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Psalm Fifty-eight
Psalm 58
Chapter Contents
Wicked judges described and reproved. (1-5) A prayer that
they may be disabled
and their ruin predicted. (6-11)
Commentary on Psalm 58:1-5
(Read Psalm 58:1-5)
When wrong is done under the form of law
it is worse
than any other; especially it is grievous to behold those who profess to be
children of God
joining together against any of his people. We should thank
the Lord for merciful restraints; we should be more earnest in seeking renewing
grace
more watchful over ourselves
and more patient under the effects of
fallen nature in others. The corruption of their nature was the root of
bitterness. We may see in children the wickedness of the world beginning. They
go astray from God and their duty as soon as possibly they can. And how soon
will little children tell lies! It is our duty to take pains to teach them
and
above all
earnestly to pray for converting grace to make our children new
creatures. Though the poison be within
much of it may be kept from breaking
forth to injure others. When the Saviour's words are duly regarded
the serpent
becomes harmless. But those who refuse to hear heavenly wisdom
must perish
miserably
for ever.
Commentary on Psalm 58:6-11
(Read Psalm 58:6-11)
David prayed that the enemies of God's church and people
might be disabled to do further mischief. We may
in faith
pray against the
designs of the enemies of the church. He foretells their ruin. And who knows
the power of God's anger? The victories of the Just One
in his own person and
that of his servants
over the enemies of man's salvation
produce a joy which
springs not from revenge
but from a view of the Divine mercy
justice
and
truth
shown in the redemption of the elect
the punishment of the ungodly
and
the fulfilment of the promises. Whoever duly considers these things
will
diligently seek the reward of righteousness
and adore the Providence which
orders all thing aright in heaven and in earth.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 58
Verse 1
[1] Do ye indeed speak righteousness
O congregation? do ye
judge uprightly
O ye sons of men?
O congregation — The word seems to point at Saul's
judges and counsellors; who met together to consult what they should do against
David.
Sons of men — So he calls them; to mind them
that they were men
and must give an account to God for all their hard
speeches.
Verse 2
[2] Yea
in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence
of your hands in the earth.
Heart — With free choice and consent.
Hands — He intimates that they did great wrong under the
pretence of justice
and while they seemed exactly to weigh the true proportion
between the actions and the recompenses allotted to them
they turned the
scale; and pronounced an unjust sentence.
Land — Or
in this land
where God is present
and where you
have righteous laws to govern you.
Verse 3
[3] The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray
as soon as they be born
speaking lies.
Estranged — From God
and from all goodness.
Their very natures are corrupt
even from their birth: they are the wicked
offspring of sinful parents.
Astray — By actual sins
from their childhood
as soon as ever
they were capable of the exercise of reason.
Verse 4
[4] Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are
like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
Poison — Their malicious disposition.
Verse 5
[5] Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers
charming never so wisely.
Not hearken — As they commonly say of the
adders
such really are these men: deaf to all my counsels
to their own
consciences
and to God's law. Of the charming or enchanting of serpents
mention is made both in other places of scripture
and in all sorts of authors
ancient and modern
Hebrew and Arabick
and Greek and Latin. And particularly
the Arabick writers (to whom these creatures were best known) name some sorts
of serpents
among which the adder is one
which they call deaf
not because
they are dull of hearing
but
as one of them expressly faith
because they will
not be charmed.
Verse 6
[6] Break their teeth
O God
in their mouth: break out the
great teeth of the young lions
O LORD.
Their teeth — Their powerful instruments of
doing mischief.
Verse 7
[7] Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when
he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows
let them be as cut in pieces.
Melt away — As waters arising from melted
snow
which at first run with great force
but are suddenly gone.
Verse 8
[8] As a snail which melteth
let every one of them pass
away: like the untimely birth of a woman
that they may not see the sun.
Melteth — Which is quickly dissolved.
Verse 9
[9] Before your pots can feel the thorns
he shall take them
away as with a whirlwind
both living
and in his wrath.
Before — Before your pots can be heated.
Take them — Violently and irresistibly.
Living — Alive
as he did Korah.
Verse 10
[10] The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance:
he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
Rejoice — For the blessed effects of it; the vindication of
God's honour
and the deliverance of himself and of all good men.
Wash — There shall be so great a slaughter of his enemies
that he might
if he pleased
wash his feet in their blood.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
To the Chief
Musician. Although David had his own case in his mind's eye
yet he wrote not
as a private person
but as an inspired prophet
and therefore his song is presented
for public and perpetual use
to the appointed guardian of the Temple psalmody.
Altaschith. The wicked are here judged and condemned
but over the godly
the sacred "Destroy not" is solemnly pronounced. Michtam of
David. This is the fourth of the Psalms of the Golden Secret
and the
second of the "Destroy nots." These names if they serve for nothing
else may be useful to aid the memory. Men give names to their horses
jewels
and other valuables
and these names are meant not so much to describe as to
distinguish them
and in some cases to set forth the owner's high esteem of his
treasure; after the same fashion the Oriental poet gave a title to the song he
loved
and so aided his memory
and expressed his estimation of the strain. We
are not always to look for a meaning in these superscriptions
but to treat
them as we would the titles of poems
or the names of tunes.
