Psalm 51

David condemneth the wickedness of Doeg, and foretelleth his destruction.

1 Why dost thou glory in malice, thou that art mighty in iniquity?

2 All the day long thy tongue hath devised injustice: as a sharp razor, thou hast wrought deceit.

3 Thou hast loved malice more than goodness; and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness.

4 Thou hast loved all the words of ruin, O deceitful tongue.

5 Therefore will God destroy thee for ever: he will pluck thee out, and remove thee from thy dwelling place; and thy root out of the land of the living.

6 The just shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, and say:

7 Behold the man that made not God his ‘helper. But trusted in the abundance of his riches, and prevailed in his vanity.

8 But I, asa fruitful olive-tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God for ever, yea, for ever and ever.

9 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and IJ will wait on thy name, for it is good in the sight of thy saints.

EXPLANATION OF THE PSALM.

1 ‘* Why dost thou glory im malice, thou that art mighty in iniquity 2”

Cicero, in his oration against Catiline, thus commences, “How long, Catiline, will you trifle with our patience?” and in the same style David commences with a similar interrogation, for the purpose of sharpening his rebuke. “ Why dost thow glory in malice, thou that art mighty in iniquity ?” Doeg, the Idumean, boasted that by his accusations he had ruined a priest of the Lord, and his entire family ; for when Sau! heard from Doeg that David had been

hospitably received by Achimelech the priest, he burst into such a rage, that he not only ordered Doeg to put Achimelech to death, but also eightyfive other priests that were along with him; he thon sacked their city, slaying mea and women, babes and sucklings, nay, even the sheep, cows, and asses. See what a torrent of evil flowed from the calumny; so that he justly deserved to be styled “Mighty in iniquity.”

2 ‘+ Alithe day long thy tongue hath devised injustice : as a sharp razor, thou hast wrought deceit.”

He draws a highly wrought picture of Doeg’s false information, first saying that it was not a sudden, but a long premeditated information. ‘ All the day long thy tongue hath devised injustice.” You were constantly turning in your mind how to frame the false accusation, and, at length, when the opportunity offered, your tongue brought forth what it had been hatching for such a length of time ; for, though thoughts are produced by the mind, David poetically attributes them to the tongue, as if the tongue was so radically bad in itself, that, though apparently silent, it was, in thought, speaking to itself. He then adds that the thing was put into execution with as much speed as a sharp razor would cut ; elegantly contrasting the delay in forming the resolution with the celerity of putting it into execution ; and, in fact, he lost very little time, when he got the opportunity, of carrying out what he had so long been hatching ; for, in a very few words, he persuaded Saul that Achimelech the priest had entered into a conspiracy with David, which was a grievous deceit and imposition ; and he, therefore, says, ‘‘ As a sharp razor, thow hast wrought deceit ;” that is, you deceived Sul, just as easily as a sharp razor cuts through the hair.

38 “ Thou hast loved malice more than goodness ; and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness.”

He tells us the source of that calumnious accusation, and says that it did not proceed from ignorance or accident, but from the perversity of the man; who always preferred evil to good, and lies to truth. “ Thou hast loved malice more than goodness ;” you were always more pleased to injure than to serve your neighbour; “! and iniquity rather than to speak righteously,” to tell lies rather than truth. Observe, that instead of opposing falsehood to “speaking righteously,” he opposes ‘ iniquity’? to it, insinuating thereby, that Doeg’s falsehood was one simply so, or a mere lie; it was more, because it caused the death of Achimelech, and was thus an “ inequity.”

4 * Thou hast loved all the words of ruin, O deceit- Jul tongue.”

He assigns further reason for calling Doeg’s conduct a lie and an iniquity, and says it was a truly

fatal, pernicious falsehood, causing, as it did, the

ruin of so many innocent people. “ Thou hast loved

all the words of ruin;” all the language by which you

could hurry innocent people headlong to their ruin

and perdition ; and it appears from the first book of, M

Kings, that Docg’s lies caused the destruction of an eutire city. “ O deceitful tongue”—of Doeg.

5 + Therefore will God destroy thee for ever : he will pluck thee out, and remove thee from thy dwelling place ; and thy root out of the land of the living.”

He predicts that Doeg’s sin will not go unpunished, but that everlasting ruin is in store for him, in return for the temporal ruio of the priests, of which he was the cause. “ Therefore will God destroy thee for ever.” For this your sin God will utterly destroy you, not only iu this world, but in the next; so that you shall be ruined for eternity, left absolutely desolate in this world, and damned for ever in the world to come; such being the just retribution of the wicked, who, in seeking to injure others, injure themselves forever. He then explains in particular what he had laid down in general, saying, “* He will pluck thee out.” The first stage of your punishment will be your banishment, the loss of your home, property, aud country, sending you abroad an exile and a wanderer; “‘ And thy root out of the land of the living,” will eradicate you and all your posterity from the earth; for children are like roots, shot out by the parent, which afterwards support aud nourish him in turn.

6 ‘* The just shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, and say:

7 * Behold the man that made not God his ‘helper ; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and prevailed in his vanity.”

