicable to truly
righteous persons and believers in Christ; who are the excellent of the earth,
are filled with the fruits of righteousness; are fat and flourishing; have the
oil of grace, the anointing which teacheth all things; are a perfection of
beauty, made perfectly comely through Christ's comeliness; thrive under him,
the sun of righteousness; grow in the mountain of the Lord's house, the church:
their grace is incorruptible, their leaf withers not; they are rooted in
Christ, and ever continue; they are the sons of peace, and their last end will
be eternal peace. Now as such David was assured he should be, when his enemy
would be rooted up out of the land of the living, and cast like a dry and
worthless branch into everlasting burnings; the ground of which confidence
follows:
I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever; the mercy of
God is not only an encouragement to trust, but the object of it; not the
absolute mercy of God, but the grace and goodness of God in Christ Jesus, which
endures continually, Psalm 52:1; and so
does hope in it, which never makes ashamed, but abides to the end. The psalmist
seems to have respect to the mercy promised him, that he should sit upon the
throne. This he believed, and therefore was assured he should be in the
flourishing circumstances in the house of God before mentioned.
Psalm 52:9 9 I will praise You forever,
Because You have done it; And in the presence of Your saints I will wait
on Your name, for it is good.
YLT
9I thank Thee to the age,
because Thou hast done [it], And I wait [on] Thy name for [it is] good before
Thy saints!
I will praise thee for ever,.... Both in this world,
as long as he lived, and had a being in it; and in the world to come, to all
eternity. This is a resolution respecting what he would do, when he should be
in the happy condition he was confident of;
because thou hast done it; the Targum interprets
it, "the revenge of my judgment"; meaning the vengeance of God on
Doeg; and to the same sense Aben Ezra and Kimchi: though it may refer to the
comfortable and happy condition he should be in, Psalm 52:8; and
which he wholly ascribes to the grace and goodness of God, and not to any
merits of his own, and therefore determines to praise him for it;
and I will wait on thy name; on the Lord himself, in
his house and ordinances, for his presence and fresh supplies of grace and
strength, when he should be restored. Or the sense is, that in the mean while
he would wait patiently on the Lord, until he had accomplished what he had
promised, and David believed;
for it is good before thy saints; the sense is,
either that it is good to wait upon the Lord and for him; which appears to be
so to all the saints, by the comfortable experience they have had of it, Isaiah 40:31; or
the name of the Lord is good unto them, pleasant, delightful, and comfortable,
as proclaimed, Exodus 34:6; see Song of Solomon 1:3;
and also Revelation 15:4.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)