1._Give ear to my prayer, O God! _From the language with which the psalm opens, we may conclude that David at this time was laboring under heavy distress. It could be no ordinary amount of it which produced such an overwhelming effect upon a saint of his distinguished courage. The translation which... [ Continue Reading ]
4._My heart trembles within me _(299) Here we have additional evidence of the extremity of David’s sufferings. He that uses these words was no soft or effeminate person, but one who had given indubitable proofs of constancy. Nor is it merely of the atrocious injuries inflicted upon him by his enemie... [ Continue Reading ]
6_And I said, Who will give me wings like a dove? _(300) These words mean more than merely that he could find no mode of escape. They are meant to express the deplorableness of his situation, which made exile a blessing to be coveted, and this not the common exile of mankind, but such as that of the... [ Continue Reading ]
9._Destroy, _(303) _O Lord; and divide their tongue _Having now composed, as it were, his mind, he resumes the exercise of prayer. Had he indulged longer in the strain of complaint, he might have given his sanction to the folly of those who do themselves more harm than good by the excessive use of t... [ Continue Reading ]
12_Of a truth, it was not an enemy that cast reproach upon me _He informs us of one circumstance which added bitterness to the injuries under which he suffered, that they came from the hands not only of his professed enemies, but of such as pretended to be his friends. Those mistake the meaning of נ... [ Continue Reading ]
15_Let death seize upon them. _He now denounces the whole faction, not the nation generally, but those who had taken a prominent part in the persecution of him. In imprecating this curse he was not influenced by any bad feeling towards them, and must be understood as speaking not in his own cause bu... [ Continue Reading ]
16_I will call upon God. _In translating this verse I have retained the future tense of the verb, as the Psalmist does not refer to something already done, but rather excites himself to the duty of prayer, and to the exercise of hope and confidence. Though there was no apparent method of escape, and... [ Continue Reading ]
18_He hath redeemed my soul into peace _Those who read the two preceding verses in the perfect instead of the future tense, are apparently led to this by considering that David here proves his former prayers to have been answered, from the fact of deliverance having been granted. But there is no dif... [ Continue Reading ]
19_God shall hear, and afflict them _As the verb ענה, _anah, _which I have rendered _afflict, _signifies, occasionally, _to testify, _some understand David to say that God would rise up as a witness against them. The syntax of the language will scarcely, however, admit of this, as, in Hebrew, the le... [ Continue Reading ]
20._He hath sent his hands against those that were at peace with him _He afterwards speaks in verse 23d in the plural number, but here it is probable that he begins by addressing the leader and head of the wicked conspiracy. He accuses him of waging war in the midst of peace, and being thus guilty o... [ Continue Reading ]
22_Cast thy giving upon Jehovah. _The Hebrew verb יהב, _yahab, _signifies _to give, _so that יהבע, _yehobcha, _according to the ordinary rules of grammar, should be rendered _thy giving, _or _thy gift. _(321) Most interpreters read _thy burden, _but they assign no reason for this rendering. The verb... [ Continue Reading ]
23_Thou, O God! shalt cast them into the pit of corruption. _He returns to speak of his enemies, designing to show the very different end which awaits them, from that which may be expected by the righteous. The only reflection which comforts the latter, when cast down at the feet of their oppressors... [ Continue Reading ]