This Psalm is in its proper place, and so fitly
follows 139 that you might almost read right on, and make no
break between the two. Serious injury would follow to the whole
Book of Psalms if the order should be interfered with as certain
wiseacres propose. It is The Cry Of A Hunted Soul the
supplication of a believer incessantly persecuted and beset by
cunning enemies, who hungered for his destruction. David was
hunted like a partridge upon the mountains, and seldom obtained
a moment's rest. This is his pathetic appeal to Jehovah for
protection, an appeal which gradually intensifies into a
denunciation of his bitter foes. With this sacrifice of prayer
he offers the salt of faith; for in a very marked and emphatic
manner he expresses his personal confidence in the Lord as the
Protector of the oppressed, and as his own God and Defender. Few
short Psalms are so rich in the jewellery of precious faith.
TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN. The writer wished this
experimental hymn to be under the care of the chief master of
song, that it might neither be left unsung, nor chanted in a
slovenly manner. Such trials and such rescues deserved to be had
in remembrance, and to be set up among the choicest memorials of
the Lord's goodness. We, too, have our songs which are of no
ordinary kind, and these must be sung with our best powers of
heart and tongue. We will offer them to the Lord by no other
hand than that of "the Chief Musician."
A PSALM OF DAVID. The life of David
wherein he comes in contact with Saul and Doeg is the best
explanation of this Psalm; and surely there can be no reasonable
doubt that David wrote it, and wrote it in the time of his exile
and peril. The tremendous outburst at the end has in it the
warmth which was so natural to David, who was never lukewarm in
anything; yet it is to be noticed that concerning his enemies he
was often hot in language through indignation, and yet he was
cool in action, for he was not revengeful. His was no petty
malice, but a righteous anger: he foresaw, foretold, and even
desired the just vengeance of God upon the proud and wicked, and
yet he would not avail himself of opportunities to revenge
himself upon those who had done him wrong. It may be that his
appeals to the great King cooled his anger, and enabled him to
leave his wrongs unredressed by any personal act of violence.
"Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord"; and
David when most wounded by undeserved persecution and wicked
falsehood was glad to leave his matters at the foot of the
throne, where they would be safe with the King of kings.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man.
It reads like a clause of the Lord's prayer, "Deliver us
from evil." David does not so much plead against an
individual as against the species represented by him, namely,
the being whose best description is—"the evil man."
There are many such abroad; indeed we shall not find an
unregenerate man who is not in some sense an evil man, and yet
all are not alike evil. It is well for us that our enemies are
evil: it would be a horrible thing to have the good against us.
When "the evil man" bestirs himself against the godly
he is as terrible a being as a wolf, or a serpent, or even a
devil. Fierce, implacable, unpitying, unrelenting, unscrupulous,
he cares for nothing but the indulgence of his malice. The
persecuted man turns to God in prayer; he could not do a wiser
thing. Who can meet the evil man and defeat him save Jehovah
himself, whose infinite goodness is more than a match for all
the evil in the universe? We cannot of ourselves baffle the
craft of the enemy, but the Lord knoweth how to deliver his
saints. He can keep us out of the enemy's reach, he can sustain
us when under his power, he can rescue us when our doom seems
fixed, he can give us the victory when defeat seems certain; and
in any and every case, if he do not save us from the man he can
keep us from the evil. Should we be at this moment oppressed in
any measure by ungodly men, it will be better to leave our
defence with God than to attempt it ourselves. Preserve me from
the violent man. Evil in the heart simmers in malice, and at
last boils in passion. Evil is a ragtag thing when it getteth
liberty to manifest itself; and so "the evil man" soon
develops into "the violent man" What watchfulness,
strength, or valour can preserve the child of God from deceit
and violence? There is but one sure Preserver, and it is our
wisdom to hide under the shadow of his wings. It is a common
thing for good men to be assailed by enemies: David was attacked
by Saul, Doeg, Ahithophel, Shimei, and others; even Mordecai
sitting humbly in the gate had his Haman; and our Lord, the
Perfect One, was surrounded by those who thirsted for his blood.
We may not, therefore, hope to pass through the world without
enemies, but we may hope to be delivered out of their hands, and
preserved from their rage, so that no real harm shall come of
their malignity. This blessing is to be sought by prayer, and
expected by faith.
Verse 2. Which imagine mischiefs in their heart.
They cannot be happy unless they are plotting and planning,
conspiring and contriving. They seem to have but one heart, for
they are completely agreed in their malice; and with all their
heart and soul they pursue their victim. One piece of mischief
is not enough for them; they work in the plural, and prepare
many arrows for their bow. What they cannot actually do they
nevertheless like to think over, and to rehearse on the stage of
their cruel fancy. It is an awful thing to have such a heart
disease as this. When the imagination gloats over doing harm to
others, it is a sure sign that the entire nature is far gone in
wickedness. Continually are they gathered together for war.
They are a committee of opposition in permanent session: they
never adjourn, but perpetually consider the all absorbing
question of how to do the most harm to the man of God. They are
a standing army always ready for the fray: they not only go to
the wars, but dwell in them. Though they are the worst of
company, yet they put up with one another, and are continually
in each other's society, confederate for fight. David's enemies
were as violent as they were evil, as crafty as they were
violent, and as persistent as they were crafty. It is hard
dealing with persons who are only in their element when they are
at daggers drawn with you. Such a case calls for prayer, and
prayer calls on God.
Verse 3. They have sharpened their tongues like a
serpent. The rapid motion of a viper's tongue gives you the
idea of its sharpening it; even thus do the malicious move their
tongues at such a rate that one might suppose them to be in the
very act of wearing them to a point, or rubbing them to a keen
edge. It was a common notion that serpents inserted their poison
by their tongues, and the poets used the idea as a poetical
expression, although it is certain that the serpent wounds by
his fangs and not by his tongue. We are not to suppose that all
authors who used such language were mistaken in their natural
history any more than a writer can be charged with ignorance of
astronomy because he speaks of the sun's travelling from east to
west. How else can poets speak but according to the appearance
of things to an imaginative eye. The world's great poet puts it
in "King Lear":
"She struck me with her tongue,
Most serpent like, upon the very heart."
In the case of slanderers, they so literally sting with their
tongues, which are so nimble in malice, and withal so piercing
and cutting, that it is by no means unjust to speak of them as
sharpened. "Adders' poison is under their lips."
The deadliest of all venom is the slander of the unscrupulous.