Many will profit and be instructed by the punishment of the wicked informer. ‘‘ Zhe just shall see and fear;” just and holy people will consider his case, and be horrified; “ And shall laugh at him, and say: Behold the man who made not God his helper, but trusted in the abundance of his riches ;” will laugh at him for having acted most foolishly, for not putting his trust in God, who is all-powerful, instead of the frail riches of this world, which are so easily lost. “ And prevailed in his vanity ;” will jeer him for having endeavoured to advance by fraud and lies, instead of true and solid virtue. The expression, “* prevailed,” does not imply that he really did prevail, but that he thought he might prevail; and, though he may seem to do so for atime, the end will prove that he had to yield, instead of prevailing ; “ When the just shall stand in great constancy against those who hemmed them in,” Wisdom v.

8 “ But I, as a fruitful olive-tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God for ever, yea, for ever and ever.”

~ He concludes the Psalm by shewing that he has taken quite a different path ; for I will vot be plucked up, nor rooted out as a withered tree, like Doeg; but I will send down my roots deeper and deeper, like “A fruitful olive-tree,” always in bloom, always bearing fruit; and, being such, I have, consequently, ‘hoped in the mercy of God for ever ;” hoped that God would assist me for ever, and to eternity. Observe the contrast he draws between himself and

COMMENTARY

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THE PSALMS.

Doeg, the Idumean, comparing him to a dry log, and himself to a fruitful olive-tree ; he predicts that Doeg will be, rooted out of the land, while himself will be rooted in the house of God. Doeg put his trust in his own riches; David in God’s mercy.

9 “ ] will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name, for tt is good in the

He returns thanks for a thing to happen, as if it had actually been done; for the future, as regards God and the prophets, is a matter of certainty, of the past. “J will praise thee for ever ;” I will always praise thee, “because thou hast doneit;” have come to the determination of confounding him that trusteth in his riches, and consoling and comforting him that hopeth in thee. “ And I will wait on thy name; I will always hope in thee; such is the meaning of “* Wait on thee;” and the name of God is used here for God himself. ‘‘ For i is good in the sight of thy saints.” I will justly hope in your name, for your name is most sweet to the saints who have tasted of his sweetness.

PSALM LIL.

The general corruption of man before the coming of Christ.

1 The fool said in his heart: There is no God. ;

2 They are corrupted, and become abominable in iniquities: there is none that doeth good.

3 God looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, or did seek God.

4 All have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doeth good, no not one.

5 Shallnotall the workers ofiniquity know, who eat up my people as they eat bread ?

6 They have not called upon God: there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear. For God hath scattered the bones of them that please men: they have been confounded, because God hath despised them.

7 Who will give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when God shall bring back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

EXPLANATION OF THE PSALM,

This Psalm is very nearly the same as Psalm xiii, to which we refer our reader ; the only difference of any consequence is in the 6th verse of Psalm xiii., which has it thus, “ or the Lord is in the just generation, you have confounded the counsel of the

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS.

poor man, but the Lord is his hope; whereas, in the latter part of the 6th verse in this Psalm, the readjug is, “ For God hath scattered the bones of them that please men, they have been confounded, because God hath despised them.” This, then, is the only verse that requires explanation here. It assigns a reason for the wicked trembling with fear, when they have no reason to fear, and the reason he assigns is, “ For God hath scattered their bones ;? has so enervated them, that they fear the merest trifles, a thing he brings about in his wonderful providence, rendering them foolish in their counsels, by impeding their eftorts, and confounding their machinations. Bones are generally used as an expression in the Scripture, to designate strength. “Of them that please men,” such people are always full of the fear of the world, of human respect, and their whole study is to please man ; whereas, on the contrary, the Apostle teaches, “IfI did yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” The prophet adds, “* Zhey have been con- Sounded, because God hath despised them,’ which seem to allude to the passage in Psalm xiii., ‘* You have confounded the counsel of the poor man, but the Lord ts his hope;” you wicked have confounded the counsel of the poor man who put his trust in God, God will confound yon, and make you blush, secing all your counsels are vain, because you did not put your trust in God; and, therefore, he despised you and withheld his assistance from you. This may also have reference to the last judgment, when all the wicked will be confounded, for the universal Judge will then despise them, saying, “‘ Z do not know you, depart into everlasting fire.” The last verse is altogether similar to the last verse of Psalm xiii., but that here, instead of ‘ Zhe Lord shall have turned away,” we have, “Lhe Lord shall bring back.” But though turning away and bringing back seem to be very different expressions, in this place they bring out the same meaning, for God is said to turn away the captivity, when he destroys it, which he does, when he frees the captives, and he is said to bring back the captivity when he recalls the captives, and brings them back to their own country.

PSALM LUT. A prayer for help in distress. 1 Save me, O God, by thy name, and

judge me in thy strength.

2 O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth. :

3 For strangers have risen up against me: and the mighty have sought after my soul; and they have not set God before their eyes. 4 For behold, God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul. :

' 5 Turn back the evils upon my enemies: and cut them off in thy trath.

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6 I will freely sacrifice to thee, and will give praise, O God, to thy name: because it is good:

7 For thou hast delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye hath looked down upon my enemies.

EXYLANATION OF THE PSALM.

