As to the author of this psalm, I am not disposed to contend very strongly, although I think it probable that the name of Asaph was prefixed to it because the charge of singing it was committed to him, while the name of David, its author, was omitted, just as it is usual for us, when things are well... [ Continue Reading ]
2._As for me, etc. _Literally, it is, _And I: _which ought to be read with emphasis; for David means that those temptations, which cast an affront upon the honor of God, and overwhelm faith, not only assail the common class of men, or those who are endued only with some small measure of the fear of... [ Continue Reading ]
3._For I envied the foolish _(154) Here he declares the nature of the temptation with which he was assailed. It consisted in this, that when he saw the present prosperous state of the wicked, and from it judged them to be happy, he had envied their condition. We are certainly under a grievous and a... [ Continue Reading ]
4_For there are no bands to their death. _The Psalmist describes the comforts and advantages of the ungodly, which are as it were so many temptations to shake the faith of the people of God. He begins with the good health which they enjoy, telling us, that they are robust and vigorous, and have not... [ Continue Reading ]
5._They are not in the trouble that is common to man. _Here it is declared that the wicked enjoy a delightful repose, and are as it were by special privilege exempted from the miseries to which mankind in general are subject. They also are no doubt involved in afflictions as well as the good, and Go... [ Continue Reading ]
6._Therefore pride compasseth them as a chain. _This complaint proceeds farther than the preceding; for we are here told that although God sees the ungodly shamefully and wickedly abusing his kindness and clemency, he notwithstanding bears with their ingratitude and rebellion. The Psalmist employs a... [ Continue Reading ]
7._Their eye goeth out for fatness. _(167) He now adds, that it is not wonderful to see the ungodly breaking forth with such violence and cruelty, since, by reason of fatness and pampering, their eyes are ready to start out of their heads. Some explain the words _goeth out _as meaning, that their ey... [ Continue Reading ]
8._They become insolent, and wickedly talk of extortion. _Some take the verb ימיקו, _yamicu, _in an active transitive sense, and explain it as meaning, that the wicked soften, that is to say, render others pusillanimous, or frighten and intimidate them. (170) But as the idiom of the language admits... [ Continue Reading ]
9._They have set their mouth against the heavens. _Here it is declared that they utter their contumelious speeches as well against God as against men; for they imagine that nothing is too arduous for them to attempt, and flatter themselves that heaven and earth are subject to them. If any should end... [ Continue Reading ]
10._On this account his people will return hither. _Commentators wrest this sentence into a variety of meanings. In the first place, as the relative _his _is used, without an antecedent indicating whose people are spoken of, some understand it simply of the ungodly, as if it had been said, That the... [ Continue Reading ]
11._And they say, How doth God know? _Some commentators maintain that the Prophet here returns to the ungodly, and relates the scoffings and blasphemies with which they stimulate and stir up themselves to commit sin; but of this I cannot approve. David rather explains what he had stated in the prece... [ Continue Reading ]
12._Behold! these are the ungodly. _The Psalmist here shows, as it were by a vivid pictorial representation, the character of that envy which had well nigh overthrown him. _Behold! _says he, _these are wicked men! _and yet they happily enjoy their ease and pleasures undisturbed, and are exalted to p... [ Continue Reading ]
15._If I should say, I will speak thus. _David, perceiving the sinfulness of the thoughts with which he was tempted, puts a bridle upon himself, and reproves his inconstancy in allowing his mind to entertain doubts on such a subject. We can be at no loss in discovering his meaning; but there is some... [ Continue Reading ]
16._Although I applied my mind to know this. _The first verb חשב,_chashab, _which he employs, properly signifies _to reckon _or _count, _and sometimes _to consider _or _weigh. _But the words which follow in the sentence require the sense which I have given, That he applied his mind to know the part... [ Continue Reading ]
By _the sanctuaries of God _some, even among the Hebrews, understand the celestial mansions in which the spirits of the just and angels dwell; as if David had said, This was a painful thing in my sight, until I came to acknowledge in good earnest that men are not created to flourish for a short time... [ Continue Reading ]
18._Surely thou hast set them in slippery places. _David, having now gone through his conflicts, begins, if we may use the expression, to be a new man; and he speaks with a quiet and composed mind, being, as it were, elevated on a watchtower, from which he obtained a clear and distinct view of thing... [ Continue Reading ]
19._How have they been destroyed, as it were in a moment! _The language of wonder in which the Psalmist breaks forth serves much to confirm the sentiment of the preceding verse. As the consideration of the prosperity of the ungodly induces a torpor upon our minds, yea, even renders them stupid; so t... [ Continue Reading ]
20._As it were a dream after a man is awakened. _This similitude is often to be met with in the Sacred Writings. Thus, Isaiah, (Isaiah 29:7,) speaking of the enemies of the Church, says, “They shall be as a dream of a night vision.” To quote other texts of a similar kind would be tedious and unneces... [ Continue Reading ]
21._For my heart was in a ferment. _The Psalmist again returns to the confession which he had previously made, acknowledging that whilst he felt his heart pierced with perverse envy and emulation, he had complained against God, in a peevish or fretful manner. He compares his anger to _leaven. _Some... [ Continue Reading ]
22._And I was foolish and ignorant. _David here rebuking himself sharply, as it became him to do, in the first place declares that he was foolish; secondly, he charges himself with ignorance; and, thirdly, he affirms that he resembled the brutes. Had he only acknowledged his ignorance, it might have... [ Continue Reading ]
23_Nevertheless I was continually with thee. _(205) Here the Psalmist declares, in a different sense, that he was _with God. _He gives him thanks for having kept him from utterly falling, when he was in so great danger of being precipitated into destruction. The greatness of the favor to which he ad... [ Continue Reading ]
24._Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel. _As the verbs are put in the future tense, the natural meaning, in my opinion, is, that the Psalmist assured himself that the Lord, since by his leading he had now brought him back into the right way, would continue henceforth to guide him, until at length h... [ Continue Reading ]
25._Whom have I in heaven but thee? _The Psalmist shows more distinctly how much he had profited in the sanctuary of God; for being satisfied with him alone, he rejects every other object, except God, which presented itself to him. The form of expression which he employs, when he joins together an i... [ Continue Reading ]
26._My flesh and my heart have failed. _Some understand the first part of the verse as meaning that David’s heart and flesh failed him through the ardent desire with which he was actuated; and they think that by it he intends to testify the earnestness with which he applied his mind to God. We meet... [ Continue Reading ]
27._For, lo! they who depart from thee shall perish. _Here he proves, by an argument taken from things contrary, that nothing was better for him than simply to repose himself upon God alone; for no sooner does any one depart from God than he inevitably falls into the most dreadful destruction. All d... [ Continue Reading ]
28._As for me, it is good for me to draw near to God. _Literally the reading is, _And I, etc. _David speaking expressly of himself, affirms that although he should see all mankind in a state of estrangement from God, and wandering after the ever-changing errors and superstitions of the world, he wou... [ Continue Reading ]