Some men care not what they say so long as they can vex and
injure. Our text, however, must not be confined in its reference
to some few individuals, for in the inspired epistle to the
Romans it is quoted by the apostle as being true of us all. So
depraved are we by nature that the most venomous creatures are
our fit types. The old serpent has not only inoculated us with
his venom, but he has caused us to be ourselves producers of the
like poison: it lies under our lips, ready for use, and, alas,
it is all too freely used when we grow angry, and desire to take
vengeance upon any who have caused us vexation. It is sadly
wonderful what hard things even good men will say when provoked;
yea, even such as call themselves "perfect" in cool
blood are not quite as gentle as doves when their claims to
sinlessness are bluntly questioned. This poison of evil speaking
would never fall from our lips, however much we might be
provoked, if it were not there at other times; but by nature we
have as great a store of venomous words as a cobra has of
poison. O Lord, take the poison bags away, and cause our lips to
drop nothing but honey. Selah. This is heavy work. Go up,
go up, my heart! Sink not too low. Fall not into the lowest key.
Lift up thyself to God.
Verse 4. Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the
wicked. To fall into their hands would be a calamity indeed.
David in his most pitiable plight chose to fall into the hand of
a chastising God rather than to be left in the power of men. No
creature among the wild beasts of the wood is so terrible an
enemy to man as man himself when guided by evil, and impelled by
violence. The Lord by providence and grace can keep us out of
the power of the wicked. He alone can do this, for neither our
own watchfulness nor the faithfulness of friends can secure us
against the serpentine assaults of the foe. We have need to be
preserved from the smooth as well as the rough hands of the
ungodly, for their flatteries may harm us as much as their
calumnies. The hands of their example may pollute us, and so do
us more harm than the hands of their oppression. Jehovah must be
our keeper, or evil hands will do what evil hearts have imagined
and evil lips have threatened. Preserve me from the violent
man. His intense passion makes him terribly dangerous. He
will strike anyhow, use any weapon, smite from any quarter: he
is so furious that he is reckless of his own life if he may
accomplish his detestable design. Lord, preserve us by thine
omnipotence when men attack us with their violence. This prayer
is a wise and suitable one. Who have purposed to overthrow my
goings. They resolve to turn the good man from his resolve,
they would defeat his designs, injure his integrity, and blast
his character. Their own goings are wicked, and therefore they
hate those of the righteous, seeing they are a standing rebuke
to them. This is a forcible argument to use in prayer with God:
he is the patron of holiness, and when the pure lives of his
people are in danger of overthrow, he may be expected to
interpose. Never let the pious forget to pray, for this is a
weapon against which the most determined enemy cannot stand.
Verse 5. The proud have hid a snare for me.
Proud as they are, they stoop to this mean action: they use a
snare, and they hide it away, that their victim may be taken
like a poor hare who is killed without warning—killed in its
usual run, by a snare which it could not see. David's enemies
wished to snare him in his path of service, the usual way of his
life. Saul laid many snares for David, but the Lord preserved
him. All around us there are snares of one sort or another, and
he will be well kept, aye, divinely kept, who never falls into
one of them. And cords. With these they pull the net
together and with these they bind their captive. Thus fowlers
do, and trappers of certain large animals. The cords of love are
pleasant, but the cords of hate are cruel as death itself. They
have spread a net by the wayside. Where it will be near
their prey; where the slightest divergence from the path will
bring the victim into it. Surely the common wayside ought to be
safe: men who go out of the way may well be taken in a net, but
the path of duty is proverbially the path of safety; yet it is
safe nowhere when malicious persons are abroad. Birds are taken
in nets, and men are taken by deceit. Satan instructs his
children in the art of fowling, and they right speedily learn
how to spread nets: perhaps they have been doing that for us
already; let us make our appeal to God concerning it. They
have set gins for me. One instrument of destruction is not
enough; they are so afraid of missing their prey that they
multiply their traps, using differing devices, so that one way
or another they may take their victim. Those who avoid the snare
and the net may yet be caught in a gin, and accordingly gins are
placed in all likely places. If a godly man can be cajoled, or
bribed, or cowed, or made angry, the wicked will make the
attempt. Ready are they to twist his words, misread his
intentions, and misdirect his efforts; ready to fawn, and lie,
and make themselves mean to the last degree so that they may
accomplish their abominable purpose. Selah. The harp
needs tuning after such a strain, and the heart needs lifting up
towards God.
Verse 6. I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God.
Here was David's stay and hope. He was assured that Jehovah was
his God, he expressed that assurance, and he expressed it before
Jehovah himself. That had need be a good and full assurance
which a man dares to lay before the face of the heart searching
Lord. The Psalmist when hunted by man, addressed himself to God.
Often the less we say to our foes, and the more we say to our
best Friend the better it will fare with us: if we say anything,
let it be said unto the Lord. David rejoiced in the fact that he
had already said that Jehovah was his God: he was content to
have committed himself, he had no wish to draw back. The Lord
was David's own by deliberate choice, to which he again sets his
seal with delight. The wicked reject God, but the righteous
receive him as their own, their treasure, their pleasure, their
light and delight. Hear the voice of my supplications, O
LORD. Since thou art mine, I pray thee hear my cries. We
cannot ask this favour of another man's god, but we may seek it
from our own God. The prayers of saints have a voice in them;
they are expressive pleadings even when they sound like
inarticulate moanings. The Lord can discern a voice in our
waitings, and he can and will hearken thereto. Because he is God
he can hear us; because he is our God he will hear us. So long
as the Lord doth but hear us we are content: the answer may be
according to his own will, but we do entreat to be heard: a soul
in distress is grateful to any one who will be kind and patient
enough to hearken to its tale, but specially is it thankful for
an audience with Jehovah. The more we consider his greatness and
our insignificance, his wisdom and our folly, the more shall we
be filled with praise when the Lord attends unto our cry.
Verse 7. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my
salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
When he looked back upon past dangers and deliverances, the good
man felt that he should have perished had not the Lord held a
shield over his head. In the day of the clash of arms, or of the
putting on of armour (as some read it), the glorious Lord had
been his constant Protector. Goliath had his armour bearer, and
so had Saul, and these each one guarded his master; yet the
giant and the king both perished, while David, without armour or
shield, slew the giant and baffled the tyrant. The shield of the
Eternal is a better protection than a helmet of brass, When
arrows fly thick and the battle axe crashes right and left,
there is no covering for the head like the power of the
Almighty. See how the child of providence glorifies his
Preserver! He calls him not only his salvation, but the strength
of it, by whose unrivalled force he had been enabled to outlive
the cunning and cruelty of his adversaries. He had obtained a
deliverance in which the strength of the Omnipotent was clearly
to be seen. This is a grand utterance of praise, a gracious
ground of comfort, a prevalent argument in prayer. He that has
covered our head aforetime will not now desert us. Wherefore let
us fight a good fight, and fear no deadly wound: the Lord God is
our shield, and our exceeding great reward.
