Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 53:1
To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, [A Psalm] of David. The fool hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: [there is] none that doeth good.
1. The fool ] A class of men, not a particular individual. The word nbl here used for fool denotes moral perversity, not mere ignorance or weakness of reason. ‘Folly’ is the opposite of ‘wisdom’ in its highest sense. It may be predicated of forgetfulness of God or impious opposition to His will (Deu 32:6; Deu 32:21; Job 2:10; Job 42:8; Psa 74:18; Psa 74:22): of gross offences against morality (2Sa 13:12-13): of sacrilege (Jos 7:15): of ungenerous churlishness (1Sa 25:25). For a description of the ‘fool’ in his ‘folly’ see Isa 32:5-6 (A.V. vile person, villany).
hath said in his heart ] Or, said. This was the deliberate conclusion of men, upon which they acted. Cp. Psa 10:6; Psa 10:11; Psa 10:13.
There is no God ] Cp. Psa 10:4. This is not to be understood of a speculative denial of the existence of God; but of a practical denial of His moral government. It is rightly paraphrased by the Targum on Psa 14:1, ‘There is no government of God in the earth.’ Cp. Psa 73:11; Jer 5:12; Zep 1:12; Rom 1:28 ff.
Corrupt are they &c.] Render, They did corrupt and abominable iniquity; there was none doing good. The subject of the sentence is mankind in general. Abandoning a practical belief in God, they depraved their nature, and gave themselves up to practices which God abhors (Psa 5:6). ‘Corrupt’ describes the self-degradation of their better nature; ‘abominable’ the character of their conduct in the sight of God. Such was the condition of the world before the Flood. See Gen 6:11-12; and with the last line of the verse cp. Gen 6:5. Rom 1:18-32 is a commentary on this verse. Men “refused to have God in their knowledge” “their senseless heart was darkened” “professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” For iniquity Psalms 14 reads doings.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1 3. The universal depravity of mankind, and its cause.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The fool hath said in his heart … – For the meaning of this verse, see the notes at Psa 14:1. The only change in this verse – a change which does not affect the sense – is the substitution of the word iniquity, in Psa 53:1-6, for works, in Psa 14:1-7.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 53:1-3
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
The folly of unbelief
There were Atheists in Davids days, practical Atheists at least, as there have been in all days, and probably ever will be, and the general bearing of this psalm teaches us pretty clearly the judgment which David formed of them. David at once goes off into a description of the abominably wicked lives of those who said so; the man who says there is no God is declared by David to be a fool, a man wanting in judgment, in clearness of head, in powers of reasoning; this is an imputation upon his mind, his intellect: but the matter does not rest there, for David does not proceed to deplore the weakness of the Atheists faculties, but the rottenness of the Atheists heart; he says they are corrupt, altogether become abominable. He clearly sees the cause of the mans infidelity in his wicked course of life. He would not leave off sinning, that were too great a sacrifice, but at length a light opens upon his mind, but it is a light such as in swampy places sometimes tempts a traveller from the right way–no light of the sun, no guiding star. And what is the light? It is this, that after all perhaps all this about God is a cunning fable, an invention of priests, a mere bugbear to frighten children. And to a man who is determined to sin this is right comfortable doctrine. It is easy to believe true what we wish to be true. And what could a man who has become corrupt and abominable wish to be truer than that there should be no God? This is evidently Davids judgment upon the matter. But the man is a fool who says there is no God! His wickedness is lost in his folly. For what folly is his who says there is no God! There is the argument unanswerable, Who hath made all these things?. . . The heavens declare the glory of God, etc. And equally unreasonable is the denial of Gods moral government. A kind of denial this which is alluded to in the psalm, and yet they say, Tush, God shall not see it. Yet this view also may, I think, without much difficulty, be convicted of folly; for let us consider, is it possible to think of God as being otherwise than perfect? Surely not–an imperfect God is no God at all; if perfect, then He must be perfect in goodness, in holiness and truth. Can He smile equally on the false and the true, the murderer and the saint? is it conceivable that St. John and Judas Iscariot should be equally pleasing to their Maker, differing from each other merely as two stones of different colour differ? Surely all this is monstrous; it is not merely contrary to the Bible, or to the inventions of priests, but it is utterly opposed to the plainest dictates of reason. Therefore I find no difficulty in agreeing with the expression of the text that he who in this way denies God by making Him only the Creator and Preserver, and not the righteous Ruler and Judge, gives evidence thereby of his folly. There is, however, one other manner in which a man may deny God. He may allow all that I have contended for hitherto, and may agree with me that it is contrary to sound reason to deny it; but he may still refuse homage to that God whom we worship as revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that there are such persons, that there always have been such; and we know that the leaders of such a party have accounted themselves as clearsighted beyond others, men of great freedom of thought, not slaves to vulgar prejudices, but rather men who have risen above all vulgar prejudices into an atmosphere of their own. Well, men may be wise in their own conceits without being really wise, and it seems very possible that these infidels may after all be of the class of Davids fool. If this be so, it will not take long to show it. For–
1. The holiest and wisest men have found in the revelation of God in Christ the satisfaction of all their spiritual wants.
2. Then in estimating the reality of the revelation which God has made to us in Jesus Christ, it is necessary to observe the wonderful power that the revelation has had; how it has broken up kingdoms and formed others, how it has reduced whole nations to its dominion and then civilized and informed them; how it has unquestionably been the mainspring, the chief mover of all the history of the world since the time that Christ came. Once more, it is to be noted that if Christ be not the way, the truth, and the life, at least there is no other; either God has revealed Himself in Christ, or He has not revealed Himself at all; for there is no other religion in this world which any one will pretend to substitute. David, as I have already observed, passes abruptly from the speech of the fools heart to the state of his heart corrupt are they, and become abominable in their wickedness. What are we to learn from this part of the text? Surely this most true and valuable lesson, that the denial of God generally proceeds from the heart more than from the intellect. I do not say that this is so in all cases; for when systematic attempts are made to destroy the faith of mankind, it is not to be wondered at if in some instances the belief of simple men should be disturbed; but depend upon it, the fear of a future judgment, and the wish to get free from the thought of it, is the root of much unbelief. And yet doubts and fears do sometimes trouble the mind; the best of men have sometimes felt them; it may be that to experience them is part of our appointed discipline in this world: if, then, any person should be so tempted and tried, I should remind him of our blessed Lords promise, He that will do the will of God shall know of My doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of Myself. You see that our Lord gives an essentially practical rule for strengthening our faith; He does not say, shut yourself up in your study and go carefully through all the evidences and weigh them with an unbiased mind–but go and do Gods will. And so when He heard the Pharisees disbelieving, He did not say, how can ye believe who will not look into evidences, but, how can ye believe which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour which cometh of God only? Here was the defect: the Pharisees were well read in the law, men of acute minds, cultivated intellects: if Christ were the Messiah, why could not they, who were actually looking for Him, recognize His true character? because they were seeking their own glory, seeking honour one of another, and not that which comes of God. What a strange reproof was this to those who piqued themselves upon their wisdom! Christian brethren, let us do Gods will, and then we shall know of the doctrine that is of God. (Bishop Harvey Goodwin.)
Cause of infidelity
In Scripture the fool and the sinner often mean the same person, and infidelity is therefore usually found connected with great depravity. Its progress is gradual; it begins by opposing those doctrines that impose restraint upon a mans favorite vices, and from denying these it proceeds to deny others, and, finally, all the rest. This subject is very important to the age in which we live, Europe being deluged with impiety. What, then, are the causes of infidelity? And we name–
1. Vice. It is not the difficulties of Scripture, but its forbidding of their sin that men dislike. All experience proves this. At first conscience remonstrates, but, unable to secure obedience, conscience is soon silenced, and the sinner seeks to justify those propensities which he declares himself unable to subdue. For it is necessary that men should reconcile their conduct to their opinions, or else there will be continual misery through self-reproach. And they soon succeed in the endeavour, for when a man studies to deceive himself he always can do so. His wishes, not his reason, decide upon the truth. The libertine hates the purity of religion; the dissolute, its temperance; the proud, its meekness; the gay worldling, its piety. But if they cannot get rid of the authority of religion, the thought of the future will make them tremble. Hence they labour to destroy that authority, so that conscience may have no more ground for her reproaches. They represent death as an eternal sleep, and, that men may indulge unrestrainedly the passions of brutes, they labour to show that his end is as theirs. Another proof that infidelity springs from vice is that it usually keeps pace with the passions. When these are strong it is strong. It flourishes in prosperity, but loses its confidence in adversity. Many instances might be adduced in proof that to the infidel the approach of death is terrible. Such is one chief source of infidelity. (S. Smith, D. D.)
Theoretical Atheism
We cannot converse with any human being without instinctively judging of his intellectual capacity. We cannot help assigning him a place either amongst those superior or inferior in intellect. But sometimes we meet with those who will believe what, to all others, is absurd; or disbelieve what, to all others, is evident. Such a man we designate as a fool. And they, also, deserve to be so regarded who, when convinced of the truth of a physical or moral law, yet act as if they knew that which they believe to be certainly false. They will learn wisdom neither from observation or experience. The profligate, the inebriate, the frivolous, are of these fools. The former class may be termed theoretical, the latter, practical fools. In proportion to our respect and reverence for a powerful understanding is our contempt for him who says there is no God. Now, such denial of the existence of God may be either theoretical or practical. It is theoretical when we affirm that no such being exists, but practical when, admitting His existence, we act, in all respects, as though we believed that He did not exist. Let us speak, at present, of the first of these errors–the theoretical. It may show itself in either of two forms.
I. That of absurd credulity. For surely it is such credulity to believe an assertion when no evidence is brought forward to sustain it, and especially when, from the necessity of the case, the evidence, if it did exist, is beyond the reach of the human understanding. Now the Atheist declares to us that there is no God. What is the proof of his assertion? There is none. It is no proof to say that nothing exists but what manifests itself either to the senses or to consciousness. How does he know but that, among the truths which have thus far escaped his notice, one may be the existence of God? See this argument drawn out at length in Fosters Essays.
II. Absurd incredulity. Its unbelief is as unreasonable as its belief. For–
1. The idea of power, of cause and effect, is the universal and spontaneous suggestion of the human intelligence. We cannot imagine an effect without a cause. And that the Creator, shown to be infinite in power and wisdom, is also a holy God. We have ample proof that He loves virtue and hates vice. Socrates, from an observation of the works of creation and Providence, arrived at very nearly this conception of the Divine character. Now, the Atheist, in the face of all this evidence, affirms that there is no God. But this is to deny the existence of the elementary principles of human intelligence. And this Atheistic belief is absurd because it wholly fails in the purpose for which it is intended. He would seek to get rid of the idea of immortality and of future moral retribution. But we do exist, whether there be a God or not: why, then, may we not continue to exist? And there is a moral government, with its penalties and rewards, now: why may it not continue to be? Even if there be no God, that government is; why, then, may it not be carried on through eternity? Such is the absurdity of Atheism. It asserts that which cannot be known by any finite intelligence, and it denies that which cannot be disbelieved without denying the essential laws of human thought, and this for a reason which would remain unaffected whether Atheism be true or false. (F. Nayland.)
Practical Atheism
We may not be theoretical Atheists, but yet we may be such in practice. Now, many are so. They admit the existence of God, bat they live as if they denied it, and thus they are guilty of practical Atheism. To show this, let us–
I. Unfold the conception we have formed of God. We all conceive of Him–
1. As a person. We cannot have the idea of qualities as existing without a subject in which they exist.
2. And to God we ascribe self-existence. He must be the cause of causes, or else there must be an infinite succession of causes, which is absurd.
