The document analyzes Psalm 52, highlighting the character of Doeg the Edomite, who treacherously informs Saul about David's whereabouts, leading to the murder of priests. It critiques Doeg's boasting of his wicked deeds and emphasizes God's enduring goodness, serving as a reminder that the wicked will ultimately face ruin while the righteous will be protected. The psalm illustrates the contrast between the pride of the wicked and the humble reliance on God's justice and mercy.

1. PSALM 52 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
I TRODUCTIO
SPURGEO , "Title. To the Chief Musician. Even short Psalms, if they record but
one instance of the goodness of the Lord, and rebuke but briefly the pride of man,
are worthy of our best minstrelsy. When we see that each Psalm is dedicated to "the
chief musician, "it should make us value our psalmody, and forbid us to praise the
Lord carelessly. Maschil. An Instructive. Even the malice of a Doeg may furnish
instruction to a David. A Psalm of David. He was the prime object of Doeg's doggish
hatred, and therefore the most fitting person to draw from the incident the lesson
concealed within it. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and saith unto
him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. By this deceitful tale bearing, he
procured the death of all the priests at ob: though it had been a crime to have
succoured David as a rebel, they were not in their intent and knowledge guilty of the
fault. David felt much the villany of this arch enemy, and here he denounces him in
vigorous terms; it may be also that he has Saul in his eye.
Division. We shall follow the sacred pauses marked by the Selahs of the poet.
ELLICOTT, "In this psalm the voice of the community of pious Israel plainly
speaks. (See ote, Psalms 52:8.) The traditional title has not the slightest support in
the contents or tone of the poem. (See ote, title.) The tyrant, or mighty man, who is
addressed, is most probably one of those base time-servers who, against the national
party, and against the religious sentiment, sold themselves to the foreign power that
happened to be in the ascendant; and who, by lending themselves as the instruments
of tyranny, became the means of rousing the patriotic spirit which at length, under
the hand of Maccabæus, succeeded in shaking off the foreign yoke. The rhythm is
varied and well sustained.
Title.—See title Psalms 4, 32. This is one of a series of three Elohistic psalms.
The historical reference in this inscription serves to cast discredit on the inscriptions
generally, as showing on what insufficient grounds they could be received. There is
not a syllable in the poem which conveniently applies to Doeg, or to the occurrence
narrated in 1 Samuel 22:17; on the contrary, the accusation of lying (Psalms 52:1-3),
the imputation of trust in riches (Psalms 52:7), as well as the general tone in which
the psalm is couched, are quite against such an application.
COKE, "Title. ‫למנצח‬ ‫משׂכיל‬ ‫לדוד׃אּבא‬ ‫דוד‬ lamnatseach maskill ledavid.—ba david.
David is come— David came. This Psalm consists of three parts; the first is a
description of Doeg's character. He was one who gloried in his villainy, was fruitful
in inventions to ruin others, of a smooth tongue, but of an extremely mischievous

2. one; who delighted in malicious charges, supported them by lies, and took pleasure
in acts of wickedness and cruelty. The share he had in the murder of the priests is a
full proof of the truth of this character. The second part foretels the utter ruin of
this man, his fortune and family, and the triumph of good men, when they saw him
made an example of divine justice. In the third part, the Psalmist assures himself of
protection, and future prosperity from God; and that his example in praising God,
and patiently waiting for his salvation, would be a pleasing encouragement to all the
saints. Chandler.
For the director of music. A maskil[b] of David.
When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and
told him: “David has gone to the house of
Ahimelek.”
1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
Why do you boast all day long,
you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
BAR ES, "Why boastest thou thyself in Mischief? - Why dost thou “exult” in
that which is wrong? Why dost thou find pleasure in evil rather than in good? Why dost
thou seek to triumph in the injury done to others? The reference is to one who prided
himself on schemes and projects which tended to injure others; or who congratulated
himself on the success which attended his efforts to wrong other people.
O mighty man - DeWette and Luther render this, “tyrant.” The original word would
be properly applied to one of rank or distinction; a man of “power” - power derived
either from office, from talent, or from wealth. It is a word which is often applied to a
hero or warrior: Isa_3:2; Eze_39:20; 2Sa_17:10; Psa_33:16; Psa_120:4; Psa_127:4;
Dan_11:3; Gen_6:4; Jer_51:30. So far as the “word” is concerned, it might be applied
either to Saul or to any other warrior or man of rank; and Professor Alexander supposes
that it refers to Saul himself. The connection, however, seems to require us to
understand it of Doeg, and not of Saul, This appears to be clear
(a) from the general character here given to the person referred to, a character not

3. particularly applicable to Saul, but applicable to an informer like Doeg Psa_52:2-4; and
(b) from the fact that he derived his power, not from his rank and office, as Saul did,
but mainly from his wealth Psa_52:7. This would seem to imply that some other was
referred to than Saul.
The goodness of God endureth continually - literally, “all the day.” That is, the
wicked man could not hope to prevent the exercise of the divine goodness toward him
whom he persecuted, and whom he sought to injure. David means to say that the
goodness of God was so great and so constant, that he would protect his true friends
from such machinations; or that it, was so unceasing and watchful, that the informer
and accuser could not hope to find an interval of time when God would intermit his care,
and when, therefore, he might hope for success. Against the goodness of God, the
devices of a wicked man to injure the righteous could not ultimately prevail.
CLARKE, "Why boastest thou thyself - It is thought that Doeg boasted of his
loyalty to Saul in making the above discovery; but the information was aggravated by
circumstances of falsehood that tended greatly to inflame and irritate the mind of Saul.
Exaggeration and lying are common to all informers.
O mighty man? - This character scarcely comports with Doeg, who was only chief of
the herdsmen of Saul, 1Sa_21:7; but I grant this is not decisive evidence that the Psalm
may not have Doeg in view, for the chief herdsman may have been a man of credit and
authority.
GILL, "Why boastest thou thyself in mischief?.... Or "in evil" (w); 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 antichrist and his followers,
2Ti_3:2; who not only boast of their merit, their good works, and works of
supererogation, and of their riches, and honour, and grandeur, saying, "I sit as a queen",
Rev_18:7; but of their wickedness in shedding the blood of the saints, thinking thereby
they do God good service, and merit heaven, and eternal happiness; as Doeg boasted of
his slaughter of the priests, and of his gaining the king's favour by it;
O mighty man! referring either to his office, being the chief of Saul's herdmen, and set
over his servants, 1Sa_21:7; or ironically, to the mighty deed he had done, in slaying the
unarmed priests, and putting to death the very sucklings at the breast, and even the
innocent sheep, oxen, and asses; or to his great wickedness and power to commit it;
though man has no power and free will to that which is good, yet he has to that which is
evil; so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and the eastern versions render it, "O thou! mighty
in wickedness"; and to the same purpose the Targum paraphrases it, "mighty to shed
innocent blood"; and the note of Aben Ezra is, "mighty to do evil". A learned writer (x)
thinks this relates to Saul, and describes him as a man of power and dignity. The
character well agrees with the little horn and Romish beast, Dan_7:20;
the goodness of God endureth continually: that is, the love, grace, and mercy of
God; this is observed as what is the matter of the saints' boasting, in opposition to the

4. wicked boasting of Doeg; they glory in the love of God, and in that they know him who
exerciseth lovingkindness, which is the source of all the blessings of grace and goodness;
and in Christ, through whom all are communicated to them; and in him, as made every
blessing to them, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption: they ascribe
the whole of their salvation, and all they have, to the grace of God, and glory in nothing
as of themselves, and as though not received of the Lord. Moreover, the psalmist may
take notice of this, as what was his support under all the persecutions he endured from
men; that he had an interest in the grace and goodness of God, which is immutable and
everlasting, invariably the same in all states and conditions; and that he was
encompassed about with the favour of God as with a shield; and that it was not in the
power of his most implacable enemies to separate him from the love of God; and
therefore it was egregious folly in Doeg to boast himself in mischief; for, be he as mighty
as he might, he could not prevent his sharing in the divine goodness, which always
continues.
HE RY, "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 grounded a
very bloody warrant, to kill all the priests; and Doeg, the prosecutor, was the
executioner, 1Sa_22:9, etc. In these verses,
I. David argues the case fairly with this proud and mighty man, Psa_52:1. Doeg, it is
probably, was mighty in respect of bodily strength; but, if he was, he gained no
reputation to it by his easy victory over the unarmed priests of the Lord; it is no honour
for those that wear a sword to hector those that wear an ephod. However, he was, by his
office, a mighty man, for he was set over the servants of Saul, chamberlain of the
household. This was he that boasted himself, not only in the power he had to do
mischief, but in the mischief he did. Note, It is bad to do ill, but it is worse to boast of it
and glory in it when we have done, not only not to be ashamed of a wicked action, but to
justify it, not only to justify it, but to magnify it and value ourselves upon it. Those that
glory in their sin glory in their shame, and then it becomes yet more shameful; might
men are often mischievous men, and boast of their heart's desire, Psa_10:3. It is
uncertain how the following words come in: The goodness of God endures continually.
Some make it the wicked man's answer to this question. The patience and forbearance of
God (those great proofs of his goodness) are abused by sinners to the hardening of their
hearts in their wicked ways; because sentence against their evil works is not executed
speedily, nay, because God is continually doing them good, therefore they boast in
mischief; as if their prosperity in their wickedness were an evidence that there is no
harm in it. But it is rather to be taken as an argument against him, to show, 1. The
sinfulness of his sin: “God is continually doing good, and those that therein are like him
have reason to glory in their being so; but thou art continually doing mischief, and
therein art utterly unlike him, and contrary to him, and yet gloriest in being so.” 2. The
folly of it: “Thou thinkest, with the mischief which thou boastest of (so artfully contrived
and so successfully carried on), to run down and ruin the people of God; but thou wilt
find thyself mistaken: the goodness of God endures continually for their preservation,
and then they need not fear what man can do unto them.” The enemies in vain boast in

5. their mischief while we have God's mercy to boast in.
JAMISO , "Psa_52:1-9. Compare 1Sa_21:1-10; 1Sa_22:1-10, for the history of the
title. Psa_52:1 gives the theme; the boast of the wicked over the righteous is vain, for
God constantly cares for His people. This is expanded by describing the malice and
deceit, and then the ruin, of the wicked, and the happy state of the pious.
mighty man — literally, “hero.” Doeg may be thus addressed, ironically, in respect of
his might in slander.
CALVI , "1.Why boastest thou of thy wickedness? The success which crowned the
treachery of Doeg must have tended considerably to stagger David’s faith; and he
seems to have adopted the strain of holy defiance with which the psalm commences,
in order to arm himself more effectually against this temptation. He begins by
charging Doeg with an aggravation of his guilt, in boasting of the power which he
had acquired by an act of consummate villany. This power may have been
sufficiently considerable to attract the notice which is here taken of it; for although
he is only said to have been “master of the king’s herdsmen,” the designation does
not imply that he was personally occupied in herding cattle, but may have been an
honorary title; as in modern courts we speak of “The Master of the Horse.” he is
reminded that there was no reason why he should applaud himself in his greatness,
so long as he abused it to purposes of wickedness; nor why he should be vain of any
new honor which the king might have conferred upon him in consideration of his
late crime, as integrity is the only sure pathway to power and preferment. Any
triumph which may be obtained by violence, treachery, or other unjustifiable
means, is short-lived. In the second part of the verse, he points at the true cause of
the blindness and stupidity that lead men to glory in their wickedness, which is, that
they despise the poor and the humble; imagine that God will not condescend to
interest himself in their behalf; and therefore embrace the occasion of oppressing
them with impunity. They make no account of that providence which God exerts
over his own children. David, in the exercise of a holy confidence, challenges such
proud boasters with dishonoring the goodness of God; and as the Divine goodness
does not always pursue the same even course — occasionally appears to suffer an
interruption, and sometimes seems as if it were cut off altogether, David repels any
temptation which this might suggest, by asserting that, whatever appearances may
say to the contrary, it is daily exercised. This is evidently the meaning which he
intends to convey, that any partial obstructions which may take place in the display
of it can never prevent its constant renewal. He was confident that he would
experience, in the future, what he had found in the past; for God cannot become
weary in helping his people, or alleviating their miseries; and although he may
suffer them again and again to fall into affliction, he is always equally ready to
extend them the deliverance which they need.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 1. Why boasteth thyself in mischief, O mighty man? Doeg had
small matter for boasting in having procured the slaughter of a band of defenceless

6. priests. A mighty man indeed to kill men who never touched a sword! He ought to
have been ashamed of his cowardice. He had no room for exultation! Honourable
titles are but irony where the wearer is mean and cruel. If David alluded to Saul, he
meant by these words pityingly to say, "How can one by nature fitted for nobler
deeds, descend to so low a level as to find a theme for boasting in a slaughter so
heartless and mischievous?" The goodness of God endureth continually. A beautiful
contrast. The tyrant's fury cannot dry up the perennial stream of divine mercy. If
priests be slain their Master lives. If Doeg for awhile triumphs the Lord will outlive
him, and right the wrongs which he has done. This ought to modify the proud
exultations of the wicked, for after all, while the Lord liveth, iniquity has little cause
to exalt itself.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Title. That Maschil means a sacred composition, is evident from Psalms 47:7, where
the passage which we render, "Sing ye praises with understanding, "is literally,
"Sing ye a Maschil, "or song of instruction. This word occurs as a title in thirteen
places; and six times is prefixed to compositions of David's. In several instances it
occurs in consecutive Psalms; i.e., in the 42nd (of which the 43rd is the sequel), the
44th and 45th, the 52nd, 53rd, 54th, and 55th, the 88th and 89th. A circumstance
which favours the notion that the term was one peculiarly used by some particular
editor or collector of a certain portion of the Psalter. John Jebb.
Ver. 1. (first clause). Why doth he glory in malice that is mighty? that is, he that in
malice is mighty, why doth he glory? There is need that a man be mighty, but in
goodness, not in malice. Is it any great thing to glory in malice? To build a house
belong to few men, any ignorant man you please can pull down. To sow wheat, to
dress the crop, to wait until it ripen, and in that fruit on which one has laboured to
rejoice, doth belong to few men: with one spark any man you please can burn all the
crop...
What art thou about to do, O, mighty man, what are thou about to do, boasting
thyself much? Thou art about to kill a man: this thing also a scorpion, this also a
fever, this also a poisonous fungus can do. To this is thy mightiness reduced, that it
be made equal to a poisonous fungus! Augustine.
Ver. 1. By mischief is understood not simply what evil he had done, but the
prosperity which he now enjoyed, obtained through mischief; as is clear both from
the word boasting and from the seventh verse...Formerly he was the chief of Saul's
shepherds 1 Samuel 21:8, but by that wicked destruction of the priests of God by
Saul, and the execution of the cruel sentence, he obtained the chief place near to the
king 1 Samuel 22:9. Hermann Venema.
Ver. 1. O mighty man. These words may be added by way of irony, as if he had said,
A great deal of valour and prowess you have shown in slaying a company of
unarmed men, the priests of the Lord, yea, women and children, no way able to
resist you or else to imply the ground of his vain boasting, to wit, either his present
greatness, as being a man in great place, and of great power with Saul; or the great
preferments he expected from Saul. Arthur Jackson.
Ver. 1. The goodness of God endureth continually. He contrasts the goodness of God
with the wealth and might of Doeg, and the foundation of his own confidence as
widely different from that of Doeg, his own placed upon the goodness of God,
enduring for ever and showing itself effectual. It is as if he had said, The goodness of

7. God to which I trust, is most powerful and the same throughout all time, and in it I
shall at all times most surely rejoice that goodness of God, since now it sustains me,
so it will exalt me in its own good time; it therefore is, and will be above me. ...
ot without emphasis does he say the goodness la of the strong God, a contrast to
Doeg the hero, and the ruinous foundation of his fortune. Hermann Venema.
HI TS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Ver. 1. The confidence of faith.
1. The circumstances were distressing.
1. David was misjudged.
2. David exiled.
3. A bad man in power.
4. God's priests slain.
2. The consolation was abiding.
1. There is a God.
2. He is good.
3. His goodness continues.
4. Good will therefore overcome.
3. The rejoinder was triumphant. Why boasteth thou?
1. The mischief did not touch the main point.
2. It would be overruled.
3. It would recoil.
4. It would expose the perpetrators to scorn.
K&D 1-4, "It is bad enough to behave wickedly, but bad in the extreme to boast of it
at the same time as an heroic act. Doeg, who causes a massacre, not, however, by the
strength of his hand, but by the cunning of his tongue, does this. Hence he is
sarcastically called ‫ּור‬ ִ (cf. Isa_5:22). David's cause, however, is not therefore lost; for it
is the cause of God, whose loving-kindness endures continually, without allowing itself
to be affected, like the favour of men, by calumny. Concerning ‫ּות‬‫וּ‬ ַ‫ה‬ vid., on Psa_5:10. ‫ּון‬‫שׁ‬ ָ‫ל‬
is as usual treated as fem; ‫ה‬ָ ִ‫מ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ‫ה‬ ֵ‫ּשׂ‬‫ע‬ (according to the Masora with Tsere) is consequently
addressed to a person. In Psa_52:5 ‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬ after ָ ְ‫ב‬ ַ‫ה‬ፎ has the Dagesh that is usual also in
other instances according to the rule of the ‫מרחיק‬ ‫,אתי‬ especially in connection with the
letters ‫כפתבגד‬ (with which Resh is associated in the Book of Jezira, Michlol 96b, cf. 63b).
(Note: ‫מרחיק‬ ‫אתי‬ is the name by which the national grammarians designate a group
of two words, of which the first, ending with Kametz or Segol, has the accent on the
penult., and of which the second is a monosyllable, or likewise is accented on the
penult. The initial consonant of the second word in this case receives a Dagesh, in
order that it may not, in consequence of the first ictus of the group of words “coming
out of the distance,” i.e., being far removed, be too feebly and indistinctly uttered.
This dageshing, however, only takes place when the first word is already of itself
Milel, or at least, as e.g., ‫ת‬ִ‫י‬ ַ ‫ה‬ፎ ְ‫צ‬ ָ‫,מ‬ had a half-accented penult., and not when it is
from the very first Milra and is only become Milel by means of the retreating of the
accent, as ‫א‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֶ‫פ‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ ָ‫,ע‬ Psa_78:12, cf. Deu_24:1. The penultima-accent has a greater

8. lengthening force in the former case than in the latter; the following syllables are
therefore uttered more rapidly in the first case, and the Dagesh is intended to guard
against the third syllable being too hastily combined with the second. Concerning the
rule, vid., Baer's Thorath Emeth, p. 29f.)
The ‫ן‬ ִ‫מ‬ or ‫ּוב‬ ִ‫מ‬ and ‫ר‬ ֵ ַ ִ‫מ‬ is not meant to affirm that he loves good, etc., less than evil, etc.,
but that he does not love it at all (cf. Psa_118:8., Hab_2:16). The music which comes in
after Psa_52:5 has to continue the accusations con amarezza without words. Then in
Psa_52:6 the singing again takes them up, by addressing the adversary with the words
“thou tongue of deceit” (cf. Psa_120:3), and by reproaching him with loving only such
utterances as swallow up, i.e., destroy without leaving a trace behind (‫ע‬ ַ‫ל‬ ָ , pausal form of
‫ע‬ ַ‫ל‬ ֶ‫,ב‬ like ‫ע‬ ַ‫ֽצ‬ ָ in Psa_119:36, cf. the verb in Psa_35:25, 2Sa_17:16; 2Sa_20:19.), his
neighbour's life and honour and goods. Hupfeld takes Psa_52:6 as a second object; but
the figurative and weaker expression would then follow the unfigurative and stronger
one, and “to love a deceitful tongue” might be said with reference to this character of
tongue as belonging to another person, not with reference to his own.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Mighty man.—Better, hero, used sarcastically. LXX. and Vulg.,
“a mighty one at mischief.” (Comp. Isaiah 5:22 : “a hero at drinking.”) The order of
the Hebrew is, however, against this, and in favour of the English, why dost thou
exult in wickedness, O hero, i.e., perhaps, not only his own, but in the wickedness
the people are led into by his means. This seems necessitated by the next clause. In
spite of man’s folly and sin, God’s covenant favour endures all the day long.
TRAPP, "Psalms 52:1 « 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. » Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness
of God [endureth] continually.
A Psalm of David] Or the same time and argument, likely, with Psalms 58:1-11
Maschil] Or, to teach that the end of the wicked is evil; Redarguit pravos mores,
saith the Syriac.
When Doeg the Edomite] When Abiathar escaping the slaughter slave, the blood
hound (as Edomite may signify), came and told David what was befallen the priests
and their city. This was no small affliction to David; the rather, because by telling
the priest a lie, himself had occasioned the massacre. Hereupon, for the comfort of
himself and other good people who were startled at this sad accident, and might be
deterred thereby from helping David, he penned this psalm.
When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, &c.] Doeg is a fit name for a courtier;

9. for it signifieth a solicitous or bushy headed fellow, a petty officier, a progging
companion, an informer, one that listeneth after rumours, and carrieth tales to
curry favour. An Edomite he was by nation; but a proselyte in pretence at least, and
one that was at that time detained before the Lord, either by virtue of some vow, or
because it was the sabbath day and he would not travel on it, or to perform some
other religious service, 1 Samuel 21:7 : this dissembled sanctity was double iniquity;
and he became a type of Judas, as some make him.
He came and told Saul] Like a parasite and a tale bearer as he was: when as he
should rather have told Ahimelech, that David was out of Saul’s favour, and sought
for to the slaughter, as Kimchi here noteth on Psalms 52:3, but he concealed that,
that he might accuse Ahimelech; and so slew three at once (saith another Rabbi),
viz. himself, Saul, and Ahimelech, calumniatorem, calumniatum et calumniam
audientem.
And said, David is come to the house of Ahimelech] Few words, but full of poison;
leviter volant non leviter vulnerant. Verba Doegi erant pauci, sod multum nocua
(Kimchi). See the story more at large 1 Samuel 22:9. The Rabbis say (from Leviticus
14:44, where the same word is used of the leprous house, that is here, Psalms 52:5, of
Doeg’s doom) that he was for this fact smitten with leprosy; and afterwards sent to
hell, which they gather from Psalms 120:4 (Midrash Tillin).
Ver. 1. Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, thou mighty man] Or, thou giant; for
so he seemed to himself when he had slain tot inermes nec repugnantes, so many
naked men, not making any resistance, though they were the priests of Jehovah; and
afterwards had smitten the innocent inhabitants of the city of ob, together with the
women, the infants, and the cattle; like another Ajax flagellifer or Hercules furens ;
and now vaunted himself in that mischievous prowess.
Egregiam vero laudem, &c.
The Hebrew word for boasting here signifieth also madness, when it is taken in the
worse sense, as Jeremiah 46:9, Proverbs 2:14; and to boast of his heart’s desire is
the note of an atheist, Psalms 10:3.
The goodness of God endureth continually] Maugre thy spitefulness, God is good to
Israel, to the pure in heart, and will be so. The Rabbis make this the sense, If
Ahimelech had not relieved me, God would have stirred up some other to have done
it (R. Solomon). Some others understand it thus, The goodness of God towards thee,
a wicked wretch, endureth all the day. This should lead thee to repentance. But
thou, after thy hardness, &c., Romans 2:5.