Verse 8. Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the
wicked. Even they are dependent upon thee they can do no
more than thou dost permit. Thou dost restrain them; not a dog
of them can move his tongue without thy leave and license.
Therefore I entreat thee not to let them have their way. Even
though they dare to pray to their, do not hear their prayers
against innocent men. Assuredly the Lord Jehovah will be no
accomplice with the malevolent; their desires shall never be his
desires; if they thirst for blood he will not gratify their
cruelty. Further not his wicked devices They are so
united as to be like one man in their wishes; but do rot hear
their prayers. Though hand join in hand, and they desire and
design as one man, yet do not thou lend them the aid of thy
providence. Do not permit their malicious schemes to succeed.
The Lord may allow success to attend the policy of the wicked
for a time for wise reasons unknown to us, but we are permitted
to pray that it be not so. The petition "Deliver us from
evil" includes and allows such supplication. Lest they
exalt themselves. If successful, the wicked are sure to grow
proud, and insult the righteous over whom they have triumphed,
and this is so great an evil, and so dishonouring to God, that
the Psalmist uses it in his pleading as an argument against
their being allowed to prosper. The glory of the wicked is
opposed to the glory of God. If God seems to favour them they
grow too high for this world, and their heads strike against the
heavens. Let us hope that the Lord will not suffer this to be. Selah.
Here let us exalt our thoughts and praises high over the heads
of self exalting sinners. The more they rise in conceit the
higher let us rise in confidence.
Verse 9. As for the head of those that compass me
about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. To the
Lord who had covered his head amid the din of arms the Psalmist
appeals against his foes, that their heads may be covered in
quite another sense—covered with the reward of their own
malice. David's foes were so many that they hemmed him in,
encircling him as hunters do their prey. It is little wonder
that he turns to the Lord in his dire need. The poet represents
his adversaries as so united as to have but one head; for there
is often a unanimity among evil spirits which makes them the
more strong and terrible for their vile purposes. The lex
talionis, or law of retaliation, often brings down upon
violent men the evil which they planned and spoke of for others:
their arrows fall upon themselves. When a man's lips vent curses
they will probably, like chickens, come home to roost. A stone
hurled upward into the air is apt to fall upon the thrower's
head. David's words may be read in the future as a prophecy; but
in this verse, at any rate, there is no need to do so in order
to soften their tone. It is so just that the mischief which men
plot and the slander which they speak should recoil upon
themselves that every righteous man must desire it: he who does
not desire it may wish to be considered humane and Christlike,
but the chances are that he has a sneaking agreement with the
wicked, or is deficient in a manly sense of right and wrong.
When evil men fall into pits which they have digged for the
innocent we believe that even the angels are glad; certainly the
most gentle and tender of philanthropists, however much they
pity the sufferers, must also approve the justice which makes
them suffer. We suspect that some of our excessively soft spoken
critics only need to be put into David's place, and they would
become a vast deal more bitter than he ever was.
Verse 10. Let burning coals fall upon them.
Then will they know that the scattering of the firebrands is not
the sport they thought it to be. When hailstones and coals of
fire descend upon them, how will they escape? Even the skies
above the wicked are able to deal out vengeance upon them. Let
them be cast into the fire. They have kindled the flames of
strife, and it is fair that they should be cast therein. They
have heated the furnace of slander seven times hotter than it
was wont to be heated, and they shall be devoured therein. Who
would have pitied Nebuchadnezzar if he had been thrown into his
own burning fiery furnace? Into deep pits, that they rise not
up again. They made those ditches or fosses for the godly,
and it is meet that they should themselves fall into them and
never escape. When a righteous man falls he rises again; but
when the wicked man goes down "he falls like Lucifer, never
to hope again." The Psalmist in this passage graphically
depicts the Sodom of the wicked persecutor: fire falls upon him
from heaven; the city blazes, and he is cast into the
conflagration; the vale of Siddim is full of slime pits, and
into these he is hurried. Extraordinary judgment overtakes the
extraordinary offender: above, around, beneath, all is
destruction. He would have consumed the righteous, and now he is
consumed himself. So shall it be: so let it be.
Verse 11. Let not an evil speaker be established in
the earth. For that would be an established plague, a
perpetual curse. Men of false and cruel tongues are of most use
when they go to fatten the soil in which they rot as carcases:
while they are alive they are the terror of the good, and the
torment of the poor. God will not allow the specious orators of
falsehood to retain the power they temporarily obtain by their
deceitful speaking. They may become prominent, but they cannot
become permanent. They shall be disendowed and disestablished in
spite of all that they can say to the contrary. All evil bears
the element of decay within itself; for what is it but
corruption? Hence the utmost powers of oratory are insufficient
to settle upon a sure foundation the cause which bears a lie
within it. Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
He hunted the good, and now his own evil shall hunt him. He
tried to overthrow the goings of the righteous, and now his own
unrighteousness shall prove his overthrow. As he was violent, so
shall he be violently assaulted and hunted down. Sin is its own
punishment; a violent man will need no direr doom than to reap
what he has sown. It is horrible for a huntsman to be devoured
by Iris own hounds; yet this is the sure fate of the persecutor.
Verse 12. I know that the Lord will maintain the
cause of the afflicted, and, the right of the poor. All
through the Psalm the writer is bravely confident, and speaks of
things about which he had no doubt: in fact, no Psalm can be
more grandly positive than this protest against slander. The
slandered saint knew Jehovah's care for the afflicted, for he
had received actual proofs of it himself. "I will maintain
it" is the motto of the great Defender of the rights of the
needy. What confidence this should create within the bosoms of
the persecuted and poverty stricken! The prosperous and wealthy
can maintain their own cause, but those who are otherwise shall
find that God helps those who cannot help themselves. Many talk
as if the poor had no rights worth noticing, but they will
sooner or later find out their mistake when the Judge of all the
earth begins to plead with them.