1 “Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me in thy strength.”

In defect of all human help, he prays to God for his help. ‘ Save me, O God, by thy name,” in thy power, to which all things succumb; and he afterwards adds, ‘in thy strength,” expressing the same in different language. “Judge me;” that is, be my judge, defend me as I deserve, and avenge me of my enemy, for David had then none to appeal to but God alone to protect him from the king. This should serve as an example to us, never to despair of God’s help, even though death should appear to be at our doors, for God is every where, has every thing in his power, and never despises his clients when they may have recourse to him.

2“ O God, hear my prayer : give ear to the words of my mouth.”

Haying acknowledged the power of the Lord, he now begs of him to apply his power to himself. “ O God, hear my prayer ;” | know you can do anything, but I pray that you may wish to do it. I, therefore, ask that you may hear the prayer I put up to you, to exercise your power insaving me. He repeats it, * Give ear to the words of my mouth;” that is, turn not away your ears, and do not despise my prayer.

83 ‘+ For strangers have risen up against me: and the mighty have sought after my soul ; and they have not set God before their eyes.”

He explains the dangers from which he desires to be delivered, saying, ‘‘ Mor strangers have risen up against me;” that is, the Zipheans, who, though seemingly neighbours, had their hearts from me; rose up against me, urging Saul to persecute me ; “ And the mighty have sought after my soul.” Saul, with a force in arms, sought to have my life. Saul’s persecution was entirely grounded on his fears that David would, at one time come to the throne; and, therefore, sought to have his life at any risk; for, though he knew him to be innocent, yet, so blinded was he by the desire of keeping the sovereignty in his own family, that be looked upon as fair and honourable, what, in reality, was the height of injustice; “ And they have not set God before their eyes;” neither the Zipheans nor Saul and his satellites had the fear of God before them; the former preferring the king’s favour to God’s law ; and the latter choosing to indulge in their ambition and lust for power, in preference to a love of justice, which God commands us to observe at all times. In fact, the diverting one’s mind from God and the natural law known to all, is the beginning of all evil.

4 “ or behold, God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.”

They “had not God before their eyes,” but God had them before his eyes; saw their evil designs, and did not suffer them to carry them into effect. The word ‘ dchold” implies a sudden light from God of his assurance that he would not be wanting in the time of need ; and he speaks in the present tense, to shew his being as certain of it, as if the thing had been actually accomplished. And, in fact, God’s interference was most sudden and unexpected; for, when Saul had so surrounded David with his army, that his escape seemed impossible, a messenger suddenly came to Saul, bringing news of the Philistines having come in a great body to ravage his kingdom ; on hearing which he was obliged to give up the pursuit of David ; who, in spirit, foresaw all this, and was, possibly, at the very moment pronouncing the words, “ For behold, God is my helper; and the Lord is the protector of my soul.”

5 “ Turn back the evils upon my enemies: and cut them off in thy truth.”

Such imprecations, as we have more than once remarked, are to be read as predictions; and so this reads in the Hebrew ; and, in fact, it then and there turned up; for Saul, who was pursuing David, was now pursued by the Philistines ; and thus, the { evdls” that hung a short time before over David, were now pouring in upon Saul. The second part of the verse, “* And cut them off in thy truth,” was also carried out soon after, for Saul and his army, among whom, no doubt, were many of David’s persecutors, perished in the mountains of Gelboe ; “ /n thy truth,” means according to your promise, or your justice, by virtue of which you give unto every one according to their works.

6 “ [will freely sacrifice to thee, and will give praise, O God, to thy name, because it is good :

Whether it was that the prophet foresaw his immediate escape from Saul, or that Saul, by reason of the Philistines’ incursion, departed while David was actually praying; he returns thanks to God, and says, ‘J will freely sacrifice to thee;” with all my heart I will give the sacrifice of praise; and he repeats it in other words; ‘ And I will give praise to thy name ;” which means, to thyself; ‘because it ts good;” for God’s name, which means God himself, is the best of all; so that Christ said, “‘ One is good, God.” St. Augustine, taking up the word “ freely,” properly observes, that God should be loved purely on his own account; not with a view to any reward, but for his supreme and unspeakable goodness; and he who so loves him, does so in adversity as well as in prosperity ; for God is just as good when he chastises, as when he nourishesand refreshes.

7 “ For thou hast delivered me out of all troubles : and my eye hath looked down upon my enemies.”

He proves God’s goodness from what happened, 4n having so speedily heard his servant ; “ For thou

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS.

hast delivered me out of all trouble.” Tn revealing my certain deliverance to me, you have, already in hope, ‘ delivered me from all trouble.” “ And my eye hath looked down upon my enemies ;” by virtue of the same revelation I have looked upon my enemies ag already destroyed and prostrate ; or, perhaps, they were actually so when the prophet was thus praying. This Psalm is daily recited in the canonical hour of Prime, in order that, in imitation of David, we may learn to strengthen ourselves with the arm of prayer against all our persecutors, at the beginning of each day, recollecting, “ That all who wish to live piously in Jesus Christ shall suffer persecution.”