Section 1 “Author and occasion of the psalm.” This psalm, like Psalms 1:1; Psalms 2:1, and many others, has no title to indicate its authorship; nor is there anything in the psalm itself which can enable us to determine this with any certainty. From the place which it occupies among the acknowledge... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY STANDEST THOU AFAR OFF, O LORD? - That is, What is the reason why thou doest this? The thought upon which this is based is that God might be expected to interpose in a time of trouble, and that His aid might then be looked for. Yet, in this case, He seemed to be an indifferent spectator of the s... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WICKED IN HIS PRIDE - Margin: “In the pride of the wicked he doth.” The margin is a literal translation of the Hebrew; but the sense is the same. The meaning is, that the fact that the wicked persecuted the poor, in the case referred to, was to be traced to his pride, haughtiness, ambition; that... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE WICKED BOASTETH OF HIS HEART’S DESIRE - Margin, as in Hebrew, soul’s. The main idea in this verse seems to be that he is a boaster - a man who makes some proclamation about himself as being superior to others, and who, in that proportion, looks with disdain or contempt on others. He vaunts h... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WICKED, THROUGH THE PRIDE OF HIS COUNTENANCE - In consequence of his pride; or, his pride is the reason of what is here stated. The “pride of his countenance” is a phrase that is used because pride shows itself mainly in the countenance, or in a lofty air and manner. The design is to state the i... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS WAYS ARE ALWAYS GRIEVOUS - His paths; his manner of life; his conduct toward God; his dealings with men. The word rendered “are grievious,” יחילוּ _yāchiylû_ - has been variously rendered. The Latin Vulgate renders it, “His ways are defiled.” So the Septuagint. Coverdale renders it, “His ways... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH SAID IN HIS HEART - The phrase, “he hath said,” means that this was his deliberate and settled character. What is here described was no sudden thing. It was not the freak of passion; it was a deliberately-formed purpose. The phrase, “in his heart,” means that he had purposed this; he had sai... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING - Profaneness; blasphemy against God. In the former verse the writer had described the feelings of the “heart;” he now proceeds to specify the open acts of the wicked. The meaning is, that the wicked man, as here described, was one who was full of imprecation, swearing,... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SITTETH IN THE LURKING-PLACES OF THE VILLAGES - As robbers do, who hide themselves in the vicinity of villages, that they make a sudden descent upon them in the silence of the night, or that they may seize and rob the inhabitants as they go forth in the morning to attend their flocks to the pastu... [ Continue Reading ]
HE LIETH IN WAIT SECRETLY - Margin, in the secret places. See the note at Psalms 10:8. The object here is merely to illustrate the thought in the previous verse, by an allusion to a lion and a hunter. AS A LION IN HIS DEN - As a lion crouches down in his den, ready to spring upon his prey. That is,... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CROUCHETH - Margin, “breaketh himself.” Coverdale, “Then smiteth he, then oppresseth he.” Prof. Alexander, “And bruised he will sink.” Horsley, “And the overpowered man submits.” Luther, “He slays, and thrusts down, and presses to the earth the poor with power.” This variety of interpretation ari... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH SAID IN HIS HEART, GOD HATH FORGOTTEN - That is, this is his practical, habitual feeling. He acts as if God had forgotten, or as if God takes no knowledge of what is occurring in the earth. Compare Psalms 10:6. HE HIDETH HIS FACE - God has hidden his face; that is, he does not look on what... [ Continue Reading ]
ARISE, O LORD - See the note at Psalms 3:7. This commences the second part of the psalm, in which the author calls on God to remember those who were oppressed and wronged by the wicked. By suffering the wicked thus to carry on their plans, God seemed to be indifferent to human affairs, and the psalm... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE DOTH THE WICKED CONTEMN GOD? - That is, despise him; or treat him with contempt and disregard. On what ground is this done? How is it to be accounted for? What is the proper explanation of so strange a fact? It is to be observed here: (a) that the psalmist assumes this to be a fact, that... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST SEEN IT - Thou seest all. Though people act as if their conduct was not observed, yet thou art intimately acquainted with all that they do. The workers of iniquity cannot hide themselves. The idea here is, that although God seemed not to notice the conduct of the wicked, and though the wic... [ Continue Reading ]
BREAK THOU THE ARM OF THE WICKED - The arm is the instrument by which we effect a purpose, and especially in wielding a sword or a spear, as in battle; and if the arm is broken, we are powerless. The psalmist, therefore, prays that God would render the wicked, in this respect, powerless. AND THE EV... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD IS KING FOREVER AND EVER - That is, he reigns, and he will reign forever. This is one of the instances which frequently occur in the Psalms, where, though there is a desponding spirit, or an apprehension of danger expressed in the beginning of the poem, it ends with the language of exultati... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD, THOU HAST HEARD THE DESIRE OF THE HUMBLE - Their desire or their prayer that thou wouldst interpose in their behalf in the time of danger, and rescue them. Compare Psalms 6:8. The word “humble” here refers to those who were poor, downtrodden, oppressed; and the original reference is, doubtless... [ Continue Reading ]
TO JUDGE THE FATHERLESS - That is, to vindicate the orphan; to rescue him from the hand of those who would oppress and wrong him. In other words, the psalmist prays that God would manifest himself in his real and proper character as the vindicator of the fatherless (see the note at Psalms 10:14), or... [ Continue Reading ]