Verse 13. Surely the righteous shall give thanks
unto thy name. The former Psalm had its "surely",
but this is a more pleasing one. As surely as God will slay the
wicked he will save the oppressed, and fill their hearts and
mouths with praises. Whoever else may be silent, the righteous
will give thanks; and whatever they may suffer, the matter will
end ill their living through the trial, and magnifying the Lord
for his delivering grace. On earth ere long, and in heaven for
ever, the pure in heart shall sing unto the Lord. How loud and
sweet will be the songs of the redeemed in the millennial age,
when the meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in
the abundance of peace! The upright shall dwell in thy presence.
Thus shall they give thanks in the truest and fullest manner.
This abiding before the Lord shall render to him "songs
without words", and therefore all the more spiritual and
true. Their living and walking with their God shall be their
practical form of gratitude. Sitting down in holy peace, like
children at their father's table, their joyful looks and
language shall speak their high esteem and fervent love to him
who has become their dwelling place. How high have we climbed in
this Psalm—from being hunted by the evil man to dwelling in
the divine presence; so doth faith upraise the saint from the
lowest depths to heights of peaceful repose. Well might the song
be studded with Selahs, or uplifters.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. Another Psalm "of David",
to be sung by all saints, even as it was used by their Head,
David's Son. In it we have (Ps 140:1-3) the picture of the
wicked, with a "Selah", that bids us pause
over its dark colours. Then we have (Ps 140:4-5) a view of
the snares spread by the wicked, with another
"Selah"—pause. Thereafter, we see a soul in the
attitude of faith (Ps 140:6-8). They are laying the snares,
but calm as Elisha beholding the Syrian host assembling (2Ki
6:15), the stayed soul sings
"I have said to the Lord, My God art thou"; and
then he prays, putting a "Selah" at the close, that we
may again pause and survey the scene.—Andrew A. Bonar.
Whole Psalm. There is no doubt that this Psalm
expresses the feelings of David on the first intelligence of
Saul's setting out anew in pursuit of him (comp. Ps
140:2). And then, in Psalm 141, we have his supplication at the
time when this danger was ever approaching nearer. Various
things are said in this Psalm (according to the Hebrew)
primarily of a single person (Saul:) thus e.g. Ps 140:1,4; and
the numerous tongues of which David complains (Ps 140:3) are
just the tongues of traitors who again informed Saul of this new
place of David's residence in the wilderness of Engedi, where he
might have imagined himself so secure. The laying of snares (Ps
140:5) agrees perfectly in part with this treachery, and in part
with the search after David by Saul and his numerous army,
mentioned in 1Sa 24:2. In the same way might the burning coals,
spoken of in Ps 140:10, and likewise the deep pits (German,
floods) mentioned there, have suggested themselves most
naturally to David upon the rocks of Engedi, where he had the
Dead Sea just before him. Ps 140:10 seems also to allude to the
events which happened on the night before the destruction of
Sodom.—T. C. Barth, in "The Bible Manual."
Whole Psalm. As in Psalm 138. David set before his
seed God's promise as the anchor of hope (2Sa 7:1-17); and in
Psalm 139, God's omniscience as our consolation in danger and
motive for shunning evil; so in this Psalm he sets forth the
danger from calumnious enemies, and our only safety in Jehovah,
our strength.—Andrew Robert Fausset.
Verses 1, 4, 6, 8. Good men live by prayer. He
who gets to the throne of grace is covered by the cloud of
glory, through which no sun can smite by day, nor moon by
night.—William Swan Plumer.
Verses 1, 7-11. On the first reading of this Psalm one
is inclined to think that there is somewhat of fierceness and
bitterness in it, which is hardly consistent with the character
of a child of God, and therefore unbecoming in David...And yet I
really think that a little more examination of the language of
this Psalm will lead us to believe that we are doing David wrong
in affixing anything like a meaning or desire of vindictiveness
to his words. Assuredly we can find no fault with one who takes
his wrongs in prayer to God; who, like Hezekiah, takes the roll
of his cares, and sorrows, and trials, and spreads it before the
Lord. And this is what David does in the very first verse: "Deliver
me, O Lord, from the evil man; preserve me from the violent
man." I do not think a person who does this, who, when
smarting under a sense of injury and wrong, goes at once to God
and lays open his heart to him, is likely to go very far wrong;
for even though he may have begun in somewhat of an unkindly
spirit, yet prayer opens before us such a sight and sense of our
own guiltiness and wrongs towards God, and thereby exercises
such an abasing, as well as healing and soothing, influence over
our feelings towards others, that we might almost be assured
that he whose prayer might begin even with a vehement
enumeration of his own wrongs, would end with something very
like a determination to bless them that cursed, and to do good
to them that hated him. You will observe, too, how, from first
to last, David leaves his cause in God's hands; it is not
"my sword and my bow that shall help me"; he counted
them vain things to help a man; and therefore, as he had so
often said in other Psalms; "The Lord was his shield and
his defence", and as God had already shielded his head in
the day of battle, so he prays for the same protection against
his enemies now.—Barton Bouchier.
Verses 1, 11. Three special forms of Satanic energy
are individualized. The evil or wicked man, the violent man, and
the man of tongue are severally appealed from by the suppliant
speaker of the prayer of faith.—Arthur Pridham.
Verse 2. Continually are they gathered together for
war. Literally, this clause reads, who gather wars,
and so some understand it. But it is well known that the
prepositions are often omitted in the Hebrew, and no doubt he
means that they stirred up general enmity by their false
information which acted as a trumpet sounding to battle.—John
Calvin.
Verses 2-3. The wicked assault the righteous with
three weapons:—with the heart, by conspiracy; with the tongue,
by lying; and with the hand, by violence.—John Lorinus,
1569-1634.
Verse 3. They have sharpened their tongues like a
serpent. To sharpen or whet the tongue imports the keenest
and most extreme kind of talkativeness, much more to sharpen the
tongue "like a serpent." Naturalists tell us
that no living creature stirs his tongue so swiftly as a
serpent, and serpents are therefore said to have a treble
tongue, because, moving their tongue so fast, they seem to have
three tongues. The Psalmist means—the wicked speak thick and
threefold, they sting and poison me with their tongues.—Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 3. They have sharpened their tongues like a
serpent. This is an exact description of the way in which a
serpent darts out his tongue before he inflicts the wound. See
him: his head is erect, and his piercing eye is wildly and
fiercely fixed on the object; the tongue rapidly appears and
disappears, as if by that process it would be sharpened for the
contest. Thus were the enemies of David making sharp their
tongues for his destruction.—Joseph Roberts, in
"Oriental Illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures,"
1835.