10. COKE, "Psalms 52:1. O mighty man— It seems probable, that Doeg, after he had
massacred the priests, boasted of his loyalty to Saul in having prevented the
treasonable schemes which he artfully insinuated had been concerted by David and
the priests; and that he had been liberally rewarded by Saul upon account of it. ow
the Psalm begins by expressing a kind of contempt of Doeg. "O mighty man! Saul's
chief herdsman!—Man of wondrous prowess! thus to destroy a set of defenceless
and innocent people:—boast no more; thy cruelty shall be amply repaid. As for me,
I am out of the reach of thy malice. That goodness of God, which thou reproachest
me for trusting in, is my sure protection, and will follow me day by day." Mr.
Schultens remarks, that ‫גבור‬ gibbor, signifies in Arabic, a proud, impious man, a
sense which well suits the place before us. Dr. Delaney is of opinion, that not Doeg
only, but Saul also, is glanced at in this verse, which he renders thus, Why boastest
thou thyself, O man of power, that thou canst do mischief? Whereas the goodness of
God is from day to day, A king, says he, is the representative of God upon earth;
and his duty, to imitate the divine goodness, and to protect and to bless. A tyrant
reverses this glorious resemblance; and employs all that power to the purposes of
mischief, which was only bestowed for those of beneficence.
WHEDO , "1. Why boastest thou—This must be understood as an address to Doeg,
not to Saul, to whom David ever observed a respectful and loyal deference. “It is
bad enough to behave wickedly, but bad in the extreme to boast of it as a heroic
act.”—Delitzsch. He that boasts of success in evil doing boasts of evil doing.
O mighty man—Hebrew, O hero! A hero in crime. He had gained the title by slaying
eighty-five priests of ob and betraying David. This had brought him into favour
with Saul as a supple tool for the accomplishment of his purposes. He was also chief
of Saul’s servants. 1 Samuel 22:9.
Goodness of God endureth continually—Therefore trusting in it, I shall triumph at
last.
BE SO , "Psalms 52:1. Why boastest thou thyself &c. — As if thou hadst done a
great exploit, which none else durst undertake; and thereby established the crown
upon Saul’s head, and thyself in his favour; and frustrated all David’s designs, by
striking a terror into all his friends, by this sad example; O mighty man? — He
speaks ironically. O valiant captain! O glorious action! To kill a few weak and
unarmed persons in the king’s presence, and under the protection of his guards.
Surely thy name will be famous to all ages for such heroical courage! It seems
probable that Doeg, after he had massacred the priests, boasted of his loyalty to
Saul, and of having prevented the treasonable schemes which, he artfully
insinuated, had been concerted by David and the priests; and that he had been
liberally rewarded by Saul on account of it; and that this is the reason why the
Psalm begins in thus expressing a kind of contempt of Doeg. See Dodd. The
goodness of God endureth continually — Know, vain man, that I am out of the
reach of thy malice. That goodness of God, which thou reproachest me for trusting
in, is my sure protection, and will follow me day by day; and, surely, that same
goodness, together with his forbearance and long-suffering, is wonderfully displayed

11. in sparing thee, amidst thy complicated crimes, who art continually doing evil; while
he is continually doing good.
COFFMA , "SAI T A D SI ER CO TRASTED
The superscription for this psalm has this:
`For the Chief Musician. Maschil of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told
Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Abimelech.'
Contrary to some current critical opinion, there is absolutely nothing in this psalm
that does not fit the scandalous conduct of Doeg the Edomite as the occasion that
prompted the writing of it.
Oh yes, Addis wrote that, "(1) The reference to the Temple (Psalms 52:8), and (2)
the silence regarding Doeg's massacre of the priests show that the superscription
gives an impossible explanation of the Psalm."[1] either of these objections has any
value.
(1) Psalms 52:8, which has, "I am like a green olive tree in the house of God," refers
to the `tabernacle,' not to the Temple which, in David's day, had not then been
constructed. "It is commonly known that the word `house' is used with reference to
the Tabernacle,"[2] in the times before Solomon who constructed the Temple.
Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 23:28; Judges 18:31; and 1 Samuel 1:24 are just a few
of the many scriptural references in which "the tabernacle" is called "the house of
the Lord." It seems incredible to us that alleged "scholars" apparently do not know
this. Perhaps if they read the Bible more and the radical critics less, they might
catch on to this!
(2) The objection that this psalm does not also include the record of Doeg's massacre
of the priests of ob is also worthless. In the first place, "Who lays down the rules
for what must, or must not be included, in a poem like this?"[3] Shall we accept the
dictum of Bible critics on such a matter? David here included a prophecy of God's
utter destruction of Doeg, and is that not enough? The author of the Psalm thought
so; and his judgment is good enough for us.
(3) In addition to the objections of Addis, just cited, there are some who would apply
the psalm to Saul instead of Doeg. Leupold stated that, "All the words here apply to
Saul," adding that, "What Doeg said was not said with `a lying tongue.'"[4] Our
opinion is that Doeg did indeed speak with `a lying tongue'; he concealed from Saul
the fact that Abimelech was truly loyal to King Saul and that his helping David was
no act of treason whatever. That type of report by Doeg was as malicious and
unprincipled a lie as any man ever told, despite the fact of what he said having been
true. The falsehood consisted in the implications of what he slanderously reported.
It was like the Mate who had charge of the ship's log during a brief illness of the
Captain; and he wrote, "The Captain was sober today."

12. As stated in the beginning, there are no valid objections for receiving the words of
the superscription as historically true.
The organization proposed by Rawlinson will be followed here.
I. Doeg's wickedness (Psalms 52:1-4).
II. Prophecy of God's Destruction of Him (Psalms 52:5-7).
III. Three Marks of David's Gratitude (Psalms 52:8-9).
DOEG'S WICKED ESS
Psalms 52:1-4
"Why boasteth thou thyself in mischief,
O mighty man?
The lovingkindness of God endureth continually.
Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness,
Like a sharp razor working deceitfully.
Thou lovest evil more than good,
And lying, rather than to speak righteousness.
(Selah)
Thou lovest all devouring words,
O thou deceitful tongue."
"O mighty man" (Psalms 52:1). Who was this character? Perhaps this explanation
from the Bible will make it clear.
DOEG'S WICKED ESS
The Bible gives the following. When David, learning of Saul's intention to kill him,
fled from Jerusalem toward Achish, he stopped at ob, on the way, where he was
befriended by Abimelech the High Priest, who gave him the showbread for food,
and also the sword of Goliath, which David had deposited "in the house of God,"
there at ob, following his victory over the Giant of Gath.
Abimelech inquired of David about his being alone and about his having left

13. without sufficient food or any weapon, and David merely said, "The King's business
required haste," leaving the impression that he was still in Saul's service. Thus,
when Abimelech befriended and aided David, he was totally unaware of any rift
between Saul and David. Doeg the Edomite, saw his opportunity to ingratiate
himself with Saul, and reported the incident in such a manner as to make it appear
that Abimelech was in league with David against the king. A more diabolical
falsehood was never concocted.
Of course, based on Doeg's false report, Saul summonsed Abimelech and his
followers to appear before him, upon which occasion he commanded Doeg to slay
them all. Eighty-five priests were massacred. This is only another example from
history of where slander and murder are equivalent terms. The Biblical account of
all this is in 1 Samuel 21-22.
Let the reader judge whether or not these first four verses fit Doeg. Our view is that
they fit like the glove fits the hand.
As for the objection that Doeg was not really a "Mighty Man," although he was not
the king of Israel; he was indeed one of Saul's most important deputies having
charge of all the king's herdsmen, indeed all of the servants of Saul (1 Samuel 22:9).
His position was as "mighty" as one could have found in Israel, except that of the
king. Besides all that, there is, as many have noted, an element of sarcasm in the
words of Psalms 52:1. An evidence of sarcasm is in the original Hebrew here, which
for `mighty man,' "Has the word `hero.'"[5] Doeg was indeed some fantastic kind of
a `hero.'
"Why boasteth thyself in mischief" (Psalms 52:1). "The word translated `mischief'
implies something worse. It means ruinous, unfathomable evil, destructive
malignity."[6]
"Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness" (Psalms 52:2). Throughout this part of the
psalm, Doeg's skillful lie dominates the thought.
"Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully" (Psalms 52:2). Oh yes, Doeg's lie was a
skillful job, all right; he really said nothing that was not true, yet his deception of
King Saul was as masterful as any ever perpetrated.
We like what Spurgeon said about this:
"The smooth adroit manner of executing a wicked device neither hides not abates its
wickedness. A lie ingeniously framed and rehearsed in an oily manner is as great a
sin and in the end will be seen to be as great a folly as the most bungling attempt at
deception. Murder with a razor is as wicked as murder with a meat-ax or a
bludgeon. Let us pause and look at Doeg, the proud blustering liar."[7]
"Thy tongue deviseth wickedness ... working deceitfully ... lying ... thou lovest
devouring words ... O thou deceitful tongue" (Psalms 52:2-4). Clearly, the artful
deception perpetrated upon King Saul by Doeg fits all this perfectly.

14. "Throughout the psalm, the tongue is offered as primary evidence of character. As a
man speaketh, so is he. These verses indicate that the love of evil displays itself in a
lying tongue."[8]
"Thou lovest evil ... thou lovest all devouring words" (Psalms 52:3-4). "To love evil
is to have reached the lowest depth of depravity, and to say with John Milton's
Satan `Evil, be thou my good.'"[9]
"The word `boast' that stands at the head of this paragraph is not necessarily a
reference to outward `show'; the real point is the man's satisfaction with himself. He
thinks of himself as clever; he is absorbed in his intrigues; he has given himself to
evil. The repeated `You love' ... `you love' implies choice as well as attraction."[10]
EBC, "Verses 1-9
Psalms 52:1-9
THE progress of feeling in this psalm is clear, but there is no very distinct division
into strophes and one of the two Selahs does not mark a transition, though it does
make a pause. First, the poet, with a few indignant and contemptuous touches,
dashes on his canvas an outline portrait of an arrogant oppressor, whose weapon
was slander and his words like pits of ruin. Then, with vehement, exulting
metaphors, he pictures his destruction. On it follow reverent awe of God, whose
justice is thereby displayed, and deepened sense in righteous hearts of the folly of
trust in anything but Him. Finally, the singer contrasts with thankfulness his own
happy continuance in fellowship with God with the oppressor’s fate, and renews his
resolve of praise and patient waiting.
The themes are familiar, and their treatment has nothing distinctive. The portrait of
the oppressor does not strike one as a likeness either of the Edomite herdsman Doeg,
with whose betrayal of David’s asylum at ob the superscription connects the psalm
or of Saul, to whom Hengstenberg, feeling the difficulty of seeing Doeg in it, refers
it. Malicious lies and arrogant trust in riches were not the crimes that cried for
vengeance in the bloody massacre at ob. Cheyne would bring this group of
"Davidic" psalms (Psalms 52:1-9, Psalms 59:1-17) down to the Persian period (Orig
of Psalt., 121-23). Olshausen, after Theodore of Mopsuestia (see Cheyne loc. cit.) to
the Maccabean. But the grounds alleged are scarcely strong enough to carry more
than the weight of a "may be"; and it is better to recognise that, if the
superscription is thrown over, the psalm itself does not yield sufficiently
characteristic marks to enable us to fix its date. It may be worth considering
whether the very absence of any obvious correspondences with David’s
circumstances does not show that the superscription rested on a tradition earlier
than itself, and not on an editor’s discernment.
The abrupt question at the beginning reveals the psalmist’s long-pent indignation.
He has been silently brooding over the swollen arrogance and malicious lies of the

15. tyrant till he can restrain himself no longer, and out pours a fiery flood. Evil gloried
in is worse than evil done. The word rendered in the A.V. and R.V. "mighty man" is
here used in a bad sense, to indicate that he has not only a giant’s power, but uses it
tyrannously, like a giant. How dramatically the abrupt question is followed by the
equally abrupt thought of the ever-during lovingkindness of God! That makes the
tyrant’s boast supremely absurd, and the psalmist’s confidence reasonable, even in
face of hostile power.
The prominence given to sins of speech is peculiar. We should have expected high-
handed violence rather than these. But the psalmist is tracking the deeds to their
source; and it is not so much the tyrant’s words as his love of a certain kind of
words which is adduced as proof of his wickedness. These words have two
characteristics in addition to boastfulness. They are false and destructive. They are,
according to the forcible literal meaning in Psalms 52:4, "words of swallowing."
They are, according to the literal meaning of "destructions," in Psalms 52:2,
"yawning gulfs." Such words lead to acts which make a tyrant. They flow from
perverted preference of evil to good. Thus the deeds of oppression are followed up to
their den and birthplace. Part of the description of the "words" corresponds to the
fatal effect of Doeg’s report but nothing in it answers to the other part-falsehood.
The psalmist’s hot indignation speaks in the triple, direct address to the tyrant
which comes in each case like a lightning flash at the end of a clause (Psalms 52:1-2,
Psalms 52:4). In the second of these the epithet "framing deceit" does not refer to
the "sharpened razor," but to the tyrant. If referred to the former, it weakens
rather than strengthens the metaphor, by bringing in the idea that the sharp blade
misses its proper aim, and wounds cheeks instead of shearing off hair. The Selah of
Psalms 52:3 interrupts the description, in order to fix attention, by a pause filled up
by music, on the hideous picture thus drawn.
That description is resumed and summarised in Psalms 52:4, which, by the Selahs, is
closely bound to Psalms 52:5 in order to enforce the necessary connection of sin and
punishment, which is strongly underlined by the "also" or "so" at the beginning of
the latter verse. The stern prophecy of destruction is based upon no outward signs
of failure in the oppressor’s might, but wholly on confidence in God’s continual
lovingkindness, which must needs assume attributes of justice when its objects are
oppressed. A tone of triumph vibrates through the imagery of Psalms 52:5, which is
not in the same key as Christ has set for us.
It is easy for those who have never lived under grinding, godless tyranny to
reprobate the exultation of the oppressed at the sweeping away of their oppressors;
but if the critics had seen their brethren set up as torches to light ero’s gardens,
perhaps they would have known some thrill of righteous joy when they heard that
he was dead. Three strong metaphors describe the fall of this tyrant. He is broken
down, as a building levelled with the ground. He is laid hold of, as a coal in the fire,
with tongs (for so the word means), and dragged, as in that iron grip, out of the
midst of his dwelling. He is uprooted like a tree with all its pride of leafage. Another
blast of trumpets or clang of harps or clash of cymbals bids the listeners gaze on the
spectacle of insolent strength laid prone, and withering as it lies.

16. The third movement of thought (Psalms 52:6-7) deals with the effects of this
retribution. It is a conspicuous demonstration of God’s justice and of the folly of
reliance on anything but Himself. The fear which it produces in the "righteous" is
reverential awe, not dread lest the same should happen to them. Whether or not
history and experience teach evil men that "verily there is a God that judgeth,"
their lessons are not wasted on devout and righteous souls. But this is the tragedy of
life, that its teachings are prized most by those who have already learned them, and
that those who need them most consider them least. Other tyrants are glad when a
rival is swept off the field, but are not arrested in their own course. It is left to "the
righteous" to draw the lesson which all men should have learned. Although they are
pictured as laughing at the ruin, that is not the main effect of it. Rather it deepens
conviction, and is a "modern instance" witnessing to the continual truth of "an old
saw." There is one safe stronghold, and only one. He who conceits himself to be
strong in his own evil, and, instead of relying on God, trusts in material resources,
will sooner or later be levelled with the ground, dragged, resisting vainly the
tremendous grasp, from his tent and laid prostrate, as melancholy a spectacle as a
great tree blown down by tempest with its roots turned up to the sky and its arms
with drooping leaves trailing on the ground. A swift turn of feeling carries the
singer to rejoice in the contrast of his own lot. o uprooting does he fear. It may be
questioned whether the words "in the house of God" refer to the psalmist or to the
olive tree. Apparently there were trees in the Temple; [Psalms 92:13] but the
parallel in the next clause, "in the lovingkindness of God," points to the reference of
the words to the speaker. Dwelling in enjoyment of God’s fellowship, as symbolised
by and realised through presence in the sanctuary, whether it were at ob or in
Jerusalem, he dreads no such forcible removal as had befallen the tyrant.
Communion with God is the source of flourishing and fruitfulness, and the
guarantee of its own continuance. othing in the changes of outward life need touch
it. The mists which lay on the psalmist’s horizon are cleared away for us, who know
that "forever and aye" designates a proper eternity of dwelling in the higher house
and drinking the full dew of God’s lovingkindness. Such consciousness of present
blessedness in communion lifts a soul to prophetic realisation of deliverance, even
while no change has occurred in circumstances. The tyrant is still boasting; but the
psalmist’s tightened hold of God enables him to see "things that are not as though
they were," and to anticipate actual deliverance by praise for it. It is the prerogative
of faith to alter tenses, and to say, Thou hast done, when the world’s grammar
would say, Thou wilt do. "I will wait on Thy name" is singular, since what is done
"in the presence of Thy favoured ones" would naturally be something seen or heard
by them. The reading "I will declare" has been suggested. But surely the attitude of
patient, silent expectance implied in "wait" may very well be conceived as
maintained in the presence of, and perceptible by, those who had like dispositions,
and who would sympathise and be helped thereby. Individual blessings are rightly
used when they lead to participation in common thankfulness and quiet trust.
PETT, "Verse 1
‘For the Chief Musician. Maschil of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told
Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.’

17. This is another Psalm dedicated to the choirmaster. It is the first of four Maschils of
David in succession (52-55). Thirteen Psalm are described as Maschils, eleven of
them in Parts 2 & 3 of the Psalms. (These are, Psalms 32, 42, 44-45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88-
89, 142). It may be that Maschil signifies ‘making wise/skilful’. The word maschil
means ‘understanding’, and has been variously interpreted as meaning, ‘a teaching
Psalm’ (although that does not appear to fit all its uses); ‘a meditation’, bringing
understanding; or a ‘skilful Psalm’ indicating a complicated setting.
The occasion for the composition of the Psalm is seen as the time when Doeg the
Edomite, Saul’s chief herdsman, saw David visiting the high priest Ahimelech in
order to obtain food for his men as he fled from Saul. Doeg reported this back to
Saul which resulted in the massacre of all the priests at ob (a priestly city). See 1
Samuel 21:1-9; 1 Samuel 22:9-23.
There are indications in the Psalm which would tie in with this suggestion. As Saul’s
chief herdsman (a post of high distinction) Doeg would be seen as a ‘mighty man’
(Psalms 52:1 b), a man of wealth (Psalms 52:7), and Psalms 52:5 could well have in
mind what happened to the priests of ob. He certainly deceived Saul into thinking
that Ahimelech had betrayed him (Psalms 52:3). It is probable that David found rest
and recreation in writing Psalms, and his feelings of guilt when he learned from
Abiathar what had happened might well have been assuaged by writing this Psalm
as a kind of curse on Doeg (Psalms 52:5), and a vindication of himself (Psalms 52:8).
This would explain why the concentration is on the man rather than on the incident.
He is drawing God’s attention to the kind of man that Doeg is. As a consequence the
Psalm has reference to all evil men.
The Psalm is divided up by ‘Selah’ into three parts:
A Description Of Man’s Sinfulness (Psalms 52:1-3).
A Description Of The Consequences To Himself Resulting From His Sinfulness
(Psalms 52:4-5).
A Description Of How The Righteous See His Fate And The Personal Vindication
Of Each Of The Righteous Concerning Themselves (Psalms 52:6-9).
Verses 1-3
A Description Of Man’s Sinfulness (Psalms 52:1-3).
In the first verse the ‘man of substance’ is asked why he boasts continually about
mischief he has wrought in the light of the fact of the continually enduring covenant
love of God. He is then described as a man who speaks wickedness and deceit, and
who loves evil rather than good, and lying rather than honesty.
Psalms 52:1
‘Why do you boast yourself in mischief, O mighty man?
The covenant love of God (endures) continually’
These opening lines sum up the message of the Psalm. Certain men of substance
boast about their wrongdoing, failing to recognise that there is a God Who will call

18. them to account. They see themselves as above the law, but can be sure that God will
finally deal with them as they deserve. And this is because His covenant love
towards His own (His love which fulfils His responsibility to those who are within
His covenant) is continuous. He will not overlook anything that is done against
them. He does not overlook what men do to His true servants, and will in time deal
with them accordingly. They have thus no reason to boast. The implication is that
they should rather hide themselves in shame.
We have in these words the assurance that those who truly respond to God from the
heart, looking to Him as those who have committed themselves to Him on the basis
of His declared promises (His covenant), can be sure that God will call to account
any who seek to do them harm, because God’s love to His own never fails.
‘O mighty man (gibbor).’ Thus a man strong in either prowess on the field of battle,
or in wealth and status as a consequence of his talents. There may be some sarcasm
in the description, in that the gibbor is seen as opposing himself to the mighty God.
He sees himself as ‘mighty’ but he pales into insignificance before ‘the Almighty’.
Doeg, holding a prominent position in Saul’s entourage, insidiously reported to him
suggesting that Ahimelech, who was wholly innocent of wrongdoing, was a traitor.
He could have enquired of Ahimelech and discovered the truth, but he preferred to
go behind his back and spread insinuations. Ahimelech, the anointed High Priest,
was seemingly a good man, and faithful to God’s covenant. Thus by attacking him
Doeg was attacking God. And he no doubt did boast afterwards about what he had
done. Such men always do. Thus the words are particularly apposite to his case. If
he was still alive when David took the throne, we need not doubt that he would be
called to account. Ahimelech’s son Abiathar, David’s High Priest, would see to that.
GUZIK, "Psalm 52 - Praying About the Man Who Loved Evil
This Psalm is titled, To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of David when Doeg
the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, David has gone to the house of
Ahimelech. The terrible events that prompted this chapter are recorded in 1 Samuel
21 and 22. Doeg informed Saul regarding David's presence at the tabernacle of God
and regarding the help he received from the priest there. In an evil and paranoid
response, Saul sent Doeg to kill the priests and others at the tabernacle, and Doeg
did - 85 people in total (1 Samuel 22:18-19).
Though the condemnation of Doeg in this Psalm is strong, we sense it would be
stronger in light of the mass-murder he committed. Yet this is David's
Contemplation upon the incident, a careful examination of the root and end of
Doeg's evil.
A. The sin and its punishment.