DIVISION. The ungodly
enemy is accused
Ps 58:1-5; judgment is sought from the judge
Ps 58:6-8; and
seen in prophetic vision as already executed
Ps 58:9-11.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. Do ye indeed speak righteousness
O congregation? The
enemies of David were a numerous and united band
and because they so
unanimously condemned the persecuted one
they were apt to take it for granted
that their verdict was a right one. "What everybody says must be true
"is a lying proverb based upon the presumption which comes of large
combinations. Have we not all agreed to hound the man to the death
and who
dare hint that so many great ones can be mistaken? Yet the persecuted one lays
the axe at the root by requiring his judges to answer the question whether or
not they were acting according to justice. It were well if men would sometimes
pause
and candidly consider this. Some of those who surrounded Saul were
rather passive than active persecutors; they held their tongues when the object
of royal hate was slandered; in the original
this first sentence appears to be
addressed to them
and they are asked to justify their silence. Silence gives
consent. He who refrains from defending the right is himself an accomplice in
the wrong. Do ye judge uprightly
O ye sons of men? Ye too are only men though
dressed in a little brief authority. Your office for men
and your relation to
men both bind you to rectitude; but have ye remembered this? Have ye not put
aside all truth when ye have condemned the godly
and united in seeking the
overthrow of the innocent? Yet in doing this be not too sure of success
or ye
are only the "sons of men
"and there is a God who can and will
reverse your verdicts.
Verse
2. Yea
in heart ye work wickedness. Down deep in your very
souls ye hold a rehearsal of the injustice ye intend to practise
and when your
opportunity arrives
ye wreak vengeance with a gusto; your hearts are in your
wicked work
and your hands are therefore ready enough. Those very men who sat
as judges
and pretended to so much indignation at the faults imputed to their
victim
were in their hearts perpetrating all manner of evil. Ye weigh the
violence of your hands in the earth. They were deliberate sinners
cold
calculating villains. As righteous judges ponder the law
balance the evidence
and weigh the case
so the malicious dispense injustice with malice
aforethought in cold blood. Note in this verse that the men described sinned
with heart and hand; privately in their heart
publicly in the earth; they
worked and they weighed—they were active
and yet deliberate. See what a
generation saints have to deal with! Such were the foes of our Lord
a
generation of vipers
an evil and adulterous generation; they sought to kill
him because he was righteousness itself
yet they masked their hatred to his
goodness by charging him with sin.
Verse
3. The wicked are estranged from the womb. It is small wonder
that some men persecute the righteous seed of the woman
since all of them are
of the serpent's brood
and enmity is set between them. No sooner born than
alienated from God—what a condition to be found in! Do we so early leave the
right track? Do we at the same moment begin to be men and commence to be
sinners? They go astray as soon as they be born
speaking lies. Every observer
may see how very soon infants act lies. Before they can speak they practise
little deceptive arts. This is especially the case in those who grow up to be
adept in slander
they begin their evil trade early
and there is no marvel
that they become adept in it. He who starts early in the morning will go far
before night. To be untruthful is one of the surest proofs of a fallen state
and since falsehood is universal
so also is human depravity.
Verse
4. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent. Is man also
a poisonous reptile? Yes
and his venom is even as that of a serpent. The viper
has but death for the body in his fangs; but unregenerate man carries poison
under his tongue
destructive to the nobler nature. They are like the deaf
adder that stoppeth her ear. While speaking of serpents the psalmist remembers
that many of them have been conquered by the charmer's art
but men such as he
had to deal with no art could tame or restrain; therefore
he likens them to a
serpent less susceptible than others to the charmer's music
and says that they
refused to hear reason
even as the adder shuts her ear to those incantations
which fascinate other reptiles. Man
in his natural corruption
appears to have
all the ill points of a serpent without its excellences. O sin
what hast thou
done!
Verse
5. Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers
charming
never so wisely. Ungodly men are not to be won to right by arguments the
most logical
or appeals the most pathetic. Try all your arts
ye preachers of
the word! Lay yourselves out to meet the prejudices and tastes of sinners
and
ye shall yet have to cry
"Who hath believed our report?" It is not
in your music
but in the sinner's ear that the cause of failure lies
and it
is only the power of God that can remove it.
"You
can call spirits from the vast deep
But will they come when you do call for them?"
No
we call and call
and call in vain
till the arm of the Lord is revealed. This
is at once the sinner's guilt and danger. He ought to hear but will not
and
because he will not hear
he cannot escape the damnation of hell.
Verse
6. Break their teeth
O God
in their mouth. If they have no
capacity for good
at least deprive them of their ability for evil. Treat them
as the snake charmers do their serpents
extract their fangs
break their
teeth. The Lord can do this
and he will. He will not suffer the malice of the
wicked to triumph
he will deal them such a blow as shall disable them from
mischief. Break out the great teeth of the young lions
O Lord. As if one brute
creature had not enough of evil in it to complete the emblem of ungodly nature
another specimen of ferae naturae is fetched in. For fierce cruelty the
wicked are likened to young lions
monsters in the prime of their vigour
and
the fury of their lustiness; and it is asked that their grinders may be smashed
in
broken off
or dashed out
that the creatures may henceforth be harmless. One
can well understand how the banished son of Jesse
while poisoned by the
venomous slander of his foes
and worried by their cruel power
should appeal
to heaven for a speedy and complete riddance from his enemies.
Verse
7. Let them melt away as waters which run continually. Like
mountain torrents dried up by the summer heats let them disappear; or like
running streams whose waters are swiftly gone
so let them pass away; or like
water spilt which none can find again
so let them vanish out of existence.
Begone
ye foul streams
the sooner ye are forgotten the better for the
universe. When he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows
let them be as cut in pieces.
When the Lord goes forth to war
let his judgments so tell upon these
persecutors that they may be utterly cut in pieces as a mark shattered by many
shafts. Or perhaps the meaning is
when the ungodly man marches to the
conflict
let his arrows and his bow drop into fragments
the string cut
the
bow snapped
the arrows headless
the points blunted; so that the boastful
warrior may not have wherewithal to hurt the object of his enmity. In either
sense the prayer of the Psalm has often become fact
and will be again
fulfilled as often as need arises.
