Psalms 52

To the chief Musician. Maschil. A Psalm of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the House of Ahimelech. The title sufficiently instructs every one about the author, and in the occasion of this Psalm, if they will but read the history to which it directs them in 1 Sam. xxii. where Doeg (one of the seed of Esau, or that had lived so long among them, that he had got the name, as well as the savage manners, of the Edomites), to ingratiate himself with Saul, pretended to discover those who were confederate with David, particularly Ahimelech; whom he undertook also to kill, together with all his family, when others refused that bloody charge which Saul would have imposed on them. And when he had done, it should seem he bragged of it, as if it had been some gallant action, or famous achievement; as is intimated, I take it, in the first verse of the Psalm. “Which David penned when Abiathar (who was the only person that escaped in that slaughter, whereby they thought to terrify others from harbouring David, or shewing any kindness to him) came and brought him the sad tidings of what was befallen their city. And it was afterward delivered to the master of the music in the tabernacle, to be sung in perpetual memory of the thing, to the vulgar tune called Maschil; (see Psal. xxxii.) or, as Theodorct seems here to expound the word, to fortify those with patience and constancy who unjustly suffer, by instructing them in the justice of the Divine sentence in the issue. py Microsoft ® [psalm irn.

Psalms 52:1

ff HY boastest thott thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of Ood endureth continually. A goodlyfeat, indeed, for a man to boast of! that he hath killed eightyfive innocent and unarmed priests, together with a company of women, children, and sucklings, (1 Sam.* xxii. 19.) A mighty champion thou art, who vapourcst, no doubt, that thou wilt do the like execution upon me! but know, vain man, that the goodness of God, whereby I have been hitherto preserved, (1 Sam. xxii. 1. 3. 5.) will still defend me; for it is not a thing of short continuance, like our prince’s favour, but lasts for ever.

Psalms 52:2

The tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, xvor king deceitfully J. O thou contriver of false stories! who prctendest to be the only or most loyal person in the court of Saul, (1 Sam. xxii. 8, 9.) but art an egregious hypocrite; a mere designer of mischief to others, thereby to advance thyself: thy tongue was the first instrument in this butchery, being sharpened by thy malice on purpose like a razor newly set, to cut the throats of the guiltless, that thou mightest seem to be the most zealous of all others for the safety of the king’s person and government.

Psalms 52:3

TJioa lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. To have told the plain truth w r ould not have served thy ambition and thy malice, w T hich make thee love to do mischief rather than good offices unto others, and to devise lies against Ahimelech, rather than to declare his innocence.

Psalms 52:4

Thou lovest all-devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. Thou carest not whom thou destroy est, but can swallow up a whole city at a morsel: O thou false tongue, who, to curry favour with thy prince, devisest the most impudent lies against those that never offended him. Ver.’ 5. God shall likewise destroy thee for ever: he shall take thee away, andpluck thee out of thy dwelling-place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selalu] The great God, whose priests thou hast slain, shall avenge their cause, and pull thee from that greatness arid honour, to which thou seekest, by this vile means, to raise thyself; and more than that, he will pay thee in the same coin thou hast dealt to them; for he will utterly destroy thee, and snatch thee away as hastily as thou didst those innocents; just so will he pluck thee* from the tabernacle of God, (where thou wast wont to pretend devotion,! Sam. xxi.7.) and root out, not only thee, but all thy family, from the face of the earth. Ver. C. The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him.] Which just judgment of God upon thee all good men shall mark, and be confirmed thereby in their pious fear of offending him; and, reflecting upon thy vain devices to grcaten thyself and family, shall deride thy folly, saying as I do;

Psalms 52:7

Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. Behold that mighty man, that principal favourite, who regarded not God, nor sought to support himself by his favour, but laid the foundation of his fortune (as we speak) merely in abundance of riches, and the favQur of his prince; in which also he endeavoured to establish himself, not by honest means, but by the most perfidious arts, and cruel enterprises: what now is become of him? and where is his greatness? Lo,, his ambitious hopes are all vanished and come to nothing.

Psalms 52:8

But I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. “Whilst I, at whom he principally airnc* in his murderous design, am still, blessed be God, in safety; nay, compared with that destruction which shall fall on him, in a flourishing condition: for he shall drop away like a withered leaf; but I grow and increase in strength, like a green olive-tree planted in the courts of God’s house; w r hose mercy, I trust, will preserve me to my life’s end from all the mischiefs they devise against mo, and make me more and more flourishing, both in my person and in my posterity.

Psalms 52:9

I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints. For which I will never cease to praise thee, because I owe it entirely to thee that I am not destroyed; and I will patiently expect the accomplishment of thy promises to me: for all thy pious servants have ever found this to be the best and wisest course, to depend upon thy omnipotent goodness and faithful promises, and not to imitate those wicked men, who study to advance or preserve themselves by flattery, or other viler practices.