Verse 3. They have sharpened their tongues like a
serpent, etc. Is it not a fact, that there are many men, the
very existence of whom is a baneful poison, as it were? They
dart their livid tongue like the tongue of a serpent; and the
venom of their disposition corrodes every object upon which it
concentrates itself; ever vilifying and maligning, like the ill
omened bird of night.—Pliny.
Verse 3. They have sharpened their tongues like a
serpent. As the adder skilfully prepares herself for her
work of death, so do the unhappy children of slander and
falsehood prepare themselves, by every possible effort, for
injuring their unoffending victims.—John Morison.
Verse 3. In St. James's day, as now, it would appear
that there were idle men and idle women, who went about from
house to house, dropping slander as they went, and yet you could
not take up that slander and detect the falsehood there. You
could not evaporate the truth in the slow process of the
crucible, and then show the residuum of falsehood glittering and
visible. You could not fasten upon any word or sentence, and say
that it was calumny; for in order to constitute slander, it is
not necessary that the word spoken should be false—half truths
are often more calumnious than whole falsehoods. It is not even
necessary that a word should be distinctly uttered; a dropped
lip, an arched eyebrow, a shrugged shoulder, a significant look,
an incredulous expression of countenance, nay, even an emphatic
silence, may do the work; and when the light and trifling thing
which has done the mischief has fluttered off, the venom is left
behind, to work and rankle, to inflame hearts, to fever human
existence, and to poison human society at the fountain springs
of life. Very emphatically was it said by one whose whole being
had smarted under such affliction, Adders' poison is under
their lips.—Frederick William Robertson.
Verse 3. Slander and calumny must always precede and
accompany persecution, because malice itself cannot excite
people against a good man, as such; to do this, he must first be
represented as a bad man. What can be said of those who are
busied in this manner, but that they are a "generation of
vipers", the brood of the old "Serpent", that
grand accuser and calumniator of the brethren, having under
their tongues a bag of "poison", conveying instant
death to the reputation on which they fasten. Thus David was
hunted as a rebel, Christ was crucified as a blasphemer, and the
primitive Christians were tortured as guilty of incest and
murder.—George Horne.
Verse 3. Man consists of soul and body; the body is
but the shadow, or at best but the bearer of the soul: it's the
soul that bears God's image; it's the soul especially for which
Christ died. Now, by how much the soul is more precious than the
body, by so much are the helps more excellent, and the enemies
more dangerous than the body's. The body is fed with meat; but
it is perishing meat (1Co 6:13); but the food of the soul is the
heavenly manna (Joh 6:27). Answerably, the enemies are more
hurtful, for that that hurts or kills the body toucheth not the
soul; but what hurts or kills the soul kills the body with it,
and destroys the whole man. The conclusion is, that therefore
the bane or poison of the soul is much more hideous, horrible
and hateful than that of the body; and of that poison speaks the
present Scripture: adders' poison is under their lips.
A strange text, some may say, and 'tis true; but it is the
fitter for these strange times, wherein the poison both of soul
and body so far prevails. The words do describe in part the
malignant and malicious nature of the unregenerate and sinful
man; and to that purpose are they cited by the apostle to the
Romans (Ro 3:13). The asp is but a little creature; but
not a little poisonous. So little a creature hath been the bane
and death of many a great person; let one suffice for all. That
royal and renowned Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, chose rather to
die by the biting of two asps than to be carried in triumph at
Rome by Augustus. The manner of their poisoning is this,—he
that is bitten by the asp falls forthwith into a gentle sweat
and a sweet sleep, and his strength and vital spirits decay and
weaken by little till he die; thus the present pain is little,
but the stroke is deadly. And even such stings are the tongues,
and such swords the words of wicked men. And no marvel; for what
can come but poisonous words and actions from them whose very
inward nature is all poison within!
The poison of the soul is only sin, and this is like
to poison in many respects. Poison, wherever it enters, stays
not there, but diffuses itself all over the body, and never
ceaseth till it has infected all. Such is the nature of sin;
enter where it will it creeps from one member of the body to
another, and from the body to the soul, till it has infected tim
whole man; and then from man to man, till a whole family; and
stays not there, but runs like a wildfire, from family to
family, till it has poisoned a whole town, and so a whole
country, and a whole kingdom. Woeful experience proves this
true, both for Popish opinions, idle fashions, vain customs, and
ill—examples of all sorts, which once set on foot, spread
themselves over the politic body of church and commonwealth,
like a gangrene or a leprosy over the natural body, or like a
poison through all the blood. Poison, having entered anywhere,
as it seeks to creep presently over all, so desires it
especially to seize upon the heart; such a malice and pride lies
in the malignant nature of it, that it aspires to the heart; and
such a craft and cunning lurks in it, that having once entered,
it creeps closely and unfelt till it gets to the heart; but
having possessed itself of that sovereign part of man, then like
a tyrant it reigns and rages, and infecting first the vital
blood and noble parts, it diffuses itself over all and every
part. And such is the nature of sin, the spiritual poison of the
soul; enter where it will, it is tim heart it aims at, and it
will never stay till it comes there. The truth of this is so
clear that proofs are needless; for who knows not that the
senses are but the doors or windows, but the heart is the
throne, and the soul itself the seat of sin: and hence it is
that Solomon advises,—"My son, keep thy heart with all
diligence": Pr 4:23.—William Crashaw, in "The
Parable of Poyson," 1618.
Verse 3. Adders' poison is under their lips.
The word rendered "adder", bwvke, achsub,
occurs here only; and it is perhaps impossible to determine what
species is intended. As the word, in its proper signification,
seems to express coiling, or bending back—an act common to
most serpents—the name has perhaps no determinate reference;
or it may be another name for the pethen, mentioned under
Job 20.; which seems also to have been the opinion of the
Seventy, as they render both words by, aspiv, and are followed
by the Vulgate (aspis). As to the poison, it will
be observed, that in the venomous serpents there is a gland
under the eye secreting the poisonous matter, which is conveyed,
in a small tube or canal, to the end of a fang which lies
concealed at the roof of the mouth. This fang is moveable at the
pleasure of the serpent, and is protruded when it is about to
strike at an antagonist. The situation of this poison, which is,
in a manner, behind the upper lip, gives great propriety to the
expression, "adders' poison is under their lips."