Verse
8. As a snail which melteth
let every one of them pass away.
As the snail makes its own way by its slime
and so dissolves as it goes
or as
its shell is often found empty
as though the inhabitant had melted away
so
shall the malicious eat out their own strength while they proceed upon their
malevolent designs
and shall themselves disappear. To destroy himself by envy
and chagrin is the portion of the ill disposed. Like the untimely birth of a
woman
that they may not see the sun. Solemn is this curse
but how
surely does it fall on many graceless wretches! They are as if they had never
been. Their character is shapeless
hideous
revolting. They are fitter to be
hidden away in an unknown grave than to be reckoned among men. Their life comes
never to ripeness
their aims are abortive
their only achievement is to have
brought misery to others
and horror to themselves. Such men as Herod
Judas
Alva
Bonner
had it not been better for them if they had never been born?
Better for the mothers who bore them? Better for the lands they cursed? Better
for the earth in which their putrid carcasses are hidden from the sun? Every
unregenerate man is an abortion. He misses the true form of God made manhood;
he corrupts in the darkness of sin; he never sees or shall see the light of God
in purity
in heaven.
Verse
9. Before your pots can feel the thorns. So sudden is the
overthrow of the wicked
so great a failure is their life
that they never see
joy. Their pot is put upon the hook to prepare a feast of joy
and the fuel is
placed beneath
but before the thorns are lit
before any heat can be brought
to bear upon the pot
yea
even as soon as the fuel has touched the cooking
vessel
a storm comes and sweeps all away; the pot is overturned
the fuel is
scattered far and wide. Perhaps the figure may suppose the thorns
which are
the fuel
to be kindled
and then the flame is so rapid that before any heat
can be produced the fire is out
the meat remains raw
the man is disappointed
his work is altogether a failure. He shall take them away as with a whirlwind.
Cook
fire
pot
meat and all
disappear at once
whirled away to destruction.
Both living
and in his wrath. In the very midst of the man's life
and in the
fury of his rage against the righteous
the persecutor is overwhelmed with a
tornado
his designs are baffled
his contrivances defeated
and himself
destroyed. The passage is difficult
but this is probably its meaning
and a
very terrible one it is. The malicious wretch puts on his great seething pot
he gathers his fuel
he means to play the cannibal with the godly; but he
reckons without his host
or rather without the Lord of hosts
and the
unexpected tempest removes all trace of him
and his fire
and his feast
and
that in a moment.
Verse
10. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance. He
will have no hand in meting out
neither will he rejoice in the spirit of
revenge
but his righteous soul shall acquiesce in the judgments of God
and he
shall rejoice to see justice triumphant. There is nothing in Scripture of that
sympathy with God's enemies which modern traitors are so fond of parading as
the finest species of benevolence. We shall at the last say
"Amen
"to the condemnation of the wicked
and feel no disposition to question
the ways of God with the impenitent. Remember how John
the loving disciple
puts it. "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in
heaven
saying
Alleluia; Salvation and glory
and honour
and power
unto the
Lord our God: for true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great
whore
which did corrupt the earth with her fornication
and hath avenged the
blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said
Alleluia. And her smoke
rose up for ever and ever." He shall wash his feet in the blood of the
wicked. He shall triumph over them
they shall be so utterly vanquished that
their overthrow shall be final and fatal
and his deliverance complete and
crowning. The damnation of sinners shall not mar the happiness of saints.
Verse
11. So that a man shall say. Every man however ignorant shall
be compelled to say
Verily
in very deed
assuredly
there is a reward for the
righteous. If nothing else be true this is. The godly are not after all
forsaken and given over to their enemies; the wicked are not to have the best
of it
truth and goodness are recompensed in the long run. Verily he is a God
that judgeth in the earth. All men shall be forced by the sight of the final
judgment to see that there is a God
and that he is the righteous ruler of the
universe. Two things will come out clearly after all—there is a God and there
is a reward for the righteous. Time will remove doubts
solve difficulties
and
reveal secrets; meanwhile faith's foreseeing eye discerns the truth even now
and is glad thereat.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. The proper
meaning of the root of Michtam is to engrave
or to stamp a
metal. It therefore
in strictness
means
an engraving or sculpture.
Hence in the Septuagint
it is translated sthlografia
an inscription on
a column. I would venture to offer a conjecture in perfect harmony with this
view. It appears by the titles of four out of these six Psalms
that they were
composed by David while flying and hiding from the persecutions of Saul. What
then
should hinder us from imagining that they were inscribed on the rocks and
on the sides of the caves which so often formed his place of refuge? This view
would accord with the strict etymological meaning of the word
and explain the
rendering of the Septuagint. John Jebb
in "A Literal Translation of the
Book of Psalms
" 1846. (See also Explanatory Notes on Psalms 6 and 56.
"Treasury of David"
Vol. 1.
pp. 222-23; Vol. 3
p. 40.)
Whole
Psalm. Kimchi says this Psalm was written on account of Abner
and the
rest of Saul's princes
who judged David as a rebel against the government
and
said it was for Saul to pursue after him to slay him; for if they had
restrained him
Saul would not have pursued after him; and indeed they seem to
be wicked judges who are addressed in this Psalm; do not destroy. Arama
says
it declares the wickedness of Saul's judges. John Gill.
Verse
1. Are ye dumb (when) ye (should) speak
righteousness (and) judge equitably
sons of men? The first words
are exceedingly obscure. One of them mla
not expressed in the English
and the
ancient versions
means dumbness
as in Ps 61:1
and seems to be here
used as a strong expression for entirely speechless. In what respect
they were thus dumb
is indicated by the verb which follows
but the connection
can be made clear in English only by a circumlocution. The interrogation
are
ye indeed
expresses wonder
as at something scarcely credible. Can it be
so? Is it possible? are you really silent
you
whose very office is to speak
for God
and against the sins of men? Joseph Addison Alexander.