3. To this conception we add on the idea of eternity, both in the past and in the future.
4. And also infinite and absolute power.
5. Omniscient wisdom, as contrasted with the limited wisdom of even the greatest of men.
6. And every moral attribute in infinite perfection. He is a rock, His way is perfect: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.
7. And He is not only the Judge, but the Father of us all. This shown not only in His providence, but yet more in our redemption.
II. How important to us, then, must be the fact of His existence. No other fact is comparable to it. It is by far the most practical truth that we can conceive. And what must be the condition of the man who believes in the existence of such a God, and yet suffers not this belief to exert any practical influence upon his conduct? What folly can be compared with his? And yet, are not many of you chargeable with it? Some pass whole months without even thinking, in any devout way, of God. Others, under the influence of passion, or fear of being thought precise, will knowingly disobey God. The reason of all such practical Atheism is that they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. Hence are they given over to their evil ways. Think what must be the end of this. But God, in the Gospel of His Son, is offering to us reconciliation. I will, saith He, take from you the heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh. Give Him now your hearts. (F. Nayland.)
Unkindness of scepticism
The Philadelphia Inquirer tells this story of the late Washington McLean: One terribly snowy, sleety day in Washington, he was sitting in the Riggs House reading-room, looking out upon the dreary scene on Pennsylvania Avenue. Presently, in came Colonel Bob Ingersoll, the great agnostic. As he entered the apartment he held out his hand, saying, Hello, Wash., how do you do? Mr. McLean took his hand, and, as he did so, said, Bob, I wish you could have been here a little while ago. I saw a scene out there that made me wish I was twenty years younger. A poor, old, crippled soldier was limping across the Avenue, when a young, lusty fellow ran by him, and, as he did so, kicked the crutch from him, and tumbled him down into the slush. The villain, said Ingersoll, he should have been sent to the penitentiary. Do you really think so? said McLean. Why, certainly! replied the colonel. What else could I think? And yet, Bob, said McLean, that is what you are doing every week in the year. Here are poor, old, infirm Christians, with nothing to aid or support them but their belief in religion, nothing to keep them out of the mire of despair but faith, and yet you go about kicking the crutch from under them worse than even this fictitious fellow did to this fictitious soldier. Very true, with the one exception that our faith is a living thing, and can never be knocked away. (Sword and Trowel.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
PSALM LIII
The sentiments of atheists and deists, who deny Divine
Providence; their character: they are corrupt, foolish,
abominable, and cruel, 1-4;
God fills them with terror, 5;
reproaches these for their oppression of the poor, 5.
The psalmist prays for the restoration of Israel, 6.
NOTES ON PSALM LIII
The title, To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, an instructive Psalm of David. The word machalath, some translate the president; others, the master or leader of the dance; others, hollow instruments; others, the chorus. A flute pipe, or wind instrument with holes, appears to be what is intended. “To the chief player on the flute;” or, “To the master of the band of pipers.”
Verse 1. The fool hath said in his heart] The whole of this Psalm, except a few inconsiderable differences, is the same as the fourteenth; and, therefore, the same notes and analysis may be applied to it; or, by referring to the fourteenth, the reader will find the subject of it amply explained. I shall add a few short notes.
Have done abominable iniquity] Instead of avel, evil or iniquity, eight of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS. have alilah, work, which is nearly the same as in Ps 14:1, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mahalath seems to be the name of a musical instrument, or tune; wherein, as in the rest of them, it is better to confess our ignorance, as the Hebrew doctors themselves do, than to give way to vain and groundless conjectures about them.
David describeth the atheism and corruption of men, &c. See Psa 10; Psa 14.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1-4. with few verbal changes,correspond with Ps 14:1-4.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The fool hath said in his heart, [there is] no God,…. The Targum adds, “of whom is revenge”; or there is no God to punish and avenge the wicked;
corrupt are they; the Chaldee paraphrase is, “the wicked have corrupted their ways”; as all flesh had done in the old world, Ge 6:12;
and have done abominable iniquity; iniquity is the abominable thing that God hates, and makes men abominable in his sight; in Ps 11:1, it is read, “abominable worlds”: the Targum paraphrases the words, “they are far from good, for iniquity is found in them”; see Re 21:8;
[there is] none that doeth good; [See comments on Ps 14:1].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The well-grounded asyndeton is here dismissed; and the expression is rendered more bombastic by the use of instead of . (the masculine to ), pravitas , is the accusative of the object (cf. Eze 16:52) to both verbs, which give it a twofold superlative attributive notion. Moreover, here is accented with Mugrash in our printed texts instead of Tarcha . One Mugrash after another is contrary to all rule.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Human Depravity. | |
To the chief musician upon Mahalath, Maschil. A psalm of David.
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. 2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. 3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God. 5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. 6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
This psalm was opened before, and therefore we shall here only observe, in short, some things concerning sin, in order to the increasing of our sorrow for it and hatred of it. 1. The fact of sin. Is that proved? Can the charge be made out? Yes, God is a witness to it, an unexceptionable witness: from the place of his holiness he looks on the children of men, and sees how little good there is among them, v. 2. All the sinfulness of their hearts and lives in naked and open before him. 2. The fault of sin. Is there any harm in it? Yes, it is iniquity (Psa 53:1; Psa 53:4); it is an unrighteous thing; it is that which there is no good in (Psa 53:1; Psa 53:3); it is an evil thing; it is the worst of evils; it is that which makes this world such an evil world as it is; it is going back from God, v. 3. 3. The fountain of sin. How comes it that men are so bad? Surely it is because there is no fear of God before their eyes: they say in their hearts, “There is no God at all to call us to an account, none that we need to stand in awe of.” Men’s bad practices flow from their bad principles; if they profess to know God, yet in works, because in thoughts, they deny him. 4. The folly of sin. He is a fool (in the account of God, whose judgment we are sure is right) that harbours such corrupt thoughts. Atheists, whether in opinion or practice, are the greatest fools in the world. Those that do not seek God do not understand; they are like brute-beasts that have no understanding; for man is distinguished from the brutes, not so much by the powers of reason as by a capacity for religion. The workers of iniquity, whatever they pretend to, have no knowledge; those may truly be said to know nothing that do not know God, v. 4. 5. The filthiness of sin. Sinners are corrupt (v. 1); their nature is vitiated and spoiled, and the more noble the nature is the more vile it is when it is depraved, as that of the angels. Corruptio optimi est pessima–The best things, when corrupted, become the worst. Their iniquity is abominable; it is odious to the holy God, and it renders them so; whereas otherwise he hates nothing that he has made. It makes men filthy, altogether filthy. Wilful sinners are offensive in the nostrils of the God of heaven and of the holy angels. What decency soever proud sinners pretend to, it is certain that wickedness is the greatest defilement in the world. 6. The fruit of sin. See to what a degree of barbarity it brings men at last; when men’s hearts are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin see their cruelty to their brethren, that are bone of their bone–because they will not run with them to the same excess of riot, they eat them up as they eat bread; as if they had not only become beasts, but beasts of prey. And see their contempt of God at the same time. They have not called upon him, but scorn to be beholden to him. 7. The fear and shame that attend sin (v. 5): There were those in great fear who had made God their enemy; their own guilty consciences frightened them, and filled them with horror, though otherwise there was no apparent cause of fear. The wicked flees when none pursues. See the ground of this fear; it is because God has formerly scattered the bones of those that encamped against his people, not only broken their power and dispersed their forces, but slain them, and reduced their bodies to dry bones, like those scattered at the grave’s mouth, Ps. cxli. 7. Such will be the fate of those that lay siege to the camp of the saints and the beloved city, Rev. xx. 9. The apprehensions of this cannot but put those into frights that eat up God’s people. This enables the virgin, the daughter of Zion, to put them to shame, and expose them, because God has despised them, to laugh at them, because he that sits in heaven laughs at them. We need not look upon those enemies with fear whom God looks upon with contempt. If he despises them, we may. 8. The faith of the saints, and their hope and power touching the cure of this great evil, v. 6. There will come a Saviour, a great salvation, a salvation from sin. Oh that it might be hastened! for it will bring in glorious and joyful times. There were those in the Old-Testament times that looked and hoped, that prayed and waited, for this redemption. (1.) God will, in due time, save his church from the sinful malice of its enemies, which will bring joy to Jacob and Israel, that have long been in a mournful melancholy state. Such salvations were often wrought, and all typical of the everlasting triumphs of the glorious church. (2.) He will save all believers from their own iniquities, that they may not be led captive by them, which will be everlasting matter of joy to them. From this work the Redeemer had his name–Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins, Matt. i. 21.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Psalms 53
The Fool Or No-God Psalm
This psalm is nearly identical with Psalms 14, much of which is quoted by Paul, Rom 3:9-12. In it the defeat of God’s adversaries and the ultimate triumph of the righteous are set forth anew.
Scripture v. 1-6:
Verse 1 relates that the “fool,” foolish one, has said in his heart, “there is or exists no God.” But his assertion does not put God out of existence, blow out the sun, moon, or stars, stop the wind from blowing, the clouds from drifting, the sea from foaming, or life and death from continuing, “By whom all things consist,” or hold together, Col 1:17; Heb 1:3. He adds “corrupt are they, “who declare there is no God. They have done abominable iniquity. Then David adds, “there is none that (repeatedly) does good,” for no one is good by nature. You see, all have sinned, Psa 10:4; Psa 14:1; Psa 92:6; Mat 5:2; Luk 12:20; Rom 3:10; Rom 3:23; Rom 6:23.
Verse 2 states that God “looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek after God.” He searches to bring reckless men to understanding, Psa 33:13. He longs for men to seek Him, 2Ch 15:2; 2Ch 19:3; Isa 55:6-7.
Verse 3 observes that “all of them is gone back;” Their going back is caused by their “being back;” sinners by nature become greater sinners, and responsible sinners, by voluntary choice of sin, Isa 53:6; It is added that “they are altogether become filthy, there is none that doeth good, no, not one,” 1Ki 8:46; Ecc 7:20; Psa 58:3; Rom 3:9-12.
Verse 4 Inquires “have the (continual) workers of iniquity no knowledge or understanding?” v. 2. They do not do they? “who eat up my people as they eat bread. They have not called upon God.” Why? Because they have denied His existence, evidently to cover their own sins, try to get away from a guilty conscience, Joh 16:8-9.
Verse 5 further states that there were those in great fear, where no fear or basis of fear existed, to upset their imagined security, as Belshazzar, Daniel ch. 5; Job 15:21; 1Th 5:3. For god, in His covenant with the redeemed, has scattered the bones of those who encamp against them, or besiege them. He has put to shame the enemies of His children. For He despises fools, those who first despise Him, His holiness, His laws, His people, and His church, Lev 26:17; Psa 14:5; Pro 28:1.
Verse 6 laments “Oh that salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!” Already come! David longed for it. Then he prophetically added, “when God bringeth back the captivity of his (scattered) people,” Luk 21:24. “Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad,” and all the redeemed shall “say so!” Psa 107:2; and “rejoice in the Lord alway and evermore,” Php_4:4; 1Th 5:16; Psa 14:7; Isa 59:20.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CONFESSION AND RECOVERY FROM SIN
Psalms 51-60
IN continuing the study of this second Book in the Psalter Pentateuch we come now to the question of the centuries, the sin question. This is not the first time that we have had to face it. From Gen 3:6, it has been the ever-present and never-solved problem.
This study is marvelously near the middle of our Book Divine; and the same question that has rung through the pages, already turned, will present itself in some form on practically every page of the Book till we come to Rev 22:21.
There are certain manifest suggestions in these ten chapters; but in a large way they are directly associated with the confession of sin, contrition for sin, and recovery from sin.
THE CONFESSION OF SIN Chapter 51
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive five.
Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.
Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.
Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.
O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.
For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt-offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.