The usage of the Hebrew language renders it by no means
improbable that the fang itself is called Nwvl lashon, a tongue,
in the present text; and a serpent might then be said to sharpen
its tongue, when, in preparing to strike, it protruded its
fangs. We do not see any explanation by which a more consistent
meaning may be extracted from the expression here employed.—John
Kitto, in the "Pictorial Bible."
Verse 3. Often the tongue of the serpent is spoken of
as the seat of its venom. This is popular, not scientific
language.—William Swan Plumer.
Verse 3. Adder. The word acshub
(pronounced, ak-shoob), only occurs in this one passage. The
precise species represented by this word is unknown. Buxtorf,
however, explains the word as the Spitter, "illud genus
quod venelmm proeul exspuit." Now, if we accept this
derivation, we must take the word acshub as a synonym for
pethen. We have already identified the Pethen with the
Naja haje, a snake which has the power of expelling the poison
to some distance, when it is out of reach of its enemy. Whether
the snake really intends to eject the poison, or whether it is
merely flung from the hollow fangs by the force of the suddenly
checked stroke, is uncertain. That the Haje cobra can expel its
poison is an acknowledged fact, and the Dutch colonists of the
Cape have been so familiarly acquainted with this habit, that
they have called this reptile by the name of Spuugh Slange, or
Spitting Snake, a name which, if we accept Buxtorf's etymology,
is precisely equivalent to the word acshub.—J.G. Wood,
in "Bible Animals."
Verses 3, 5, 8. Selah. We meet with Selah here for the
first time since Psalm 89. From Psalm 90 to Psalm 140 no Selah
occurs. Why omitted in these fifty we cannot tell any more than
why so often recurring in others. However, there are only about
forty Psalms in all in which it is used.—Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse 4. Keep me, etc. From doing as they do,
or as they would have me do, or as they promise themselves I
will do.—Matthew Henry.
Verse 4. Preserve me from the violent man. The
second clause of the first versicle of this verse is the same as
the second versicle of Ps 140:1, which seems the burden of the
song.—"Speaker's Commentary."
Verse 4. To overthrow my goings. To take my
feet from under me, to destroy the basis of belief, the power of
advance in good works, that we may turn back from the way of
salvation, or fall upon it, or, at any rate, may go very slowly
along it.—Neale and Littledale.
Verse 5. The proud have hid a snare for me, and
cords. The following story illustrates how cords have
been used by thieves so lately as the year 1822:—"Two
skilful leaders of Dacoits, having collected some forty
followers, and distributed among them ten matchlocks, ten
swords, and twenty-five spears, waylaid a treasure going from
the native Collector's treasury at Budrauna to Goruckpore. The
prize consisted of 1,200 pounds of sterling, and was guarded by
a Naik, or corporal, with four sepoys and five troopers. It had
to pass through a dense jungle, and it was settled—said one of
them in after years—that the attack should take place there;
that we should have strong ropes tied across the road in front
and festooned to trees on both sides, and, at a certain distance
behind, similar ropes festooned to trees on one side, and ready
to be fastened on the other, as soon as the escort of horse and
foot should get well in between them. Having completed these
preparations the gang laid down on either side of the road
patiently awaiting their prey. `About five in the morning,
'continued the narrator, `we heard a voice as if calling upon
the name of God (Allah), and one of the gang started up at the
sound, and said, "Here comes the treasure!" We put
five men in front with their match locks loaded—not with ball
but shot, that we might, if possible, avoid killing anybody.
When we got the troopers, infantry, and treasure all within the
space, the hind ropes were run across the road, and made fast to
the trees on the opposite side, and we opened a fire in upon the
party from all sides. The foot soldiers got into the jungle at
the sides of the road, and the troopers tried to get over the
ropes at both ends, but in vain.' The corporal and a horse were
killed; two troopers wounded, and the treasure carried off in
spite of a hot pursuit."—From James Hutton's
"Popular Account of the Thugs and Dacoits of India",
1857.
Verse 5. The proud have hid a snare for me, and
cords. There was "a trap hidden for him with
cords"; a trap being sunk into some frequented hath, and
always covered over with grass or brushwood, and having long
cords attached to each side, by which the hunter, lurking at a
little distance, might close it whenever he saw the game
stepping on the spot. But the net spread for him by his enemies
extended to the very "side of the encampment", which
indicates, that even among the soldiers lying around him, there
were some who had been bribed and persuaded to watch and betray
him.—Benjamin Weiss, in "A New Translation of the
Psalms, with Notes," 1858.
Verse 5. Snare. Net. Gins. The several uses to
which the contrivances denoted by the Hebrew words thus rendered
were respectively applied, do not appear to be well ascertained.
In general the Psalmist alludes to the artifices employed for
capturing birds or beasts. It is, however, a curious
circumstance, as noticed by Thevenot, that artifices of this
kind are literally employed against men as well as other animals
by some of the Orientals. "The most cunning robbers in the
world", says he, "are in this country. They use a
certain slip with a running noose, which they cast with so much
sleight about a man's neck when they are within reach of him,
that they never fail, so that they strangle him in a
trice."—Richard Mast.
Verse 6. The voice of my supplications. The one
safety for simple and unlearned people when assailed by the
crafty arguments of heretics and infidels is not controversy,
but prayer, a weapon their adversaries seldom use and cannot
understand.—Bruno of Aste, 1123.
Verse 7. Thou hast covered my head in the day of
battle. Hebrew, of armour. For David had never indeed
any battle with Saul, but declined it; but Saul often armed
against him; but then God's providence covered him as a shield:
but the head is only spoken of to set forth his whole body,
because that is chiefly aimed at by the enemy, as where the life
principally lieth.—John Mayer.
Verse 7. Thou hast covered my head, etc. That
is, I had no other helmet or armour but thy Almighty power in
the day when I fought with Goliath. 1Sa 17:39-40,50.—Thomas
Fenton.
Verse 7. Thou hast covered my head in the day of
battle. A captain or prince had always beside him in battle
an armour bearer, whose duty it was "to cover his master's
head", that is, to ward off with the shield the blows aimed
at his head, and which, in the heat of the fight, had escaped
his own notice.—Benjamin Weiss.
Verse 8. His wicked device; which is to destroy
me. "Exalt themselves"; not only against me,
but against thee also, as if by their power and policy they had
frustrated thy design and promise made to me.—M. Pool.
Verse 9. As for the head of those that compass me
about, etc. God, he saith, had covered his head in the day
of battle: now contrariwise ho showeth what should cover the
head of his enemies, viz., it should come to them as with their
lips they had maliciously spoken against him; for it may be thus
rendered—"The head of my besieger, let the trouble of his
lips cover it": for cursing, "let him be covered with
cursing as with a cloak."—John Mayer.
