Psalms 4:2

_O YE SONS OF MEN, HOW LONG WILL YE TURN MY GLORY INTO SHAME? HOW LONG WILL YE LOVE VANITY, AND SEEK AFTER LEASING? SELAH._ (Will ye turn) my glory into shame? - literally, 'How long (shall) my glory (be) for shame?' 'When will ye at length cease wantonly to attack my dignity?-to make my glory a matter of reproach' (Hengstenberg). [The Hebrew for "sons of men" is _ BªNEEY_ (H1121) _ 'IYSH_ (H376) - literally, 'sons of man,' the honourable appellation, not the less distinguished term, _ `BENEEY_ (H1121) _ 'AADAAM_ (H120);' still less 'Enoch.' _ 'IYSH _ (H376) (Latin, vir, Greek, _ ANEER_ (G435), as distinguished from homo, _ ANTHROOPOS_ ...

2._O ye sons of men. _The happy result of the prayer of David was, that resuming courage, he was able not only to repel the fury of his enemies, but also to challenge them on his part, and fearlessly to despise all their machinations. That our confidence, therefore, may remain unshaken, we ought not, when assailed by the wicked, to enter into conflict without being furnished like David with the same armor. The sum is, that since God was determined to defend David by his own power, it was in vain for all the men in the world to endeavor to destroy him; however great the power which they otherwise might have of doing him injury. By calling those whom he addresses the sons, not of Adam, or of some common persons but _of men, _he seems by the way to reprove their pride. (52) I do not agree with certain Jewish expositors who think that nobles or men of rank are meant. It is rather an ironical...

1-5 Hear me for thy mercy-sake, is our best plea. He who will not ask such blessings as pardon, and justifying righteousness, and eternal life, must perish for the want of them. Alas! that so many should make so fearful a choice. The psalmist warns against sin. Keep up holy reverence of the glory and majesty of God. You have a great deal to say to your hearts, they may be spoken with, let it not be unsaid. Examine them by serious self-reflection; let your thoughts fasten upon that which is good, and keep close to it. Consider your ways, and before you turn to sleep at night, examine your consciences with respect to what you have done in the day; particularly what you have done amiss, that you may repent of it. when you awake in the night, meditate upon God, and the things that belong to your peace. Upon a sick-bed, particularly, we should consider our ways. Be still. when you have asked...

Verse Psalms 4:2. _O YE SONS OF MEN_] בני איש _beney ish_, ye _powerful_ _men_-ye who are now at the head of affairs, or who are leaders of the multitude. _LOVE VANITY_] The poor, empty, shallow-brained, pretty-faced Absalom; whose prospects are all _vain_, and whose promises are all _empty_! _SEEK AFTER LEASING?_] This is a Saxon word, from [Anglo-Saxon], _falsehood_, from [A.S.], _to lie_. _Cardmarden_ has adopted this word in his translation, Rouen, 1566. It is in none of the Bibles _previously_ to that time, nor in any _after_, as far as my own collection affords me evidence; and appears to have been borrowed by King James's translators from the above. _SELAH._] Mark this! See what the end will be!...

O YE SONS OF MEN - Turning from God to men; from Him in whom he hoped for protection to those who were engaged in persecuting him. We are not, of course, to suppose that they were present with him, but this is an earnest, poetic remonstrance, “as if” they were with him. The reference is doubtless to Absalom and his followers; and he calls them “sons of men,” as having human feelings, passions, and purposes, in strong distinction from that righteous God to whom he had just made his solemn appeal. God was holy, true, and just, and he might appeal to Him; they were ambitious and wicked, and from them he had nothing to hope. He looked upon God as righteous altogether; he looked upon them as altogether depraved and wicked. God he regarded as his just Protector; them he regarded as seeking only to wrong and crush him. HOW LONG - The phrase used here might refer either to “time” or to “extent.”...

EXPOSITION AGAIN the psalm has a title, "To the chief Musician on Neginoth. A Psalm of David;" literally, "to the_ _superintendent or foreman," which, in this instance, would be the choir-leader, or "precentor" (Kay). "On Neginoth" is supposed to mean "for stringed instruments" (Hengstenberg, Kay, 'Speaker's Commentary,' Revised Version, etc.); comp. Isaiah 38:20. The authorship of David is generally allowed; but there is nothing to mark the exact circumstances under which the psalm was written. In its metrical structure it very much resembles Psalms 3:1; being composed, like that, of a short strophe (verses1, 2), a short anti-strophe (Psalms 3:3,...

O YE SONS OF MEN,.... Meaning great men, the nobles of Israel; and so the Jewish interpreters k generally explain it; such as Ahithophel, and others, who were in the conspiracy with Absalom, 2 Samuel 15:12: and so they were the kings and princes of the earth, and the rulers of the Jewish sanhedrim, the chief priests and elders, who were the enemies of Christ; and such, generally speaking, have been the persecutors of the saints; these men of power and authority, of dignity and honour, and who were in high places, and boasted of their titles and grandeur, the psalmist addresses by way of expostulation in the following words; HOW LONG [WILL YE TURN] MY GLORY INTO SHAME? Meaning either God, who was his glory, Psalms 3:3; whom they reproached when they said there was no help for h

Psalms 4:1. _Hear me, when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer._ Past experience is a sweet solace in the hour of trouble. «Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.» Think of what God has been to you, you tried ones, for he will be the same still. And can he have taught you to trust in his name, And thus far have brought you to put you to shame? Is this God's way to be gracious to his people, and then to turn against them? God forbid. Pray, then, with the grateful memory of all his loving-kindness. «Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress. Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.» Psalms 4:2. O ye sons of men, how, long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after lea

Psalms 4 __ 1. The cry to Jehovah (Psalms 4:1) 2. The warning to the enemies (Psalms 4:4) 3. The assurance of faith (Psalms 4:6) Psalms 4:1. The fourth Psalm is closely connected with the third; the third is “a Morning Psalm” and the fourth “an Evening Hymn.” He calls God “God of my righteousness” and He knows that He will act in righteousness toward him, be gracious and hear prayer. Then the appeal to the sons of men, who love emptiness and seek after a lie. They should know that the Lord hath set apart the godly for Himself and therefore He will hear

IV. AN EVENING HYMN BY A MAN HIGH IN OFFICE WHOSE RULE EXCITES JEALOUSY AND RESISTANCE. The Psalmist begins with an appeal to the God of his righteousness, _i.e._ the God who declares that his case is good. The Heb. words usually translated righteousness, righteous, make righteous were originally legal in their implication. A righteous man was one whose cause was decided in his favour, so that he was clear of guilt in the judgment of the Court. Next (Psalms 4:2) he appeals to his foes who slander him and bring reproach upon his office, possibly that of High Priest. However angry they may be, they are exhorted to quiet their hearts with silent meditation. They are moreover to offer the sacrifices of righteousness, _i.e._ sacrifices in which the Pentateuchal ritual was strictly observed. Godly in Psalms 4:3 i