Verse
1. O congregation
O band
or company. The Hebrew alem
which hath the signification of binding as a sheaf or bundle
seemeth
here to be a company that are combined or confederate. Henry Ainsworth.
Verse
2. In heart ye work wickedness
etc. The psalmist doth not
say
they had wickedness in their heart
but that they did work it there: the
heart is a shop within
an underground shop; there they did closely contrive
forge
and hammer out their wicked purposes
and fit them into actions; yea
they
weighed the violence of their hands in the earth. That's an allusion to
merchants
who buy and sell by weight; they weigh their commodity to an ounce;
they do not give it out in gross
but by exact weight. This saith the psalmist
they weigh the violence of their hands; they do not oppress grossly
but
with a kind of exactness and skill
they sit down and consider what and how
much violence they may use in such a case
or how much such a person may
endure
or such a season may bear. They are wiser than to do all at once
or
all to one
lest they spoil all. They weigh what they do
though what
they do be so bad that it will hold no weight when God comes to weigh it. Nor
do they arrive at this skill presently
but after they have
as it were
served
an apprenticeship at it; and they bind themselves to the trade very early; for
as it follows at the third verse of the Psalm
The wicked are estranged from
the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born
speaking lies
that is
they are estranged both by nature and by early practice; they lose no time
they go to it young
even "as soon as they are born
"as soon as they
are fit for any use
or to do any thing
they are using and setting themselves
to do wickedly. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
2. The word twlwe wickedness properly signifies the inclinations
of scales
when the scale weighs down to one side; then it is transferred
to respect of persons
to injustice and iniquity
especially in public
tribunals and decisions
as in Ps 82:2
How long will ye judge lwe by
an unjust inclination of the scales? Hermann Venema.
Verse
2. The principles of the wicked are even worse than their practices:
premeditated violence is doubly guilty. George Rogers.
Verse
3. The wicked are estranged from the womb
etc. How early men
do sin! How late they do repent! As soon as they are born "they go
astray
"but if left to themselves they will not return till they die;
they will never return. Children can neither go nor speak as soon as born
but
as soon as born they can "go astray" and "speak lies; "that
is
their first speaking is lying
and their first going is straying; yea
when
they cannot go naturally
they can go astray morally or metaphorically: the
first step they are able to take is a step out of the way. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
3. They go astray as soon as they be born
speaking lies. Of
all sins
no sin can call Satan father like to lying. All the corruption that
is in us came from Satan
but yet this sin of forging and lying is from the
devil more than any; tastes of the devil more than any. Hence every man is a
liar (Ro 3:4)
and so every man is every sinner else; but in a special manner
every man is a liar; for that the very first depravation of our nature came in
by lying
and our nature doth taste much still of this old block to be given to
lying
the devil also breathing into us a strong breath to stir us up to lying.
Hence no sooner do we speak but we lie. As we are in body
subject to
all diseases
but yet
some to one sickness rather than to another: so in the
soul
all are apt enough to all sin
and some rather to one vice than to
another; but all are much inclined to lying. A liar then is as like the devil
as ever he can look: as unlike to God as ever he can be. Richard Capel
1586-1656
in "Tentations
their Nature
Danger
Cure."
Verse
3. The figure of the wicked going astray as soon as they are born
seems to be taken from the disposition and power of a young serpent soon after
its birth. The youngest serpent can convey poison to anything which it bites;
and the suffering in all cases is great
though the bite is seldom fatal. Place
a stick near the reptile whose age does not amount to many days
and he will
immediately snap at it. The offspring of the tiger and of the alligator are
equally fierce in their earliest habits. Joseph Roberts
in "Oriental
Illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures
" 1844.
Verse
4. Poison. There is such a thing as poison; but where to be
found? Ubicunque fuerit
in homine quis quaereret? Wheresoever it is
in
man who would look for it? God made man's body of the dust; he mingled no
poison with it. He inspires his soul from heaven; he breathes no poison with
it. He feeds him with bread; he conveys no poison with it. Unde venenum?
Whence is the poison? Mt 13:27—"Didst not thou
O Lord
sow good seed in
thy field?" Unde zizaniae—"From whence then hath it
tares?" Whence? Hoc fecit inimicus—"The enemy hath done
this." We may perceive the devil in it. That great serpent
the red
dragon
hath poured into wicked hearts this poison. His own poison
malitiam
wickedness. Cum infundit peccatum
infundit venenum—"When he pours
in sin he pours in poison." Sin is poison. Original depravity is called
corruption; actual poison. The violence and virulence of this venomous quality
comes not at first. Nemo fit repente pessimus—No man becomes worst at
the first dash. We are born corrupt
we have made ourselves poisonous. There be
three degrees
as it were so may ages
in sin. First—secret sin; an
ulcer lying in the bones
but skinned over with hypocrisy. Secondly—open
sin
bursting forth into manifest villany. The former is corruption
the second
is eruption. Thirdly—frequented and confirmed sin
and that is rank
poison
envenoming soul and body. Thomas Adams
1614.
Verse
4. Adder. Hebrew ntb pethen
the Egyptian cobra (Naja
hage)
one of the venomous Colubrine Snakes (Colubri). This
is one of the so called hooded snakes
with which serpent charmers chiefly
deal. The Spectacled Snake proper (Naja tripudians) is a closely related
species. The well known Cobra di Capello is another. They are all noted for
their deadly bite. The hollow fangs communicate with a poison gland
which
being pressed in the act of biting
sends a few drops into the puncture. The
venom quickly acts on the whole system
and death soon ensues. John Duns
D.D.
in "Biblical Natural Science
" 1868.