19. 1. (1-4) The man who loved evil and lying.
Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The goodness of God endures continually.
Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
You love evil more than good,
Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah
You love all devouring words,
You deceitful tongue.
a. Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? David thought of Doeg the Edomite and
the evil report he brought to King Saul. He thought not only of the report itself, but
also in the boast and joy Doeg took in delivering the message.
i. Boast: Sometimes boasting is a cover for deep insecurity. That wasn't the case
with Doeg. He really thought quite highly of himself. "The thought conveyed in this
Hebrew word is not necessarily that of a person strutting around making
extravagant claims to others about his or her abilities. Rather it is that of a smug
self-sufficiency that does not parade itself openly simply because it is so convinced of
its superiority." (Boice)
ii. Doeg murdered 85 civilians, mostly priests who were not trained for battle -
hardly the work of a true mighty man. Like several other commentators, Poole
thought this was used in an ironic sense: "O mighty man! he speak ironically. O
valiant captain! O glorious action! to kill a few weak and unarmed persons in the
kings presence, and under the protection of his guards! Surely thy name will be
famous to all ages for such heroical courage." (Poole)
iii. "A mighty man indeed to kill men who never touched a sword! He ought to have
been ashamed of his cowardice." (Spurgeon)
iv. "Miles Coverdale rendered this phrase, 'O mighty man,' as 'Thou Tyrant,' and
thus gave an accurate interpretation of the kind of man this Edomite, Doeg, really

20. was." (Morgan)
b. The goodness of God endures continually: David earnestly believed that Doeg's
way would fail. God's goodness would outlast his evil. It's true that Doeg was a
mighty man, but that was nothing compared to God and His never-ending goodness.
i. When David wrote the goodness of God, he used the word El to refer to deity
instead of the more common Elohim. Some commentators believe the use of El
emphasizes the strength and might of God. " ot without emphasis does he say the
goodness ‫אל‬ of the strong God, a contrast to Doeg the hero, and the ruinous
foundation of his fortune." (Venema, cited in Spurgeon)
c. Your tongue devises destruction: Since this Psalm concerns the evil report of
Doeg, David mentions the destruction that came from what Doeg said. There was an
evil heart, mind, and life directing that tongue to work like a sharp razor, working
deceitfully but it was all evident by what Doeg said.
i. The destruction brought by Doeg's evil report was real and terrible. 1 Samuel
22:18-19 tells us that he murdered 85 people (and many priests among them) at the
tabernacle of God at the city of ob.
ii. "The prominence given to sins of speech is peculiar. We should have expected
high-handed violence rather than these. But the psalmist is tracking the deeds to
their source." (Maclaren)
iii. "Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully; wherewith a man pretending only to
shave off the hair, doth suddenly and unexpectedly cut the throat." (Poole)
iv. "One is reminded of James' description of the tongue and its fearful power, as
the psalmist describes the mischief of evil speech, growing out of an evil nature."
(Morgan)
d. You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking righteousness: David
here addressed Doeg's wicked heart and mind. The destruction of these razor-sharp
words were not an accident or out of character. Some people love evil, and some
people love to lie. Doeg fulfilled both aspects. He loved the destruction his devouring
words brought.
i. "Thy heart is naught, and thence it is that thy tongue is so mischievous, as

21. stinking breath cometh from corrupt inwards." (Trapp)
ii. There is reason to believe there was a gap in time between David visiting the
tabernacle at ob and Doeg's report to King Saul. "It was not a case of the
Edomite's merely blurting out what he knew at the first opportunity. On the
contrary, he knew he had a piece of valuable information and kept it to himself until
it would best serve his interests to divulge it." (Boice)
iii. David had done some wrong at the tabernacle of God at the city of ob; he did
lie to the priest Ahimelech. David did own up to his aspect of the responsibility in
the matter (1 Samuel 22:22). Yet in this Psalm he wisely and properly did not blame
himself for the massacre of the priests there. This was the work of a man who loved
evil. There remain such men in the world.
2. (5) The response from heaven.
God shall likewise destroy you forever;
He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
a. God shall likewise destroy you forever: Because the goodness of God endures
forever (Psalm 52:1), Doeg and his kind would be destroyed forever. He will not
always allow this kind of destructive lie to rule the day.
i. Instead of the assertive, the optative reading is preferable: 'Truly, may God bring
you down May he snatch you May he uproot you' The verbs are jussives, expressive
of a desire." (VanGemeren)
ii. For emphasis and for the sake of good poetry, David used four vivid images of
judgment against wicked mean like Doeg.
The wicked will be demolished (destroy you)
The wicked will be snatched up like a coal from a fire (take you away)
The wicked will have their abode taken away (pluck you out of your dwelling place)
The wicked will be uprooted like a tree (uproot you)

22. iii. He shall take you away: "He is laid hold of, as a coal in the fire, with tongs (for
so the word means), and dragged, as in that iron grip, out of the midst of his
dwelling." (Maclaren)
iv. "As thou hast destroyed the Lords priests, and their whole city, razing and
harassing it; so God will demolish and destroy thee utterly as an house pulled down
to the ground, so that one stone is not left upon another." (Trapp)
b. He shall take you away: David prophesied the judgment of God against Doeg. ot
only would he be cast out of his house (your dwelling place) but also from the land
of the living. Doeg was destined for death.
i. Uproot you: "The bad fruit which it has borne shall bring God's curse upon the
tree; it shall not merely wither, or die, but it shall be plucked up from the roots,
intimating that such a sinner shall die a violent death." (Clarke)
ii. "Out of the land of the living; out of this world, as the phrase is taken, Isaiah 53:8
Ezekiel 32:32, and elsewhere; which was very terrible to him, who had all his
portion in this world." (Poole)
BI 1-9, "Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?
A social betrayer
This psalm may be regarded as presenting to us a social betrayer in a variety of aspects.
Doeg was an “informer,” one whom Webster defines as “a man who informs against
others from base or unworthy motives.”
I. The social betrayer depicted.
1. Pride (Psa_52:1). Proud of the secret he holds. He feels he has the reputation and
destiny of some one entrusted to him.
2. Malice (Psa_52:2).
3. Craft (Psa_52:2). He is a moral assassin; moves in the dark, and carries his javelin
under the costume of deception. Dishonesty (Psa_52:3). He runs more readily with
the false than with the true; with the wrong than with the right; with the cruel than
with the kind. The base man, what careth he whom he betrays, how he betrays, or
what sufferings he entails upon the innocent and even the holy, in order to advance
his own personal and selfish ends?
II. The social betrayer doomed (Psa_52:5). What is his punishment? Destruction. Not
annihilation; but—
1. A removal: “He shall take thee away.” Hengstenberg renders it, “take thee away as
a coal.” Fling thee away as an intolerable brand. He has been as fire in society,
inflaming others with bad passions, devouring the true, the good, and the happy.

23. God will fling him away as a hissing coal. “Pluck thee out of thy dwelling-place” (or
tent). His present dwelling-place is a scene of discipline, grace, redemption: hope is
taken from him, he is taken from it for ever.
2. An uprootal. “And root thee out of the land of the living.” The roots of a wicked
man’s life are in this world, they don’t strike into the spiritual and the eternal; the
present and the palpable are everything to him: their roots shall be destroyed. All
these are figures, but they mean something terrible; and reason, analogy, conscience,
and the Bible tell us that something terrible is before such a man as this’.
III. The social betrayer derided (Psa_52:6-7). “There is a twofold laughter,” says Arndt.
“One, when a man out of an evil spirit of revenge laughs at his enemy. This no Christian,
virtuous mind does, but exercises compassion towards an enemy. But the other sort of
laughing arises from a consideration of the wonderful judgment and righteousness of
God, as when a man says; like Pharaoh, “I ask nothing after the Lord, nor will I let Israel
go,” and soon thereafter is made to sink in the Red Sea. This is for just derision. Is it not
a matter of ridicule for a man to fight against God?
IV. The social betrayer defeated. Doeg, by his betrayal, considered perhaps that he had
ruined David; but instead of this, whilst he himself got destroyed, uprooted from the
land of the living, his victim was like “a green olive-tree.” David here indicates that his
own life was—
1. A growing life. “A green olive-tree.” Well nourished and well protected.
2. A trusting life. “I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.” God’s goodness is a
tide that must bear everything before it and will outlive the universe itself. Therefore
it is wise to trust in it.
3. A thankful life: “I will praise Thee for ever.” Divine praise is the heaven of the soul.
It employs all its faculties harmoniously, and gratifies all its moral cravings fully and
for ever.
4. An obedient life. “I will wait on Thy name.” This is the highest attitude of an
intelligent creature; it is the attitude of the greatest angel. (Homilist.)
On the character of Doeg
I. Doeg made not God his strength. To make God our strength implies that we regard the
Almighty as the author of all our blessings; that we repose an implicit trust in Him in
every situation; that we own our dependence on Him for everything which we enjoy; and
that we live under the habitual influence of these convictions. The conduct of Doeg was
the very reverse of this.
II. He trusted in the abundance of his riches. The only true felicity of man is in God; but
the love of the world seduces the heart from God, and leads it, like Doeg, to trust in the
abundance of riches, instead of making God its strength. When the love of riches
becomes thus predominant, how baneful must be its influence to the principles and
affections of the soul! It darkens the understanding; it deadens the conscience; it chills
and hardens the heart. But why should men trust to their wealth, when its influence is so
baneful and destructive? The accumulated treasures of the world cannot arrest the arm
of death, or purchase from him a moment’s reprieve. Are riches necessary to the
enjoyment of life? This depends on health of body and contentment of mind, and neither
of these can wealth bestow.

24. III. He strengthened himself in his wickedness. The first resource of an abandoned
sinner is debauchery; and to it he betakes himself, not so much to gratify sensual
appetite and licentious desire, as to drown thought, to bury reflection, to lull the cow,
science. His only joys are intemperance, riot and dissipation. The best principles of his
nature are entirely perverted, and his heart is hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Having thus succeeded in corrupting or silencing the faithful guardians of innocence and
virtue, he triumphs in the imaginary security with which he may now indulge in
licentiousness and vice, and strengthens himself still farther in wickedness.
IV. This character is recorded for our instruction. It is intended as a beacon to point out
to us the dangerous consequences of sin. It is preserved as a memorial, to all ages of the
world, of this important; and impressive truth, that sin and misery are most closely
united. Would we avoid Doeg’s fate, then let us avoid his conduct. With this view, let us
guard most anxiously against the first deviations from piety and virtue. (G. Goldie.)
A challenge to the mighty sinner
This psalm is a bold and outspoken challenge to a big sinner—a proud personage who
“trusted in the abundance of his riches”; and, as often happens to men—and to women,
too—luxury had made him slanderous and foul-mouthed, and brutal and monstrous: “he
strengthened himself in his wickedness.” The psalm challenges the “big man”: “Why
boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?” but it tries also to convert him: “The
goodness of God is from day to day.” What is the connection between these two clauses
of verse 17 The big sinner, wicked and proud, is shut up, as it were, in a close and ill-
smelling room—shut up with his ugly thoughts, shut up with his own evil, selfish self.
Let him come out, says the psalmist, out into the sunshine of God’s mercies, out into the
open where the winds blow fresh o’er the world; let him think of God’s goodness, and
may it lead him to repentance. Old Testament piety haunts the open air for its images
(Psa_52:8). We of to-day may not be big men, and have psalms written about us, but we
need the same teaching. Let a man be ever-reached in business, let him come home and
brood over it, and how soon will arise the thought and plan of revenge! Let another come
to him with her prattling lips, and how easily does she convince him that he is a hero and
a martyr I Why not the rather, reaching a hand for God’s Book, remember His goodness,
which is from day to day? Young men may not know amassed wealth, but they know
how, in act or in fancy, they pass into the house of passion, where the blinds are drawn
and the windows dimmed by heat, and the sounds are pleasing, and sweet desire arises.
Young men, come forth—into the open, out from your narrow selves to God, out into His
love’s free atmosphere. You are not alone (Psa_52:9). Here are the saints, the heroes, the
men of faith; and above the helmets of salvation which they wear, see the Captain, Christ
Himself, beckoning you onwards to glory and to God. (British Weekly.)
The goodness of God endureth continually.—
The goodness of God infinite and everlasting
There is not so much sin in man as there is goodness in God. There is a vaster proportion
between sin and grace than between a spark and an ocean. Who would doubt whether a
spark could be quenched in an ocean? Thy thoughts of disobedience towards God have
been within the compass of time, but His goodness hath been bubbling up towards thee
from all eternity. (W. Culverwell.)

25. 2 You who practice deceit,
your tongue plots destruction;
it is like a sharpened razor.
BAR ES, "Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs - The word rendered “mischiefs”
means
(a) desire, cupidity: Pro_10:3; then
(b) fall, ruin, destruction, wickedness: Psa_5:9; Psa_38:12.
The meaning here is, that he made use of his tongue to ruin others. Compare Psa_
50:19. The particular thing referred to here is the fact that Doeg sought the ruin of
others by giving “information” in regard to them. He “informed” Saul of what Ahimelech
had done; he informed him where David had been, thus giving him, also, information in
what way he might be found and apprehended. All this was “designed” to bring ruin
upon David and his followers. It “actually” brought ruin on Ahimelech and those
associated with him, 1Sa_22:17-19.
Like a sharp razor - See the notes at Isa_7:20. His slanders were like a sharp knife
with which one stabs another. So we stay of a slanderer that he “stabs” another in the
dark.
Working deceitfully - literally, making deceit. That is, it was by deceit that he
accomplished his purpose. There was no open and fair dealing in what he did.
CLARKE, "Deviseth mischiefs - Lies and slanders proceeding from the tongue
argue the desperate wickedness of the heart.
Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully - Which instead of taking off the beard,
cuts and wounds the flesh; or as the operator who, when pretending to trim the beard,
cuts the throat.
GILL, "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

26. 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, 1Sa_22:9; so antichrist devises mischiefs against the saints of the most
High, to wear them out, and thinks to change times and laws, Dan_7:25;
like a sharp razor, working deceitfully; that is, his tongue was like a razor; the
razor is but a small instrument, and the tongue is but a little member: the razor is a
sharp and cutting one, and so is the tongue; and therefore compared to a sharp sword,
Psa_57:4; see Jer_18:18; the razor takes off the beard cleanly and wholly; Doeg's tongue
was the cause of the utter ruin of Ahimelech's family and the city of Nob; and as a razor
may be said to "work deceitfully", when it turns aside in the hand of him that useth it,
and with the hair takes off more than it should, even skin and flesh, or cuts the man's
throat; so in a deceitful and insidious manner did Doeg work the destruction of
Ahimelech and the priests of the Lord.
HE RY 2-4, "He draws up a high charge against him in the court of heaven, as he
had drawn up a high charge against Ahimelech in Saul's court, Psa_52:2-4. He accuses
him of the wickedness of his tongue (that unruly evil, full of deadly poison) and the
wickedness of his heart, which that was an evidence of. Four things he charges him with:
- 1. Malice. His tongue does mischief, not only pricking like a needle, but cutting like a
sharp razor. Scornful bantering words would not content him; he loved devouring
words, words that would ruin the priests of the Lord, whom he hated. 2. Falsehood. It
was a deceitful tongue that he did this mischief with (Psa_52:4); he loved lying (Psa_
52:3), and this sharp razor did work deceitfully (Psa_52:2), that is, before he had this
occasion given him to discover his malice against the priests, he had acted very plausibly
towards them; though he was an Edomite, he attended the altars, and brought his
offerings, and paid his respects to the priests, as decently as any Israelite; therein he put
a force upon himself (for he was detained before the Lord), but thus he gained an
opportunity of doing them so much the greater mischief. Or it may refer to the
information itself which he gave in against Ahimelech; for the matter of fact was, in
substance, true, yet it was misrepresented, and false colours were put upon it, and
therefore he might well be said to love lying, and to have a deceitful tongue. He told the
truth, but not all the truth, as a witness ought to do; had he told that David made
Ahimelech believe he was then going upon Saul's errand, the kindness he showed him
would have appeared to be not only not traitorous against Saul, but respectful to him. 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 pervert it, and make it to appear otherwise than it was. 3. Subtlety in sin:
“Thy tongue devises mischiefs; that is, it speaks the mischief which thy heart devises.”
The more there is of craft and contrivance in any wickedness the more there is of the
devil in it. 4. Affection to sin: “Thou lovest evil more than good; that is, thou lovest evil,
and hast no love at all to that which is good; thou takest delight in lying, and makest no
conscience of doing right. Thou wouldst rather please Saul by telling a lie than please
God by speaking truth.” Those are of Doeg's spirit who, instead of being pleased (as we
ought all to be) with an opportunity of doing a man a kindness in his body, estate, or
good name, are glad when they have a fair occasion to do a man a mischief, and readily
close with an opportunity of that kind; that is loving evil more than good. It is bad to
speak devouring words, but it is worse to love them either in others or in ourselves.

27. JAMISO , "tongue — for self.
mischiefs — evil to others (Psa_5:9; Psa_38:12).
working deceitfully — (Psa_10:7), as a keen, smoothly moving razor, cutting
quietly, but deeply.
CALVI , "2.Thy tongue reckons up mischiefs David is not to be considered as here
venting a flood of reproaches against his adversary, as many who have been
unjustly injured are in the habit of doing, merely to gratify a feeling of revenge. He
brings these charges against him in the sight of God, with a view to encourage
himself in the hopefulness of his own cause: for it is plain that the farther our
enemies proceed in the practice of iniquity, they proportionally provoke the anger of
the Lord, and are nearer to that destruction which must issue in our deliverance.
His object, therefore, is not to blacken the character of Doeg in the estimation of the
world, but rather to set before his own eyes the divine punishment which the
flagrant offenses he specifies were certain to draw down upon his head. Amongst
these he singles out, as more especially worthy of reprobation, the hidden treachery
with which he had been chargeable in accomplishing the destruction of the
priesthood. Adverting to his secret and malicious information, he likens his tongue
to a sharp razor, as elsewhere, Psalms 120:4, the tongues of the wicked are
compared to “sharp arrows.” It is added, working deceitfully, which words are
considered by some as referring to the razor which cuts subtilely, and not with an
open wound like a sword; but perhaps they may be construed with more propriety
as applying to the tongue, (276) although there can be no doubt of the reason of the
comparison.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 2. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs. Thou speakest with an
ulterior design. The information given was for Saul's assistance apparently, but in
very deed in his heart the Edomite hated the priests of the God of Jacob. It is a mark
of deep depravity, when the evil spoken is craftily intended to promote a yet greater
evil. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. David represents the false tongue as
being effectual for mischief, like a razor which, unawares to the person operated on,
is making him bald; so softly and deftly do Oriental barbers perform their work. Or
he may mean that as with a razor a man's throat may be cut very speedily, under
the pretence of shaving him, even thus keenly, basely, but effectually Doeg destroyed
the band of the priests. Whetted by malice, and guided by craft, he did his cruel
work with accursed thoroughness.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 2. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thus
our version. But I do not very well understand the propriety of the tongue's devising
mischief, and devising it like a sharp razor. But we may easily avoid this harsh
comparison by rendering the words: You contrive mischiefs with thy tongue, as with
a sharp razor, O thou dealer in deceit: i.e., you contrive with thy smooth and
flattering tongue to wound the reputation and character of others, as though thou
wast cutting their throats with a smooth razor. Samuel Chandler.

28. Ver. 2. Like a sharp razor, that instead of shaving the hair lances the flesh; or
missing the beard cutteth the throat. John Trapp.
Ver. 2. The smooth adroit manner of executing a wicked device neither hides not
abates its wickedness. Murder with a sharp razor is as wicked as murder with a
meat axe or bludgeon. A lie very ingeniously framed and rehearsed in an oily
manner, is as great a sin, and in the end will be seen to be as great a folly as the most
bungling attempt at deception. William S. Plumer.
TRAPP, "Psalms 52:2 Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working
deceitfully.
Ver. 2. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs] i.e. Venteth the mischievous devices of thy
mind, being an interpreter and an instrument fit for such a purpose, Cogitat, id est
eructat. Such another Doeg was icholas Saunders, priest, the firebrand of Earl
Desmond’s rebellion in Ireland, A. D. 1580, a restless and wretched man, whose foul
mouth was at length stopped with famine that had been ever open to stir up
rebellions against the state; that had uttered so many blasphemies against God and
his holy truth, and invented so many loud and lewd lies against men.
Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully] That, instead of shaving the hair, lanceth
the flesh, Exscindit carnem cure crinibus (R. Solomon); or, missing the beard,
cutteth the throat, Consulto aberrans iugulum petit, when Dionysius the tyrant
would not trust any barber (no, not his own daughters) to shave him; but singed off
his own hair with hot coals. The slanderer’s tongue, as sharp as a razor or as the
quills of a porcupine, slasheth and gasheth the good names of others, and that many
ways, viz. both by denying, disguising, lessening, concealing, misconstruing things of
good report; and also by forging, increasing, aggravating, or uncharitable spreading
things of evil report; not for any love to the truth nor for respect of justice, nor yet
for the bettering of the hearer or the delinquent; but only to prejudice the one, and
to incense the other. This was Doeg’s sin, and denominateth him a liar, Psalms 52:3,
though he had spoken only the truth.
COKE, "Psalms 52:2. Thy tongue deviseth mischief— I do not very well
understand, says Dr. Chandler, the propriety of the tongue's devising mischief, and
devising it like a sharp razor; but we may easily avoid this harsh comparison, which
Mr. Le Clerc justly complains of, by rendering the words, Thou contrivest mischiefs
with thy tongue, as with a sharp razor, O thou dealer in deceit! i.e. "Thou
contrivest, with thy smooth and flattering tongue, to wound the reputation and
character of others; as though thou wert cutting their throats with a smooth or
sharp razor." Or, much to the same sense, Thou contrivest wickedness: thy tongue
is like a sharp razor: thou dealest in deceit; or, O thou deceitful doer! The
construction will bear either of these senses: the comparing a smooth, deceitful,
murderous tongue to a sharp razor, is natural and lively. Chandler.
BE SO , "Psalms 52:2. Thy tongue deviseth mischief — That is, expresses what

29. thy wicked mind had devised. Thus skilfulness is ascribed to those hands which are
governed by a skilful man, Psalms 78:72. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully —
Wherewith a person, pretending only to shave off the hair, doth suddenly and
unexpectedly cut a man’s throat. So Doeg, pretending only to vindicate himself from
the imputation of disloyalty, 1 Samuel 22:8, really intended to expose the priests,
who were friends to David, to the king’s fury and cruelty.
CO STABLE, "Verses 2-4
The wicked who oppose God"s faithful servants often use their words as weapons to
cut them down (cf. James 3:6; James 3:8). Their words are deceitful when they
misrepresent the truth. They are "artists of deceit." [ ote: Dahood, 2:11.] David
stressed the fact that the treacherous really love their destructive activity. To
destroy is bad enough, but to love to do it is worse.
PETT, "Psalms 52:2-3
‘Your tongue devises wickednesses,
Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.’
‘You love evil more than good,
And lying rather than to speak righteousness. [Selah
The mischief of the mighty man in Psalms 52:1 is now defined. He is a man whose
tongue devises many types of wickedness, cuts men and their reputations to shreds
like a sharp razor, and works deceitfully. Such men prefer evil to good (compare
Isaiah 5:20), and lying to truthfulness. They reckon that in order to be successful in
life goodness and truthfulness must be forfeited because they can be too much of a
hindrance. And as men mature in sin they become more and more incapable of
discerning right from wrong. Their consciences are ‘seared with a hot iron’ (1
Timothy 4:2).
Such a man sounds totally disreputable. But there is something of this in us all.
Before we nod and pass on we should consider our own lives. We also may scheme
to hurt people whom we do not like, may use our tongues like a sharp razor, may
pass on rumours and insinuations, may at times act deceitfully and prefer evil to
good. So this man is just ourselves amplified. And it is only the power of Christ that
can root this out of us.
That it was true of Doeg is unquestionable. He was not concerned to find out the
truth of the situation, (Ahimelech genuinely thought that David was on the king’s
business), but preferred sneaking to Saul behind Ahimelech’s back, no doubt
hoping for reward. Why discover the truth when you can turn what you know to
such good account? It is a warning to us all to discover the truth before we pass
information on. False information is deceit.
At the end of the three verses we find the word ‘selah’. This was possibly a musical
pause, and may well be seen as saying, ‘think of that’.

