Psalms 52:4

_THOU LOVEST ALL DEVOURING WORDS, O THOU DECEITFUL TONGUE._ Thou lovest all devouring words, O ... deceitful tongue - resumed from Psalms 52:2, to mark the inner and invariable connection between sin and its penalty....

The term בלע _, balang, _in verse fourth, which has been translated _destruction, _I prefer understanding in the sense of _hiding _or _concealment. _He seems to allude to the drawing back of the tongue when we swallow; and under this figure, to describe the deceitfulness of Doeg’s words, by which he devoured the unsuspecting and the innocent. (277) The great design of David, as I have already remarked in the preceding verses, is to encourage himself in the hope of deliverance by dwelling upon the extreme character of that wickedness which his enemy had displayed....

1-5 Those that glory in sin, glory in their shame. The patience and forbearance of God are abused by sinners, to the hardening of their hearts in their wicked ways. But the enemies in vain boast in their mischief, while we have God's mercy to trust in. It will not save us from the guilt of lying, to be able to say, there was some truth in what we said, if we make it appear otherwise than it was. The more there is of craft and contrivance in any wickedness, the more there is of Satan in it. When good men die, they are transplanted from the land of the living on earth, to heaven, the garden of the Lord, where they shall take root for ever; but when wicked men die, they are rooted out, to perish for ever. The believer sees that God will destroy those who make not him their strength....

THOU LOVEST ALL DEVOURING WORDS - All words that tend to devour or “swallow up” reputation and happiness. Luther, “Thou speakest gladly all things (anything) that will serve to destruction.” Anything, everything, that will serve to ruin people. The word rendered “devouring” - בלע _bela‛_ - occurs only here and in Jeremiah 51:44, though the verb from which it is derived occurs frequently: Isaiah 28:4; Exodus 7:12; Jonah 2:1 Jon 1:17; Genesis 41:7,...

EXPOSITION HERE, again, the title is the best guide to the origin, intent, and authorship of the psalm. It is ascribed to David, and said to have been written on the occasion when Doeg the Edomite acquainted Saul with the fact of David's visit to Ahimelech the priest, recorded in 1 Samuel 21:1. This information led to a fearful massacre, in which Doeg himself took the chief part (1 Samuel 22:11-9). The bitterness of feeling displayed in the psalm is thus accounted for. Metrically, the psalm seems to consist of three strophes, extending respectively to four, three, and two verses. In the first strophe Doeg's wickedness is set forth (1 Samuel 21:1); in the second ...

THOU LOVEST ALL DEVOURING WORDS,.... Or "words of swallowing up" y; such as lies, calumnies, and detractions are, which devour the characters and reputations of men, and are the cause sometimes of their utter ruin and destruction; of the devouring and blasphemous words of antichrist see Revelation 13:5; O [THOU] DECEITFUL TONGUE; Psalms 52:2. y דברי בלע "verba absorptionis", Vatablus, Gejerus, Schmidt....

Psalms 52 The Proud and Boasting Man __ 1. The character of the man of sin (Psalms 52:1) 2. The character of the righteous (Psalms 52:8) The four Psalms which follow (all Maschil Psalms) give mostly a prophetic picture of the man of sin, the final Antichrist, the false messiah-king, under whom the godly in Israel will especially suffer. He is first described as the mighty man, the super-man, who boasts in evil. He is also a lying, deceitful man, “working deceitfully” and having a “deceitful tongue.” But God is going to deal with him, destroy him forever, take him away, pluck him out of his dwelling place, and out of the land of the living. He will be destroyed with the brightness of the Lord's com

LII. The Psalmist denounces an enemy of his who trusts in his wealth and in unscrupulous falsehood. He is confident that this adversary will be rooted up and that he himself will flourish and abide in the Temple. The reference to the Temple and the complete silence about the massacre of the priests shows that the title gives an impossible explanation of the Ps. PSALMS 52:1_ b_. Read, Against the godly man continually. Psalms 52:2. Translate O thou that workest deceitfully. But the text is probably corrupt. Psalms 52:5. Translate Shall snatch thee away and pluck thee up tentless. Psalms 52:7. w

DEVOURING WORDS. Hebrew words of swallowing up. Compare 1 Samuel 22:18....

Denunciation of the evil-doer and prediction of his fate....