Verse
4. The deaf adder. Certain it is
says a modern writer upon
the Psalms
that the common adder or viper here in England
the bite of which
too
by the way
is very venomous
if it is not wholly deaf
has the
sense of hearing very imperfectly. This is evident from the danger there is of
treading upon these animals
unless you happen to see them; for if they do not
see you
and you do not disturb them
they never endeavour to avoid you
which
when they are disturbed and do see you
they are very solicitous of doing.
Allowing
then
that there is a species of these noxious animals
which either
not having the sense of hearing at all
or having it only in a low degree
may
very well be said to be deaf; this may help to explain the present poetical
passage of the psalmist. He very elegantly compares the pernicious and
destructive practices of wicked men to the venom of a serpent; and his
mentioning this species of animals
seems to have brought to his mind another
property of at least one sort of them
in which they likewise resembled
perverse and obstinate sinners
who are deaf to all advice
utterly
irreclaimable
and not to be persuaded. This the adder resembled
which is a
very venomous animal
and moreover is deaf
or very near it. And perhaps his
saying that she stoppeth her ear
may be no more than a poetical
expression for deafness; just as the mole
which in common speech is
said to be blind
might in a poetical phrase
be said to shut her eyes;
as in fact she does when you expose her to the light. The next clause
Which
refuseth to hear
etc.
is another poetical expression for the same thing. Samuel
Burder
in "The Scripture Expositor
" 1810.
Verse
4. The deaf adder. Several of the serpent tribe are believed
to be either quite deaf
or very dull of hearing. Perhaps that which is called
the puddeyan
the "beaver serpent
"is more so than any other.
I have frequently come close up to these reptiles; but they did not make any
effort to move out of the way. They lurk in the path
and the victim on whom
they pounce will expire within a few minutes after he is bitten. Joseph
Roberts.
Verse
4. The deaf adder. The adder
or asp
is the haje
naja
or cobra of Egypt
according to Cuvier. The hearing of all the
serpent tribes is imperfect
as all are destitute of a tympanic cavity
and of
external openings to the ear. The deaf adder is not a particular
species. The point of the rebuke is
the pathen
or "adder
"here in question
could hear in some degree but would not;
just as the unrighteous judges
or persecutors
of David could hear with their
outward ears such appeals as he makes in Ps 58:1-2
but would not. The charmer
usually could charm the serpent by shrill sounds
either of his voice or of the
flute
the serpent's comparative deafness rendering it the more amenable to
those sounds which it could hear. But exceptional cases occurred of a deaf
adder which was deaf only in the sense that it refused to hear
or
to be acted on. Also Jer 8:17; compare Ec 10:11. A. R. Fausset.
Verse
4. The deaf adder that stoppeth her ear. With respect to what
is said of the animal's stopping its ears
it is not necessary to have recourse
to the supposition of its actually doing so
which by some persons has been
stated
but it is sufficient to know
that whilst some serpents are operated
upon in the manner above described
others are partly or altogether insensible
to the incantation. Richard Mant.
Verse
4. (second clause). This clause admits of a different
construction
like the deaf adder he stops his ear
which some
interpreters prefer
because an adder cannot stop its ears
and need not stop
them if naturally deaf
whereas it is by stopping his
the wicked man becomes
like a deaf adder. J. A. Alexander.
Verses
4-5. Experienced and skilful as the serpent charmers are
however
they do not invariably escape with impunity. Fatal terminations to these
exhibitions of the psyllid art now and then occur; for there are still to be
found "deaf adders
which will not hearken to the voice of charmers
charming never so wisely."... Roberts mentions the instance of a man
who came to a gentleman's house to exhibit tame snakes
and on being told that
a cobra
or hooded snake
was in a cage in the house
was asked if he could
charm it; on his replying in the affirmative
the serpent was released from the
cage
and no doubt
in a state of high irritation. The man began his
incantation
and repeated his charms; but the snake darted at him
fastened
upon his arm
and before night he was a corpse. Philip Henry Gosse
in
"The Romance of Natural History
"1861.
Verses
4-5. One day a rattlesnake entered our encampment. Among us was a
Canadian who could play the flute
and who
to divert us
marched against the
serpent with his new species of weapon. On the approach of his enemy
the
haughty reptile curls himself into a spiral line
flattens his head
inflates
his cheeks
contracts his lips
displays his envenomed fangs and his bold
throat; his tongue flows like two flames of fire; his eyes are burning coals;
his body swollen with rage
rises and falls like the bellows of a forge; his
dilated skin assumes a dull and scaly appearance; and his tail
whence proceeds
the death announcing sound
vibrates with such rapidity as to resemble a light
vapour. The Canadian begins to play upon his flute—the serpent starts with
surprise
and draws back his head. In proportion as he is struck with the magic
notes
his eyes lose their fierceness; the oscillations of his tail become
slower and the sounds which it makes become weaker
and gradually die away.
Less perpendicular upon their spiral line
the rings of the charmed serpent are
by degrees expanded
and sink one after another on the ground in concentric
circles. The shades of azure
green
white
and gold recover their brightness
on his quivering skin
and slightly turning his head
he remains motionless
in
the attitude of attention and pleasure. At this moment the Canadian advances a
few steps
producing from his flute sweet and simple notes. The serpent
inclining his variegated neck
opens a passage with the head through the high
grass
and begins to creep after the musician; stopping when he stops
and
beginning to follow him again as soon as he advances forward. In this manner he
was led out of the camp
attended by a great number of spectators
both savages
and Europeans
who could scarcely believe their eyes
which had witnessed this
effect of harmony. Francois Aguste
Viscount de Chateaubriand
1768-1848.