Verse 9. Those that compass me about. For an
explanation of this expression we would refer the reader to
"The Treasury of David", vol. 1.p. 387, where he will
find two very pertinent extracts from J. Stevenson and Dr. Shaw.
Verse 9. The mischief of their own lips. The
pride and hauteur of the Jews in our Lord's day brought the
Roman arms upon them, and caused them to fall into irremediable
ruin. They invoked their own fate by exposing themselves to an
invasion from Rome at all; but they did it still more in that
terrific cry—"His blood be upon us and on our
children."—William Hill Tucker, in "The Psalms,
with Notes, Shewing their Prophetic and Christian
Character," 1840.
Verses 9-10. Such passages admit of translation in the
future, and are rather predictions than imprecations.—Ingram
Cobbin, 1839.
Verses 9-11. The prophet, in these three verses,
predicted those just judgments which heaven will inflict on the
slanderers and persecutors of the righteous. Their lips, which
uttered mischief against others, shall be the means of covering
themselves with confusion, when out of their own mouths they
shall be judged. Those tongues which have contributed to set the
world on fire, shall be tormented with the hot burning coals of
eternal vengeance: and they, who, with so much eagerness and
diligence have prepared pits for the destruction of their
brethren, shall be cast into a deep and bottomless pit, out of
which they will not rise up again any more for ever. Evil
speakers and false accusers shall gain no lasting establishment,
but punishment shall hunt sin through all its doubles, and seize
it at last as its legal prey. Let these great truths be firmly
rooted in our hearts, and they will keep us steady in the worst
of times.—George Horne.
Verse 10. Let burning coals fall upon them,
etc. The Psalmist seems here to allude to the destruction of the
Sodomites. In these imprecations he considered his enemies as
the enemies of God, rather than as his own; and lie thus cursed
them, as knowing, in the quality of a prophet, that God himself
had cursed them: and therefore these sorts of imprecations do
not authorize other persons to curse their enemies.—Thomas
Fenton.
Verse 10. Let burning coals full upon them,
etc. An imprecation which (with the similar previous one, Ps
9:6, etc.) is a prophecy; and one which, while it has had no
fulfilment in the case of David's enemies, or any persecutors of
the church in times past, brings again vividly before the mind
the fiery judgment of the Lord's coming, and the awful sentence
already pronounced against "the beast and false
prophet", the leaders of the confederation of the kings of
the earth and their armies, then "gathered together to make
war against him"—"these were cast alive into the
lake of fire burning with brimstone": Re 19:19-20. So
before, Ps 55:15 63:9.—William De Burgh.
Verse 11. Let not an evil speaker a man full of
tongue be established, etc. The man given to talk, the liar,
the flatterer, the detractor, the scold, the brawler, "shall
not be established in the earth", for such people are
abhorred by the wicked as well as by the good.—Robert
Bellarmine.
Verse 11. Let not an evil speaker be established,
etc. The positions laid down in this verse will find abundant
illustration in every age of the church. "An evil
speaker", who takes delight in wounding the reputation
of others, is seldom established or prospered in the earth.
Providence fights against such an unhappy wretch. "The
violent man", the ishmaelite whose hand is against
every man, is in general overthrown by the very same weapons
which he wields against others.—John Morison.
Verse 11. An evil speaker. By "a man of
the tongue", as the original has it, the Hebrews express a detractor
or sycophant; one who gives his tongue the liberty to
vent what mischief lie pleases. The Chaldee here expresses it by
a delator or vile informer with a threefold or three
forked tongue;because such a man wounds three at
once; the receiver, the sufferer, and himself.—Thomas
Fenton.
Verse 11. Evil shall hunt the violent man to
overthrow him. 'Tis an allusion to hounds that are of a
quick scent, and pursue the game with pleasure; they do not see
the deer or the hare, yet they follow upon the scent; and though
they have sometimes a very cold and dead scent, yet they will
follow and work it out. Thus "evil shall hunt the
violent man to overthrow him"; and though sometimes he
hath, as it were, got out of the view or sight of evil, and
thinks himself under covert, yet these evils, like a company of
greedy hounds, will pursue till they have overtaken and
overthrown him.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse 12. I know. For I have a promise of it,
and that's infallible.—John Trapp.
Verses 12-13. I know that the Lord will maintain
the cause, etc. Why, how comes the Psalmist so confident? "Surely
the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name": as if
he had said, Thou hast a name for a gracious and faithful God in
thy promise, and this thou wilt never suffer to be blotted by
failing in thy work. Christian, thou mayest venture all thou art
worth on the public faith of Heaven: "His words are pure,
as silver tried seven times in a furnace." He that will not
suffer a liar or covenant breaker to set foot on his holy hill,
will much less suffer any one thought of falseness or
unfaithfulness to enter into his own most holy heart.—William
Gurnall.
Verse 13. Surely the righteous shall give thanks
unto thy name, etc. Teacheth us two things, first, that it
becometh the godly to show themselves continually thankful,
because God is continually merciful to them; secondly, what is
the excellent estate and condition of God's children, which,
though it do not yet appear, yet shall it in the end break forth
with fulness of glory."—Thomas Witcocks.
Verse 13. The upright shall dwell in thy presence.
"Sit in thy presence", as thy friends or guests or
favoured servants. Perhaps it may mean sit (enthroned)
before thee. Compare Mt 19:28. Some understand the sense to be shall
dwell (in the land) before thee, i.e., under thy
protection and inspection.—Joseph Addison Alexander.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verses 1-5.
1. The particular source of David's affliction: it was from
men. In this he was a type of Christ.
a) Their wickedness: "the evil man."
b) Their violence: "the violent man."
c) Their malicious designs: "which imagine mischiefs in
their heart."
d) Their confederacy: "continually are they gathered
together for war."
e) Their false accusations: "They have sharpened their
tongues like a serpent", etc. (Ps 140:3).
f) Their avowed design: "they have purposed to overthrow
my goings" (Ps 140:4).
g) Their intrigues (Ps 140:5).
2. His universal remedy: "Deliver me, O Lord";
"preserve" and help me. His defence is,
a) In God.
b) In prayer to God.—G. R.
Verses 1-5. In our position, age, and country, we are
not in danger of violence from men, as was David; still, no man
is absolutely safe front the danger.
