Psalm 52:1-9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 52:1-5

The title is a brief account of the story which the psalm refers to. David now, at length, saw it necessary to quit the court, and shift for his own safety, for fear of Saul, who had once and again attempted to murder him. Being unprovided wit harms and victuals, he, by a wile, got Ahimelech the priest to furnish him with both. Doeg an Edomite happened to be there, and he went and informed Saul against Ahimelech, representing him as confederate with a traitor, upon which accusation Saul... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 52:6-9

David was at this time in great distress; the mischief Doeg had done him was but the beginning of his sorrows; and yet here we have him triumphing, and that is more than rejoicing, in tribulation. Blessed Paul, in the midst of his troubles, is in the midst of his triumphs, 2 Cor. 2:14. David here triumphs, I. In the fall of Doeg. Yet, lest this should look like personal revenge, he does not speak of it as how own act, but the language of other righteous persons. They shall observe God's... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 52:1

Why boastest thou thyself in mischief ?.... Or "in evil" F23 ברעה "in malo", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus. ; in that which is sinful; to glory in riches, wisdom, and strength, which are not in themselves evil, is wrong; and to rejoice in such boastings, all such rejoicing is evil; to be a doer of mischief, or sin, is bad; to make a sport of it, worse; but to glory in it, and boast of it when done, is worse still: to be boasters of evil things, is the character of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 52:2

Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs ,.... Abundance of mischiefs, in a variety of ways, against many persons, even all good men. What properly belongs to the heart is here ascribed to the tongue; because, as Aben Ezra observes, it is the interpreter and discoverer of the thoughts of the heart: out of the abundance of that the tongue speaks and declares the mischief it has devised. Doeg intended mischief to David, when he spoke to Saul, 1 Samuel 22:9 ; so antichrist devises mischiefs against the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 52:3

Thou lovest evil more than good ,.... Indeed not good at all; such comparatives being strong negatives; see Psalm 118:8 ; a wicked man loves evil, and nothing else; his carnal mind being enmity to all that is good and lying rather than to speak righteousness ; as appears by his affirming that Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for David, when he did not, 1 Samuel 22:10 ; and by suffering some things to pass for truths which were falsehoods, when it lay in his power to have disproved... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 52:4

Thou lovest all devouring words ,.... Or "words of swallowing up" F25 דברי בלע "verba absorptionis", Vatablus, Gejerus, Schmidt. ; 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 ; See Gill on Psalm 52:2 . read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 52:5

God shall likewise destroy thee for ever ,.... As a just retaliation for the mischief done to others; or, "therefore God shall destroy" F26 גם δια τουτο , Sept. "propterea", V. L. "idcirco etiam", Piscator; "ideo etiam", Michaelis. , &c.; even body and soul in hell, with an everlasting destruction, which will be the case of every wicked man, and particularly of the antichristian party, Revelation 14:10 ; the word is used of breaking down the house in which the leprosy was, ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 52:6

The righteous also shall see ,.... The Targum adds, "the punishment of the wicked"; particularly what is before predicted of Doeg. The judgments of God upon the ungodly, as they are certain, so they will be visible, either in this world, or in that to come, Revelation 15:4 ; and fear ; the Targum adds, "from before the Lord"; not with a slavish fear, with a dread of the same punishment, from which they are free, through the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, by which they are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 52:7

Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength ,.... The Targum renders it, "that made not the Word of the Lord his strength". These are the words the righteous would say, when they should see the destruction of Doeg: see the man, the mighty man, and his end; what all his ill gotten honour and riches are come to; and what his wickedness, deceit, and cruelty, have brought upon him. The righteous make the Lord their strength, put their trust in him, in whom is everlasting strength; do... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 52:8

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God ,.... Or rather it should be supplied, "I shall be" F4 "Ero", Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus. ; since David was at this time an exile from the house of God: and this expresses his faith and confidence, that, notwithstanding his present troubles, he should be restored again, and be in a very flourishing condition, in the church of God; which is here meant by "the house of God": it being of his building, and where he dwells, and where... read more

Group of Brands