Here we have the acknowledgment of a personal transgression. We believe absolutely with those who hold that David was thinking upon his own past and reflecting with grief upon the Bathsheba incident, involving as it did, a practical combination of murder and lust.
As is usual with sin, the horror of it is only felt after the deed is effected; and for every prayer, such as our Lord taught us to say, Lead us not into temptation, a prayer that looks to avoiding the iniquitous, there are a hundred petitions of the sort here recorded
Have mercy upon me, O God, according unto Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.
Too few of our prayers anticipate danger; too many of them confess damnable acts already done.
There are those who see in this acknowledgment a corporate, rather than an individual confession. They think that this is the prophetic language of Israel when at last she realizes the iniquity of her rejection of Jesus. But such an interpretation, if it be at all possible, can only be accepted as an inference from David the type. The simple truth is that every word in this fifty-first Psalm fits exactly the spiritual experience of the speaker. The whole history of David shows him a man of tender conscience, unusually affectionate, and with a keen discernment of right and wrong. We are not in the least surprised, therefore, to hear from his lips this pathetic plea. It is a proof of conscious wrong on the part of a conscientious believer. It is the saints abhorrence of his own sin; and incidently, it introduces some of the most natural features of soul-experience. Take, for instance, the sentence, Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest (Psa 51:4).
Grant, in The Numerical Bible argues that such a confession, in Davids lips, would not have been true, even, since he had sinned against Uriah, against himself, and against Bathsheba; and so Grant sees in this, an application to repentant Israel.
But the argument is poorly based and far-fetched. The simple fact is, and millions of saved men would bear testimony to it, when the soul is convicted of sin that conviction seldom takes the form of conscious wrong to individual victims, or even that of willful transgression of the Law. The truth is as Delitzsch argues, Every relation in which man stands to his fellow-men, and to created things in general, is but the manifest form of his fundamental relationship to God; and as even Grant himself admits, At every point at which we touch His creatures, we touch God Himself; every blow struck at them is struck at Him.* * The guilt of every sin is fundamentally the same, revolt against God. This is, in a true sense, the only sin.
We knew a man well; in fact, we preached to him the truths that effected his salvation, and with our hands we laid him beneath the baptismal wave, who before his confession was a highway man, a gambler, a drunkard, an adulterer, and at the last, a would-be murderer. But his confession, following his salvation, was to this effect, When on that morning, the very day I had fixed upon for the destruction of my wife and children, and suicide, the Spirit of God came upon me with overwhelming conviction; and, as I walked out from my home, to fall on the grass of the back yard, face down, to cry for mercy, I had no sense of wrong concerning my past indolence, my past gambling, my past drunkenness, my past lusts; not even was I painfully sensible of the intention of murder and suicide. One great, overwhelming thought surged through my brain as loud as the sirens whistle, Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight.
It is interesting also to study the psychology of the sentence that follows, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity: and in sin did my mother conceive me This was not intended by the Psalmist in self-defense. He had passed that point and had admitted that God would be justified when He spake, and clearly defensible when He judged. It was said, rather, in explanation; it was an admission, I have always been wrong! I came from my mothers womb with a frightful twist in my moral nature and from the days when my steps toddled in uncertain paths I have been nothing but a sinner!
The phrases that follow indicate further Your eyes have searched my inward parts in vain. No truth is in them. You have looked for wisdom but it was not mine by nature; and if I am ever cleansed you must accomplish it; and if my soul is ever white, the cleansing must come from above! And then, as if to appeal if possible to the tenderness of God, he cries, Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice. And that he may escape just judgment, he adds,
Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
And he pleads,
Create in me a. clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Rather,
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.
Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
Alas, as if such a thought was too good to be true, he breathes and begins again, Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvationremember against me no more Uriahs death; free my conscience from that whole subject by speaking my absolution. And then, My tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.
It looks now as if he had reached a higher table land; as if his heart would not sink again nor his feet mire; and he concludes the Psalm with these words,
Oh Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.
For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt-offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion; build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.
Sweeping aside that whole school of interpreters who see in this Israels confession, we stand absolutely with those who believe it to be the utterance of a believers heart, broken with the sense of sin, conscious of just condemnation, and yet daring to hope in a merciful God. The verses 18 and 19 do not militate against that view. Few saints ever deplore their own sins, and forget the sanctuary. They grieve personal sin, lest it hinder the general cause, and so David prays for Zion, for Jerusalem, and for cleansing and consecration as symbolized in the temple ceremonies.
We now go to the study of another chapter, chapter fifty-two, and here we are tracing the history that led David into disappointment and difficulty.
Why boastest 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.
Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
God will likewise destroy thee for ever: He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent, and root thee out of the land of the living.
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.
But as for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever.
I will give Thee thanks for ever, because Thou hast done it; and I will hope in Thy Name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy saints. (Psa 52:1-9).
Here again, there are those who see in this Psalm a prophetic picture of the man of sin, the Anti-Christ to come. This view they rest in the phraseology of the Psalm. The boastful one if spoken of as mighty man, and the circumstance that he is a lying, deceitful man, is supposed to point to the great deceiver of prophetic Scriptures.
In our judgment such an interpretation is farfetched, and Psalms 52 is a natural sequence of Psalms 51. The whole setting of the Psalm is accounted for and explained in the incident of David meeting Doeg, the Edomite, the servant of Saul, when he visited Ahimelech, the priest, as recorded in 1 Samuel 21:l-9. It will be remembered that this information led to a fearful massacre, in which Doeg was a leader, and in which boastfulness and lying deceit played conspicuous part. Doeg was a mighty man, the chief of the herdmen. His arrogance is as great as his eventual ruin was eternal. When contemplating upon the former, David clearly prophesied the latter. God will likewise destroy thee for ever, He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent, and root thee out of the land of the living (Psa 52:5, A. S. V.).
Then he moralizes: 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 (Psa 52:6-7, A. S. V.). The record of that destruction is written into 1Sa 22:17-19. There are those who profess astonishment at Davids language. They are shocked by what they call gloating over the evil end of an enemy. But let it not be forgotten that true righteousness always rejoices in the overthrow, of the sinful, and the truly humble are, of necessity, glad to see the boastfully proud brought low.
What men call the imprecatory Psalms are not, as they imagine, merely curses of the self-confident, the malignant prayers of the man who imagines himself above and beyond his fellows; they are, instead, a legitimate expression of a heart that delights in good and hates evil. It is doubtful if there is ever a case in history in which the iniquitous are overthrown, but the righteous justly rejoice. As some one has said, The cross as the hope and refuge of repentant sinners, is Gods chief witness against sin.
The conclusion of this chapter I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever. I will give Thee thanks for ever, because Thou hast done it; and I will hope in Thy Name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy saints (Psa 52:8-9, A. S. V.) is not a mere expression of Phariseeism. On the contrary, it is the voice of gratitude that one has been kept, and of decision, concerning continued trust, together with that natural burst of praise that breaks from the lips of him, who rightly pleads and rightly interprets Gods acts in dealing with men.
From this review of the end of the evil man and this personal appreciation of Divine favor it is easy for the Psalmist to pass to the
FRUITFULNESS OF FOLLY
Psalms 5354 deal with that subject.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none that doeth good.
God looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up My people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
There were they in great fear, where no fear was; for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee; thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of His people Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Save me, O God, by Thy Name, and judge me by Thy strength.
Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth;
For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul; they have not set God before them. Selah.
Behold, God is mine helper; the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.
He shall reward evil unto mine enemies; cut them off in Thy truth.
I will freely sacrifice unto Thee. I will praise Thy Name, O Lord, for it is good.
For He hath delivered me out of all trouble; and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies (Psalms 53-54).
There are those who would imagine that the Psalmist forgot himself, and on occasions did what the average preacher does, palmed off an old sermon. If you make a comparison between this fifty-third Psalm and Psalm fourteen, you will discover more than resemblance. There is practical identity, clear repetition; but the fifty-fourth Psalm presents entirely new material; and its pathetic plea for salvation, follows logically from the evident effects of infidelity. The man who sees others swelled with skepticism, begs to be saved from a kindred experience. The man who sees others plunging into corruption, and consuming even saints in their mad course of immorality, longs for deliverance from all such danger. God and God alone is his help, and God and God alone is his adequate defense. The grace of the past is his ground of hope for the future; and as he reflects upon the multitude of times that he himself has been delivered out of trouble, he can but praise the Name of the Lord.
Beyond all question, this chapter voices a memory of dark days for David. It is supposed to have been written about the time of Absaloms rebellion, when a conspiracy was formed against him, and to have involved the participation in that rebellion of his most familiar and trusted friend, Ahithophel. Those unhappy incidents of life explain many of the pathetic expressionsthe voice of the enemy, the oppression of the wicked, the betrayal of a friend, a man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance, one with whom he had taken sweet counsel and with whom he had walked to the house of God. The whole setting fits the circumstance of Absaloms rebellion and Ahithophels betrayal.
Few men ever occupy positions of importance without suffering after a kindred manner. The oppression of natural enemies is comparatively easy to be borne; but the betrayal of friends, that, indeed, is a grief that takes the heart out of one and tends to shake his confidence in humanity itself; tempts one to say, No man can be trusted, and to doubt the reality of unselfish and untarnished affection.
Such an experience, however, leads the truly intelligent to fall back on God and God alone. Thats what the Psalmist does. Listen to his language and learn well the lesson. The words fall hard, upon disappointment, deception, betrayal.
As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me (Psa 55:16).
Evening and morning and at noon will I pray, and cry aloud; and He shall hear my voice.
He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.
God shall hear and afflict them. * *
Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
But Thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in Thee (Psa 55:17-23).
After all, its a good conclusion! The man who can take his eyes off the perfidy of his fellows and turn them to the faithfulness of his Heavenly Father, will never be fully discouraged.
From the old Baptist Hymnal, we used to sing,
Zion stands with hills surrounded,
Zion, kept by power Divine;
All her foes shall be confounded,
Though the world in arms combine;
Happy Zion,
What a favored lot is thine!
Every human tie may perish;
Friend to friend unfaithful prove;
Mothers cease their own to cherish;
Heaven and earth at last remove;
But no changes
Can attend Jehovahs love.
In the furnace God may prove thee,
Thence to bring thee forth more bright,
But can never cease to love thee;
Thou art precious in His sight;
God is with thee,
God, thine everlasting light.
This leads to a pledge of further praise (Psalms 56-57). Each of these opens with a prayer for mercy, but each of them moves to a burst of praise.
Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up (Psa 56:1).
About a moment later
In God I have put my trust; I will not fear; what flesh can do unto me (Psa 56:4).
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul trusteth in Thee; yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge.
Until these; calamities be overpast (Psa 57:1).
My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise.
Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp; I myself will awake early.
I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people; I will sing unto Thee among the nations (Psa 57:7-9).
H. M. Lischer was thinking along kindred lines with the Psalmist, when he wrote:
Upward I lift mine eyes;
From God is all my aid;
The God who built the skies,
And earth and nature made;
God is the tower to which I fly;
His grace is nigh in every hour.
My feet shall never slide
And fall in fatal snares,
Since God, my guard and guide,
Defends me from my fears;
Those wakeful eyes that never sleep
Shall Israel keep when dangers rise.
Hast Thou not given Thy Word
To save my soul from death?
And I can trust Thee, Lord,
To keep my mortal breath;
Ill go and come, nor fear to die,
Till from on high Thou call me home.
RECOVERY FROM SIN
Psalms 56, 59, 60 of this Book present the solemn phases of sin, but the grace and justice of God in saving His own not alone from sin but from the sinful.
In Psalms 58 Gods judgment rejoices the righteous. From Psa 58:2 to Psa 58:9 there is a picture of the wicked and of their wickedness; and a prayer that God will bring them to judgment. In Psa 58:10 and Psa 58:11 the Psalmist anticipates the question and declares the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily He is a God that judgest in the earth.