30. 3 You love evil rather than good,
falsehood rather than speaking the truth.[c]
BAR ES, "Thou lovest evil more than good - Thou dost prefer to do injury to
others, rather than to do them good. In the case referred to, instead of aiding the
innocent, the persecuted, and the wronged, he had attempted to reveal the place where
he might be found, and where an enraged enemy might have an opportunity of wreaking
his vengeance upon him.
And lying rather than to speak righteousness - He preferred a lie to the truth;
and, when he supposed that his own interest would be subserved by it, he preferred a
falsehood that would promote that interest, rather than a simple statement of the truth.
The “lying” in this case was that which was “implied” in his being desirous of giving up
David, or betraying him to Saul - as if David was a bad man, and as if the suspicions of
Saul were wellfounded. He preferred to give his countenance to a falsehood in regard to
him, rather than to state the exact truth in reference to his character. His conduct in this
was strongly in contrast with that of Ahimelech, who, when arraigned before Saul,
declared his belief that David was innocent; his firm conviction that David was true and
loyal. “For” that fidelity he lost his life, 1Sa_22:14. Doeg was willing to lend countenance
to the suspicions of Saul, and practically to represent David as a traitor to the king. The
word “Selah” here is doubtless a mere musical pause. See the notes at Psa_3:2. It
determines nothing in regard to the sense of the passage.
CLARKE, "Thou lovest evil - This was a finished character. Let us note the
particulars:
1. He boasted in the power to do evil.
2. His tongue devised, studied, planned, and spoke mischiefs.
3. He was a deceitful worker.
4. He loved evil and not good.
5. He loved lying; his delight was in falsity.
6. Every word that tended to the destruction of others he loved.
7. His tongue was deceitful; he pretended friendship while his heart was full of
enmity, Psa_52:1-4. Now behold the punishment: -

31. GILL, "Thou lovest evil more than good,.... Indeed not good at all; such
comparatives being strong negatives; see Psa_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, 1Sa_22:10; and by suffering
some things to pass for truths which were falsehoods, when it lay in his power to have
disproved them: and such a lover of lies is antichrist; see 1Ti_4:2.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psa_3:2. The Targum renders the word "Selah" here
"for ever", as in Psa_52:5.
SBC, "David had been the special object of Doeg’s hatred, and he felt deeply the wrongs
he had endured. He represents the false tongue as being effectual for mischief, like a
razor which, unknown to the person operated upon, is making him bald, so softly and
skilfully do Oriental barbers perform their task. Whetted by malice and guided by craft,
Doeg accomplished his cruel purpose.
There are:
I. Lies of intention. This is the worst kind of all.
II. Lies of carelessness. A desire to say something which will startle or amuse is often the
secret why so many stories are told. So much mischief is done in the world by a
thoughtless use of this razor that no man can be too careful how he hastily accuses or
even suspects another of crime. Life is too short to correct or repair the harm which is
done in this way.
J. N. Norton, The King’s Ferry Boat, p. 161.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 3. Thou lovest evil more than good. He loved not good at all. If
both had been equally profitable and pleasant, he would have preferred evil. And
lying rather than to speak righteousness. He was more at home at lying than at
truth. He spake not the truth except by accident, but he delighted heartily in
falsehood. SELAH. Let us pause and look at the proud blustering liar. Doeg is gone,
but other dogs bark at the Lord's people. Saul's cattle master is buried, but the devil
still has his drovers, who fain would hurry the saints like sheep to the slaughter.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 3. Thou lovest evil more than good. --Thou hast loved evil, he says, more than
good, not by simply preferring it, but by substituting it; so that in the stead of good
he hath done evil, and that from the inmost love of his soul, bent upon evil;
wherefore he does not say that he admitted, but loved evil, not moral only, but
physical, for the destruction of his neighbours; so to have loved it, that he willed
nothing but evil, being averse to all good. Hermann Venema.
TRAPP, "Psalms 52:3 Thou lovest evil more than good; [and] lying rather than to
speak righteousness. Selah.

32. Ver. 3. Thou lovest evil more than good] Indeed, evil only, and not at all good,
whatever thou pretendest. Thy heart is naught, and thence it is that thy tongue is so
mischievous, as stinking breath cometh from corrupt inwards.
And lying, rather than to speak righteousness] For thou hast cunningly insinuated,
for thine own base ends and against thine own conscience, that those innocent and
faithful priests were of the combination; and so hast built thyself upon their ruins,
thou false sycophant, artifex doli. Selah.
4 You love every harmful word,
you deceitful tongue!
BAR ES, "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 Jer_51:44,
though the verb from which it is derived occurs frequently: Isa_28:4; Exo_7:12; Jon_2:1
Jon_1:17; Gen_41:7, Gen_41:24, et al. The verb means to swallow; and then, to consume
or destroy.
O thou deceitful tongue - Margin, “and the deceitful tongue.” The sense is best
expressed in the text. It is an address to the tongue as loving deceit or fraud.
GILL, "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 Rev_13:5;
O thou deceitful tongue; See Gill on Psa_52:2.
JAMISO , "all-devouring — literally, “swallowing,” which utterly destroy
(compare Psa_21:9; Psa_35:25).

33. CALVI , "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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 4. Thou lovest. Thou hast a taste, a gusto for evil language. All
devouring words. There are words that, like boa constrictors, swallow men whole,
or like lions, rend men to pieces; these words evil minds are fond of. Their oratory is
evermore furious and bloody. That which will most readily provoke the lowest
passions they are sure to employ, and they think such pandering to the madness of
the wicked to be eloquence of a high order. O thou deceitful tongue. Men can
manage to say a great many furious things, and yet cover all over with the pretext of
justice. They claim that they are jealous for the right, but the truth is they are
determined to put down truth and holiness, and craftily go about it under this
transparent pretence.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 4. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. He was all tongue;
a man of words; and these the most deceitful and injurious. Adam Clarke.
TRAPP, "Psalms 52:4 Thou lovest all devouring words, O [thou] deceitful tongue.
Ver. 4. Thou lovest all devouring words] Verba devoratoria ; the Greek hath it,
καταποντισµου, that devour and swallow up, so as the sea doth things cast into it. So
elsewhere, their throat is an open sepulchre, which devoureth all bodies, but
rendereth none without a miracle. Some render it, Verba voraginis, the words of a
whirlpool, which first turns men around, and then sucks them in. Others, Verba
absorptionis, in reference to that use of the tongue, which is to sup up dish meats;
Sic lingua attrahit homines ita ut absorbeantur, saith Vatablus. The Vulgate hath it,
Verba praecipitationis, words that hurl one down headlong, Ex editis aedium vel
rupium, as Hilary hath it, from the top of houses, or high rocks.
O thou deceitful tongue] Because, although it were for most part truth that he
spake, yet he did it maliciously, and by dissimulation passed over that which might
have made for Ahimelech, viz. that he relieved David in the simplicity of his heart,
as thinking him to be high in the king’s favour, and employed by him. Hegesippus
saith of Pilate, that he was Vir nequam, et parvi faciens mendacium, a naughty man,
and one that made no bones of a lie: such another was Doeg (De excid. Jerus. l. 2. c.
5).
COKE, "Psalms 52:4. Thou lovest all devouring words— Hebrew. All the words of
devouring, or destruction; O thou deceitful tongue! Or, repeating the word from the
foregoing clause, Thou lovest the tongue of deceit; i.e. the deceitful tongue; or such

34. calumnies as are the most pernicious in their nature, and as may most effectually
involve others in utter destruction. Houbigant follows the last version.
WHEDO , "4. All devouring words—Literally, all words that gulp down. Words
which swallow a man, as a voracious animal gulps his food without mastication. All
such words of falsehood this “hero” in crime and perfidy loved, and none others. It
is evident that Doeg was a man of marked ability, and of artful, insinuating address.
BE SO , "Psalms 52:4-5. Thou lovest all devouring words — Hebrew, ‫בלע‬ ‫,דברי‬
dibree balang, all the words of devouring, or destruction; that is, such calumnies as
are the most pernicious in their nature, and as may most effectually involve others
in utter destruction: such as might swallow up and destroy a whole family at once.
God shall likewise destroy thee for ever — That is, totally and unavoidably, as thou
didst destroy the priests. He shall pluck thee — Violently, irresistibly, and suddenly
remove thee, as the word ‫,יסחְך‬ jissachacha, signifies; out of thy dwelling-place —
From thy house and lands, and all the wages of thy unrighteousness. Or, out of his,
that is, the Lord’s tabernacle, from which thou didst cut off the Lord’s priests.
Therefore God shall excommunicate thee from his presence, and from the society of
the faithful. And though thou seemest to have taken very deep root, and to be more
firmly settled in this barbarous cruelty; yet God shall root thee out of the land of the
living, out of this world; shall pluck thee up by the very roots, and destroy thee,
both root and branch. Which must have been very terrible to him who had his
whole portion in this life.
PETT, "Verse 4-5
A Description Of The Consequences To Himself Resulting From His Sinfulness
(Psalms 52:4-5).
The Psalmist now tells us that what a man sows he will reap. In the final analysis
God will do to men what they have done to others. Thus those who devour with their
words will themselves be devoured.
Psalms 52:4-5
‘You love all devouring words,
O you deceitful tongue.’
In the same way God will destroy you for ever,
He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent,
And root you out of the land of the living.’ [Selah
‘Devouring words’ are literally ‘words which swallow up’. They cause harm, and
even death. The deceiver loves such words, for they enable him to obtain his ends, at
whatever cost to those whom he denigrates. Doeg’s words certainly ‘swallowed up’
Ahimelech and the priests of ob. And they were certainly ‘plucked from their tents
(homes) and rooted out of the land of the living’. Thus the application to Doeg as a
recompense for what he had done is very apposite.
And the warning to all who love devouring words which ‘swallow people up’, is that

35. they also will be ‘taken up’ by God, will be ‘plucked from their tents’, and will be
‘rooted out of the land of the living’. What they have done to others will be done to
them. God will destroy them for ever.
The verbs are forceful, almost violent. ‘Plucked from their tents’. Compare how in
Deuteronomy Israel were warned that if they did not observe YHWH’s Instruction
(His Torah - Law) they too would be plucked out of the land which YHWH had
given them (Deuteronomy 26:63). ‘Tents’ was a synonym for their homes, commonly
found throughout the Old Testament. ‘Rooted out of the land of the living’ may
have in mind weeds which, in order to be destroyed, were torn up by their roots.
This was precisely what had happened to the priests at ob.
‘O you deceitful tongue.’ In other words, ‘you man with a deceitful tongue’. The
man is spoken of in terms of his tongue.
5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting
ruin:
He will snatch you up and pluck you from your
tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living.
BAR ES, "God shall likewise destroy thee for ever - Margin, “beat thee
down.” The Hebrew word means to “tear, to break down, to destroy:” Lev_14:45; Jdg_
6:30. The reference here is not to the “tongue” alluded to in the previous verses, but to
Doeg himself. The language in the verse is intensive and emphatic. The main idea is
presented in a variety of forms, all designed to denote utter and absolute destruction - a
complete and entire sweeping away, so that nothing should be left. The word “here” used
would suggest the idea of “pulling down” - as a house, a fence, a wall; that is, the idea of
completely “demolishing” it; and the meaning is, that destruction would come upon the
informer and slanderer “like” the destruction which comes upon a house, or wall, or
fence, when it is entirely pulled down.
He shall take thee away - An expression indicating in another form that he would

36. be certainly destroyed. The verb used here - ‫חתה‬ châthâh - is elsewhere used only in the
sense of taking up and carrying fire or coals: Isa_30:14; Pro_6:27; Pro_25:22. The idea
here “may” be that he would be seized and carried away with haste, as when one takes up
fire or coals, he does it as rapidly as possible, lest he should be burned.
And shall pluck thee out of thy dwelling-place - literally, “out of the tent.” The
reference is to his abode. The allusion here in the verb that is used - ‫נסח‬ nâsach - is to the
act of pulling up plants; and the idea is, that he would be plucked up as a plant is torn
from its roots.
And root thee out of the land of the living - As a tree is torn up from the roots
and thus destroyed. He would be no more among the living. Compare Psa_27:13. All
these phrases are intended to denote that such a man would be utterly destroyed.
CLARKE, "God shall likewise destroy thee -
1. God shall set himself to destroy thee; ‫יתצך‬ yittotscha, “he will pull down thy
building;” he shall unroof it, dilapidate, and dig up thy foundation.
2. He shall bruise or break thee to pieces for ever; thou shalt have neither strength,
consistence, nor support.
3. He will mow thee down, and sweep thee away like dust or chaff, or light hay in a
whirlwind, so that thou shalt be scattered to all the winds of heaven. Thou shalt
have no residence, no tabernacle: that shall be entirely destroyed. Thou shalt be
rooted out for ever from the land of the living. The bad fruit which it has borne
shall bring God’s curse upon the tree; it shall not merely wither, or die, but it shall
be plucked up from the roots, intimating that such a sinner shall die a violent
death. Selah. So it shall be, and so it ought to be.
GILL, "God shall likewise destroy thee for ever,.... As a just retaliation for the
mischief done to others; or, "therefore God shall destroy" (z), &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, Rev_14:10; the word is used of breaking down the
house in which the leprosy was, Lev_14:45; and denotes the utter extinction of Doeg's
family, and the irrecoverable ruin of antichrist, Rev_18:21;
he shall take thee away; as fire from the hearth, Isa_30:14; or as burning coals from
the altar: a word from the root here used signifies a censer: and the meaning is, that as
his tongue was a fire, and set on fire of hell, and he was as a burning coal, he was fit for
nothing but to be cast into everlasting burnings;
and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place; "tent", or "tabernacle" (a); referring to
the tents of shepherds, he being the chief of Saul's shepherds, or to some stately palace
he had built for himself to dwell in, upon his advancement at court; or rather to the
tabernacle of the Lord, where he had been an hypocritical worshipper; but now should
be cut off from the church of God, as a rotten member, and cast out of the tabernacle of
Jacob, Mal_2:12; while David flourished as an olive tree in the house of the Lord, Psa_

37. 52:8;
and root thee out of the land of the living. In retaliation for his rooting out
Ahimelech's family, and the inhabitants of Nob; so in like manner he and his should be
destroyed root and branch, and not see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living,
nor enjoy eternal life in the world to come.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psa_3:2. The Targum renders the word "Selah" here
"for ever", as in Psa_52:3.
HE RY, ". He reads his doom and denounces the judgments of God against him for his
wickedness (Psa_52:5): “Thou hast destroyed the priests of the Lord and cut them off,
and therefore God shall likewise destroy thee for ever.” Sons of perdition actively shall
be sons of perdition passively, as Judas and the man of sin. Destroyers shall be
destroyed; those especially that hate, and persecute, and destroy the priests of the Lord,
his ministers and people, who are made to our God priests, a royal priesthood, shall be
taken away with a swift and everlasting destruction. Doeg is here condemned, 1. To be
driven out of the church: He shall pluck thee out of the tabernacle, not thy dwelling-
place, but God's (so it is most probably understood); “thou shalt be cut off from the
favour of God, and his presence, and all communion with him, and shalt have no benefit
either by oracle or offering.” Justly was he deprived of all the privileges of God's house
who had been so mischievous to his servants; he had come sometimes to God's
tabernacle, and attended in his courts, but he was detained there; he was weary of his
service, and sought an opportunity to defame his family; it was very fit therefore that he
should be taken away, and plucked out thence; we should forbid any one our house that
should serve us so. Note, We forfeit the benefit of ordinances if we make an ill use of
them. 2. To be driven out of the world; “He shall root thee out of the land of the living, in
which thou thoughtest thyself so deeply rooted.” When good men die they are
transplanted from the land of the living on earth, the nursery of the plants of
righteousness, to that in heaven, the garden of the Lord, where they shall take root for
ever; but, when wicked men die, they are rooted out of the land of the living, to perish
for ever, as fuel to the fire of divine wrath. This will be the portion of those that contend
with God.
JAMISO , "likewise — or, “so,” “also,” as you have done to others God will do to
you (Psa_18:27). The following terms describe the most entire ruin.
CALVI , "5God shall likewise destroy thee for ever. From these words it is made
still more evident that his object in dwelling upon the aggravated guilt of Doeg, was
to prove the certainty of his approaching doom, and this rather for his own
conviction and comfort, than with a view to alarming the conscience of the offender.
Accordingly, he declares his persuasion that God would not allow his treachery to
pass unpunished, though he might for a time connive at the perpetration of it. The
ungodly are disposed, so long as their prosperity continues, to indulge in
undisturbed security; and the saint of God, when he sees the power of which they

38. are possessed, and witnesses their proud contempt of the divine judgments, is too
apt to be overwhelmed with unbelieving apprehensions. But in order to establish his
mind in the truth which he announces, it is observable that the Psalmist heaps one
expression upon another, — God shall destroy thee, take thee away, pluck thee out,
root thee out, — as if by this multiplicity of words he would convince himself more
effectually, that God was able to overthrow this adversary with all his boasted might
and authority. (278) In adding that God would root him out of his dwelling-place or
tent, (279) and out of the land of the living, he insinuates that the wicked will be
destroyed by God, however securely they may seem to repose ir the nest of some
comfortable mansion, and in the vain hope of living upon earth for ever. Possibly he
may allude, in mentioning a tent, to the profession of Doeg, as shepherds have their
dwelling in tents.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 5. God shall likewise destroy thee for ever. Fain would the
persecutor destroy the church, and therefore God shall destroy him, pull down his
house, pluck up his roots, and make an end of him. He shall take thee away. God
shall extinguish his coal and sweep him away like the ashes of the hearth; he would
have quenched the truth, and God shall quench him. And pluck thee out of thy
dwelling place, like a plant torn from the place where it grew, or a captive dragged
from his home. Ahimelech and his brother priests were cut off from their abode,
and so should those be who compassed and contrived their murder. And root thee
out of the land of the living. The persecutor shall be eradicated, stubbed up by the
root, cut up root and branch. He sought the death of others and death shall fall
upon him. He troubled the land of the living, and he shall be banished to that land
where the wicked cease from troubling. Those who will not "let live" have no right
to "live." God will turn the tables on malicious men, and mete to them a portion
with their own measure. "SELAH." Pause again, and behold the divine justice
proving itself more than a match for human sin.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 5. God shall destroy thee forever, etc. There are four words the psalmist makes
us of to denote the utter vengeance that awaited this deceitful and bloody wretch, all
of them having a very strong meaning. The first, ksty from stn, signifies to pull
down, and break utterly into pieces; as when an altar is demolished. (Jude 6:30 8:9.)
The second, kth from the root hrh, which signifies to twist anything, or pluck it up
by twisting it round, as trees are sometimes twisted up. The third, khmy from hmg,
which properly signifies utterly to sweep away anything like dust or chaff; and the
expression lhm khm means not sweep thee away from thy tent, but sweep thee away,
that thou mayest be no longer a tent; thyself, thy family, thy fortune, shall be wholly
and entirely swept away, and dissipated forever; to which the fourth word, ksrs,
answers, eradicabit te, he shall root thee out from the land of the living. It is
impossible words can express a more entire and absolute destruction. Samuel
Chandler.
Ver. 5. God shall likewise destroy thee forever. Here are quot verba tot tonotrua, so
many words, so many thunderclaps. As thou hast destroyed the Lord's priests, and
their whole city, razing and harassing it; so God will demolish and destroy thee
utterly, as an house pulled down to the ground, so that one stone is not left upon
another (Leviticus 14:45); so shall God pull down Doeg from that high preferment,

39. which he by sycophancy hath got at court. John Trapp.
Ver. 5. Wonderful is the force of the verbs in the original, which convey to us the
four ideas of laying prostrate, dissolving as by fire, sweeping away as with a besom,
and totally extirpating root and branch, as a tree is eradicated from the spot on
which it grew. If a farther comment be wanted, it may be found in the history of
David's enemies, and the crucifiers of the son of David; but the passage will be fully
and finally explained by the destruction of the world of the ungodly at the last day.
George Horne.
Ver. 5. The poet accumulates dire and heavy words, and mingles various metaphors
that he might paint the picture of this man's destruction in more lively colours.
Three metaphors appear to be joined together, the first taken from a building, the
second from a tent, the third from a tree, if attention is given to the force and
common acceptation of the words. Hermann Venema.
Ver. 5. He shall take thee away; or, seize thee, as coals are taken with the tongs. J. J.
Stewart Perowne.
TRAPP, "Psalms 52:5 God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee
away, and pluck thee out of [thy] dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the
living. Selah.
Ver. 5. God shall likewise destroy thee] Here are quot verba tot tonitrua, so many
words, so many thunderclaps. As thou hast destroyed the Lord’s priests and their
whole city, razing and harassing it; so God will demolish and destroy thee utterly, as
a house pulled down to the ground, so that one stone is not left upon another,
Leviticus 14:45. So shall God pull down Doeg from that high preferment which he
by sycophancy hath got at court, Iudicium ipsum lethale describitur.
He shall take thee away] As a coal of fire is taken with the tongs, Isaiah 30:4, that it
do no further mischief. Some render it, He shall burn thee, Exuret te (Vatab.). R.
Gaon, He shall terrify thee.
And pluck thee out of thy dwelling place] Or, shall sweep thee out of thy tabernacle.
R. Gaon interpreteth it, Beth hamidrash, the Lord’s tabernacle, whereinto a Doeg
may set his foot as far as a David, but God will pluck him thence.
And root thee out of the land of the living] Everret et evertet te cum tota familia, He
shall utterly ruin thee and thine, leaving thee neither root nor branch, chick nor
child.
Selah] i.e. Veritas est, saith Aben Ezra. It is even so; think not that these things are
spoken only in terrorem, for a scarebug, for they shall all be surely fulfilled upon
thee.