Verses
4-5. The serpent
when she begins to feel the charmer
clappeth one
ear presently to the ground
and stoppeth the other ear with her tail
although
by hearkening to the charmer
as some observe
she would be provoked to spit
out her poison
and renew her age. (This is a specimen of the old fashioned un-natural
history. No one will be misled by it. C. H. S.) So hot is man upon his
harlot sin
that he is deaf to all that would counsel him to the contrary; he
stops his ear
hardens his heart
stiffens his neck against the thunders of the
law
the still voice of the gospel
the motions of the Spirit
and the
convictions of his own conscience. When sin calls
they run through thick and
thin for haste; when the world commands
how readily do they hearken
how
quickly do they hear
how faithfully do they obey! but when the blessed God
cries to them
charges them by his unquestionable authority
beseeches them for
their own unchangeable felicity
they
like statues of men
rather than living
creatures
stand still and stir not at all. Other things move swiftly to their
centres; stones fall tumbling downward
sparks fly apace upward
coneys run
with speed to their burrows
rivers with violence to the ocean
and yet silly
man hangs off from his Maker
that neither entreaties nor threatenings
nor the
word
nor the works of God
nor the hope of heaven
nor fear of hell
can
quicken or hasten him to his happiness. Who would imagine that a reasonable
soul should act so much against sense and reason? George Swinnock
1627-1673.
Verse
5. Will not hearken. The Lord hath some of his elect ones
whom he seeth walking in bypaths and crooked ways: the Lord giveth a commission
to his servants
the ministers
and saith
Go invite and call yon soul to come
to me
and say
Return
O Shulamite; but the soul stirs not: the Lord sends and
calls again: yet with the deaf adder
he hearkeneth not to the voice of the
enchanter: well
saith the Lord
"If you will not come; I will fetch
you"; if fair means will not do
foul means must; then he hisses for the
fly and the bee of affliction
and calls forth armies of trouble
and gives
them commission to seize upon
and to lay siege to such a man or woman
and
saith
Ply them with your cannon shot
till you make them yield
give up the
keys and strike the sail; he sends sickness to their bodies
a consumption to
their estate
death to their friends
shame to their reputation
a fire to
their house
and the like
and bids them prey and spoil
till they see and
acknowledge the hand of the Lord lifted up. J. Votier's "Survey of
Effectual Calling
" 1652.
Verse
6. Break their teeth
destroy the fangs of these serpents
in
which their poison is contained. This will amount to the same meaning as
above. Save me from the adders
the sly and poisonous slanderers: save
me also from the lions—the tyrannical and bloodthirsty men. Adam
Clarke.
Verse
6. Great teeth. mwetlm
according to Michaelis and Gesenius
are the eye teeth
which in lions are sharp and terrible. George
Phillips
B.D.
in "The Psalms in Hebrew: With a Commentary
"
1846.
Verses
6-9. David's enemies were strong and fierce as young lions: he
therefore prayed that their teeth might be broken
even their strongest
teeth
their grinders
with which they were ready to devour him; that so
they might be disabled from doing mischief. They overwhelmed him like an
inundation: but he desired it might prove a land flood
which is soon wasted.
They were about to shoot at him: but he would have their bows
or their arrows
to be shivered to pieces
and become like straw
and do no execution
and he
prayed that they might waste insensibly as the snail
which leaves its
substance all along its track; and that they might come to nothing
like an
abortion. He also predicted
that their prosperous rage (which resembled the
crackling of thorns under a pot)
would soon be extinct
and produce no effect;
while the Lord in his wrath would hurry them into speedy destruction; as a
furious whirlwind drives a living man down a precipice
or into a dreadful pit.
Thomas Scott
1747-1821.
Verse
8. As a snail which melteth away as it goeth
literally
which
goeth in melting (or slime)
the noun being in the accusative as describing
the nature of the action
and the allusion being to the slimy trail which the
snail leaves behind it
so that it seems to waste away. Evidently this
is nothing more than a poetical hyperbole
and need not be explained
therefore
as a popular error or a mistake in natural history.—J. J. Stewart
Perowne
B.D.
in "The Book of Psalms; a New Translation
with
Introduction and Notes
" 1864.
Verse
8. As a snail which melteth
etc. This is a very remarkable
and not very intelligible passage. The Jewish Bible renders the passage in a
way which explains the idea which evidently prevailed at the time the Psalms
were composed: "As a snail let him melt as he passeth on." The
ancients had an idea that the slimy track made by a snail as it crawled along
was subtracted from the substance of its body
and that in consequence the
farther it crept the smaller it became until at last it wasted entirely away.
The commentators on the Talmud took this view of the case. The Hebrew word
lwlbv shablul
which undoubtedly does signify a snail of some kind
is
thus explained:—"The Shablul is a creeping thing; when it comes out of its
shell
saliva pours from itself until it becomes liquid
and so dies."
Other explanations of this passage have been offered
but there is no doubt
that the view taken by these commentators is the correct one
and that the
psalmist
when he wrote the terrible series of denunciations in which the
passage occurs
had in his mind the popular belief regarding the gradual
wasting away of the snail as it "passeth on." It is needless to say
that no particular species of snail is mentioned
and almost as needless to
state that in Palestine there are many species of snails
to any or all of
which these words are equally applicable. J. G. Wood
in "Bible
Animals." 1869.
Verse
8. The untimely birth of a woman. The wicked are all
so
speak
human abortions; they are and for ever remain defective beings
who have
not accomplished the great purpose of their existence. Heaven is the one end
for which man is created
and he who falls short of it does not attain the
purpose of his being; he is an eternal abortion. O. Prescott Hiller.
