1._Blessed is he that judgeth wisely of the poor. _Interpreters are generally of opinion that the exercise of kindness and compassion manifested in taking care of the miserable, and helping them, is here commended. Those, however, who maintain that the Psalmist here commends the considerate candour... [ Continue Reading ]
2._Jehovah will keep him, and preserve him in life. _Here David follows out the same sentiment expressed in the preceding verse, when he says that the Lord will keep the afflicted, whose destruction cruel and unjust men represent as inevitable. It is likewise necessary always to bear in mind the con... [ Continue Reading ]
4._I have said, O Jehovah! have mercy upon me. _By this verse he shows that in his adversity he did not seek to soothe his mind by flattery, as the greater part of men do, who endeavor to assuage their sorrows by some vain consolation. And, certainly, the man who is guided by the Spirit of God will,... [ Continue Reading ]
5._My enemies have spoken evil of me. To speak _is here used in the sense of _to imprecate. _In thus describing the unbecoming conduct of his enemies, he seeks, as has been elsewhere said, to induce God to have mercy upon him: because the more that God sees his own people cruelly treated, he is so m... [ Continue Reading ]
6._And if he come to see me, he speaketh lies. _What is contained in this verse relates to his false and treacherous friends. Those who were his professed enemies made no secret of their enmity against him, but openly persecuted him; and that he has already shown in the preceding verse. In addition... [ Continue Reading ]
7._All they that hate me whisper together against me. _Here he seems generally to include both classes of his enemies; those who sought to oppress him in an open manner, and in the character of avowed enemies; and those who, under the pretense of friendship, attempted to do the same thing by deceit... [ Continue Reading ]
8._An evil deed of Belial cleaved fast to him. _From this verse it appears that they had thus conspired together for his destruction, on the ground that they regarded him as a wicked man, and a person worthy of a thousand deaths. The insolence and arrogance which they manifested towards him proceede... [ Continue Reading ]
9._Even the man of my peace. _As the very height of all his miseries, David here declares that he had found the same treachery in some one, or, indeed, in many of his greatest friends. For the change of number is very frequent in the Hebrew language, so that he may speak of several individuals as if... [ Continue Reading ]
10_Do thou, O Jehovah I have mercy upon me. _From a consideration of the wrongful cruelty of his enemies, he again takes encouragement to pray. And there is included in what he says a tacit contrast between God and men; as if he had said, Since there is to be found no aid or help in the world, but a... [ Continue Reading ]
11_By this I know that I have been acceptable to thee _David now proceeds to the exercise of thanksgiving; unless, indeed, by altering the tense of the verb, we would rather with some read this verse in connection with the preceding, in this way: In this I shall know that thou favorest me, if thou s... [ Continue Reading ]
12_And as for me, thou wilt uphold me in my integrity _Some expound the clause thus: That, as David followed after uprightness, God had stretched out the hand to him. But this interpretation does not agree very well with a preceding sentence, in which he acknowledged that he had been justly punished... [ Continue Reading ]
13_Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, for ever and ever _(111) Here the Psalmist confirms and repeats the expression of thanksgiving contained in a preceding verse. By calling God expressly _the God of Israel, _he testifies that he cherished in his heart a deep and thorough impression of the cov... [ Continue Reading ]