40. COKE, "Psalms 52:5. God shall likewise destroy thee— The Psalmist makes use of
four words to denote the utter vengeance which awaited this deceitful and bloody
man: all of them have a very strong medium. The first signifies to pull down and
break utterly to pieces; as when an altar or tower is demolished: Judges 6:30; Jdg_
8:9. The second signifies to twist any thing, or pluck it up by twisting it round, as
trees are sometimes twisted up; see Schultens on Proverbs 6:27. The third signifies
utterly to sweep away any thing, like dust or chaff; and the whole expression means,
not "sweep thee away from thy tent," but "sweep thee away, that thou mayest be no
longer a tent:" thyself, thy family, thy fortune, shall be wholly and entirely swept
away, and dissipated for ever. To which the fourth verse answers, He shall root thee
out from the land of the living. It is impossible for words to express a more entire
and absolute destruction. Chandler.
WHEDO , "5-7. These verses describe the downfall of this wicked man. God
shall…
destroy thee—Literally, God shall break thee down: cause thee to fall with a crash.
Sudden and irretrievable ruin would end his boastful career of crime.
For ever—The fall of the wicked is without relief or hope.
Pluck thee out of thy dwellingplace… root thee out of the land—Descriptions of the
utter extirpation of his plans and social standing.
COFFMA , "Verse 5
PROPHECY OF GOD'S PU ISHME T OF DOEG
"God will likewise destroy thee forever;
He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent,
And root thee out of the land of the living.
(Selah)
The righteous also shall see it and fear,
And shall laugh at him, saying,
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."; "God will likewise destroy thee"
(Psalms 52:5). "The word `likewise' introduces the corresponding behavior of
another. Destroyers shall be destroyed. `With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be
judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again'"

41. (Matthew 7:2).[11]
"Pluck thee out of thy tent" (Psalms 52:5). This is another sarcastic word in the
psalm. Saul's mighty deputy, in all probability, was not living in a tent, but in a
palace; but it was as vulnerable to the judgment of God as the flimsiest kind of a
tent could have been. "This is a reference to the psalmist's own dwelling."[12]
"The righteous shall laugh at him" (Psalms 52:6). "Laugh over him" is the
rendition favored by some. "These words indicate delight in God's moral
government of the world, rather than personal vindictiveness."[13]
"Trusted in the abundance of his riches" (Psalms 52:7). This is a recurring theme in
the psalms, anticipating, as it does the teaching of the ew Testament. We observed
in Psalms 49 that riches can last only until certain and impending death, and not
always that long. The apostle's warning on riches is as follows:
"They that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many
foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. The love
of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led
astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1
Timothy 6:9-10).
"Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not highminded, nor
have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who giveth us all things
richly to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, willing to
communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time
to come, that they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed" (1 Timothy 6:17-
19).SIZE>
"And strengthened himself in his wickedness" (Psalms 52:7). "Doeg's high position
under Saul led to an excessive trust in riches and greediness for more gain. To
procure wealth he became Saul's unscrupulous tool, the willing instrument of his
cruelty. Saul no doubt richly rewarded him; and thus, `He strengthened himself in
his wickedness.'"[14]
K&D 5-7, "The announcement of the divine retribution begins with ‫ם‬ַ as in Isa_66:4;
Eze_16:43; Mal_2:9. The ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ּה‬‫א‬ is not, as one might suppose, the holy tent or tabernacle,
that he has desecrated by making it the lurking-place of the betrayer (1Sa_21:7), which
would have been expressed by ‫ּו‬‫ל‬ ֳ‫ה‬ ֽፎ ֵ‫,מ‬ but his own dwelling. God will pull him, the lofty
and imperious one, down (‫ץ‬ ַ‫ת‬ָ‫,נ‬ like a tower perhaps, Jdg_8:9; Eze_26:9) from his
position of honour and his prosperity, and drag him forth out of his habitation, much as
one rakes a coal from the hearth (‫ה‬ ָ‫ת‬ ָ‫ח‬ Biblical and Talmudic in this sense), and tear him
out of this his home (‫ח‬ ַ‫ס‬ָ‫,נ‬ cf. ‫ק‬ ַ‫ת‬ָ‫,נ‬ Job_18:14) and remove him far away (Deu_28:63),
because he has betrayed the homeless fugitive; and will root him out of the land of the
living, because he has destroyed the priests of God (1Sa_22:18). It then proceeds in Psa_
52:8 very much like Psa_40:4, Psa_40:5, just as the figure of the razor also coincides

42. with Psalms belonging to exactly the same period (Psa_51:8; Psa_57:5, cf. ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ט‬ ָ‫,ל‬ Psa_
7:13). The excitement and indignant anger against one's foes which expresses itself in the
rhythm and the choice of words, has been already recognised by us since Ps 7 as a
characteristic of these Psalms. The hope which David, in Psa_52:8, attaches to God's
judicial interposition is the same as e.g., in Psa_64:10. The righteous will be
strengthened in the fear of God (for the play of sounds cf. Psa_40:4) and laugh at him
whom God has overthrown, saying: Behold there the man, etc. According to Psa_58:11,
the laughing is joy at the ultimate breaking through of justice long hidden and not
discerned; for even the moral teaching of the Old Testament (Pro_24:17) reprobates the
low malignant joy that glories at the overthrow of one's enemy. By ‫ח‬ ַ‫ט‬ ְ‫ב‬ִ ַ‫ו‬ the former trust
in mammon on the part of the man who is overtaken by punishment is set forth as a
consequence of his refusal to put trust in God, in Him who is the true ‫ּוז‬‫ע‬ ָ‫מ‬ = Arab. m‛âᏽ,
hiding-place or place of protection (vid., on 31;3, Psa_37:39, cf. Psa_17:7; 22:33). ‫ה‬ָ‫וּ‬ ַ‫ה‬ is
here the passion for earthly things which rushes at and falls upon them (animo fertur).
6 The righteous will see and fear;
they will laugh at you, saying,
BAR ES, "The righteous also shaIl see - See the notes at Psa_37:34.
And fear - The effect of such a judgment will be to produce reverence in the minds of
good people - a solemn sense of the justice of God; to make them tremble at such fearful
judgments; and to fear lest they should violate the law, and bring judgment on
themselves.
And shall laugh at him - Compare the notes at Psa_2:4. See also Psa_58:10; Psa_
64:9-10; Pro_1:26. The idea here is not exultation in the “sufferings” of others, or joy
that “calamity” has come upon them, or the gratification of selfish and revengeful feeling
that an enemy is deservedly punished; it is that of approbation that punishment has
come upon those who deserve it, and joy that wickedness is not allowed to triumph. It is
not wrong for us to feel a sense of approbation and joy that the laws are maintained, and
that justice is done, even though this does involve suffering, for we know that the guilty
deserve it, and it is better that they should suffer than that the righteous should sutter
through them. All this may be entirely free from any malignant, or any revengeful
feeling. It may even be connected with the deepest pity, and with the purest benevolence
toward the sufferers themselves.

43. CLARKE, "The righteous also shall see, and fear - The thing shall be done in
the sight of the saints; they shall see God’s judgments on the workers of iniquity; and
they shall fear a God so holy and just, and feel the necessity of being doubly on their
guard lest they fall into the same condemnation. But instead of ‫וייראו‬ veyirau, “and they
shall fear,” three of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., with the Syriac, have ‫וישמחו‬
veyismachu, “and shall rejoice;” and, from the following words, “and shall laugh at him,”
this appears to be the true reading, for laughing may be either the consequence or
accompaniment of rejoicing.
GILL, "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, Rev_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 denominated righteous ones; though the judgments
of God on others strike them with solemn awe and reverence, Psa_119:120, but with a
filial godly fear; with a fear of God for his goodness to them, in delivering them out of the
hands of wicked men, which engages them more and more to fear the Lord, and to serve
and worship him; see Rev_15:4;
and shall laugh at him; at Doeg; and so at any other wicked man, when they see the
vengeance of God upon him, Psa_58:10; not that they rejoice at that, barely considered
in itself, or as it is an evil and mischief to wicked men; for that does not become them,
Pro_24:17; but as it is expressive of the care of God over them, and love to them, in
avenging their enemies; and more especially as the glory of divine justice is displayed
therein; see Rev_18:20; for all this will be eminently fulfilled in the destruction of
antichrist.
HE RY 6-7, "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, 2Co_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 judgments on Doeg, and speak of them, 1. To the glory of God: They shall see and
fear (Psa_52:6); that is, they shall reverence the justice of God, and stand in awe of him,
as a God of almighty power, before whom the proudest sinner cannot stand and before
whom therefore we ought every one of us to humble ourselves. Note, God's judgments
on the wicked should strike an awe upon the righteous and make them afraid of
offending God and incurring his displeasure, Psa_119:120; Rev_15:3, Rev_15:4. 2. To

44. the shame of Doeg. They shall laugh at him, not with a ludicrous, but a rational serious
laughter, as he that sits in heaven shall laugh at him, Psa_2:4. He shall appear
ridiculous, and worthy to be laughed at. We are told how they shall triumph in God's just
judgments on him (Psa_52:7): Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength. The
fall and ruin of a wealthy mighty man cannot but be generally taken notice of, and every
one is apt to make his remarks upon it; now this is the remark which the righteous
should make upon Doeg's fall, that no better could come of it, since he took the wrong
method of establishing himself in his wealth and power. If a newly-erected fabric
tumbles down, every one immediately enquires where was the fault in the building of it.
Now that which ruined Doeg's prosperity was, (1.) That he did not build it upon a rock:
He made not God his strength, that is, he did not think that the continuance of his
prosperity depended upon the favour of God, and therefore took no care to make sure
that favour nor to keep himself in God's love, made no conscience of his duty to him nor
sought him in the least. Those wretchedly deceive themselves that think to support
themselves in their power and wealth without God and religion. (2.) That he did build it
upon the sand. He thought his wealth would support itself: He trusted in the abundance
of his riches, which, he imagined, were laid up for many years; nay, he thought his
wickedness would help to support it. He was resolved to stick at nothing for the securing
and advancing of his honour and power. Right or wrong, he would get what he could and
keep what he had, and be the ruin of any one that stood in his way; and this, he thought,
would strengthen him. Those may have any thing that will make conscience of nothing.
But now see what it comes to; see what untempered mortar he built his house with, now
that it has fallen and he is himself buried in the ruins of it.
JAMISO , "shall ... fear — regard with religious awe.
laugh at him — for his folly;
CALVI , "6The righteous also shall see, and fear (280) He here adduces, as another
reason why the ruin of Doeg might be expected, that an important end would be
obtained by it, in so far as it would promote religion in the hearts of the Lord’s
people, and afford them a refreshing display of the Divine justice. Should it take
place, it would be witnessed by the ungodly as well as by the righteous; but there are
two reasons why the Psalmist represents it as being seen especially by the latter. The
wicked are incapable of profiting by the judgments of God, being blind to the
plainest manifestations which he has made of himself in his works, and it was only
the righteous therefore who could see it. Besides, the great end which God has in
view, when he prostrates the pride of the ungodly, is the comfort of his own people,
that he may show to them the care with which he watches over their safety. It is
they, therefore, whom David represents as witnessing this spectacle of Divine justice.
And when he says that they would fear, it is not meant that they would tremble, or
experience any slavish apprehension, but that their reverential regard for God
would be increased by this proof of his care of their interests. When left exposed to
the injurious treatment of their enemies, they are apt to be distressed with doubts as
to the concern which he takes in the government of the world. But such illustrations
to the contrary have the effect of quickening their discouraged zeal, and promoting
that fear which is by no means inconsistent with the joy spoken of in the close of the

45. verse. They are led to reverence him the more when they see that he is the avenger
of cruelty and injustice: on the other hand, when they perceive that he appears in
defense of their cause, and joins common battle with them against their adversaries,
they are naturally filled with the most triumphant joy. The beautiful play upon the
words see and fear, in the Hebrew, cannot be transferred to our language; the form
of the expression intimates that they would see, and see effectually.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 6. The righteous --the object of the tyrant's hatred-- shall
outlive his enmity, and also shall see, before his own face, the end of the ungodly
oppressor. God permits Mordecai to see Haman hanging on the gallows. David had
brought to him the tokens of Saul's death on Gilboa. And fear. Holy awe shall sober
the mind of the good man; he shall reverently adore the God of providence. And
shall laugh at him. If not with righteous joy, yet with solemn contempt. Schemes so
far reaching all baffled, plans so deep, so politic, all thwarted. Mephistopheles
outwitted, the old serpent taken in his own subtlety. This is a good theme for that
deep seated laughter which is more akin to solemnity than merriment.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 6. The righteous also shall see, etc. That is, to use the apt words of Gejerus,
"This shall not be a secret judgment, or known only to a few, but common fame
shall spread abroad throughout the kingdom, or city, the notable punishments of
the ungodly. The righteous also shall not pass by such an event with indifference,
but with earnest eyes shall contemplate it, "etc. I add, and hence shall they take joy,
and turn it to their own use, to the greater fearing of God... The righteous, upon
whose destruction the ungodly man was intent, shall survive and spend their lives
safe in the favour of God; they shall see with attentive mind, they shall consider;
nor, as worldlings are accustomed, shall they pass it by without reflection or
improvement, they shall see and fear, namely, God the just judge; and instructed in
his judgment by this instance, they shall be the more careful to abstain from all
designs and crimes of this kind. Hermann Venema.
Ver. 6. And shall laugh at him; or, over him --over the wicked man thus cast down--
they shall laugh. Such exultation, to our modern sensibilities, seems shocking,
because we can hardly conceive of it, apart from the gratification of personal
vindictiveness. But there is such a thing as a righteous hatred, as a righteous scorn.
There is such a thing as a shout of righteous joy at the downfall of the tyrant and the
oppressor, at the triumph of righteousness and truth over wrong and falsehood. J. J.
Stewart Perowne.
ELLICOTT, "(6) Fear . . . laugh.—The mingled feelings of awe at the tyrant’s
terrible fall, and exultation at his overthrow, are finely caught and described.
Dwelling-place.—Better, tent.
Root thee out.—This word, suggestive of rooting up a corrupt tree, becomes more
forcible from the contrast in the figure of Psalms 52:8.
TRAPP, "Psalms 52:6 The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:

46. Ver. 6. The righteous also shall see and fear] With a reverential fear, from which
shall spring sincere service. Aliorum perditio tua sit cautio, Let other men’s
perdition be our caution; let us wash our feet in the blood of the wicked. There is an
elegance in the original that cannot be translated into English.
And shall laugh at him] With a holy laughter; not that of irrision, but of exultation
in God, or his righteous executions.
COKE, "Psalms 52:6. The righteous also shall see, and fear— The peculiar
judgments of God executed upon exemplary offenders, who have been guilty of
treachery, rapine, and murder, good men will carefully observe, and observe with
awful pleasure and thankfulness: not that they rejoice to see the punishments and
miseries of mankind, in themselves considered; no person of humanity taking
pleasure in the execution of the worst of criminals, as such. But as the
administration of justice is always a right, and so far a pleasant thing; as instances
of God's vengeance are sometimes necessary to keep men in tolerable order; and as
the cutting off such kind of incorrigible offenders prevents them from doing farther
mischiefs, and is so far a public and common blessing to mankind; it was impossible
that any good man who had seen the crimes of this treacherous and bloody Edomite,
retaliated on him by divine Providence, could do otherwise than approve so
righteous a retribution; and, when he observed it, forbear in triumph to say, as at
the next verse;
WHEDO , "6. The righteous… shall see, and fear—They shall be filled with awe
and reverence at the signal judgments of God, whereby the turpitude of sin and the
holiness and justice of God are made manifest. To deter men from sin, and to inspire
confidence in the rewarding government of God towards the righteous, are the chief
exemplary ends of moral punishment. See Deuteronomy 13:11; Deuteronomy 17:3;
Deuteronomy 19:20; Revelation 15:4.
And shall laugh at him— ot as a vanquished enemy, which the Old Testament
morality forbade, (Job 31:29-30; Proverbs 17:5; Proverbs 24:14,) but at the
impotence of his futile schemes as against the rule of God. See on Psalms 2:4; Psalms
58:10-11
BE SO , "Psalms 52:6-7. The righteous also shall see — amely, thy remarkable
downfall, and, consequently, shall survive thee, in spite of all thy malice and
violence against them; and fear — Shall reverence God’s just judgment upon thee,
and be afraid of provoking him. And shall laugh at him — ot taking pleasure in
his ruin, considered in itself, but only in the glory of God’s justice vindicated
thereby, (Revelation 18:20,) and deriding his vain and carnal confidence in his
wicked courses. “The peculiar judgments of God, executed upon exemplary
offenders, who have been guilty of treachery, rapine, and murder, good men will
carefully observe; and observe, though with awe, yet thankfulness; not that they
rejoice to see the punishments and miseries of mankind, separately considered; no
person of humanity taking pleasure in the execution of criminals as such; but as the

47. administration of justice is always a right, and, so far, a pleasant thing; as instances
of God’s vengeance are sometimes necessary to keep men in tolerable order; and as
the cutting off such kind of incorrigible offenders prevents them from doing further
mischiefs, and is so far a public and common blessing to mankind. It was therefore
impossible that any good man, who had seen the crimes of this treacherous and
bloody Edomite retaliated on him by Divine Providence, should do otherwise than
approve so righteous a retribution, and when he observed it, forbear to say, as in
Psalms 52:7, Lo, this is the man, &c.” — The great and famous man, that made not
God his strength — That trusted in and feared Saul more than God, and was willing
to purchase Saul’s favour with God’s displeasure; but trusted in the abundance of
his riches — Thought himself secure in his great and growing wealth without God’s
protection or blessing. “Observe the fate of this haughty slanderer and murderer!
Where now are all his boasted riches and prosperity?” He and they are separated
for ever! See Dodd and Chandler.
CO STABLE, "The punishment of the wicked would delight the righteous, not
because they had suffered, but because God would judge righteously. The person
who does not trust in the Lord trusts in himself. He builds a refuge for himself often
out of material things, but it always proves inferior to God Himself.
PETT, "Verses 6-9
A Description Of How The Righteous See The Deceitful Man’s Fate And The
Personal Vindication Of Each Of The Righteous Concerning Themselves (Psalms
52:6-9).
Psalms 52:6
‘The righteous also will see, and fear,
And will laugh at him, (saying),
The righteous will see what happens to such a man and will be filled with awe. And
‘they will laugh at him’ in incredulity. Being themselves filled with awe at the
thought of the holiness of God they will be amazed that he could be so foolish. The
laugh is not vindictive. Rather they are laughing at his folly. They cannot believe
that he could be so foolish. The aim is to bring out the extreme foolishness of his
ways as will now be described. Compare Proverbs 1:26-30. To laugh vindictively at
what befalls an evil man is forbidden in Proverbs 24:17-18 with the warning that
God will not be pleased..
GUZIK, " The reaction of the righteous.
1. (6-7) The general response.
The righteous also shall see and fear,
And shall laugh at him, saying,

48. Here is the man who did not make God his strength,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
And strengthened himself in his wickedness.
a. The righteous also shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him: When the coming
judgment against Doeg happens, the people of God will notice it and it will cause
them to honor and reverence God. It will also make them laugh in satisfaction at the
destruction of such an evil man.
i. It is the righteous that learns from Doeg's judgment. We might have wished it
were the wicked. "But this is the tragedy of life, that its teachings are prized most by
those who have already learned them, and that those who need them most consider
them least." (Maclaren)
ii. "Fear; both reverence Gods just judgment upon thee, and be afraid of provoking
God to send like judgment upon them." (Poole)
iii. Shall laugh at him: "If not with righteous joy, yet with solemn contempt. This is
a goodly theme for that deep–seated laughter which is more akin to solemnity than
merriment." (Spurgeon)
iv. Shall laugh at him: "It is easy for those who have never lived under grinding,
godless tyranny to reprobate the exultation of the oppressed at the sweeping away of
their oppressors; but if the critics had seen their brethren set up as torches to light
eros gardens, perhaps they would have known some thrill of righteous joy when
they heard that he was dead." (Maclaren)
b. Here is the man who did not make God his strength: Previously David told us
about Doeg's sins of destructive and deceitful words and of loving evil and lying.
Here he exposed an associated sin - a failure to trust God and the trust of great
riches instead.
i. We often are drawn to evil and lying because we fail to trust God can and will
work through goodness and truth. We lie to ourselves, saying that we must cut these
corners, work this evil, or promote this lie because it's the only way to get things
done.
ii. In writing trusted in the abundance of his riches, David may point to something

49. only implied in the 1 Samuel 21-22 account: that Doeg did this for the sake of riches,
either immediate or eventual. For the sake of money he murdered 85 people. 1
Samuel 22 indicates that Doeg did this to gain the favor of Saul and the favor of a
king could be a path to significant riches.
iii. Trusted in the abundance of his riches: "Oh! tis hard to abound in riches and
not to trust in them. Hence that caution (Psalm 62:10): If riches increase, set not
your heart upon them." (Caryl, cited in Spurgeon)
iv. "Wealth and wickedness are dreadful companions; when combined they make a
monster. When the devil is master of money bags, he is a devil indeed." (Spurgeon)
7 “Here now is the man
who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
and grew strong by destroying others!”
BAR ES, "Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength - That is, the
righteous Psa_52:6 would say this. They would designate him as a man who had not
made God his refuge, but who had trusted in his own resources. The result would be that
he would he abandoned by God, and that those things on which he had relied would fail
him in the day of calamity. He would be pointed out as an instance of what must occur
when a man does not act with a wise reference to the will of God, but, confiding in his
own strength and resources, pursues his own plans of iniquity.
But trusted in the abundance of his riches - See the notes at Psa_49:6. From
this it would seem that Doeg was a rich man, and that, as a general thing, in his life, and
in his plans of evil, he felt confident in his wealth. He had that spirit of arrogance and
self-confidence which springs from the conscious possession of property where there is
no fear of God; and into all that he did he carried the sense of his own importance as
derived from his riches. In the particular matter referred to in the psalm the meaning is,
that he would perform the iniquitous work of giving “information” with the proud and
haughty feeling springing from wealth and from self-importance - the feeling that he was

50. a man of consequence, and that whatever such a man might do would be entitled to
special attention.
And strengthened himself in his wickedness - Margin, “substance.” This is the
same word which in Psa_52:1 is rendered “mischief.” The idea is, that he had a malicious
pleasure in doing wrong, or in injuring others, and that by every art, and against all the
convictions and remonstrances of his own conscience, he endeavored to confirm himself
“in” this unholy purpose and employment.
CLARKE, "Made not God his strength - Did not make God his portion.
In the abundance of his riches - Literally, in the multiplication of his riches. He
had got much, he hoped to get more, and expected that his happiness would multiply as
his riches multiplied. And this is the case with most rich men.
Strengthened himself in his wickedness - Loved money instead of God; and
thus his depravity, being increased, was strengthened.
Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit.
“In proportion to the increase of wealth, so is the love of it.”
Where is the religious man, in whose hands money has multiplied, who has not lost
the spirit of piety in the same ratio? To prevent this, and the perdition to which it leads,
there is no way but opening both hands to the poor.
GILL, "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 all they do
in his strength; fly to him as their "strong hold", as the word (b) may be rendered;
thither they run, and are safe: but the rich man's wealth is his strong city, Pro_18:10;
there he thinks himself safe, and places his confidence in it, as follows:
but trusted in the abundance of his riches; See Gill on Psa_49:6; so the
antichristian whore is represented as boasting of her riches and honour, and trusting in
them, that they would always continue, Rev_18:7; like the fool in Luk_12:19;
and strengthened himself in his wickedness; encouraged and hardened himself
in sin, gave up himself to it; and, by art obstinate continuance in it, strengthened the
vicious habits contracted; stretched out his hand against God, and strengthened himself
against the Almighty; went on in a daring manner, promising himself impunity; and as if
his wickedness was his strength, his safeguard and protection: or in his mammon, his
wealth and substance; as the Targum interprets it; and so R. Saadiah Gaon (c), and with
which the Syriac version agrees; and then the sense is the same with the other clause.
But, alas! what are all such forces of strength, when wrath comes forth from the Lord of
hosts? Job_36:18.