Verse
8. (second clause). David when he curseth the plots of wicked
men
that though they have conceived mischief
and though they have gone with
it a long time
and are ready to bring it forth
yet saith he
Let them be
(that is
let their counsels and designs be) like the untimely birth of a woman
that they may not see the sun: that is
let them be dashed and blasted
let them never bring forth their poisonous brood to the hurt and trouble of the
world. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
9. (first clause). Before your cooking vessels
etc.
It would puzzle Oedipus himself to make any tolerable sense of the English
translation of this verse. It refers to the usage of travellers in the East
who when journeying through the deserts
make a hasty blaze with the thorns
which they collect
some green and full of sap
others dry and withered
for
the purpose of dressing their food; in which circumstances
violent storms of
wind not infrequently arise
which sweep away their fuel and entire apparatus
before the vessels which they use become warm by the heat. An expressive and
graphical image of the overwhelming ruin of wicked men. William Walford
1837.
Verse
9. Before your pots feel the bramble. By this proverbial
expression the psalmist describes the sudden eruption of the divine wrath;
sudden and violent as the ascension of the dry bramble underneath the
housewife's pot. The brightness of the flame which this material furnishes
the
height to which it mounts in an instant
the fury with which it seems to rage
on all sides of the vessel
give force
and even sublimity to the image
though
taken from one of the commonest occurrences of the lower life—a cottager's wife
boiling her pot! The sense
then
will be: "Before your pots feel the
bramble
he shall sweep them away in whirlwind and hurricane." Samuel
Horsley
1733-1806.
Verse
9. In all the book of God I do not remember any sentence so
variously and differently translated as this verse... This variety of
translations ariseth chiefly from the original Hebrew word twrym siroth
which in the Hebrew tongue signifies
first
pots or cauldrons
wherein flesh is sod
as Ex 16:3 38:3 Eze 11:11. Secondly
thorns
and pricks
of thorns and briers
as Isa 34:13 Ho 2:8. Thirdly
because the pricks of the
great bramble are very sharp and hooked
this word is used to signify fishhooks.
Am 4:2. In all our English Bibles of the old
new
and Geneva translation
and
some Latin Bibles
this word is taken to signify pots or cauldrons; but the
Septuagint
Hierome
vulgar Latin
Austine
Pagnine
Tremellius
and all others
that I have seen
take this word in the second sense
for the sharp pricks of
thorns and brambles. Here
certainly
this word signifies the sharp pricks of
the great dog bramble
which here in the Hebrew text is dj atad
and is
used (Jud 9:14-15) in Jotham's parable to signify the bramble
which being made
king of the trees
kindled a fire
which devoured the cedars of Lebanon. Now
this bramble in the body
and every branch of it
is beset with sharp hooked
pricks
some of which are green and have life and moisture in them
and though
they be sharp
yet they are not so stiff and strong as to make any deep wound
in a man's flesh. Others are greater
more hooked
and hardened by drying and
parching with the vehement heat of the sun; and they strike to the quick
and
hold fast
or tear where they catch hold of man's skin or flesh. The first are
here called dja
living or green; the other are called
nwrx
dried
or parched
and hardened; and the prophetical psalmist affirms that "God who judgeth
in the earth
will take away and destroy as with a tempestuous whirlwind
every
one of them
as well the green as the dry
"as Tremellius out of the
original doth most truly translate the word... The whole text runs thus:
"Before they feel your thorns or pricks
O ye bramble
he will take away
every one as with a whirlwind
as well the green as the dry." Before
they
that is
the righteous whom ye hate and persecute; do feel.
that is
have a full sense and understanding of your thorns or pricks
that is
of the sharpness
fury
and mischief which is in the heart and hand of all and
every one among you; for every one in your band and congregation is a grievous
thorn and sharp prick of the cursed bramble
sharply set and bent to do
mischief in malice and fury to the people and church of God. "He that is
God who judgeth in the earth" (as it is expressed in the eleventh verse
in the last words) "will take away as with a whirlwind" (that is
scatter and destroy tempestuously)
"every one
as well the living and
green as the dry and hardened." That is
of every sort banded together
as
well the green headed and young persecutors
sharp set
but not so strong to
hurt
as the old and dry who are hardened in malice by long custom
and in
power and policy are strong to do mischief. George Walker
in a Fast Sermon
before the House of Commons
1644.
Verse
10. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance.
When the just man seeth the vengeance and rejoiceth
it is not of malice
but
of benevolence
either hoping that the wicked may by punishment be amended
or
loving God's justice above men's persons
not being displeased with the
punishment of the wicked
because it proceedeth from the Lord
nor desiring
that the wicked may be acquitted from penalty because the deserve in justice to
be punished. Nicholas Gibbens.
Verse
10. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance.
Not that he shall be glad of the vengeance purely as it is a hurt
or a
suffering to the creature
but the righteous shall be glad when he seeth the
vengeance of God
as it is a fulfilling of the threatening of God against the
sin of man
and so evidence of his own holiness. Ps 59:9-10. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
10. He shall; wash his feet
etc. That is
he gets comfort and
encouragement by seeing the Lord avenge his cause against his adversaries. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse
10. He shall wash his feet in the blood
etc. As the
victorious survivor of a conflict
walking over the battle field
might be said
to do. R. T. Society's Notes.
