1._O Jehovah! thou hast searched me _David declares, in the outset of this Psalm, that he does not come before God with any idea of its being possible to succeed by dissimulation, as hypocrites will take advantage of secret refuges to prosecute sinful indulgences, but that he voluntarily lays bare h... [ Continue Reading ]
4._For there is not a word, etc_. The words admit a double meaning. Accordingly some understand them to imply that God knows what, we are about to say before the words are formed on our tongue; others, that though we speak not a word, and try by silence to conceal our secret intentions, we cannot el... [ Continue Reading ]
In verse fifth some read —_behind and before thou hast fashioned me; _(203) but צור, _tsur, _often signifies _to shut up, _and David, there can be no doubt, means that he was surrounded on every side, and so kept in sight by God, that he could not escape in any quarter. One who finds the way blocked... [ Continue Reading ]
6._Thy knowledge is wonderful above me _Two meanings may be attached to ממני : _mimmenni. _We may read _upon me, _or, _in relation to me, _and understand David to mean that God’s knowledge is seen to be wonderful in forming such a creature as man, who, to use an old saying’, may be called a little w... [ Continue Reading ]
7._Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? _I consider that David prosecutes the same idea of its being’ impossible that men by any subterfuge should elude the eye of God. By the _Spirit of God _we are not here, as in several other parts of Scripture, to conceive of his power merely, but his understandi... [ Continue Reading ]
11._If I shall say, _etc. David represents himself as a man using every possible method to make his escape from a situation of embarrassment. So having acknowledged that it was vain to dream of flight, he bethinks himself of another remedy, and says, If no speed of mine can bear me out of the range... [ Continue Reading ]
13._For thou hast possessed my reins _Apparently he prosecutes the same subject, though he carries it out somewhat farther, declaring that we need not be surprised at God’s knowledge of the most secret thoughts of men, since he formed their hearts and their reins. He thus represents God as sitting k... [ Continue Reading ]
15._My strength was not hid from thee _That nothing is hid from God David now begins to prove from the way in which man is at first formed, and points out God’s superiority to other artificers in this, that while they must have their work set before their eyes before they can form it, he fashioned u... [ Continue Reading ]
16._Thine eyes beheld my shapelessness, etc. _The embryo, when first conceived in the womb, has no form; and David speaks of God’s having known him when he was yet a shapeless mass, τὸ κύημα _, _as the Greeks term it; for τὸ εμβρυον is the name given to the foetus from the time of conception to birt... [ Continue Reading ]
17._How precious also are thy thoughts unto me _It is the same Hebrew word, רעה, _reah, _which is used here as in the second verse, and means _thought, _not _companion _or _friend, _as many have rendered it, after the Chaldee translator, under the idea that the Psalmist is already condescending upon... [ Continue Reading ]
19._If thou shalt slay, _etc. It is unnatural to seek, as some have done, to connect this with the preceding verse. Nor does it seem proper to view the words as expressing a wish — “I wish,” or, “Oh! if thou God wouldst slay the wicked.” Neither can I subscribe to the idea of those who think that Da... [ Continue Reading ]
20._Who have spoken of thee wickedly. _He intimates the extent to which the wicked proceed when God spares them, and forbears to visit them with vengeance. They not merely conclude that they may perpetrate any crime with impunity, but openly blaspheme their Judge. He takes notice of their _speaking... [ Continue Reading ]
21._Shall I not hold in hatred those that hate thee? _He proceeds to mention how greatly he had profited by the meditation upon God into which he had been led, for, as the effect, of his having realized his presence before God’s bar, and reflected upon the impossibility of escaping the eye of him wh... [ Continue Reading ]
22._I hate them with perfect hatred. _Literally it is, I hate them with perfection of hatred. He repeats the same truth as formerly, that such was his esteem for God’s glory that he would have nothing’ in common with those who despised him. He means in general that he gave no countenance to the work... [ Continue Reading ]
23._Search me, O God! _He insists upon this as being the only cause why he opposed the despisers of God, that he himself was a genuine worshipper of God, and desired others to possess the same character. It indicates no common confidence that he should submit, himself so boldly to the judgment of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
24._And lead me, _etc. I see no foundation for the opinion of some that this is an imprecation, and that David adjudges himself over to punishment. It is true, that “the way of all the earth” is an expression used sometimes to denote death, which is common to all, but the verb here translated to _le... [ Continue Reading ]