51. JAMISO , "for trusting in riches and being strong in “wickedness.”
wickedness — literally, “mischief” (Psa_52:2), instead of trusting in God.
the man — literally, “the mighty man,” or “hero” (Psa_52:1).
CALVI , "7.Lo! this is the man that made not God his strength Some think that
these words are given as what should afterwards be proverbially applied to Doeg;
but they would not appear to have been intended in that restricted signification.
They merely express the improvement which the people of God would make of the
judgment. It would teach them, on the one hand, to be patient under the insolence of
the ungodly, which is so speedily humbled; and, on the other, to beware of indulging
a similarly infatuated spirit themselves. They would laugh at their destruction, yet
not in the way of insulting over them, but rejoicing more and more in the confidence
of the help of God, and denying themselves more cheerfully to the vain pleasures of
this world. This is the lesson to be learned from such dispensations of providence:
they should recall our wandering affections to God. The verse is introduced with an
exclamation, Lo! this is the man, etc.; for David would have us to look upon this one
instance as representing to our eyes, in a vivid manner, the end of all who despise
the Lord; and it may be remarked, that it is no small point of practical wisdom thus
to generalise individual providences. The two clauses, made not God his strength,
and, trusted in the abundance of his riches, stand mutually connected; for none can
be said sincerely to repose upon God but he who has been emptied of all confidence
in his own resources. So long as men imagine that they have something of their own
in which they can boast, they will never resort to God: just in proportion as we
arrogate to ourselves do we derogate from him; and it is not only wealth, but any
other earthly possession, which, by engrossing our confidence, may prevent us from
inquiring after the Lord. The noun ‫,הוה‬ havah, which most interpreters have
rendered wickedness, (281) and some slaughter or destruction, seems, in this place,
rather to mean substance. (282) Such repetitions of the same sentiment in different
words are common with the Psalmist; and, according to this translation, the verse
will flow connectedly, reading, that the man who trusts in his riches, and
strengthens himself in his substance, defrauds God of his just glory.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 7. Lo. Look ye here, and read the epitaph of a mighty man, who
lorded it proudly during his little hour, and set his heel upon the necks of the Lord's
chosen. This is the man that made not God his strength. Behold the man! The great
vainglorious man. He found a fortress, but not in God; he gloried in his might, but
not in the Almighty. Where is he now? How has it fared with him in the hour of his
need? Behold his ruin, and be instructed. But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
and strengthened himself in his wickedness. The substance he had gathered, and the
mischiefs he had wrought, were his boast and glory. Wealth and wickedness are
dreadful companions; when combined they make a monster. When the devil is
master of money bags, he is a devil indeed. Beelzebub and Mammon together heat
the furnace seven times hotter for the child of God, but in the end that shall work
out their own destruction. Wherever we see today a man great in sin and substance,

52. we shall do well to anticipate his end, and view this verse as the divine in memoriam.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 7. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength. David having showed
(Psalms 52:5-6) the wicked man, by the righteous judgment of God rooted out of the
land of the living, shows us in the next verse, the righteous man at once fearing and
laughing at this sight, as also pointing at him saying, Lo, this is the man that made
not God his strength. The words are a divine but cutting sarcasm. The original is
geber, which signifieth a strong, valiant man: as we say in English, Lo, this is the
brave and gallant man you wot of! But who was this for a man? He was one, saith
he, that trusted in the abundance of his riches. Oh! It is hard to abound in riches
and not to trust in them. Hence that caution (Psalms 62:10): If riches increase, set
not your heart upon them. ow, what is the setting the heart upon riches but our
rejoicing and trusting in them? And because the heart of man is so easily persuaded
into this sinful trust upon riches, therefore the apostle is urgent with Timothy to
persuade all rich men--not only mere worldly rich men, but godly rich men--against
it; yea, he urges Timothy to persuade rich men against two sins, which are worse
than all the poverty in the world, yet the usual attendants of riches--pride and
confidence: Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded., 1
Timothy 6:17. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 7-8. Perhaps some of you have been long professors, and yet come to little
growth in love to God, humility, heavenly mindedness, mortification; and it is worth
the digging to see what lies at the root of your profession, whether there be not a
legal principle that hath too much influenced you. Have you not thought to carry all
with God from your duties and services, and too much laid up your hopes in your
own actings? Alas! this is as so much dead earth, which must be thrown out, and
gospel principles laid in the room thereof. Try but this course, and try whether the
spring of thy grace will not come on apace. David gives an account how he came to
stand and flourish when some that were rich and mighty, on a sudden withered and
came to nothing. Lo, saith he, this is the man that made not God his strength; but
trusted in the abundance of his riches. But I am like a green olive tree in the house
of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. While others trust in the
riches of their own righteousness and services, and make not Christ their strength,
do thou renounce all, and trust in the mercy of God in Christ, and thou shalt be like
a green olive when they fade and wither. William Gurnall.
TRAPP, "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.
Ver. 7. Lo, this is the man] Or, rather, now the monster to be pointed at; once so
mighty, now so miserable, O quantum haec iobe, &c., what a strange change is
here, &c. As the true Israelite is pointed out with a Behold, for imitation, John 1:47,
so is this counterfeit Israelite for detestation.
That made not God his strength] But carried the matter as if he had been some petty
god within himself.

53. But trusted in the abundance, &c.] ever true to those that trusted them.
And strengthened himself in his wickedness] Heb. in his woeful evil, in his putting
many poor creatures to their "Woe is me!"
COKE, "Psalms 52:7. Lo! this is the man, &c.— "See the fate of the haughty
slanderer and murderer! Where are all his boasted riches and prosperity? He was
too proud to place his safety in God: but trusted in the multitude of his riches;
thinking his wealth would defend him from the punishment due to his villainies."
Mr. Schultens renders the words, Ferociebat in vasta sua cupiditate: "He grew
insolent and furious in his boundless appetite, viz. to heap up riches, and satisfy the
malice and cruelty of his heart."
WHEDO , "7. The righteous now speak. Lo, this is the man—Literally, Behold the
strong man, or the hero. The same word is rendered, in Psalms 52:1, “mighty man.”
The moral points in the history of this fallen man are, He made not God his
strength; he trusted in the abundance of his riches, for acquiring which his office
and rank gave great opportunity, 1 Samuel 21:7; 1 Samuel 22:9; and he
strengthened himself in his wickedness; that is, in the success of his wicked devices.
Worldly men might ascribe his downfall to political causes, as the death of Saul and
the transfer of the kingdom to David, but faith discerns in it the avenging hand of
God.
PETT, "Psalms 52:7
‘See, this is the man who did not make God his strength,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
And strengthened himself in his wickedness.’
They will say to one another, ‘This is the man who did not make God his strength,
but rather trusted in the abundance of his riches, and thus strengthened himself in
his wickedness’. Like all men he had had a choice. He could have found his strength
in God. He could have looked to Him for strength. But he rather trusted in his
riches. He saw being wealthy as more important than pleasing God, for he was
convinced that in riches he would find security and happiness. They would be his
stay. But they would be of little use when disaster struck, and his wealth was taken
from him, or when he became ill and died.
And because his trust had been in the abundance of his riches, striving to obtain
more and more by any means, he became convinced that nothing else mattered. He
felt that nothing could harm him, and this bolstered him up in the wrongdoing that
he perpetrated. After all, it was through wrongdoing that his riches had been
gained. And wrongdoing would make him richer.

54. Doeg had become wealthy. He was chief of all Saul’s herdsmen, which in those days,
in a land where agriculture was its mainstay, was a very important position. And it
was this that had persuaded him to act as he did in the hope of gaining favour and
obtaining more wealth. His mind was fixed on ‘getting on’. He thus disregarded
truth, whilst his wealth, and his desire for more, strengthened him in his
wrongdoing. Jesus warned men of the deceitfulness of riches (Mark 4:19), and Paul
pointed out that a desire for wealth was at the root of all evil and had brought on
men many sorrows (1 Timothy 6:10). It is one thing to prosper. It is quite another to
make it your goal in life.
8 But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
BAR ES, "But I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God - I am safe
and happy, notwithstanding the effort made by my enemy, the informer, to secure my
destruction. I have been kept unharmed, like a green and flourishing tree - a tree
protected in the very courts of the sanctuary - safe under the care and the eye of God. A
green tree is the emblem of prosperity. See Psa_1:3, note; Psa_37:35, note; compare
Psa_92:12. The “house of God” here referred to is the tabernacle, considered as the place
where God was supposed to reside. See Psa_15:1, note; Psa_23:6, note; Psa_27:4-5,
notes. The particular allusion here is to the “courts” of the tabernacle. An olive tree
would not be cultivated in the tabernacle, but it might in the “courts” or “area” which
surrounded it. The name “house of God” would be given to the whole area, as it was
afterward to the entire area in which the temple was. A tree thus planted in the very
courts of the sanctuary would be regarded as sacred, and would be safe as long as the
tabernacle itself was safe, for it would be, as it were, directly under the divine protection.
So David had been, notwithstanding all the efforts of his enemies to destroy him.
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever -
(a) I “have” always done it. It has been my constant practice in trouble or danger.
(b) I “will” always do it.
As the result of all my experience, I will still do it; and thus trusting in God, I shall

55. have the consciousness of safety.
CLARKE, "But I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God - I shall be in
the house of God, full of spiritual vigor, bringing forth evergreen leaves and annual fruit,
as the olive does when planted in a proper soil and good situation. It does not mean that
there were olive-trees planted in God’s house; but he was in God’s house, as the olive
was in its proper place and soil.
I trust in the mercy of God - The wicked man trusts in his riches: I trust in my
God. He, like a bad tree, bringing forth poisonous fruit, shall be cursed, and pulled up
from the roots; I, like a healthy olive in a good soil, shall, under the influence of God’s
mercy, bring forth fruit to his glory. As the olive is ever green, so shall I flourish in the
mercy of God for ever and ever.
GILL, "But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God,.... Or rather it
should be supplied, "I shall be" (d); 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 to have a place is the great privilege of the saints; they are
planted there by the Lord himself, and shall never be rooted up; they are fixed there, and
shall never go out; which was David's confidence, Psa_23:6; and where he believed he
should be as "a green olive tree"; which is a very choice and fruitful tree, has fatness in it,
produces an excellent oil; is beautiful to look at; delights in hot climates and sunny
places; is found on mountains, we read of the mount of Olives; is ever green and durable,
and its leaves and branches are symbols of peace: all which is applicable to truly
righteous persons and believers in Christ; who are the excellent of the earth, are filled
with the fruits of righteousness; are fat and flourishing; have the oil of grace, the
anointing which teacheth all things; are a perfection of beauty, made perfectly comely
through Christ's comeliness; thrive under him, the sun of righteousness; grow in the
mountain of the Lord's house, the church: their grace is incorruptible, their leaf withers
not; they are rooted in Christ, and ever continue; they are the sons of peace, and their
last end will be eternal peace. Now as such David was assured he should be, when his
enemy would be rooted up out of the land of the living, and cast like a dry and worthless
branch into everlasting burnings; the ground of which confidence follows:
I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever; the mercy of God is not only an
encouragement to trust, but the object of it; not the absolute mercy of God, but the grace
and goodness of God in Christ Jesus, which endures continually, Psa_52:1; and so does
hope in it, which never makes ashamed, but abides to the end. The psalmist seems to
have respect to the mercy promised him, that he should sit upon the throne. This he
believed, and therefore was assured he should be in the flourishing circumstances in the
house of God before mentioned.
HE RY 8-9, "In his own stability, Psa_52:8, Psa_52:9. “This mighty man is plucked

56. up by the roots; but I am like a green olive-tree, planted and rooted, fixed and
flourishing; he is turned out of God's dwelling-place, but I am established in it, not
detained, as Doeg, by any thing but the abundant satisfaction I meet with there.” Note,
Those that by faith and love dwell in the house of God shall be like green olive-trees
there; the wicked are said to flourish like a green bay-tree (Psa_37:35), which bears no
useful fruit, though it has abundance of large leaves; but the righteous flourish like a
green olive-tree, which is fat as well as flourishing (Psa_92:14) and with its fatness
honours God and man (Jdg_9:9), deriving its root and fatness from the good olive,
Rom_11:17. Now what must we do that we may be as green olive-trees? 1. We must live a
life of faith and holy confidence in God and his grace? “I see what comes of men's
trusting in the abundance of their riches, and therefore I trust in the mercy of God for
ever and ever - not in the world, but in God, not in my own merit, but in God's mercy,
which dispenses its gifts freely, even to the unworthy, and has in it an all-sufficiency to
be our portion and happiness.” This mercy is for ever; it is constant and unchangeable,
and its gifts will continue to all eternity. We must therefore for ever trust in it, and never
come off from that foundation. 2. We must live a life of thankfulness and holy joy in God
(Psa_52:9): “I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it, has avenged the blood
of thy priests upon their bloody enemy, and given him blood to drink, and hast
performed thy promise to me,” which he was as sure would be done in due time as if it
were done already. It contributes very much to the beauty of our profession, and to our
fruitfulness in every grace, to be much in praising God; and it is certain that we never
want matter for praise. 3. We must live a life of expectation and humble dependence
upon God: “I will wait on thy name; I will attend upon thee in all those ways wherein
thou hast made thyself known, hoping for the discoveries of thy favour to me and willing
to tarry till the time appointed for them; for it is good before thy saints,” or in the
opinion and judgment of thy saints, with whom David heartily concurs. Communis
sensus fidelium - All the saints are of this mind, (1.) That God's name is good in itself,
that God's manifestations of himself to his people are gracious and very kind; there is no
other name given than his that can be our refuge and strong tower. (2.) That it is very
good for us to wait on that name, that there is nothing better to calm and quiet our
spirits when they are ruffled and disturbed, and to keep us in the way of duty when we
are tempted to use any indirect courses for our own relief, than to hope and quietly wait
for the salvation of the Lord, Lam_3:26. All the saints have experienced the benefit of it,
who never attended him in vain, never followed his guidance but it ended well, nor were
ever made ashamed of their believing expectations from him. What is good before all the
saints let us therefore abide and abound in, and in this particularly: Turn thou to thy
God; keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually, Hos_12:6.
JAMISO , "The figure used is common (Psa_1:3; Jer_11:16).
green — fresh.
house, etc. — in communion with God (compare Psa_27:4, Psa_27:5).
for ever and ever — qualifies “mercy.”
K&D 8-9, "The gloomy song now brightens up, and in calmer tones draws rapidly to a
close. The betrayer becomes like an uprooted tree; the betrayed, however, stands firm
and is like to a green-foliaged olive (Jer_11:16) which is planted in the house of Elohim
(Psa_90:14), that is to say, in sacred and inaccessible ground; cf. the promise in Isa_

57. 60:13. The weighty expression ָ‫ית‬ ִ‫שׂ‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫י‬ ִⅴ refers, as in Ps 22:32, to the gracious and just
carrying out of that which was aimed at in the election of David. If this be attained, then
he will for ever give thanks and further wait on the Name, i.e., the self-attestation, of
God, which is so gracious and kind, he will give thanks and “wait” in the presence of all
the saints. This “waiting,” ‫ה‬ֶ‫וּ‬ ָ‫ק‬ ֲ‫ֽא‬ַ‫,ו‬ is open to suspicion, since what he intends to do in the
presence of the saints must be something that is audible or visible to them. Also “hoping
in the name of God” is, it is true, not an unbiblical notional combination (Isa_36:8); but
in connection with ‫טוב‬ ‫כי‬ ‫שׁמך‬ which follows, one more readily looks for a verb expressing
a thankful and laudatory proclamation (cf. Ps 54:8). Hitzig's conjecture that we should
read ‫ה‬ֶ‫וּ‬ ַ‫ח‬ ֲ‫ֽא‬ַ‫ו‬ is therefore perfectly satisfactory. ָ‫יך‬ ֶ‫יד‬ ִ‫ס‬ ֲ‫ח‬ ‫ד‬ֶ‫ג‬ֶ‫נ‬ does not belong to ‫,טוב‬ which
would be construed with ‫י‬ֵ‫ינ‬ ֵ‫ע‬ ְ htiw deurtsnoc , and not ‫,נגד‬ but to the two votive words; cf.
Psa_22:26; Psa_138:1, and other passages. The whole church (Psa_22:23., Psa_40:10.)
shall be witness of his thankfulness to God, and of his proclamation of the proofs which
God Himself has given of His love and favour.
SBC, "I. Consider what mercy is. (1) Mercy is not to be confounded with mere goodness.
Goodness may demand the exercise of justice; mercy asks that justice be set aside. (2)
Mercy is a disposition to pardon the guilty. (3) Mercy is exercised only where there is
guilt. (4) Mercy can be exercised no further than one deserves punishment.
II. Notice what is implied in trusting in the mercy of the Lord for ever. (1) A conviction of
guilt. (2) Trust in mercy implies that we have no hope on the score of justice. (3) Trust in
mercy implies a just apprehension of what mercy is. (4) Trust in God’s mercy implies a
belief that He is merciful. (5) Trusting in the mercy of God "for ever and ever" implies a
conviction of deserving endless punishment. (6) Trusting in mercy implies a cessation
from all excuses and excuse-making.
III. Consider the conditions upon which we may confidently and securely trust in the
mercy of God for ever. (1) Public justice must be appeased. (2) We must repent. (3) We
must confess our sins. (4) We must really make restitution as far as lies in our power. (5)
We must really reform. (6) We must go the whole length in justifying the Law and its
penalty. (7) No sinner can be a proper object of mercy who is not entirely submissive to
all those measures of the government that have brought him to conviction.
IV. Notice some mistakes into which sinners fall. (1) Many really trust in justice, and not
in mercy. (2) Many trust professedly in the mercy of God without fulfilling the
conditions on which only mercy can be shown. (3) Sinners do not consider that God
cannot dispense with their fulfilling these conditions. (4) Many are defeating their own
salvation by self-justification. (5) Many pretend to trust in mercy who yet profess to be
punished for their sins as they go along. (6) Some are covering up their sins, yet dream
of going to heaven. (7) We cannot reasonably ask for mercy beyond our acknowledged
and felt guilt, and they mistake fatally who suppose that they can.
C. G. Finney, Sermons on Gospel Themes, p. 19.
CALVI , "8But I am like a green olive-tree (283) We have seen that David was
enabled, by the exercise of faith, to look down upon the worldly grandeur of Doeg
with a holy contempt; and now we find him rising superior to all that was presently

58. afflictive in his own condition. Though, to appearance, he more resembled the
withered trunk of a tree which rots upon the ground, he compares himself, in the
confidence of coming prosperity, to a green olive. I need not say that the destruction
of Doeg could only communicate comfort to his mind, in the way of convincing him
that God was the avenging judge of human cruelty, and leading him to infer that, as
he had punished his wrongs, so he would advance him to renewed measures of
prosperity. From his language, it appears that he could conceive of no higher felicity
in his condition than being admitted amongst the number of the worshippers of
God, and engaging in the exercises of devotion. This was characteristic of his spirit.
We have already had occasion to see that he felt his banishment from the sanctuary
of God more keenly than separation from his consort, the loss of worldly substance,
or the dangers and hardships of the wilderness. The idea of an allusion being here
made, by way of contrast, to Doeg, who came to the tabernacle of the Lord merely as
a spy, and under hypocritical pretexts, is strained and far-fetched. It is more natural
to suppose that David distinguishes himself from all his enemies, without exception,
intimating that, though he was presently removed from the tabernacle, he would
soon be restored to it; and that they who boasted of possessing, or rather
monopolising, the house of God, would be rooted out of it with disgrace. And here
let us engrave the useful lesson upon our hearts, that we should consider it the great
end of our existence to be found numbered amongst the worshippers of God; and
that we should avail ourselves of the inestimable privilege of the stated assemblies of
the Church, which are necessary helps to our infirmity, and means of mutual
excitement and encouragement. By these, and our common Sacraments, the Lord,
who is one God, and who designed that we should be one in him, is training us up
together in the hope of eternal life, and in the united celebration of his holy name.
Let us learn with David to prefer a place in the house of God to all the lying vanities
of this world. He adds the reason why he should be like the green olive-tree —
because he hoped in the goodness of God; for the causal particle appears to be
understood. And in this he adverts to the contrast between him and his enemies.
They might flourish for a time, spread their branches far and wide, and shoot
themselves up to a gigantic stature, but would speedily wither away, because they
had no root in the goodness of God; whereas he was certain to derive from this
source ever renewed supplies of sap and vigor. As the term of his earthly trials
might be protracted, and there was a danger that he might sink under their long
continuance, unless his confidence should extend itself far into futurity, he declares
expressly that he would not presume to prescribe times to God, and that his hopes
were stretched into eternity. It followed that he surrendered himself entirely to God
in all that regarded this life or his death. The passage puts us in possession of the
grand distinction between the genuine children of God and those who are
hypocrites. They are to be found together in the Church, as the wheat is mingled
with the chaff on the same threshing-floor; but the one class abides for ever in the
steadfastness of a well-founded hope, while the other is driven away in the vanity of
its false confidences.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 8. But I, hunted and persecuted though I am, am like a green
olive tree. I am not plucked up or destroyed, but am like a flourishing olive, which
out of the rock draws oil, and amid the drought still lives and grows. In the house of