Verse
10.. When angels execute God's judgments upon sinners
the saints see
much in it; they see matter of fear and praise; of fear
in that God's power
wrath
and hatred are manifested in them against sin and sinners; of praise
in
that themselves are delivered and justice performed. When the wicked are taken
away by a divine stroke
by the hand of justice
and God hath the glory of his
justice
the righteous rejoice at it: but is that all? No
he washes
his feet in the blood of the wicked; that is
by this judgment he fears and
reforms. It is a metaphor taken from the practice of those parts where they
went barefoot
or with sandals
and so contracted much filth
and used to wash
and cleanse their feet when they came in; so here
the godly seeing the hand of
God upon the wicked
fears
and judges himself for his sins
purges his
conscience and affections
and stands now in awe of that God who hath stricken
the wicked for those sins which he himself in part is guilty of. Waldus
a man
of note in Lyons
seeing one struck dead in his presence
he washed his hands
in his blood; for presently he gave alms to the poor
instructed his family in
the true knowledge of God
and exhorted all that came unto him to repentance
and holiness of life. William Greenhill
1691-1777.
Verse
10.. No doubt
at the sight of Sodom
Gomorrah
Admah
and Zeboim
destroyed
angels saw cause to rejoice and sing
"Hallelujah."
Wickedness was swept away; earth was lightened of a burden; justice
the
justice of God
was highly exalted; love to his other creatures was displayed
in freeing them from the neighbourhood of hellish contaminations. On the same
principles (entering
however
yet deeper into the mind of the Father
and
sympathising to the full in his justice)
the Lord Jesus himself
and each one
of his members shall cry
"Hallelujah
"over Antichrist's ruined
hosts. Re 19:3. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he
shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. He shall be refreshed at
the end of his journey (Joh 13:5 Lu 7:44 Ge 18:4)
he shall wipe off all the dust
of the way
and end its weariness by entering into that strange
that divine
joy over sin destroyed
justice honoured
the law magnified
vengeance taken
for the insult done to Godhead
the triumph of the Holy One over the unholy. It
is not merely the time when the joy begins—it is also the occasion and
cause of that day's rapturous delight. Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse
10. A broad and vital distinction is to be made between desire for
the gratification of personal vengeance
and zeal for the vindication of
the glory of God. "The glory of God" includes necessarily the
real good of the offender and the well being of society. Desire for retaliation
is alway wrong; desire for retribution may be in the highest degree
praiseworthy. For personal motives only can I desire retaliation upon the wrong
doer; but for motives most disinterested and noble I may desire retribution. R.
A. Bertram
in "The Imprecatory Psalms
"1867.
Verse
11. So that a man shall say
Verily
etc. This shall be said
not by a man
nor by any particular man
but by men in general
by man
as opposed to God. The particle translated
verily really means only
and denotes that this and nothing else is true. J. A. Alexander.
Verse
11. So that
etc. There is something worth noting from the
connexion of this verse with the context
and is implied in the first word
so
that
which joins this verse with the former parts of this Psalm
and shows
this to be an illation from them. What? did God so suddenly
"as with a
whirlwind
"overthrow those wicked judges who lorded it over his people?
did he make those "lions" melt like snails? did he confirm the joints
of his people
which were little before
trembling and smiting on against
another
as if they had been so many forlorn wretches exposed and cast forth
and
no eye to pity them; as if they had been floating with Moses upon the sea in a
basket of bulrushes
without any pilot to guide them
and even ready to cry out
with the disciple
"Master
carest not that we perish?" Did he then
command a calm
and bring them to the haven where they would be? did he turn
their howling like dragons and chattering like cranes
under the whips and saws
of tyrannical taskmasters
into a song of joy and triumph? did he dismantle
himself of that cloud wherein for a time he had so enveloped himself
that he
seemed not to behold the pressures of his people? did he
I say
then step in
to his people's rescue
by breaking their yokes as in the day of Midian
and
kissing them with kisses of his mouth? So that a man shall say
Verily there
is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
Observe: Though the passages of God's providence may seem so rugged and
uncouth
as if they were destructive to his church
and likely to put out the
eye of his own glory; yet our God will so dispose of them in the close
that
they shall have an advantageous tendency
to the setting forth of his honour
and our good. John Hinckley
1657.
Verse
11. Some of the judgments of God are a shallow
or a ford
over which
a lamb may wade; every child may read the meaning of them; and a man—any
ordinary man—may say
Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he
is a God that judgeth in the earth. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
11. This judging here does not refer to the judgment to come
at the
last day
when there shall be a general convention of quick and dead before the
Lord's dreadful tribunal; though so
it is most true affore tempus
that
there will be a time when God will ride his circuit here in a solemn manner
so
that a man shall say
Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is
a God that judgeth in the earth; but that is not the scope of this place.
It is in the present tense
o krinwn
that now judgeth
or is now
judging the earth and the inhabitants thereof; and therefore it must be
understood of a judgment on this side
the judgment of the great day; and so
God judges the earth
or in the earth
three manner of ways. First
by a
providential ordering and wise disposal of all the affairs of all creatures.
Secondly
in relieving the oppressed
and pleading the cause of the innocent.
Thirdly
in overthrowing and plaguing the wicked doers. John Hinckley.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
3.
1.
The natural effects of original sin are seen in early suffering and death.
2.
Its moral effects are seen in the early commission of actual sin.
3.
Early depravity is evinced in the conscious guilt of telling lies. G. R.
Verse
3. (first clause). The inner pandemonium
or the calendar of
the heart's crime.
Verse
4. (first clause). A generation of serpents. T. Adams's
Sermon.
Verse
4. Sin as a poison. Poisons may be attractive in colour and taste
slow or rapid in action
painful in effect
withering
soporific or maddening.
In all cases deadly.
Verse
5. The serpent charmer.
1.
He charms with moral persuasion
promise
threatening
etc.
2.
He charms wisely
earnestly
affectionately
argumentively.
3.
He charms in vain; the will is averse. Hence the need of divine grace and of
the gospel.
Verse
8. The snail like course of ungodly men. Their sin destroys their
property
health
time
influence
life.
Verse
11. Remarkable cases of divine judgments and their results.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》