This figure may seem revolting to a people who are living at peace with their fellows, but it comes to have its meaning in the day when the violent seem about to capture the earth, and the wicked smite with the poison of the serpent.
Under all ordinary circumstances we grieve when a man is slain and his blood stains the earth but when such conditions arise as exist in Chicago now, when gangsters will line up men against the wall, seven in number, and shoot them dead as they stand huddled in fear and obedient to the command of a bandit, who will grieve if those men are overtaken and sent to the gallows; or even if the righteousness of the law obtain and they fall before the officers bullets? Gentleness, compassion and tears, these are for times of peace; but justice is essential when the violent threaten society and the wicked work their will against the same.
Gods judgment avenges the righteous. Hear Psalms 59:
Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.
Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord.
They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.
Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.
They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.
Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth heart
But Thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; Thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.
Because of his strength will I wait upon Thee: for God is my defense.
The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.
Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by Thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.
Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.
And at evening let them return, and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.
Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.
But I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for Thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.
Unto Thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defense, and the God of my mercy.
Here again the exercise of Divine power in judgment in behalf of the righteous is not only defensible, but is essential to the justification of Deity itself. The God who permits wickedness to stalk the land without speaking its rebuke, or smiting its head, would be a questionable God. There are instances in history that tend to show that God is the same yesterday, and to day and for ever. Narcissus was Bishop of Jerusalem, a man of faultless life, so John Foster tells us, faithful in rebuking vice of every kind, but was falsely accused. His first accuser, in closing his testimony on one occasion said, If these things are not so, may I be consumed by fire. A second accuser said, If these things are not so, may I be overtaken by some horrible disease. A third said, If these things are not so, may God smite me blind. And Foster continues, The day came when the house of the first was consumed by fire and he and his family perished in flames, and yet another day when the second was smitten and suffered long under a loathsome disease; and the third seeing the terrible end of his companions confessed his iniquity and wept over his crimes until his sight was utterly gone.
Finally, Gods power shall bring victory to the righteous.
O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast been displeased; O turn Thyself to us again.
Thou hast made the earth to tremble; Thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
Thou hast shewed Thy people hard things: Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
That Thy beloved may be delivered; save with Thy right hand, and hear me.
God hath spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Suecoth.
Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the strength of Mine head; Judah is My lawgiver.
Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; Philistia, triumph thou because of Me.
Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
Wilt not Thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and Thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?
Give us help from trouble; for vain is the help of man.
Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies (Psa 60:1-12).
It is a glorious conclusion! Through God we shall be victorious; for it is He that shall tread down our enemies. In all the conflicts of life, the one thing that men need beyond all things else is the favor of God. If conquest is to be ours, if we are to come through victorious against them that would persecute and hurt us, if we are to triumph against trouble, vain is the help of man, he will fail us, but our God, never! If we are to have a victory against that impersonal enemy, and yet that most terrible of all, sin, He alone can give it to us.
God of our strength, enthroned above,The source of life, the fount of love;O let devotions sacred flame,Our souls awake to praise Thy Name
To Thee we lift our joyful eyes,To Thee on wings of faith we rise;Come Thou, and let Thy courts on earth Ring out Thy praise in holy mirth.
God of our strength from day to day,Direct our thoughts and guide our way;O may our hearts united be,In sweet communion, Lord, with Thee.
God of our strength, on Thee we call;God of our hope, our light, our all, Thy Name we praise, Thy love adore,Our Rock, our Shield for evermore.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
INTRODUCTION
According to the superscription this Psalm was composed by David and dedicated To the Chief Musician; to be used in public worship under his direction. The term upon Mahalath is variously interpreted. In the Geneva version it is rendered, To him that excelleth on Mahalath; which is explained in the margin to be an instrument or kind of note. This expresses the opinions of most commentators. Aben Ezra understands by it the name of a melody to which the Psalm was sung. Calvin and J. H. Michaelis, among others, regarded it as an instrument of music, or the commencement of a melody. Fuerst explains Mahalath as the name of a musical corps dwelling at Abel-Meholah, just as by Gittith he understands the band of Levite minstrels at Gath Rimmon. On the other hand, the opinion that Mahalath contains an enigmatical indication of the subject of the Psalm is adopted by Hengstenberg to the exclusion of every other. He translates on Mahalath by on sickness, referring to the spiritual malady of the sons of men. A third theory is that of Delitzsch, who considers Mahalath as indicating to the choir the manner in which the Psalm was to be sung, and compares the modern terms mesto, andante mesto (Smiths Dict. of the Bible). The term Maschil shows that the Psalm was designed to afford instruction.
This Psalm is almost exactly similar to Psalms 14. The only difference which requires notice here is between Psa. 53:5-6 of Psalms 14. and Psa. 53:5 of this one.
There were they in great fear; for God is in the generation of the righteous. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge (Psa. 14:5-6.)
There were they in great fear, where no fear was; for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
For the chief exposition we refer the reader to The Hom. Com. on Psalms 14. We add, as supplementary to that, a few Homiletic suggestions.
GOD INSPECTING MAN
(Psa. 53:2.)
The original word here, says Barnes, conveys the idea of bending forward, and hence of an intense and anxious looking, as we bend forward when we wish to examine anything with attention, or when we look out for one who is expected to come. The idea is, that God looked intently, or so as to secure a close examination, upon the children of men, for the express purpose of ascertaining whether there were any that were good. He looked at all men; He examined all their pretensions to goodness, and He saw none who could be regarded as exempt from the charge of depravity. The text suggests
I. Gods profound interest in humanity. He bows Himself forward, and, with zeal and concern, examines mans moral state. Such is the form in which important truths are representedthis amongst others, that the Most High is deeply interested in mans moral condition? Why is He so?
1. Because of the dignity of mans nature. To God nothing is unimportantnothing mean. But man is the noblest of His creations in this world. God created man in His own image.
2. Because of the peculiarity of mans moral condition. By disobedience man entered into the dread knowledge of evil. Unfallen angels are entirely holy. Fallen angels are utterly depraved. In human nature the battle between good and evil is being waged.
3. Because of the capabilities of mans nature. Man is capable of rising to the highest or sinking to the lowest position in the universe of God. It would be passing strange if God were not deeply interested in man. Nothing that concerns thee, my brother, is unimportant in the Divine estimation.
II. Gods searching scrutiny of humanity. The poet represents him as earnestly examining the children of men. His is the scrutiny of
1. An all-seeing Being. Nothing can be hidden from His all-searching eye (Psa. 139:11-16; Eze. 11:5; Heb. 4:13).
2. An infinitely holy Being. He hates sin with awful and unappeasable hatred. His dwelling, His ways, His works, His essential nature, are all holy (Isa. 57:15; Hab. 1:12-13; 1Jn. 1:5; Rev. 4:8).
3. An infinitely merciful Being. A God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. If there be in us any sincere efforts after truth and righteousness, He sees and approves them. In His judgment of His creatures He makes allowance for their weakness, for the force of temptation, &c. He is not harsh, &c. His holiness which leads Him to hate sin leads Him also to seek the salvation of the sinner. Such is the Being who is ever earnestly observing man, examining man. How solemn and sacred should our life be, since it is ever under His inspection! What an inspiration and encouragement does this inspection afford to the godly! What a restraint it should prove to the workers of iniquity! For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
III. The supreme concern of humanity. Why does God so earnestly examine man? To see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. As these are the things which God desires to discover in man, mans great concern should be to have and to exercise them. We should seek
1. Moral intelligence. Understand, or act prudentlythe antithesis of the fool in Psa. 53:1. Not intellectual attainment, but practical wisdom.
Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one,
Have ofttimes no connection. Knowledge dwells
In heads replete with thoughts of other men;
Wisdom in minds attentive to their own.
Knowledge, a rude unprofitable mass,
The mere materials with which wisdom builds,
Till smoothd, and squared, and fitted to its place,
Does but encumber whom it seems tenrich.
Knowledge is proud that he has learnd so much;
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.Cowper.
The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way.
2. Divine aspiration. Seek God. Hengstenberg: To seek God, designates the desire of the heart after Him, the longing directed towards Him. Where there is any true wisdom, or any spiritual life, it will manifest itself in seeking fellowship and union with God. Only through the mediation of Jesus Christ can this union be obtained. Our well-being is impossible apart from Him.
CONCLUSION.
1. He who now scrutinises will one day judge man.
2. His judgment of man is infallible. He deliberately, patiently, and thoroughly examines into every case before pronouncing judgment.
3. He is also the merciful Saviour of men.
4. Our supreme interest is to seek to know Him as our Saviour.
THE SALVATION OF THE CHURCH AND THE DESTRUCTION OF HER ENEMIES
(Psa. 53:5-6.)
The poet here represents the destruction of the wicked
I. As utter and irreversible. God hath scattered the bones of thy besiegers. The figure points to the most complete and terrible destruction of the enemies of the Church. Not only is their power broken and their forces dispersed, but they are slain, and their bones, unburied, are scattered upon the earth. Moll: It was the greatest disgrace that the bones which had not been gathered and buried should be scattered to become the prey of wild beasts, or manure of the field (Psa. 141:7; Jer. 8:2; Jer. 9:22; Jer. 16:4; Jer. 25:33; Eze. 6:5). The wicked must either submit themselves unto God, or suffer irretrievable overthrow. If any one will resist Him to the uttermost, by so doing he will bring upon himself utter destruction (Job. 9:4; Job. 40:9).
II. As effected by God. God hath scattered, &c. Doubtless there is an historical allusion here. Most probably the allusion is to the destruction of the vast and mighty host of Sennacherib before Jerusalem. In one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians were slain by the angel of the Lord. I will defend this city to save it, said the Lord, for Mine own sake, and for My servant Davids sake. There was no battle. He needed no assistance. With the breath of his nostrils he slew them. How insane for any creature to battle against Him! He can crush the mightiest with a word, or wither the most vigorous with one glance of His eye!
III. As overtaking them when they regarded themselves as quite secure. There were they in great fear where no fear was. It is incorrect to interpret this as groundless alarm or unnecessary fear. The meaning is, that when the enemies of the Israelites saw no reason to be terrified, and felt themselves entirely safe, suddenly and utterly contrary to their expectation, destruction overtook them. A sound of terrors is in his ears; in prosperity, &c. (Job. 15:21). When they shall say, Peace and safety, &c. (1Th. 5:3). In opposition to God there can be no safety, under any circumstances. In alliance with Him there can be no real peril, however threatening the aspect of affairs may be. (Comp. 2Ch. 20:1-30.)
IV. As inflicted because of their hostility to the people of God. The enemy was utterly overthrown because he was besieging the chosen people. No one can attempt to injure even the least of the people of God without calling forth His interposition.
1. He is in covenant relation with His people, and is pledged to help them. He is ever true to His covenant engagements. He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
2. He is profoundly and tenderly interested in His people (Isa. 49:14-16; Mat. 18:5-6; Mat. 25:40; Mat. 25:45; Act. 9:4). From these portions of Scripture it is quite clear that He identifies Himself with them: what is done against them He regards as done against Him; what is done for them, as done for Him. In this we have
(1) An inspiring and strengthening consideration for the people of God.
(2) Motive and encouragement to those who would aid them.
(3) Warning to those who would injure them.
V. The destruction of the wicked in former times as an encouragement to the good to expect salvation from present dangers. This we take to be the connecting link between Psa. 53:5-6. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion, &c. Notice
1. The poetic view of salvation. It is here represented as deliverance from captivity. Captivity is a figure to represent restraint, misery, &c. Turning the captivity is a figure for the turning of an unhappy condition into a restoration to former prosperity. A state of sin is a state of bondage and misery. The Lord Jesus introduces man to freedom and joy.