1. Mention some eases not yet impossible.
a) A Christian workman, because he cannot comply with
unrighteous customs, excites the animosity of his fellow
workers. They will do him mischief, spoil his work, steal his
tools, speak evil of him, until his employer discharges him to
restore peace in the factory.
b) A Christian clerk or shop assistant, because his presence
is a check upon his sinful companions, may have snares laid for
him, etc.
2. Suggest advice, useful, should such a case arise.
a) Resort to God with a "Deliver me", and a
"Preserve me."
b) Maintain integrity and uprightness.
c) Should the mischievous ones succeed, still trust in God,
who can make their mischief lead to your profit, and make his
goodness outwit their devices.—J. F.
Verse 3. The depraved state of the natural man as to
his speech.
Verse 4. (first clause). A wise prayer. The
wicked will slander, and oppress, or mislead, flatter and
defile. No one can keep us but the Lord.
Verse 5. The Dangers of Society.
1. The secrecy of the attacks of the ungodly: "hid a
snare."
2. The variety of their weapons: "and cords."
3. The cunning choice of position: "by the wayside."
4. The object of their designs: "for me": they desire
to destroy the man himself.
Verse 5. The Net by the Wayside, or, covert
temptations; temptations brought near, and made applicable to
daily life.
Verse 6.
1. The language of assurance.
2. The plea for acceptance in prayer.
Verses 6-7. David comforted himself,
1. In his interest in God: "I said...thou art my
God."
2. In his access to God: he had leave to speak to him, and
might expect an answer of peace: "Hear", etc.
3. In the assurance he had of help from God, and happiness in
him (Ps 140:7).
4. In the experience he had formerly of God's care of him:
"Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle."—Matthew
Henry.
Verses 6-8. Three arguments to be pleaded in a prayer
for protection.
1. The believer's covenanted property in God. "I said...
thou art my God."
2. The past mercies of God. "Thou hast covered",
etc.
3. The impropriety of the wicked being encouraged in their
wickedness, Ps 140:8.—J. F.
Verses 6-12. The Consolations of the Believer in Time
of Trouble.
1. What he can say.
2. What he can remember.
3. What he is assured of.
Verses 6-7, 12-13. Times of Assault, Slander, and
Temptation should be special times of Prayer and Faith. David
here makes prominent five things.
1. Possession asserted.
a) The Possession: "My God." Opposed to idols.
Beloved by self.
b) The Claim published.
c) The Witness selected. Secret. Sacred. Searching.
d) The Occasion chosen.
2. Petition presented.
a) His prayers were frequent.
b) His prayers were full of meaning.
c) His prayers were meant for God.
d) His prayers needed divine attention.
3. Preservation experienced.
a) God had been his Armour bearer.
b) God had guarded his most vital part.
c) God had saved him.
d) God's strength had been displayed.
4. Protection expected.
a) God is a righteous Judge.
b) God is a compassionate Friend.
c) God is a well known Guardian.
5. Praise predicted.
a) Praise assured by gratitude.
b) Praise expressed by words.
c) Praise implied by confidence.
d) Praise practised by communion.
Verse 9. How the sin of evil speakers comes home to
them.—W. B. H.
Verse 11. (first clause.)
1. Notice a few varieties of evil speakers.
a) Liars; the common liar, the trade liar, the stock exchange
liar, the political liar, etc.
b) Scandal mongers.
c) Blasphemers and swearers.
d) Libertines and seducers.
e) Sceptics and new theology inventors.
2. The propriety of the prayer.
a) Because evil speaking is intrinsically an evil thing.
b) It is an extensively injurious thing.
c) He who would have God's truth established must needs
desire that evil speaking must fail.
3. The limitation of the prayer: "In the earth."
a) It is certain an evil speaker cannot be established in
heaven, nor in hell.
b) The earth is the only sphere of his influence; but, alas!
men on the earth are too prone to be influenced by him.
c) Then, become righteous and true, by faith in the Righteous
One and the "Truth."—J. F.
Verse 11. (second clause.) The Cruel Hunter
pursued by his own Dogs.
Verse 11. (second clause.) Theme—Sins
committed, and not repented of, pursue men to their ruin.
1. Illustrate.
a) They may raise a force of opposition from men. Tarquin,
Napoleon, etc.
b) They may precipitate ruin, as Haman was hunted by his own
sin to the gallows.
c) They may arouse destructive remorse, as in Judas.
d) Certainly they will pursue to the judgment seat, and hunt
the soul into hell.
2. Apply.
a) How fearful a thing must sin be.
b) The mole terrible because self created.
c) Flee from the avenging pursuers to Christ, the only and
safe refuge.—J. F.
Verse 11. (second clause.) The hunt and pursuit
of the violent sinner.
1. The progress of the chase.
a) At first the victim is ignorant of it.
b) But ere long he finds Scripture, conscience, God, Death,
at his heels.
c) His own sins cry loudest after him.
2. The issue of the hunt. Hemmed in, overthrown, lost for
ever, unless he repent.
3. Another Huntsman. "The Son of man is come to seek and
save that which was lost."—W. B. H.
Verse 12.
1. The known fact.
2. The reasons for being so assured of it.
3. The conduct arising out of the knowledge.
Verse 12. Something worth knowing.
1. By the afflicted and the poor who trust in the Lord.
2. By the oppressors who afflict and do the wrong.
3. By all men, that they may trust in the Lord, and praise
him for his compassion towards the needy, and for his even
handed justice.—J. F.
Verses 12-13.
1. Trust under all circumstances (Ps 140:12).
2. Gratitude for all things: "The righteous shall give
thanks unto thy name."
3. Safety at all times: "The upright shall dwell in thy
presence."—G. R.
Verse 13. One of the noblest forms of
praise,—dwelling in the presence of God. Or, reverent regard
to God's presence, holy communion with the Lord, confiding rest
in God's dealings, obedient doing of the heavenly will—the
best way of giving thanks to God.
Verse 13. Two assertions beyond contradiction.
1. The righteous are sure to give thanks to God, let others
be as thankless as they will. For,
a) They recognise all their good as coming from God.
b) They realise themselves as unworthy of the good they receive.
c) They are anxious to do right, because they are righteous; and
that involves thanksgiving.
d) Thankfulness is a part of the joy derived from what they
enjoy.
2. The upright are sure to dwell in God's presence.
a) In the sense of setting the Lord before them.
b) In the sense of an abiding present fellowship with God.
c) In the sense of enjoying God's approval.
d) In the sense of dwelling in heaven for ever.—J. F.