1._Plead my cause, O Jehovah! _As the enemies of David not only avowedly sought to take away his life, but also troubled him by calumny and misrepresentation, he pleads for the redress of both these grievances. In the first place, by appealing to God for his aid in defense of his cause, he intimates... [ Continue Reading ]
2._Take the shield. _These words certainly cannot be applied, in the strict and proper sense, to God, who has no need of the spear or buckler: for by the breath of his mouth alone, or merely with his nod, he is able to overthrow all his enemies. But although such figures at first sight appear rude,... [ Continue Reading ]
3._Say to my soul. _Some expound these words thus: Declare to me by secret inspiration; and others, Make me to feel indeed that my salvation is in thy hand. In my opinion, David desires to have it thoroughly fixed in his mind, and to be fully persuaded that God is the author of his salvation. This h... [ Continue Reading ]
4._Let those who seek my soul be confounded. _David now calls upon God to take vengeance upon his enemies; and he asks not only that he would disappoint and destroy their designs, but also that he would recompense them according to their deserts. In the first place, he desires that they may be confo... [ Continue Reading ]
The same thing he expresses more clearly in the following verse, praying that the angel of the Lord would drive them through dark and slippery places, so that reason and understanding might fail them, and that they might not know whither to go, nor what to become, nor have even time given them to dr... [ Continue Reading ]
7._For they have hid for me without a cause. _He here declares that he did not take the name of God in vain, nor call upon him for protection without just cause, for he openly asserts his innocence, and complains that he was thus severely afflicted without having committed any crime, or given any oc... [ Continue Reading ]
8._Let confusion of which he is not aware come upon him. _David again prays that God would cause to return upon the head of his enemies the mischief which they had directed against a just and an inoffensive man. The change from the plural to the singular number, even when the same subject, is spoken... [ Continue Reading ]
9._And my soul is joyful in Jehovah. _Others read this in the optative mood, _May my soul rejoice in Jehovah, and may it be glad in his salvation _But instead of continuing to express his desires, David, in my opinion, rather promises in this verse that he will be grateful to God. This is still more... [ Continue Reading ]
10._O Jehovah! who is like thee? _Here he explains more fully the nature of his joy in the salvation of God of which he had spoken, showing that it consisted in his ascribing entirely to God the deliverance which he had obtained. Men, in general, praise God in such a manner that he scarcely obtains... [ Continue Reading ]
11._Violent witnesses _(709) _rise up. _The Hebrew is, _they shall rise up; _but in using the future tense, the Psalmist intimates that he is speaking of what he had suffered for a long time. And he complains that he was so oppressed with calumny that he had no opportunity of defending himself; than... [ Continue Reading ]
12._They render me evil for good. _David again shows that the malice of his enemies was of a very aggravated character, because they not only oppressed him wrongfully, seeing he was innocent, and had given them no occasion of offense, but also because even those who had received much enjoyment and m... [ Continue Reading ]
15._But they rejoiced at my halting. _I see no reason why interpreters should trouble themselves as they do about the word _halting. _Some conjecture that David had his leg put out of joint, and others suppose that he halted from some disease. But when we consider carefully the whole passage, nothin... [ Continue Reading ]
16._Among perfidious jesters. _Others translate it, _With hypocrites, _but in my opinion David simply relates the combination of his enemies. And the meaning of the expression is to this effect, That among men of a crafty disposition, who had been addicted to deceit, and were consequently lost to al... [ Continue Reading ]
17._O Lord! how long wilt thou look on? _The meaning of the word which I have translated _how long, _is ambiguous in the Hebrew. In Latin it signifies, How long wilt thou see it, and suffer it without uttering a word? But the other interpretation is equally appropriate, namely, After having seemed t... [ Continue Reading ]
18._I will magnify thee in the great congregation. _In this verse David again engages to give thanks to God for all his goodness, since the faithful can render him no other recompense than the sacrifice of praise, as we shall see in Psalms 116:17. Thus even whilst he was surrounded by the impetuous... [ Continue Reading ]
19._Let not those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me. _Because David’s enemies already exulted in the hope of seeing his overthrow and destruction, he prays that God would not suffer them to realize a desire so wicked. In order to render God favorable to his cause, he again protests that... [ Continue Reading ]
In the following verse, that he may cherish still greater confidence in God, David again declares, that he has to do with enemies of an irreconcilable character, and who are fully bent upon cruelty. Of this we ought to be firmly persuaded, that the more grievously we are oppressed, so much the more... [ Continue Reading ]
22._O Jehovah! thou hast also seen it. _There is in these words an implied contrast between the view which God is here represented as taking, and the sight at which, as we are told in the preceding verse, the ungodly rejoiced. The import of David’s language is, You have rejoiced exceedingly at the s... [ Continue Reading ]
24._Judege me, O Jehovah my God! _David here confirms the prayer of the preceding verse that God would be his defender, and would maintain his righteous cause. Having been for a time subjected to suffering as one who had been forsaken and forgotten, he sets before himself _the righteousness of God,... [ Continue Reading ]
26._Let those who rejoice at thy hurt be ashamed and confounded together. _This imprecation has already been expounded; and it is only necessary to remark, that there is peculiar force in the expression, _together, _or _at once. _It shows that it was not only one or two, but a great multitude, who w... [ Continue Reading ]
27._Let those who favor my righteous cause rejoice and be glad. _These two expressions, which are rendered in the optative mood, might have been translated with equal propriety in the future tense; but as this is a matter of little consequence, I leave it undecided. David here extols the deliverance... [ Continue Reading ]