2. The grand source of salvation. Out of Zion, &c., because there the Lord was enthroned in the sanctuary as in His habitation. The salvation of man from the sins and sorrows of life can come only from God. It is His to proclaim liberty to the captives, &c.
3. The earnest desire of salvation. Oh that the salvation of Israel, &c. Our fervent desires are our true prayers. Through all ages the prayers of true hearts have been offered for the redemption of the world from sin and misery.
4. The anticipated result of salvation. Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad. To the individual the realisation of salvation is a joyous experience. And when its blessings shall be enjoyed by all mankind, the exultation will be universal in its extent, and enthusiastic and reverent in its character. And unto God shall all the glory be ascribed.
5. The encouragement to expect salvation. Past deliverances inspire the poet with confident hope of salvation from present difficulties and dangers. God is unchangeable. What He has done in the past He is able to do in the present. He is faithful. What He has promised that will He perform. Every new deliverance is an additional reason for trusting Him. Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.
His love in time past
Forbids me to think
Hell leave me at last
In trouble to sink:
Each sweet Ebenezer
I have in review,
Confirms His good pleasure
To help me quite through.Newton.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psalms 53, 54
Psalms 53
(Lm.) An Instructive-psalmBy David.
(N.B.For Title, Analysis and Exposition of this psalm, see Psalms 14, with which this psalm is practically identicalthis being an Elohistic recension of that.)
1
Said a vile person in his heartNo God here!
their conduct is corrupt their practice abominable there is no well-doer!
2
God out of the heavens looked down over the sons of men,
to see whether there was one that shewed understanding in seeking after God:
3
The whole have turned aside drawn back[586] together become tainted:
[586] So Br., uniting the two verbs found, the one in Psa. 14:3 and the other in Psa. 53:3.
there is no well-doer there is not so much as one!
4
Have not[587] the workers of iniquity[588] learned anything?devourers of my people!
[587] In some cod. (w. 2 ear. pr. edns., Aram., Sep., Syr., Vul.): none of: cp. Psa. 14:4Gn.
[588] NaughtinessDr.
they have devoured food God[589] have they not invoked!
[589] Some cod. (w. 1 ear. pr. edn.): JehovahGn.
5
There dreaded they a dread, when God scattered them,
their plan was put to shame, when God rejected them.[590]
[590] So Br., as in Psa. 14:5-6 :
There dreaded they a dreadthere was no dread!
for God had scattered the bones of the besieger.
Thou hadst put him to shame for God had rejected them.
6
Oh that out of Zion were granted the deliverances[591] of Israel!
[591] Or: great salvation (pl. intensive). In some cod. (w. Sep., Syr.): salvation (sing.). Gp. Psa. 14:7, G. Intro., 148.
When God[592] restoreth the prosperity[593] of his people
[592] Some cod. (w. Aram., Sep., Syr.): Jehovah. Cp. Psa. 14:7Gn.
[593] So Br., also O.G. 986, esp. Psa. 126:1; Psa. 126:4.
let Jacob exult let Israel be glad.
(Lm.) To the Chief Musician. (CMm.) With stringed instruments.
PARAPHRASE
Psalms 53
Only a fool would say to himself, There is no God. And why does he say it?[*] Because of his wicked heart, his dark and evil deeds. His life is corroded with sin.
[*] Implied.
2 God looks down from heaven, searching among all mankind to see if there is a single one who does right and really seeks for God.
3 But all have turned their backs on Him; they are filthy with sincorrupt and rotten through and through. Not one is good, not one!
4 How can this be? Cant they understand anything? For they devour My people like bread and refuse to come to God.
5 But soon unheard-of terror will fall on them. God will scatter the bones of these, your enemies! They are doomed, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that God would come from Zion now and save Israel! Only when the Lord Himself restores them can they ever be really happy again.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) And.The conjunction is wanting in Psa. 14:1.
Iniquity.Instead of the general term, doings, in Psalms 14, as if the adapter of the Psalm felt that a word applicable to good as well as evil was not strong enough to express the hideousness of the profanity.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Heading ( Psa 53:1 a).
Psa 53:1
‘For the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath. Maschil of David.’
The Psalm is once again dedicated to the Choirmaster or Chief Musician, and is set to the tune of Mahalath (which possibly means ‘sickness’, and may be the opening word of another Psalm for which this tune was first composed. Or it may be a mournful tune bewailing the sickness of mankind in his sins). It is again a Maschil of David. This last may refer to the original Psalm and not to the adaptation.
The World’s Verdict On The Living God And God’s Verdict On Them ( Psa 53:1-3 ).
The man who is corrupt and sins in a way which is an abomination to God (a concept regularly found in Proverbs) is here described as ‘a fool. By his actions he has foolishly treated God as though He does not exist.
Psa 53:1
‘The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity,
There is none who does good.’
In these words a general verdict is passed by God on mankind. None are good. All are in one way or another corrupt. They behave like fools because they reject the idea of Him as the One Who is, and the One to Whom they are accountable. They may do this by having many gods, and worshipping idols who but represent aspects of creation (compare Rom 1:18-23), or simply by gross disobedience to the covenant with God (the Law of Moses), but the underlying fact is that in their hearts they reject the living God who speaks to them through the wonder of creation and through their consciences. They say that there is no such God. It is expressive of those who do outwardly worship YHWH, but who in their hearts ignore Him. They worship Him outwardly in the Temple area, but in their lives they live as though He does not exist.
‘The fool.’ This is describing the morally perverse person who rejects the idea of living a godly life. ‘Folly’ in the Old Testament is a term used to describe the person who behaves foolishly in that he forgets or misrepresents God or refuses to do His will (Deu 32:6; Deu 32:21; Job 42:8; Psa 74:18; Psa 74:22), he commits gross offences against morality (2Sa 13:12-13) or sacrilege (Jos 7:15), or he behaves churlishly and unwisely (1Sa 25:25). See also Isa 32:5-6. Under other Hebrew words for ‘fool’ he is prominent in Proverbs. Inevitably he always sees himself as wise.
‘In his heart.’ It is not his intellect that rejects the idea of God, but his mind, will and emotions. He may ‘believe in God’, but he does not want to have to face up to God because of what it might involve in a transformed life. He likes living as he is. See Psa 73:11; Jer 5:12; Zep 1:12.
‘They are corrupt, they have done abominable iniquity.’ Compare Gen 6:11. They are corrupt within and their lives reveal what they really are, sinful, violent, idolatrous, and/or sexually perverted. See Rom 1:18-32.
‘There is none who does good.’ This is the final verdict on the world. They are cited in Rom 3:10 in order to demonstrate that all men are sinners. All mankind are fools in this sense, for sin is folly. The difference is that some have found forgiveness, and have begun to live in a new way. God is declaring that there is no true, positive, untainted goodness in the world. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). All are likewise guilty.
Psa 53:2
God looked down from heaven on the children of men,
To see if there were any who understood, Who sought after God.’
But God would not judge men without a fair examination, and so He looked down to see if there were any who understood and who sought after Him. (In Jer 5:1 ff. he challenges Jeremiah to do the same). The vivid anthropomorphism brings out the truth of God’s constant examination and assessment of the human race (compare Gen 11:5), and His call to accountability. He examines men in depth testing out, not what they say to Him, but their true understanding, and response
Psa 53:3
‘Every one of them is gone back, they are together become filthy,
There is no one who does good, no, not one.’
He declares that all have turned aside, even the best; all have walked in ways that are sinful, all have become morally tainted (compare Job 15:16). There was not one man on earth who continually did good and did not sin (Ecc 7:20). (For the thought of the one man Who would come Who would not sin see Isa 50:2 with Isa 50:4-9; Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psalms 53
Introduction – Psalms 53 is almost identical to Psalms 14, only differing in Psa 53:5. Psalms 14 is in book 1 (Psalms 1-41) and Psalms 53 is in book 2 (Psalms 42-72). A second difference is that Psalms 14 used the word YHWH ( ) (H3068) of special revelation, while Psalms 53 uses the general name for God ( ) (H430). This similarity of psalms from books one and two implies that the Psalms may have initially consisted of several separate, smaller books, with some of the Psalms being the same, and these books were later compiled into the entire book of Psalms as we know it today, perhaps during the time of Ezra the scribe.
We see this duplication also in Psalms 18 and 2 Samuel 22. This type of duplication is also found in the book of Proverbs, with individual proverbs from Solomon’s first collection and second collection being the same, implying that it had a similar composition.
Psa 53:1-3 Comments – Rom 3:10-12 quotes these verses as meaning that everyone has sinned.
Rom 3:10-12, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Psa 53:1 (To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.) The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
Psa 53:1
Most modern translations do as the KJV and transliterate this Hebrew word as “maschil,” thus avoiding the possibility of a mistranslation. The LXX reads “for instruction.” YLT reads “An Instruction.” Although some of these psalms are didactic in nature, scholars do not feel that all fit this category. The ISBE says, “Briggs suggests ‘a meditation,’ Thirtle and others ‘a psalm of instruction,’ Kirkpatrick ‘a cunning psalm.’” [73]
[73] John Richard Sampey, “Psalms,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., c1915, 1939), in The Sword Project, v. 1.5.11 [CD-ROM] (Temple, AZ: CrossWire Bible Society, 1990-2008).
Psa 53:1 “Corrupt are they” Comments – The Hebrew word( ) (H7843), translated “corrupt,” is the same Hebrew word that is used to described mankind before the flood (Gen 6:11-12), and the fool (Psa 14:1).
Gen 6:11-12, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.”
Psa 14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt , they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Of the Corruption and Salvation of Men.
v. 1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they and have done abominable iniquity; there is none that doeth good.
v. 2. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
v. 3. Every one of them is gone back; they are altogether become filthy. There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
v. 4. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up My people as they eat bread? They have not called upon God.
v. 5. There were they in great fear, v. 6. Oh, that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THIs psalm is a repetition of Psa 45:1-17; with certain not very important variations. The most remarkable is the substitution throughout of” Elohim” for “Jehovah.” The only variations which alter the sense are in Psa 45:5. These cannot be accounted for by corruption, and seem to indicate a retouching of the original composition in order to adapt it to a special occasion.
The expression, “upon Mahalath,” or, “set to Mahalath,” in the title, is thought to be a musical direction, and is explained by Dr. Kay as equivalent to the modern Maestoso.
Psa 53:1 and Psa 53:2
are identical with the same verses of Psa 14:1-7; with the single exception that “Jehovah “is replaced by” Elohim,” as the first word of Psa 14:2.
Psa 53:3
For “they are all gone aside” ( ) in Psa 14:1-7; the present psalm has, “every one of them is gone back” ( )a difference which may be due to corruption, and which is, at any rate, of no importance.
Psa 53:4
For “the workers of iniquity” in this verse, Psa 14:1-7. has “all the workers of iniquity “a difference wholly unimportant.
Psa 53:5
There were they in great fear, where no fear was. So long a phrase as “where no fear was” ( ) can scarcely have “fallen out,” and must have been added intentionally to mark that, on the occasion in connection with which the revision was made, there had been no ground at all for the panic. For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee. This clause takes the place of the following in Psa 14:1-7.: “For God is in the generation of the righteous”a very considerable change, which must certainly have been intentional. On the second occasion whereto the psalm was made applicable, there must have been a very great catastrophesome vast slaughter of an enemy who had been at open war with Israel. Sennacherib is suggested (Canon Cook). Thou hast put them to shams, because God hath despised them. The clause in Psa 14:1-7. which this replaces runs as follows: “Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his Refuge.” Here again, both the phrases used, and the whole tenor of the thought in either case, are different.
Psa 53:6
This verse is identical with Psa 14:7, except in the substitution of “Elohim” for “Jehovah,” and in the pointing of one word.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH
Psa 53:1, Psa 53:2
Atheism contrasted with godliness.