59. God. He was one of the divine family, and could not be expelled from it; his place
was near his God, and there was he safe and happy, despite all the machinations of
his foes. He was bearing fruit, and would continue to do so when all his proud
enemies were withered like branches lopped from the tree. I trust in the mercy of
God for ever and ever. Eternal mercy is my present confidence. David knew God's
mercy to be eternal and perpetual, and in that he trusted. What a rock to build on!
What a fortress to fly to!
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 7-8. See Psalms on "Psalms 52:7" for further information.
Ver. 8. (first clause):
"But I am olive charged with fruit
In fertile soil that grows."
This appears to express of the Hebrew words, which our translators render, like a
green olive tree, but which in reality have no reference to the colour, but to the
flourishing, vigorous, and thriving state of the plant; just as Homer gives it the
epithet of "luxuriant, "and "flourishing; "and Ovid that of "ever flourishing." The
fact is, the colour of the leaves of this tree is not a bright lively green; but a dark,
disagreeable, or yellowish one. Scheuchzer describes the leaves, as "superne coloris
atrovirentis, vel in viridi flavescentis." An English traveller, writing from Italy, thus
expresses his disappointment about the olive tree: --"The fields, and indeed the
whole face of Tuscany, are in a manner covered with olive trees; but the olive tree
does not answer the character I have conceived of it. The royal psalmist and some of
the sacred writers, speak with rapture of the `green olive tree, 'so that I expected a
beautiful green; and I confess to you, I was wretchedly disappointed to find its hue
resembling that of our hedges when they are covered with dust." I have heard other
travellers express the same feeling of disappointment. "The true way of solving the
difficulty, "as Harmer properly remarks, "is to consider the word translated `green,
'not as descriptive of colour, but of some other property; youthfulness, vigour,
prosperity, or the like." Richard Mant.
Ver. 8. Green olive tree in the house of God. Several expositors fancifully imagine
that olive trees grow in certain of the courts of the Tabernacle; but the notion must
not be endured, it would have been too near an approach to the groves of the
heathen to have been tolerated, at least in David's time. The text should surely be
read with some discretion; the poet does not refer to olive trees in God's house, but
compares himself in the house of God to an olive tree. This reminds us of the
passage, "Thy children like olive plants around thy table, "where some whose
imaginations have been more lively than their judgments, have seen a table
surrounded, not with children, but with olive plants. Whoever, in the realms of
common sense, ever heard of olive plants round a table? If, as Thrupp supposes,
ob was situated upon the Mount of Olives, we can, without any conjecture, see a
reason for the present reference to a flourishing olive tree. C. H. S.
ELLICOTT, "(8) But I am like.—The flourishing olive alternates with the vine, in
Hebrew poetry, as an emblem of prosperous Israel. (See Jeremiah 11:16; Hosea
14:6.) The epithet “green” hardly refers to the colour so much as the “vigour” of the
tree, for the foliage of “wan grey olive wood” cannot be called verdant. But though
the olive is scarcely, to our Western eyes, a beautiful tree, “to the Oriental the

60. coolness of the pale-blue foliage, its evergreen freshness, spread like a silver sea
along the slopes of the hills, speaks of peace and plenty, food and gladness”
(Tristram, at. Hist. of the Bible, p. 374).
In the house of God.—Here and in the more elaborate simile (Psalms 92:13) the
situation, “in the house of God,” is added to show that the prophecy has come of
religious trust. It is quite possible that trees were actually planted in the precincts of
the Temple, as they are in the Haram area now, so that the rendering, “near the
house of God,” would express a literal fact. Or the whole may be figurative, as in the
verse, “like the olive branches round about Thy table.”
TRAPP, "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.
Ver. 8. But I am like a green olive tree, &c.] Thus, when Doeg blasted David, David
blessed himself. Let him flourish in the court, I shall much more in the house of
God. My name shall be precious among the saints when he stinketh above ground;
he shall wither when I shall be fresh, flourishing, and fruitful.
I trust in the mercy of God] ot in riches, as Doeg; and this faith is the root of my
fruitfulness, cheerfulness, &c. Gul. Parisiensis reporteth of true crystal, that by
touching only it reviveth the decayed virtue of other precious stones; sure it is, that
faith reviveth the virtue of other precious graces.
COKE, "Psalms 52:8. But I am like a green olive-tree— The olive-tree is an
evergreen, not liable to decay, and therefore of a very long duration. To this the
Psalmist compares himself, to denote the stability and perpetuity of his prosperity,
and that of his family; the olive propagating itself by fresh shoots, and being thus
far, as it were immortal. See Plin. at. Hist. lib. 17: cap. 30., and Theophrast. Hist.
Plant. lib. 4: cap. 15. One principal part also of the happiness which David promised
himself was, that he should have a constant admission to the house of God, and the
solemnities of his worship there; notwithstanding he was now driven from it by the
malice of his enemies: adding, I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. His
promises shall never fail; nor shall those who hate me rejoice over me in my
destruction. Chandler. Mr. Mede supposes, that though it was not lawful to plant
trees near the altar of God, there were other places appointed for public worship,
which might properly be called houses of God; and in particular proseuchas, or
places where they met for prayer; which were inclosed round, but open at the top,
and generally shaded with trees. And if we consider these places as consecrated to
the purposes of religion, we may well imagine, that the trees there planted would be
religiously preserved, and in process of time would challenge a venerable regard
from their antiquity, their spacious extent, and lofty stature: so that in this view,
when the Psalmist compares himself to an olive-tree, a cedar, or any other evergreen
in the house of God, there is a particular emphasis in the allusion. Mr. Mede
supposes, with great probability, that these proseuchas, and the synagogues, are the

61. houses of God, the burning of which is lamented, Psalms 74:8. See his Discourse on
Joshua 26:26. Fenwick eems to me to render the verse most consistently of any
translator;
But as an olive, ever fresh and green, When planted in God's house, I hope to stand.
I in God's mercy only ever trust.
WHEDO , "8. But I am like a green olive tree—The contrast now appears between
the psalmist and his enemies. These had been uprooted, (Psalms 52:5,) he had taken
deeper root and had sent out a more fruitful branch. The olive was the emblem of
peace, riches, prosperity and beauty, Genesis 8:11; Habakkuk 3:17; Hosea 14:6.
In the house of God—The idea of the “olive tree in the house of God,” Stanley
suggests, is borrowed from the choice trees, (among which was “the venerable
olive,”) planted of old in the sacred enclosure of the temple, and then, as now in the
same place, (the Harem es-Sherif, or noble Sanctuary of the Moslems,) proverbial
for their beauty and sanctity. David knew no piety that was not rooted in God, and
fed by the ordinances of his house. Though now exiled and persecuted, he was in
union and fellowship with all lovers of the true Church.
BE SO , "Psalms 52:8. I am like a green olive-tree — When Doeg and his brethren
shall wither and perish, I, who have made God my refuge; I, whom he despised and
persecuted, and thought to be in a desperate condition, shall be established and
flourish; in the house of God — In God’s church, and among his people; or, in
God’s tabernacle, from which Doeg shall be plucked away; but to which, I doubt
not, I shall be restored. “One principal part of the happiness David promised
himself was, that he should have a constant admission to the house of God, and the
solemnities of his worship there; notwithstanding he was now driven from it by the
malice of his enemies.” As “the olive-tree is an evergreen, and therefore of long
duration,” and as it also “propagates itself by fresh shoots, being thus far, as it were,
immortal; hence the psalmist compares himself to it, to denote the stability and
perpetuity of his prosperity, and that of his family; adding, I trust in the mercy of
God for ever and ever — His promises shall never fail; nor shall those who hate me
rejoice over me in my destruction.”
COFFMA , "Verse 8
THREE MARKS OF DAVID'S GRATITUDE
"But as for me I am like a green olive tree in the house of God:
I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
I will give thanks forever, because thou hast done it;
And I will hope in thy name, for it is good, in the presence of thy saints."
"A green olive tree in the house of God" (Psalms 52:8). Some scholars have

62. questioned whether or not olive trees were actually planted upon the tabernacle
grounds, or later upon the temple grounds; but the great likelihood is that they were
indeed planted there. This verse seems to say as much.
"Herodotus tells us that there was an abundance of trees in the courts of Egyptian
temples; and till this day on the site of the ancient temple there are a number of
magnificent cypress, olive, and lemon trees."[15] As a metaphor of the safety of
God's child, such a tree was very appropriate. It would have been protected from
vandalism and would have received the very best of care.
As a consequence of God's wonderful blessing, in spite of Doeg's shameful deeds,
David makes three pledges to God in these final two verses.
"I trust in the lovingkindness of God" (Psalms 52:8).
"I will give thee thanks forever" (Psalms 52:9).
"I will hope ... in the presence of thy saints" (Psalms 52:9).
We have often observed that the word "lovingkindness" is almost a Davidic
signature in the psalms attributed to him.
As McCaw wrote, "The three marks of David's reaction are: (1) his gratitude that
God had intervened for him, (2) a testimony to the loveliness of God's character,
and (3) a projected fellowship with God's people."[16]
CO STABLE, "David repudiated the confidence of the wicked and reaffirmed his
trust in the Lord. He pictured himself as a flourishing olive tree, in contrast to his
uprooted enemy ( Psalm 52:5; cf. Psalm 1:3; Hosea 14:6). Olive trees live unusually
long, and they are productive and attractive. They were and are very numerous in
Israel. The tree David saw was in the tabernacle courtyard, symbolic of his nearness
to God.
PETT, "Psalms 52:8
‘But as for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God,
I trust in the covenant love of God for ever and ever.’
These may well be a continuation of the words of the righteous, individualised to
each one. Or else they may be the words of the Psalmist himself, as representing the
righteous. The change to the individual may well be intended so as to cause each
singer to make his own personal dedication to God as he sings the Psalm in the
Temple area.
In contrast with the man who will be rooted up is the one who, rather than being
rooted up, is firmly established like a green olive tree in the house of God. A green
olive tree was so because its roots went deep and were well watered (compare
Psalms 1:3). And being established as such in the house of God indicated his loyalty

63. to God and to the covenant. It was this that made him fruitful. The covenant was the
covenant established at Sinai (Exodus 20:1 onwards), as partly reproduced and
expanded on in Deuteronomy. It was the covenant of those who had been redeemed
responding to their Redeemer. It was a covenant that constantly revealed God’s
covenant love for his obedient people (Deuteronomy 7:8; Hosea 11:1; Malachi 1:2), a
love that could be wholly relied on by those who walked with Him. It was a love in
which they could trust for ever.
‘The green olive tree’ is said elsewhere to be God’s designation of Israel (Jeremiah
11:16). Paul would later use it a picture of the remnant of Israel who received the
Messiah, where it incorporated Gentiles who believed in the Messiah (Romans
11:17). These were the true Israel as opposed to the false who were broken off.
(We should note the clear indication in this and many Psalms that ‘not all Israel,
were Israel’ (Romans 9:6). The covenant only benefited those who were obedient to
it. The remainder would be rooted out and cast off. This was continually so
throughout Israel’s history).
GUZIK, " (8-9) David's response.
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
I will praise You forever,
Because You have done it;
And in the presence of Your saints
I will wait on Your name, for it is good.
a. I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God:
David's run-in with Doeg happened at the tabernacle (1 Samuel 21:1-7). Perhaps
there he saw a healthy green olive tree that was even more blessed because of where
it was planted (in the house of God). This blessedness came to David because he
could honestly say, I trust in the mercy of God and he would continue to do so
forever and ever.
i. "The olive is one of the longest-living trees; here the point is doubly reinforced, for
he pictures an olive 'in full sap' and one that grows in a sacred courtyard." (Kidner)
ii. Psalm 92:13 may indicate that there were trees at or near the house of God. This
may have been particularly true for some of the places where the tabernacle was set
up.

64. iii. "He was in the house of God, they were in the world; he was as a fruitful olive-
tree, they were as barren, unprofitable wood; he was to be daily more and more
strengthened, established, settled, and increased; they were to be cast down, broken,
swept away, and extirpated; and all this because he had trusted in the mercy of God,
they in the abundance of their riches." (Horne)
b. I will praise You forever, because You have done it: Doeg's evil had not yet gone
away but David could praise God in the confidence of faith that can say, You have
done it. The evil of man had not made him lose confidence in God and in the truth
that God's name is good - His character and entire being.
i. I will wait on Your name: "Men must not too much fluster us; our strength is to
sit still. Let the mighty ones boast, we will wait on the Lord; and if their haste brings
them present honour, our patience will have its turn by–and–by, and bring us the
honour which excelleth." (Spurgeon)
9 For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good.
BAR ES, "I will praise thee forever, beause thou hast done it - Because thou
art the source of my safety. The fact that I have been delivered from the designs of Saul,
and saved from the efforts of Doeg to betray me, is to be traced wholly to thee. It has
been ordered by thy providence that the purposes alike of Doeg and of Saul have been
defeated, and I am still safe.
And I will wait on thy name - That is, I will wait on “thee;” the name being often
put for the person himself: Psa_20:1; Psa_69:30; Pro_18:10; Isa_59:19. The language
used here means that he would trust in God, or confide in him. All his expectation and
hope would be in him. There are two ideas essentially in the language:
(1) the expression of a sense of “dependence” on God, as if the only ground of trust was
in him;

65. (2) a willingness to “await” his interposition at all times; a belief that, however long
such an interposition might be delayed, God “would” interfere at the proper time to
bring deliverance; and a purpose calmly and patiently to look to him until the time of
deliverance should come. Compare Psa_25:3, Psa_25:5,Psa_25:21; Psa_27:14; Psa_
37:7, Psa_37:9,Psa_37:34; Psa_69:3; Isa_8:17; Isa_40:31.
For it is good before thy saints - God is good; and I will confess it before his
“saints.” His mercy has been so marked, that a public acknowledgment of it is proper;
and before his assembled people I will declare what he has done for me. So signal an act
of mercy, an interposition so suited to illustrate the character of God, demands more
than a private acknowledgment, and I will render him public praise. The same idea
occurs in Psa_22:25; Psa_35:18; Psa_111:1; Isa_38:20. The general thought is, that for
great and special mercies it is proper to render special praise to God before his
assembled people. It is not that we are to obtrude our private affairs upon the public eye
or the public ear; it is not that mercies shown to us have any particular claim to the
attention of our fellow-men, but it is that such interpositions illustrate the character of
God, and that they may constitute an argument before the world in favor of his
benevolent and merciful character. Among the “saints” there is a common bond of union
- a common interest in all that pertains to each other; and when special mercy is shown
to anyone of the great brotherhood, it is proper that all should join in the thanksgiving,
and render praise to God.
The importance of the subject considered in this psalm - the fact that it is not often
referred to in books on moral science, or even in sermons, - and the fact that it involves
many points of practical difficulty in the conversation between man and man in the
various relations of life - may justify at the close of an exposition of this psalm a
consideration of the general question about the morality of giving “information,” or, in
general, the character of the “informer.” Such a departure from the usual method
adopted in works designed to be expository would not be ordinarily proper, since it
would swell such works beyond reasonable dimensions; but perhaps it may be admitted
in a single instance.
In what cases is it our duty to give information which may be in our possession about
the conduct of others; and in what cases does it become a moral wrong or a crime to do
it?
This is a question of much importance in respect to our own conduct, and often of
much difficulty in its solution. It may not be possible to answer all the inquiries which
might be made on this subject, or to lay down principles of undoubted plainness which
would be applicable to every case which might occur, but a few general principles may be
suggested.
The question is one which may occur at any time, and in any situation of life - Is it
never right to give such information? Are we never bound to do it? Are there no
circumstances in which it is proper that it should be voluntary? Are there any situations
in which we are exempt by established customs or laws from giving such information?
Are there any in which we are bound, by the obligations of conscience, not to give such
information, whatever may be the penalty? Where and when does guilt begin or end in
our volunteering to give information of the conduct or the concealments of others?
These questions often come with much perplexity before the mind of an ingenuous
schoolboy, who would desire to do right, and who yet has so much honor that he desires
to escape the guilt and the reproach of being a “tell-tale.” They are questions which occur
to a lawyer (or, rather, which “did” occur before the general principle, which I will soon
advert to, had been settled by the courts), in regard to the knowledge of which he has
been put in possession under the confidential relation of advocate and client. They are

66. questions which may occur to a clergyman, either in respect to the confidential
disclosures made at the confessional of the Catholic priest, or in respect to the
confidential statements of the true penitent made to a Protestant pastor, in order that
spiritual counsel may be obtained to give relief to a burdened conscience. They are
questions which it was necessary should be settled in regard to a fugitive from justice,
who seeks protection under the roof of a friend or a stranger.
They are questions respecting refugees from oppression in foreign lands - suggesting
the inquiry whether they shall be welcomed, or whether there shall be any law by which
they shall, on demand, be restored to the dominion of a tyrant. They are questions which
the conscience will ask, and does ask, about those who make their escape from slavery,
who apply to us for aid in securing their liberty, and who seek an asylum beneath our
roof; questions whether the law of God requires or permits us to render any active
assistance in making known the place of their refuge, and returning them to bondage.
When, and in what cases, if any, is a man bound to give information in such
circumstances as these? It is to be admitted that cases may occur, in regard to these
questions, in which there would be great difficulty in determining what are the exact
limits of duty, and writers on the subject of morals have not laid down such clear rules as
would leave the mind perfectly free from doubt, or be sufficient to guide us on all these
points. It will be admitted, also, that some of them are questions of much difficulty, and
where instruction would be desirable.
Much may be learned, in regard to the proper estimate of human conduct among
people, from the “language” which they employ - language which, in its very structure,
often conveys their sentiments from age to age. The ideas of people on many of the
subjects of morals, in respect to that which is honorable or dishonorable, right or wrong,
manly or mean, became thus “imbedded” - I might almost say “fossilized” - in their
modes of speech. Language, in its very structure, thus carries down to future times the
sentiments cherished in regard to the morality of actions - as the fossil remains that are
beneath the surface of the earth, in the strata of the rocks, bring to us the forms of
ancient types of animals, and ferns, and palms, of which there are now no living
specimens on the globe. They who have studied Dean Trench’s Treatise on “Words” will
recollect how this idea is illustrated in that remarkable work; how, without any other
information about the views of people in other times, the very “words” which they
employed, and which have been transmitted to us, convey to us the estimate which was
formed in past ages in regard to the moral quality of an action, as proper or improper -
as honorable or dishonorable - as conformed to the noble principles of our nature, or the
reverse.
As illustrating the general sentiments of mankind in this respect, I will select “two”
words as specimens of many which might be selected, and as words which people have
been agreed in applying to some of the acts referred to in the questions of difficulty that I
have just mentioned, and which may enable us to do something in determining the
morality of an action, so far as those words, in their just application to the subject,
indicate the judgment of mankind.
One of these is the word “meanness” - a word which a schoolboy would be most
“likely” to apply to the act of a tell-tale or an informer, and which we instinctively apply
to numerous actions in more advanced periods of life, and which serves to mark the
judgment of mankind in regard to certain kinds of conduct. The “idea” in such a case is
not so much the “guilt” or the “criminality” of the act considered as a violation of law, as
it is that of being opposed to just notions of “honor,” or indicating a base, low, sordid,
grovelling spirits - “lowness of mind, want of dignity and elevation; want of honor.”
(Webster)

67. The other word is “sycophant.” The Athenians had a law prohibiting the exportation of
figs. This law, of course, had a penalty, and it was a matter of importance to the
magistrate to ascertain who had been guilty of violating it. It suggested, also, a method
of securing the favor of such a magistrate, and perhaps of obtaining a reward, by giving
“information” of those who had been guilty of violating the law. From these two words -
the Greek word “fig,” and the Greek word to “show,” or to “discover,” we have derived
the word “sycophant;” and this word has come down from the Greeks, and through the
long tract of ages intervening between its first use in Athens to the present time, always
bearing in every age the original idea imbedded in the word, as the old fossil that is now
dug up bears the form of the fern, the leaf, the worm, or the shell that was imbedded
there perhaps million of ages ago. As such a man would be “likely” to be mean, and
fawning, and flattering, so the word has come to describe always a parasite; a mean
flatterer; a flatterer of princes and great men; and hence it is, and would be applied as
one of the words indicating the sense of mankind in regard to a “tale-bearer,” or an
“informer.”
Words like these indicate the general judgment of mankind on such conduct as that
referred to in the psalm before us. Of course, to what particular “actions” of the kind
they are properly applicable, would be another point; they are referred to here only as
indicating the general judgment of mankind in regard to certain kinds of conduct, and to
show how careful people are, in their very language, to express their permanent
approbation of that which is “honorable” and “right,” and their detestation of that which
is “dishonorable” and “wrong.”
Let us now consider more particularly the subject with respect to “duty,” and to
“criminality.” The question is, whether we can find any eases where it is “right” - where it
is our duty to give such information; or, in what eases, if any, it is right; and in what
cases it is malignant, guilty, wrong. The points to be considered are:
(1) When it is right, or when it may be demanded that we should give information of
another; and
(2) When it becomes guilt.
(1) When it is right, or when it may be demanded of us.
(a) It is to be admitted that there are cases in which the interests of justice demand
that people should be “required” to give information of others; or, there are cases where
the courts have a right to summon us, to put us upon our oath, and to demand the
information which may be in our possession. The courts constantly act on this; and the
interests of justice could not be promoted, nor could a cause ever be determined,
without exercising this right. If all people were bound in conscience to witchold
information simply because they have it in their possession, or because of the mode in
which they came in possession of it - or if they witcheld it from mere stubbornness and
obstinacy - all the departments of justice must stand still, and the officers of justice
might be discharged, since it can neither be presumed that “they” would possess all the
knowledge necessary to the administration of justice themselves, nor would the law
allow them to act on it if they did.
The law never presumes that a judge is to decide a case from a knowledge of the facts
in his own possession, or simply because “he knows what was done in the case.” The
ultimate decision must be made in view of testimony given, not of knowledge
“possessed.” In most cases, however, there is no difficulty on this point. There is no
necessary violation of confidence in giving this information. There have been no
improper means used to obtain it. There has been only an observation of that which any
other man might have seen. There has been no baseness in “spying” out what was done.