I. ATHEISM. “No God.” This implies:
1. Denial of God‘s existence This is folly. The assertion proves nothing. Negatives are not arguments. Besides, there may be a God, though you, the denier, have not found him. You have not yet explored the universe.
2. Denial of God‘s moral government of the world. “No God!” if so, then there is nothing but chance. There can be no law without a lawgiver, no order without a controlling mind. “No God!” then we are free to do our own pleasure. “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.”
3. Denial of God‘s grace in the redemption of sinners by Jesus Christ. “No God]” then the Bible is a fable, heaven and hell are dreams, the benefits of the gospel are a delusion, faith in Christ and the resurrection is a mockery and a lie.
II. GODLINESS. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God;” but the wise man says that there is a God, and that “he is the Rewarder of all who diligently seek him.” Godliness implies:
1. Faith in God as revealed in Christ Jesus. Here is the satisfaction of the soul.
2. Life ruled by the law of Christ, which is holy, just, and good. Here is the true ideal, and the Spirit, by the gospel, shows how it may be realized.
3. Prayer and holy endeavour to the end. We are not left to struggle alone, but have the Word to guide us, the promises to cheer us, the love of Christ to inspire us, that we may go from strength to strength, and that when called hence we may enter upon the blessed and perfect life beyond this world. Thus the godly witness for God. They testify to his being, for in him they live; to his character, for their aim is to be holy as he is holy; to his will and government, for they strive to do justly as he does justly, and to be merciful as he is merciful, who “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” All the good in themselves, in society, in the world, is from God. What has been is in agreement with what is now. The progress of all things is towards a perfect end. The cross, which overthrew paganism, and triumphed over the eagles of Rome, is destined to win greater and vet greater victories. Yet a little while, and the great voices of heaven shall cry, “The kingdoms of this world arc become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev 11:15).W.F.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Psalms 53.
David describeth the corruption of a natural man: he convinceth the wicked by the light of their own conscience: he glorieth in the salvation of God.
To the chief musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.
Title. lamnatseach al machalath maskiil ledavid.] The occasion of this Psalm, which varies but little from the 14th, and for which variation it is not easy to account, is supposed to have been the next revolt which the Israelites in general made immediately after the rebellion of Absalom, before David had quite recovered Jerusalem, and upon the quarrel which arose between the men of Judah and the men of Israel about precedency in bringing back the king; when Sheba blew the trumpet of rebellion afresh; and, it is said, every man of Israel left David. See 2Sa 20:2. al machalath, Upon Mahalath, is rendered by some, Upon the hollow instruments; and by Houbigant, Upon the chorus. Mudge says, Mahalath is probably a kind of music, denominated from a song, in which was that word; which signifies a malady or illness; designed, if one may guess from Psalms 88 to raise in the mind a melancholy, or sort of pensive gloominess. Fenwick is nearly of the same opinion. See his Thoughts, p. 57. The Syriac title informs us, that the Psalm was occasioned by Achitophel’s advising Absalom to pursue David, and put him to death: but, with respect to Christians, it intimates the revelation of our Saviour, and deliverance from atheistic people. There was, most probably, more of it in the original Syriac copy. See the notes on the 14th Psalm.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psalms 53
To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity:
There is none that doeth good.
2God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there were any that did understand,
That did seek God.
3Every one of them is gone back; they are altogether become filthy.
There is none that doeth good,
No, not one.
4Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge?
Who eat up my people as they eat bread:
They have not called upon God.
5There were they in great fear, where no fear was:
For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee:
Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
6Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!
When God bringeth back the captivity of his people,
Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Its relation to Psalms 14The double addition to the title, which designates this Psalm as an instructive Psalm, to be sung in a sorrowful manner, (vid. Introduct.) shows that the compiler recognized this Psalm as having an independent value along side of Psalms 14. At the same time its position among the Elohim-Psalms, and between Psalms 52, 54, which is analogous to that of Psalms 14, shows that the differences of the two texts, which are entirely similar in most strophes, were regarded as designed. It is manifest that the sevenfold use of the name of God corresponding with the number of the strophes was to have been marked by the fact that here Elohim is constantly used, whilst in Psalms 14 Elohim is only used three times, and Jehovah four times, and indeed with an accurate discrimination of the characteristic differences of these two names. This is at once partly against the supposition that Psalms 53 is the more ancient, (Clericus, Ewald, Hitzig), partly against the conjecture that David himself revised Psalms 14 (Hengst. and most of the older interpreters after the Rabbins). The following circumstances favor a remodelling of the Psalm (and not merely another recension of the same text); thus: In Psa 53:1 b, the advance in thought is obscured by the insertion of and between the two verbs, but is then restored by placing instead of that noun, which in Psa 14:1 designates human actions and doings in the good sense as well as in the bad, a word which characterizes evil as unwillingness. Furthermore instead of the whole, Psa 14:3, we have here Psa 53:3, every one of them, which is followed directly by , which is preferred to ; and in Psa 53:4 a the word all, which is so characteristic in Psa 14:4, is missing. In Psa 53:6 a, moreover, the expression designating deliverance has been strengthened by the plural. Finally and chiefly, instead of the two distiches, Psa 14:5-6, there is here a tristich, which renders the thought expressed there in general terms more definite, by connecting it with a historical event. That a historical event is presupposed, particularly the catastrophe of Sennacherib, is accepted by Hitzig, Baur, et al. Hitzig finds the original text here, whilst he regards Psa 14:6 as only a retouching of faded features in the style, which has succeeded badly, whilst Hupfeld recognizes in both texts merely the ruins of an original identity. Delitzsch, however, reminds us that such a dependence upon the very letters of the original, and such an alteration of the original by means of a change of letters is found elsewhere likewise, especially in Jeremiah. He also refers to the relation of 2 Peter to Jude, and conjectures that a later poet composed it somewhere about the time of Jehoshaphat or Hezekiah.
Str. V. Psa 53:5. Where no terror was.This does not mean blind alarm or unnecessary fear, but the sudden and unexpected breaking in of judgment at a time, when the enemies of the Israelites saw no reason to be terrified, and felt themselves entirely secure, and were without fear or care (Calvin, Venema, Hengst., Delitzsch). Examples of such ruin are: the confederates under Jehoshaphat (2Ch 20:22 sq.), the host of Sennacherib (Isa 37:36). Parallel cases are: Job 15:21; 1Th 5:3. Some supply after Aben Ezra as this one, which would express that it surpassed all others, was unheard of.Scattered.This is the consequence of the overthrow. It was the greatest disgrace that the bones which had not been gathered and buried, should be scattered (Psa 141:7; Eze 6:5), to become the prey of wild beasts, or manure of the field (Jer 8:3; Jer 9:21; Jer 14:4; Jer 25:33). The enemy is here designated by the collective in the singular, and as the besieger of the people of Israel, which leads to an external enemy. It is otherwise with Psalms 14. The participle might in itself, connected with Elohim, mean: who surrounds thee protecting, Psa 34:7; Zec 9:8. But this reference is here prevented partly by the position of the participle, partly by the fact that it is not said then, whose bones, etc. Another reading is followed by the Sept., Vulg., Syr.: the bones of those who please men, by which Arab. and thiop understand hypocrites. But Aquil., Symm., Jerome, have our text.Many interpreters, without any reason, refer these words to a future judgment.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Those devour the people who derive only their own profit from those over whom they are placed, and do not use their office for the glory of God and their salvation, (Augustine).
2. The prosperity of the ungodly is partly only apparent, partly without duration. They may sometimes gain external success, and even for a while oppress and afflict the people of God. But although it may seem for a time as if God did not trouble Himself for His people, or those who devour them, yet both parties will soon experience the watchfulness and the activity of God. Even in the days of their prosperity the ungodly cannot escape the curse which God has imposed upon evil doers, Lev 26:17; Lev 26:36; Pro 28:1. God gives them a cowardly heart so that they flee when no one pursues, and are frightened with the noise of falling leaves; whilst the righteous are courageous as a lion.His hand, moreover, overtakes the secure, so that terror is in their ears, and the destroyer comes upon them whilst at peace, Job 15:21; 1Th 5:3, and the overthrow is the more complete, the more unexpectedly it comes, and the more definitely it has the character of a Divine Judgment.
3. Such experiences should warn and urge to humiliation under the mighty hand of God. God breaks the rod which He uses to chastise; and when He receives His chastened people into favor again, and raises them up from their fall, they should not forget that the victory was given them over their enemies, because God rejected them.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Ungodly people are proud, presumptuous and defiant, but they are neither so wise as they think, nor so brave as they regard themselves, nor so strong as they make themselves to be.He who boasts that he fears neither God nor man, will soon enough be found out to be not only a, fool and a transgressor, but likewise a liar.In misfortune think not that God has forgotten thee, and in prosperity think not that thou hast accomplished it without God.Your failures attribute to your guilt, your victories to Gods favor.Forget not what thou owest to God in bad as well as in good times.
Starke: It is not enough to say with the mouth that there is a God, but we must show by our conversation that we are really convinced of it in our hearts.God is not an idle observer of the world, but what He sees, and He sees all, He records in His book.The ungodly are like the weather-cocks on the towers, very changeable; now they are altogether courageous, soon altogether despondent.
[Matt. Henry: 1). The fact of sin; 2) the fault of sin; 3) the fountain of sin; 4) the folly of sin; 5) the filthiness of sin; 6) the fruit of sin; 7) the fear and shame that attend sin; 8) the faith of the saints, and their hope and power touching the cure of this great evil.C. A. B.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
Here is a short, but striking account of sin in a natural man’s heart, as was given before, in the fourteenth Psalm. The sinner is expostulated with upon the occasion; and the Psalmist takes occasion, from such a state of man’s ruin by nature, to pray for his recovery by grace in the salvation of Christ.
To the chief musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.
Psa 53
Having already offered an humble comment upon this Psalm, as numbered before the 14th, I think it unnecessary to detain the Reader with going over the same again in this place: the Reader can refer to what was there observed. It is true there is some little variation in one of the verses, but not so materially different as to render a commentary necessary: I shall only therefore just observe, that if we suppose (as we may) the repetition of it, as well as the apostle Paul’s quotation from it, was designed to recommend it with the more earnestness to the attention of the church; this may, and indeed it ought to operate in a stronger manner to enforce the important doctrines it contains upon our hearts. And as it points to the natural atheism which is in every man’s heart from the consequences of original sin, as the sad cause and source of all our misery; so a deep sense of our guilt and ruin in this particular may, under God’s grace, serve no less to endear to us that blessed and only recovery which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord the Holy Ghost grant, from the repeated perusal of it, this blessed effect and then if Jesus becomes more and more precious in proportion as we feel more and more our need of him, we shall find the same cause as Jacob to rejoice, and as Israel to be glad.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
PSALMS
XI
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS
According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:
1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.
2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.
3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.
4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.
5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.
6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.
7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.
At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.
The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.
The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.
They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”
The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:
1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.
2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.
3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .
In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.
It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.
There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.
The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.
The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.
The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:
Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)
Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)
Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)
Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)
Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)
They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.
There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:
Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.
Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:
1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.
2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.
3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.
4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.
5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.
All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:
In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).
In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).
In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).
In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).
The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .
QUESTIONS
1. What books are commended on the Psalms?
2. What is a psalm?
3. What is the Psalter?
4. What is the range of time in composition?
5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?
6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?
7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?
8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.
9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?
10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?
11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?
12. How many psalms in our collection?
13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?
14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?
15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?
16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?
17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?
18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?
19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?
20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?
21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?
22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?
23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?
24. How many of the psalms have no titles?
25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?
26. How do later Jews supply these titles?
27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?
XII
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)
The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:
1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).
2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).
3. The nature, or character, of the poem:
(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).
(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).
4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).
5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).
6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).
7. The kind of musical instrument:
(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).
(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).
(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).
8. A special choir:
(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).
(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).
(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).
9. The keynote, or tune:
(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).
(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).
(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).
(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).
(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).
(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.
(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.
(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.
10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).
11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)
12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).
The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.
The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.
David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:
1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.
2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.
3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.
4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.
5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:
1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.
2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.
3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.
4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.
5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.
6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.
The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.
Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.
Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:
I. By books
1. Psalms 1-41 (41)
2. Psalms 42-72 (31)
3. Psalms 73-89 (17)
4. Psalms 90-106 (17)
5. Psalms 107-150 (44)
II. According to date and authorship
1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )
2. Psalms of David:
(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).
(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).
(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).
3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).
4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).
5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).
6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )
7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )
8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)
III. By groups
1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.
2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )
3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)
4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )
5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”
IV. Doctrines of the Psalms
1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.
2. The covenant, the basis of worship.
3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.
4. The pardon of sin and justification.
5. The Messiah.
6. The future life, pro and con.
7. The imprecations.
8. Other doctrines.
V. The New Testament use of the Psalms
1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.
2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.
We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:
1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )
2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )
3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )
4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )
5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )
6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )
7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )
8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )
9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )
The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.
There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.
It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.
The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.
Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:
1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.
2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.
3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.
The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.
QUESTIONS
1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.
2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?
3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?
4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?
5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.
6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?
7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?
8. What other authors are named in the titles?
9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?
10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.
11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?
12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.
13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?
14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?
15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?
16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?
17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.
18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?
19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?
20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?
XVII
THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS
A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.
Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.
The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:
1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.
2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.
3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.
In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).
This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.
It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:
1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.
2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.
We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.
1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.
The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.
The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).
But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .
Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).
This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.
2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:
(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).
(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .
(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”
(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).
What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!
3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.
(1) His divinity,
(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;
(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .
(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .
(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .
(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .
(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .
(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.
(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .
4. His offices.
(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).
(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).
(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).
(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).
(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).
5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:
(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .
(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.
(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .
(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).
And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).
And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).
Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).
These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .
(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).
(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .
(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).
(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).
(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).
(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).
(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).
The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).
The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).
The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).
His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).
In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).
His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).
Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).
With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).
We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.
QUESTIONS
1. What is a good text for this chapter?
2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?
3. What is the last division called and why?
4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?
5. To what three things is the purpose limited?
6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?
7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?
8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?
9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?
10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?
11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.
12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?
13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?
14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?
15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.
16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.
17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.
18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Psa 53:1 To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, [A Psalm] of David. The fool hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: [there is] none that doeth good.
Maschil, a Psalm of David ] Purposely set down here the second time see Psa 6:1 to instruct what every man is by nature, and that he who is scholar to his own carnal reason is sure to have a fool to his master. The heathens are very obstinate in propugning man’s nature, witness Cicero, and both the Senecas, saying, that if men would but follow the bent of their own natures they could not do amiss. And we have much ado to persuade people that their natures are so foul, their ways so wicked, &c. Twice, therefore, is this psalm recorded, that all may be convinced that there is no safety in such a condition; nothing better than to hasten out of it.
Ver. 1. The fool, &c. ] See Trapp on “ Psa 14:1 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
There follows another psalm “To the chief musician upon Mahaleth: a psalm of instruction of David.” It is indeed the great folly of man, but most guiltily among the Jews, denying Him to Whom we owe all, Who had above all chosen and favoured them. Their fear is to come, whatever their contempt and hatred of God’s people now. As for the righteous they have no reason to fear: God’s judgment will fall on the wicked when least expected. And His word proclaims it across the ages.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 53:1-3
1The fool has said in his heart, There is no God,
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
There is no one who does good.
2God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is anyone who understands,
Who seeks after God.
3Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 53:4-6
4Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge,
Who eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God?
5There they were in great fear where no fear had been;
For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you;
You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.
6Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores His captive people,
Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
This Psalm is almost exactly a duplicate of Psalms 14, except YHWH has been changed to Elohim. See notes the exegetical there.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Title. Maschil = Instruction (the sixth of thirteen Psalms so named. See note on Title, Psalm 32, and App-65, as to the faction of the Tyrant of Psalm 52. This Psalm for public use. See note at end. Hence Elohim (App-4), the Creator in relation to His creatures. A partial repetition of Psalm 14, which was not for public use (as Psalm 53 was); therefore Jehovah (David’s God) there, and Elohim (the creature’s Creator) here.
fool. May not this refer to Nabal? God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4. I. Seven times in this Psalm. In Psalm 14 three times Elohim, and four timesJehovah. Elohim more characteristic of the second (or Exodus) book.
iniquity. In Psalm 14, Hebrew ‘alilah = doing; here, ‘aval= deceit. App-44. There is none, &c. Quoted in Rom 3:1-12.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 53:1-6
Psa 53:1-6 is the same as Psa 14:1-7 . These are similar psalms. There are about three places where psalms repeat themselves, not in total, such as… this is pretty much in total with Psa 14:1-7 . In others, maybe three or four verses are repeated. But this the full psalm.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God ( Psa 53:1 ).
Paul said, “When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were they thankful. Their foolish hearts were darkened. And professing themselves to be wise they became fools” ( Rom 1:21-22 ). “The fool hath said in his heart there is no God.” If you meet a person who says, “I am an atheist,” according to God’s Word he is a fool.
Corrupt are they, they have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. And God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and that did seek God. And every one of them has gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one ( Psa 53:1-3 ).
Paul quotes this in Romans, chapter 3.
Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God. There were they in great fear, where no fear was ( Psa 53:4-5 ):
The wicked fear when there is no cause to fear.
for God has scattered the bones of him that encamps against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised him. Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! ( Psa 53:5-6 )
Now this is a prayer, actually, for the future when Jesus shall come and establish the kingdom. The salvation of Israel coming out of Zion is always a reference to the glorious millennial reign of Christ.
When God brings back the captivity of his people, for Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad ( Psa 53:6 ). “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Psa 53:1-4
THE UNIVERSAL SINFULNESS OF MANKIND
Superscription: Title: The Folly and Wickedness of Men.
For the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath. Maschil of David.
Psa 53:1-4
To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Psa 53:4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
The title in the ASV is “The Folly and Wickedness of Men,” and in Halley’s Handbook of the Bible we have the one selected here.
Set to Mahalath. “According to Dr. Kay, this is a musical term indicating that it is to be sung `Maestoso.’ This is a musical instruction meaning, “`With Majesty,’ `Majestically,’ or `Stately.’
Maschil. This word means a “a meditative poem.
The most important fact about this psalm is that it is almost in its entirety a duplication of Psalms 14, except for two things. (1) The word [~’Elohiym] (God) is substituted throughout in place of the word Jehovah (God) which is used in Psalms 14. (2) There is a slight change of meaning in Psa 53:5, but for what purpose is not known. Rawlinson thought it might be for the “purpose of adapting the Psalm to some special occasion.
Reference is here made to our Commentary on Psalms 14 where we have adequately discussed the text which we find here, with the exception of Psa 53:5.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 53:1. Fool is from NARAL and Strong defines it, “stupid; wicked (especially impious).” Young defines it, “Empty person, fool.” It is the same word used as a proper noun in the case of the husband of Abigail in 1Sa 25:25. That good woman commented on the appropriateness of the word as a name for her wicked and foolish husband. We should be able to see a logical reason for saying it is a fitting name for the kind of person being considered. He made the rash declaration that there is no God. It was not merely a denial of the existence of a supreme Being, which would have been foolish enough. This man affirmed something, and before one is prepared to make such a declaration he must be in possession of all the information that pertains to the subject. Unless this man had seen every inch of space in the universe he had no right to make the affirmation he did. We know that no man has seen all of the space, and he does not know but there could be a God in some place which he has not seen. Hence the statement, there is no God, is a rash one and no one but a fool would make it. The rest of the verse is a comment on the general character and conduct of a man who would be so rash as to make the declaration at the beginning of the verse. The plural pronoun they is used to mean that all persons are in a common class of evil workers who are guilty of this atheism.
Psa 53:2. Looked down . . . to see if, etc., is accommodative language. God knows all things at all times and does not have to make any investigation to find out. But the style of inspiration is to speak to man about the actions of God as if he were also a man. (See Rom 6:19.) The present verse means that God would classify all of the men, such as those who would be so rash as to deny the existence of a Supreme Being. In that class it will be seen that not a one would speak with understanding.
Psa 53:3. Belief in the existence of God is the strongest of motives for a righteous life. By that token we should not be surprised to see the atheists as a class of unrighteous men. These comments are the explanation of the present verse.
Psa 53:4. The line of thought becomes more specific. The evildoers whom David was considering especially were the persecutors of God’s people. Eat up my people is a figure of speech, referring to the vicious treatment the unbelievers imposed on the people of the Lord.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
This psalm, with slight variations, is found in the first book (Psa 14:1-7). Its introduction a second time necessarily leads us to notice the differences. In all probability the editor incorporated it into this book because of these very changes.
They are, first, the substitution of “God” for “Jehovah four times. Perhaps the change was made for liturgical use in some special circumstances, in which the desire was to express praise of God as the wonder-working God. All that was true of Jehovah’s knowledge of men (see Psa 14:1-7) is true also of God’s attitude toward men as the Wonder-worker. He looks on men not only as Helper, but as the supreme One. Not only do the workers of iniquity fail to discover Him as the Helper, they do not call on Him as the mighty One. The other main change is found in verse Psa 53:5, for the exposition of which see note on Psa 14:1-7.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Sinners All-God Alone Can Help
Psa 53:1-6; Psa 54:1-7
That Psa 53:1-6 should be a repetition of Psa 14:1-7, with very few variations, suggests, as does the verily, verily of Christ, that the truths contained in these words are worthy of special attention. They supply the Apostle, in Rom 3:1-31, with his phraseology for describing the state of the ungodly before the searching eye of Omniscience.
We have here a photograph of the human heart. Jew and Gentile are alike in their innermost texture. There is nothing to choose between the Pharisee and the publican, except when either turns the balance by humble confession, as in Luk 18:9, etc.
Psa 54:1-7 is probably founded on 1Sa 23:19. It is short, as if compressed by the urgency of Davids need. Evidently he was in sore straits, though conscious of the rectitude of his cause. Notice how he makes his transition from prayer to praise, Psa 54:4. He affirms, in spite of everything, that God is still his helper. He hears the approaching footsteps of those who are pledged to uphold Him, and God is with them. As he speaks thus in the confidence of faith, the storm clears away. He is delivered; his eye has seen the defeat of his foes.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Psa 53:1-2
There seems to be something intentionally emphatic about the charge against the atheist in the text, as though the wickedness of a man in saying, “There is no God,” were lost in the folly of it, as though when David heard a man sneeringly remark that there was no God he forgot for a moment the man’s sensuality and licentiousness in his astonishment at his weakness.
I. Suppose a man to say absolutely, “There is no God,” thus going beyond the heathen, as some few profess to have done, then in this case the folly is so palpable that all nature seems to protest against it. The question, Who made all these things? confounds such miserable atheism.
II. The denial that God rules and governs the world by just laws, punishing the wicked and rewarding the just, may also, without much difficulty, be convicted of folly, for consider, is it possible to think of God as being otherwise than perfect? An imperfect God is no God at all; if perfect, then He must be perfect in goodness, in holiness, in truth.