68. There has been no “sycophantic” purpose; there is no voluntariness in betraying what we
know; there is no dishonorableness in divulging what “happened” to be known to us. A
man may “regret” that he witnessed the act of crime, but he does not blame himself for
it; he may feel “pained” that his testimony may consign another man to the gallows, but
he does not deem it dishonorable, for he has no mean purpose in it, and the interests of
justice demand it.
(b) It is an admitted principle that one employed as counsel in a case - a lawyer - shall
“not” be required to give up information which may be in his possession as counsel;
information which has been entrusted to him by his client. It is held essential to the
interests of justice, that whatever is thus communicated to a professional adviser shall
be regarded by the court as strictly confidential, and that the counsel incurs no blame if
he does “not” give information on the subject; or, in other words, the true interests of
justice do not demand, and the principles of honor will not admit, that he should betray
the man who has entrusted his cause to him. How far a man, governed by a good
conscience, and by the principles of honor, may undertake a cause which, from the
statements of his client in the beginning, he may regard as doubtful, or where in the
progress of the case he may become sure that his client is guilty, is a point which does
not come under the present inquiry, and which may, in fact, be in some respects a
question of difficult solution. It must still, however, even in such a case, be held that he
cannot be required to give the information in his possession, and every principle of
honor or of right would be understood to be violated, if, abandoning the case, he should
become a voluntary “informer.”
(c) In like manner, it is understood that the law does not require a juryman to give
voluntary “information” of what may be within his own knowledge in the case that may
be submitted for trial. The extent of his oath and his obligation is that he shall give a
verdict according to the testimony submitted under the proper forms of law. He may not
“go back” of that, and found his opinion in the verdict on any private knowledge which
he may have in his own possession, and which has not, under the proper forms of law,
been laid before the court; nor may what he himself may have seen and heard enter at all
into his verdict, or influence it in any manner, unless it has been submitted with the
other testimony in the case to the court. The verdict is to be based on evidence “given;”
not on what he “has seen.” An accused man has a right to demand that “all” that shall
bear on the sentence in the case - “all” that shall enter into the verdict - shall be
submitted as testimony, under the solemnities of an oath, and with all proper
opportunities of crossexamination, and of rebutting it by counter testimony. A juryman
may, indeed, be called as a witness in a case. But then he is to be sworn and examined as
any other witness, and when he comes to unite with others in making up the verdict, he
is to allow to enter into that verdict “only” that which is in possession of all the members
of the jury, and he is not to permit “any” knowledge which he may have, which was “not”
obtained from him in giving testimony, to influence his own judgment in the case.
(d) There are cases, however, in which things entrusted to one as a secret, or in
confidence, may be required to be given up. Such cases may occur in a matter of private
friendship, or in a case of professional confidence.
In the case of a Presbyterian clergyman, it has been held that he was bound to submit
a letter to the court which had been addressed to him by the accused as her pastor, and
which was supposed to contain important disclosures in regard to her criminality. In
this case, however, the disclosure was not originally made by the pastor; nor was the fact
of the existence of such a letter made known by him. The fact that such a letter had been
sent to him, was stated by the party herself; and the court, having this knowledge of it,
“demanded” its production in court. It was submitted after taking legal advice, and the

69. community justified the conduct of the pastor. So the principle is regarded as well
settled that a minister of religion may be required to disclose what has been
communicated to him, whether at the “confessional,” or as a pastor, which may be
necessary to establish the guilt of a party; and that the fact that it had been
communicated in confidence, and for spiritual advice, does not constitute a reason for
refusing to disclose it.
(2) But the point before us relates rather to the inquiry when the act of giving such
information becomes “guilt,” or in what circumstances it is forbidden and wrong.
Perhaps all that need to be said on this point can be reduced to three heads: when it is
for base purposes; when the innocent are betrayed; and when professional confidence is
violated. The illustration of these points, after what has been said, need not detain us
long.
First. When it is for base purposes. This would include all those cases where it is for
gain; where it is to secure favor; and where it is from envy, malice, spite, or revenge. The
case of Doeg was, manifestly, an instance of this kind, where the motive was not that of
promoting public justice, or preserving the peace of the realm, but where it was to
ingratiate himself into the favor of Saul, and secure his own influence at court. The
parallel case of the Ziphims Psa_54:1-7 was another instance of this kind, where, so far
as the narrative goes, it is supposable that the only motive was to obtain the favor of
Saul, or to secure a reward, by betraying an innocent and a persecuted man who had fled
to them for a secure retreat. The case of Judas Iscariot was another instance of this kind.
He betrayed his Saviour; he agreed, for a paltry reward, to disclose his place of usual
retreat - a place to which he had resorted so often for prayer, that Judas knew that he
could be found there.
It was for no wrong done to him. It was from no regard to public peace or justice. It
was not because he even supposed the Saviour to be guilty. He knew that he was
innocent. He even himself confessed this in the most solemn manner, and in the very
presence of those with whom he had made the infamous bargain - and with just such a
result as the mean and the wicked must always expect, when those for whom they have
performed a mean and wicked act have no further use for them. such, also, is the case of
the “sycophant.” That a man might, in some circumstances, give information about the
exportation of “figs” contrary to law, or might even be required to do it, may be true; but
it was equally true that it was not commonly done for any patriotic or honorable ends,
but from the most base and ignoble motives; and hence, the sense of mankind in regard
to the nature of the transaction has been perpetuated in the world itself. So, in a school,
there is often no better motive than envy, or rivalship, or malice, or a desire to obtain
favor or reward, when information is given by one school-boy of another; and hence, the
contempt and scorn with which a boy who acts under the influence of these motives is
always regarded - emblem of what he is likely to meet in all his subsequent life.
Second. The innocent are never robe betrayed. The divine law pertaining to this seems
to be perfectly plain, and the principles of that law are such as to commend themselves
to the consciences of all mankind. Thus, Isa_16:3-4, “Take counsel, execute judgment;
make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not
him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them
from the face of the spoiler.” Also in Deu_23:15-16, “Thou shalt not deliver unto his
master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee: he shall dwell with thee,
even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh
him best: thou shalt not oppress him.”
On these passages I remark:

70. 1. That they are settled principles of the law of God. There is no ambiguity in them.
They have not been repealed. They are, therefore, still binding, and extend to all cases
pertaining to the innocent and the oppressed.
2. They accord with the convictions of the human mind - the deep-seated principles
which God has laid in our very being, as designed to guide us in our treatment of others.
3. They accord with some of the highest principles of self-sacrifice as illustrated in
history - the noblest exhibitions of human nature in giving an asylum to the oppressed
and the wronged; instances where life has been perilled, or even given up, rather than
that the persecuted, the innocent, and the wronged, should be surrendered or betrayed.
How often, in the history of the church has life been thus endangered, because a refuge
and a shelter was furnished to the persecuted Christian - the poor outcast, driven from
his home under oppressive laws! How honorable have people esteemed such acts to be!
How illustrious is the example of those who have at all hazards opened their arms to
receive the oppressed, and to welcome the persecuted and the wronged! In the year
1685, by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantz, eight hundred thousand professed
followers of the Saviour - Huguenots - were driven from their homes and their country,
and compelled to seek safety by flight to other lands.
In their own country, fire and the sword spread desolation everywhere, and the voice
of wailing filled the land. Those who could flee, did flee. The best people of France -
those of noblest blood - fled in every direction, and sought a refuge in other countries.
They fled - carrying with them not only the purest form and the best spirit of religion,
but the best knowledge of the arts, to all the surrounding nations. Belgium, Holland,
England, Scotland, Switzerland, opened their arms to welcome the fugitives. Our own
country welcomed them - then, as now, an asylum for the oppressed. In every part of our
land they found a home. Thousands of the noblest spirits - the best people of the South
and the North, were composed of these exiles and wanderers. But suppose the world had
been barred against them. Suppose they had been driven back again to their native land,
poor persecuted men and women returned to suffering and to death. How justly
mankind would have execrated such an act!
The same principles are applicable to the fugitive from slavery. Indeed, one of the texts
quoted relates to this very point, and is designed to guide people on this subject in all
ages and in all lands. “Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is
escaped from his master unto thee.” No law could possibly be more explicit; none could
be more humane, just, or proper; and consequently all those provisions in human laws
which require people to aid in delivering up such fugitives are violations of the law of
God - have no binding obligation on the conscience - and are, at all hazards, to be
disobeyed. Act_5:29; Act_4:19.
Third. Professional confidence is not to be betrayed. We have seen, in the remarks
before made, that those who are employed as counselors in the courts, cannot be
required to communicate facts which are stated to them by their clients, but that
confidential communications made to others may be demanded in promoting the
interests of justice. The point now, however, relates only to the cases where professional
confidence is voluntarily violated, or where knowledge thus obtained is made use of in a
manner which cannot be sanctioned either by the principles of honor or religion. Two
such instances may be referred to as illustrations:
(a) One occurs when a clergyman, to whom such knowledge is imparted as a
clergyman for spiritual advice, instruction, or comfort, abuses the trust reposed in him,
by making use of that information for any other purpose whatever. It is entrusted to him
for that purpose alone. It is committed to him as a man of honor. The secret is lodged
with him, with the implied understanding that it is there to remain, and to be employed

71. only for that purpose. Whether at the “confessional” of the Roman Catholic, or whether
made in the confidence reposed in a Protestant pastor, the principle is the same.
Whatever advantage may be taken of that secret for the promotion of any other ends;
whatever object the minister of religion may propose to secure, based on the fact that he
is in possession of it; whatever influence he may choose to exert, founded on the
assumption that he could divulge it; whatever statement he may make in regard to such
a person - based on the fact that he is in possession of knowledge which he has, but
which he is not at liberty to communicate - and designed to injure the person; whatever
use he may make of it as enabling him to form an estimate for his own purposes of what
occurs in a family; or, in general, whatever communication he may make of it, of any
kind (except under process of law, and because the law demands it), is to be regarded as
a betrayal of professional confidence. The interests of religion require that a pastor
should be regarded as among the most faithful of confidential friends; and no people, or
class of people, should be placed in such circumstances that they may, at the
“confessional,” or in any other way, have the means of arriving at secrets which may be
employed for any purposes of their own whatever.
(b) It is a breach of professional confidence when a lawyer is entrusted with
knowledge in one case by a client, which, by being employed in another case, and on
another occasion, he uses against him. The secret, whatever it may be, which is
entrusted to him by a client, is for that case alone; and is, to all intents, to die when that
case is determined. It is dishonorable in any way for him to engage as counsel for
another party against his former client when, by even the remotest possibility, the
knowledge obtained in the former occurrence could come as an element in the
determination of the case, or could be made use of to the advantage of his new client.
Every sentiment of honesty and honor demands that if there is a possibility of this, or if
there would be the remotest temptation of the kind, he should at once promptly and
firmly decline to engage against his former client.
In human nature there are two classes of propensities or principles: those which are
generous, magnanimous, gentle, kind, benevolent, large-hearted, humane, noble; and
those which are low, grovelling, sordid, sycophantic, mean, ignoble.
Though man is destitute of holiness, and though, as I believe, not one or all of these
things which I have referred to as generous and noble can by cultivation become true
religion, or constitute, by mere development, what is needful to secure the salvation of
the soul, yet they are to be cultivated, for they are invaluable in society, and necessary to
the happiness and the progress of mankind. On these, more than on most other things,
the happiness of families, and the welfare of the world depend; and whatever may be our
views of the necessity and value of religion, we are not required to undervalue “the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,” or those virtues which we connect, in our
apprehensions, with that which is manly and honorable, and which tend to elevate and
ennoble the race.
Christianity has, if I may so express it, a “natural affinity” for one class of these
propensities; it has none for the other. It, too, is generous, humane, gentle, kind,
benevolent, noble; it blends easily with these tilings when it finds them in human nature;
and it produces them in the soul which is fully under its influence, where they did not
exist before. It has no more affinity for that which is mean, ignoble, morose,
sycophantic, than it has for profanity or falsehood, for dishonesty or fraud, for
licentiousness or ambition.
That true religion may be found in hearts where these virtues, so generous and noble,
are not developed, or where there is not a little that dishonors religion as not large, and
liberal, and courteous, and gentlemanly, it is, perhaps, impossible to deny mean, so

72. sycophantic, so narrow, so sour, and so morose, that a large part of the work of
sanctification seems to be reserved for the close of life - for that mysterious and
unexplained process by which all who are redeemed are made perfect when they pass
“through the valley of the shadow of death.” But though there may be religion in such a
case, it is among the lowest forms of piety. What is mean, ignoble, and narrow, is no part
of the Christian religion, and can never be transmuted into it.
There has come down to us as the result of the progress of civilization in this world,
and with the highest approbation of mankind, a class of virtues connected with the ideas
of honor and honorableness. That the sentiment of honor has been abused among
people; that an attempt has been made to set it up as the governing principle in cases
where conscience should rule; that in doing this a code has been established which, in
many respects, is a departure from the rules of morality, there can be no doubt; - but still
there are just principles of honor which Christianity does not disdain; which are to be
incorporated into our principles of religion, and which we are to endeavor to instil into
the hearts of our children. Whatever there is in the world that is “true, and honest, and
just, and pure, and lovely, and of good report;” whatever belongs to the name of “virtue,”
and whatever deserves “praise,” is to be blended with our religion, constituting our idea
of a Christian man.
It is the blending of these things - the union of Christian principle with what is noble,
and manly, and generous, and humane - which, in any case, entitles to the highest
appellation that can be given to any of our race - that of the christian gentleman.
CLARKE, "I will praise thee for ever - Because I know that all my good comes
from thee; therefore, will I ever praise thee for that good.
I will wait on thy name - I will expect all my blessings from the all-sufficient
Jehovah, who is eternal and unchangeable.
It is good before thy saints - It is right that I should expect a continuation of thy
blessings by uniting with thy saints in using thy ordinances. Thus I shall wait.
GILL, "I will praise thee for ever,.... Both in this world, as long as he lived, and had
a being in it; and in the world to come, to all eternity. This is a resolution respecting
what he would do, when he should be in the happy condition he was confident of;
because thou hast done it; the Targum interprets it, "the revenge of my judgment";
meaning the vengeance of God on Doeg; and to the same sense Aben Ezra and Kimchi:
though it may refer to the comfortable and happy condition he should be in, Psa_52:8;
and which he wholly ascribes to the grace and goodness of God, and not to any merits of
his own, and therefore determines to praise him for it;
and I will wait on thy name; on the Lord himself, in his house and ordinances, for
his presence and fresh supplies of grace and strength, when he should be restored. Or
the sense is, that in the mean while he would wait patiently on the Lord, until he had
accomplished what he had promised, and David believed;

73. for it is good before thy saints; the sense is, either that it is good to wait upon the
Lord and for him; which appears to be so to all the saints, by the comfortable experience
they have had of it, Isa_40:31; or the name of the Lord is good unto them, pleasant,
delightful, and comfortable, as proclaimed, Exo_34:6; see Son_1:3; and also Rev_15:4.
JAMISO , "hast done — that is, what the context supplies, “preserved me”
(compare Psa_22:31).
wait ... name — hope in Thy perfections, manifested for my good (Psa_5:11; Psa_
20:1).
for it is good — that is, Thy name, and the whole method or result of its
manifestation (Psa_54:6; Psa_69:16).
CALVI , "9.I will praise thee, etc. He concludes the psalm with thanksgiving, and
shows that he is sincere in this, by the special acknowledgement which he makes of
the fact that this had been the work of God. Such is the corruption of the human
heart, that out of a hundred who profess gratitude to God with their lips, scarcely
one man seriously reflects upon the benefits which he has received as coming from
his hand. David declares, therefore, that it was entirely owing to the divine
protection that he had escaped from the treachery of Doeg, and from all his
subsequent dangers, and promises to retain a grateful sense of it throughout the
whole of his life. There is no religious duty in which it does not become us to
manifest a spirit of perseverance; but we need to be especially enjoined to it in the
duty of thanksgiving, disposed as we are so speedily to forget our mercies, and
occasionally to imagine that the gratitude of a few days is a sufficient tribute for
benefits which deserve to be kept in everlasting remembrance. He speaks of joining
the exercise of hope with that of gratitude; for to wait on the name of God is
synonymous with patiently expecting his mercy even when there is least appearance
of its being granted, and trusting in his word, whatever delays there may be in the
fulfillment of it. He encourages himself in the belief that his hope will not be vain, by
reflecting that the name of God is good before his saints Some read, because it is
good before thy saints; that is, to hope in the divine name, (Psalms 118:8.) But the
other reading appears to me to be the most simple and natural, expressing the truth,
that God will not frustrate the expectations of his people, because his goodness
towards them is always conspicuous. The name of God may be detested by the
wicked, and the very sound of it be sufficient to strike terror into their hearts; but
David asserts it to be a sweet name in the experience of all his people. They are here
called his meek ones, because, as I have remarked in commenting upon Psalms 16:3,
they reflect in their character the kindness and beneficence of their Father in
heaven.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 9. I will praise thee for ever. Like thy mercy shall my
thankfulness be. While others boast in their riches I will boast in my God; and when
their glorying is silenced for ever in the tomb, my song shall continue to proclaim
the lovingkindness of Jehovah. Because thou hast done it. Thou hast vindicated the
righteous, and punished the wicked. God's memorable acts of providence, both to

74. saints and sinners, deserve, and must have our gratitude. David views his prayer as
already answered, the promise of God as already fulfilled, and therefore at once lifts
up the sacred Psalm. And I will wait on thy name. God shall still be the psalmist's
hope; he will not in future look elsewhere. He whose name has been so gloriously
made known in truth and righteousness, is justly chosen as our expectation for years
to come. For it is good before thy saints. Before or among the saints David intended
to wait, feeling it to be good both for him and them to look to the Lord alone, and
wait for the manifestation of his character in due season. Men must not too much
fluster us; our strength is to sit still. Let the mighty ones boast, we will wait on the
Lord; and if their haste brings them present honour, our patience will have its turn
by and by, and bring us the honour which excelleth.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 9. He compares himself
(1) With an olive tree, a tree a ways green, lasting long and fruitful, whose fruit is
most useful and grateful: so he paints his future state as joyful, glorious, lasting, and
useful and pleasing to men: plainly a reference is made to the royal and prophetic
office, in both of which he represents himself as an olive tree, by supplying others
with >oil through his rule and instruction:
(2) With the olive growing luxuriantly, and abounding in spreading bough, and so,
spacious and large...
(3) But why does he add in the house of God? That he might indicate, unless I am
deceived:
(a) That he should possess a dwelling in that place where the house of God was,
whence he was now exiled through the calumnies of Doeg and the attacks of Saul
stirred up thereby:
(b) That he should perform distinguished service to the house of God, by adorning
it, and by restoring religion, now neglected, and practising it with zeal:
(c) That he should derive from God and his favour, whose that house was, all his
prosperity:
(d) That he, like a son of God, should rejoice in familiarity with him, and should
become heir to his possessions and promises. Hermann Venema.
ELLICOTT, "(9) Because thou hast done it.—Better, because thou workest, i.e., for
thy works, but spoken in anticipation of future manifestations.
I will wait on thy name. . . .—Better, I will wait for thy glory; “name,” here, after
the mention of God’s works in the last clause, being evidently, as so often,
synonymous with “fame” and “reputation.”
For it is good before thy saints.—This may mean that such a trustful expectation in
the presence of the saints is good, or that it is pleasant in the eyes of the saints thus
to wait, or we may take “name” as the subject.
The mention of the “saints” (chasîdîm) is by some supposed to indicate the
Asmonean period as that of the composition of the Psalm.
TRAPP, "Psalms 52:9 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done [it]: and I

75. will wait on thy name; for [it is] good before thy saints.
Ver. 9. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it] Hast delivered me from
Doeg and others, Quod non perierim centies; or, Thou hast done execution upon
Doeg; i.e. Thou wilt undoubtedly do it.
And I will wait on thy name] i.e. Depend upon thy promises and providence.
COKE, "Psalms 52:9. I will wait on thy name— To wait on God's name, is, to wait
or call upon, and expect aid from him, whose name is Jehovah, and who is every
thing which that name implies. This is good before the saints as they would approve
his piety and devotion, and as it would tend to confirm and establish them in their
religious principles, practices, and hopes. Chandler. Fenwick renders the first clause
of this verse,
Thou art my maker; thee I'll ever praise.
WHEDO , "9. Because thou hast done it—Because thou hast done what I had
hoped for, namely, overthrown the wicked and vindicated and upheld the righteous.
This was cause of praise and rejoicing, as it is in all ages with all lovers of God and
the well-being of society.
I will wait on thy name— Parallel to, I trust in the mercy of God, Psalms 52:8. The
“name” of God is often used for God himself; to “wait on” his “name,” is to wait for
him, for the manifestation of his glory. It is good before thy saints—That is, that
men should “trust” and hope in God, and “wait” the unfolding of his plans and the
rewards of his righteousness.
BE SO , "Psalms 52:9. I will praise thee because thou hast done it — Destroyed
mine and thine implacable enemies, and established me in the throne, and in thy
house, of which I am no less assured than if it were already done. And I will wait on
thy name — I will continue in thy way, placing my whole trust and confidence in thy
power, goodness, and faithfulness, all which are called God’s name; and I will not
turn aside to any crooked path for my deliverance, as others do. For it is good
before thy saints — That is, in the eyes of thy saints. They whose judgments only are
to be valued approve of this practice of trusting in God, and keeping his way, as the
wisest and safest course, and have ever found it so to be by their own experience.
CO STABLE, "The psalmist thanked God for making him like an olive tree in the
Lord"s house. He acknowledged that the reason he was the man he was, and not as
Doeg, was due to God"s grace, not his own works. He purposed to continue to hope
in the Lord, confident that he would praise Him in spite of the opposition of
treacherous enemies. Those among whom David would wait were other believers.
We, the saints, need not despair when wicked people oppose us. God will deal with
our enemies. In the meantime, we should continue to trust and praise God in the

76. company of His people.
ISBET, "THE AME TO TRUST I
‘I will hope in Thy name.’
Psalms 52:9 (Prayer Book Version).
‘I will wait on Thy name, for it is good.’ What is God’s name?
I. It is Jehovah, the Living One.—Ah! here is comfort for me, when I am troubled
by my littleness and by the fleeting and transient character of my life. I may grasp
the hand of One Who endures from age to age; and then will His eternity pass into
me, so that I too shall abide for ever and ever.
II. And it is Jehovah-Rophi, the Healer, the Good Physician.—And here is rich
consolation for me when I am confronted by the multitude of my spiritual diseases.
He has provided the sufficient remedy. One drop of Jesus’ blood applied to my
conscience—there is the medicine: and now indeed I walk at liberty.
III. And it is Jehovah- issi, the Lord my Banner.—I move day after day through
the midst of foes. ‘From every bush the lances start.’ My enemies are innumerable,
crafty, strong, unsparing. But my eyes are upon the Captain of my salvation and His
blood-red flag; and thus am I more than a conqueror.
IV. And it is Jehovah-Shalom, the Giver of peace.—Many are the causes of trouble
in my history. They spring from my personal circumstances. They come to me from
those who are dear to me as my own soul. But through the storm He draws near,
and I have calm and trust and power.
Illustration
‘Here is a master-lesson in the art of prayer. Some tongue had been reviling the
Psalmist; and he had poured out his soul before God, expressing his unfaltering
trust in His unfailing mercy. “I trust,” said he, “in the mercy of God for ever and
ever.” And the prayer of faith is hardly finished before we hear him saying, “I will
give Thee thanks for ever, because Thou hast done it.” Would that we would end all
our prayers like this!’
PETT, "Psalms 52:9
‘I will give you thanks for ever, because you have done it,
And I will hope in your name, for it is good, in the presence of your saints.’
The Psalmist ends with thanksgiving and praise. He gives thanks for what God has
done, rooting out the unrighteous, and establishing the righteous. And this causes
him to have continual hope in YHWH’s ame, the ame which is ‘good’, revealing
the love and holiness of God. He is confident that God will continue to cause the
righteous to flourish, and the unrighteous to be rooted out. And he does it in the
presence of God’s ‘beloved ones’, that is, beloved within the covenant, those who are
true to Him, an indication that this Psalm has been made suitable for public

77. worship.