III. There is one other manner in which a man may deny God. He may refuse homage to that God whom we worship as revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice two or three points from which the folly of such a man may appear open and manifest. (1) Most holy and thoughtful men have found in the revelation which God has made to man through the Lord Jesus Christ the satisfaction of all their spiritual wants. (2) Observe the wonderful power that this revelation has had: how it has unquestionably been the mainspring, the chief mover, of all the history of the world since the time that Christ came. (3) If Christ be not “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” at least there is no other. Either God has revealed Himself in Christ, or He has not revealed Himself at all, for there is no other religion in the world which any one will pretend to substitute.
Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons, 2nd series, p. 165.
Reference: Psa 53:5.-J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiv., p. 273.
Psa 53:6
I. The salvation of Israel is needed.
II. It is promised.
III. Christians are bound to seek it by personal effort and prayer.
W. M. Punshon, Sermons, p. 118.
References: Psalm 54-A. Maclaren, Life of David, p. 100. Psa 55:4.-J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 1st series, p. 58. Psa 55:5.-W. M. Statham, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 248.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Psalm 53
The Apostasy Under the Man of Sin
This Psalm is in greater part the same as the fourteenth. It is the description of the apostasy, the complete turning away from God and opposition to God, which will hold sway when Satans mighty man is on the earth. Then the godly remnant will sigh for the coming of salvation out of Zion.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Mahalath Mahalath, apparently a temple choir.
Maschil Maschil, “instruction.”
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
fool: Psa 14:1-7, Psa 92:6, Mat 5:22, Luk 12:20
said: Psa 10:4, Psa 10:6, Psa 10:11, Psa 10:13, 1Ki 12:26, Rom 1:21, Rom 1:28
Corrupt: Gen 6:5, Gen 6:6, Gen 6:11-13, Job 14:4, Job 15:16
have done: Lev 18:24-30, Deu 12:31, 1Ki 14:24, Eze 16:47, Eze 16:51, Eph 5:12, 1Pe 4:3
there is: Rom 3:10-31
Reciprocal: Psa 73:8 – corrupt Jer 17:9 – General Jer 51:17 – Every Mat 12:34 – how Mar 7:21 – out Rom 3:12 – there is none Rom 8:7 – the carnal mind
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE FOLLY OF ATHEISM
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God, etc.
Psa 53:1-2
There seems to be something intentionally emphatic about the charge against the atheist in the text, as though the wickedness of a man in saying, There is no God, were lost in the folly of it, as though when David heard a man sneeringly remark that there was no God he forgot for a moment the mans sensuality and licentiousness in his astonishment at his weakness.
I. Suppose a man to say absolutely, There is no God, thus going beyond the heathen, as some few profess to have done, then in this case the folly is so palpable that all nature seems to protest against it. The question, Who made all these things? confounds such miserable atheism.
II. The denial that God rules and governs the world by just laws, punishing the wicked and rewarding the just, may also, without much difficulty, be convicted of folly, for consider, is it possible to think of God as being otherwise than perfect?An imperfect God is no God at all; if perfect, then He must be perfect in goodness, in holiness, in truth.
III. There is one other manner in which a man may deny God.He may refuse homage to that God whom we worship as revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice two or three points from which the folly of such a man may appear open and manifest. (1) Most holy and thoughtful men have found in the revelation which God has made to man through the Lord Jesus Christ the satisfaction of all their spiritual wants. (2) Observe the wonderful power that this revelation has had: how it has unquestionably been the mainspring, the chief mover, of all the history of the world since the time that Christ came. (3) If Christ be not the Way, the Truth, and the Life, at least there is no other. Either God has revealed Himself in Christ, or He has not revealed Himself at all, for there is no other religion in the world which any one will pretend to substitute.
Bishop Harvey Goodwin.
Illustration
There is the man who, bursting with his own prodigious wisdom, rides roughshod over evidence of every kind, and dashes madly, blindly into the battle of life, with No God! as his battle-cry; until he falls, at last, wounded by the Lord of Hosts, whose existence he has denied. In his conceptions of lifeNo God!; in thoughts of marriageNo God!; in conduct of his businessNo God!; and in the training of his childrenNo God! Such an one sought to wed his little girl to his disbelief. One day he was ill in bed, when the child came into the room with her slate from school. He wrote upon it, God is nowhere! and asked her to read it. The little one in her innocence spelled it out, God is now here! Twas but a trifling change, but eternal issues hung upon it.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
The progress of evil and the throwing off of God.
To the chief musician, upon Mahalath: Maskil of David.
The fifty-third psalm shows us the growth of the evil, both in breadth and intensity. God is here altogether thrown off, and the wicked one gathers after him a multitude of followers.
The title is a peculiar and significant one: “It is prefixed to two psalms, the fifty-third and the eighty-eighth: ‘To the chief musician upon Mahalath.’ Some Hebraists have supposed it to intend that the psalm was to be accompanied by an ancient musical instrument which bore such a name; or that, being derived from ‘Machol,’ it denoted a choral song to be sung in the Levitical service. But this last interpretation would be very unsuitable to the psalms in the inscriptions of which the word occurs. Since psalm eighty-eight is the gloomiest of all the psalms, and psalm fifty-three, although having a bright border, is still also a dark picture, the signification of Mahalath, -‘sickness, sorrow,’ -which is capable of being supported by Exo 15:26, must be retained. ‘Upon Mahalath’ signifies after a sad tone or manner, whether it be that Mahalath itself is a name for such an elegiac kind of melody, or that it was thereby designed to indicate the initial word of some popular song. So that we may regard Mahalath as equivalent to mesto, and piano, or andante.”* The best reason for this strangely sad title is found, indeed, in its mystical fitness to the psalms of which it is the inspired prefix.
{* Delitzsch on the Psalms.}
“It is to be interpreted, therefore, ‘upon Sickness,’ a title of direction that the words should be accompanied by some soft, sad, melancholy flow of sound, in accord with their deeply sorrowful tone.”*
{*”Christ the Key of the Psalter.” By an Oxford Graduate.}
The fifty-third psalm is, for the most part, a repetition of the fourteenth; and as such has provoked various criticism. In both psalms the divine Name is found seven times; but in the former one four times it is Jehovah, while in the present Elohim (God) is used in every case. This is, of course, in keeping with the general character of the second book. In either case the sevenfold affirmation of God in the presence of the multitude of the ungodly who deny Him, surely has significance.
(1) As in the fourteenth psalm, the general mass of men, and not merely Israelites, are seen to be deniers of God. As to Antichrist, the man of sin, it is said of him that “he opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped.” (2Th 2:4.) And of the lawless one in Daniel, that “he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, . . . neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, . . . nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all” (Dan 11:36-37). John also declares that he shall deny “the Father and the Son.” This does not prevent him honoring, instead of the true God, “the God of forces” (Dan 11:38); even as the second “beast” of Rev 13:1-18 (who is the same person) causes men to worship the first beast (the head of the revived Roman empire) and his image in the temple. This last -idolatry set up in the temple -is the fullest challenge to Him whose throne is there.
Thus he does not abandon all worship of God openly, but uses it for his purpose, and is, of course, atheist in heart. The mass who follow him have the same character. Even the Comtist has his worship of the Grand Etre; but he knows perfectly well that this “Great Being” of Humanity is only a play of imagination, -a concession to the emotional side of his nature, and no real god. So also may the followers of the “beast” have their political god and yet be godless. Their works show what they are at heart, and that to dethrone God there is much easier than to make another.
(2) All the time while they regard not God, He is regarding them. Patiently He searches among them so as to know if there be one that understands or seeks after Him. This anthropomorphism as to God is beautiful. Put it how you will, you must not believe that the living God is careless of His creatures. He will not judge hastily, or in a lump, but with careful discrimination.
(3) But there is not one that can be found: they have turned aside, all of them; they have together become corrupt; none doeth good, no, not one. These statements the apostle applies, as (apart from the grace of God) they must be applied, to the whole human race. That does not show that the design here is not more limited than this. The psalm as a whole, -each psalm as a whole -has plainly indeed such a limited application; but “as in water, face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man;” and this abundantly justifies the apostle’s “no difference” doctrine. The place of the psalm in this series it is that shows the prophetic application.
(4) The next verse accordingly speaks of those whom God calls His people, and who are not to be confounded with these. They are being eaten up like bread by these scornful men here depicted. Yet are these workers of vanity merely, -without knowledge, not knowing even the feebleness, which would have brought them to call upon God.
(5) But the panic of their doom at last and as in a moment falls upon them; and here the present psalm turns away from the fourteenth, which speaks of the general principle, to announce, as if it were accomplished, the doom of those encamped against Jerusalem. “God hath scattered the bones of those that encamped against thee.” The feeble remnant also become the executors of divine judgment “thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.”
(6) The psalm ends, as the fourteenth does, with the expression of longing desire that the salvation of Israel had indeed come; and that what faith foresees and declares were already a fact in experience.
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
This psalm, the same as the fourteenth, is repeated here, and was sung in plaintive strains when Sennacherib invaded Judea, as is affirmed by Origen, Theodoret, and others.
Psa 53:1. The fool, the brutish, the sottish man, who sets up his judgment and pleasure above all law, and all religion. The being of a God is the foundation of all worship and obedience. Assuredly there is a Creator, a judge, a ruler of the whole earth.
Psa 53:4. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? We must catechise and instruct the rising age, or the people will perish for lack of knowledge.They eat up my people as they eat bread. The Chaldean army devoured the land, which is here called eating and devouring the people, who in another place are said to be devoured by the sword.
Psa 53:6. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion. The Vulgate more exactly renders the Hebrew, Quis dabit ex Zion salutare Israel? Who will give out of Zion One to save Israel? The glory or shekinah dwelt in Zion, and Messiah arose of Davids line. Therefore this prayer is addressed to the Messiah in time of trouble, and in unison with all prayers of a like nature. Thou that dwellest between the cherubims shine forth. Psa 80:1. Other prophets have used the same language. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people.Oh the Hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble. Hab 3:13. Jer 14:8. To this refuge we must always run in the evil day. See the answer to those prayers in 2Ch 32:21. See also on Psalms 14.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
LIII. See Psalms 14.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
PSALM 53
The condition of the world as led by antichrist – man throwing off all recognition of God.
(v. 1) The antichrist of the last day, in whom the fool will have the most extreme expression, will deny God, opposing, exalting himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped (2Th 2:4). He will gather round him followers marked by corruption and abominable deeds. As ever, the folly of denying God lets loose the filthiness of fallen man. Infidelity and immorality are close companions; No God in the heart leads to no good in the life.
(vv. 2-3) Nevertheless, the God that men deny is patiently regarding man. God does not judge hastily. He looks upon men, and searches to find any that have understanding and seek after Him. As the result of God’s search there is not one that can be found that doeth good. Apart from the grace of God the whole human race is found to be corrupt.
(vv. 4-5) There are those, however, in whom God has wrought: those of whom God can speak as my people. The wicked who deny God, devour His people without any fear of God (cp. Jer 10:25; Lam 2:16).
Those in great fear would seem to indicate the ungodly nation of the Jews, associated with antichrist (Isa 33:14). They fear as they see the armies encamped against Zion. There will be no ground for fear; for God will destroy the opposing enemy, putting to shame and despising those who had despised God.
(v. 6) The longing of the godly that the salvation of Israel, which faith foresees, had already come. Then, when God reigns out of Zion as a centre, Israel will be regathered with joy and gladness.
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
53:1 [To the chief Musician upon {a} Mahalath, Maschil, [A Psalm] of David.] The fool hath said in his heart, [There is] {b} no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: [there is] none that doeth good.
(a) Which was an instrument or king of note.
(b) Whereas no regard is had for honesty or dishonesty, for virtue nor for vice, there the prophet pronounces that the people have no God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Psalms 53
This psalm is another version of the one that appears in Book 1 as Psalms 14. David wrote it, and "mahalath" is a tune name. One interesting difference between this psalm and Psalms 14 is that this one contains the name Elohim whereas Psalms 14 has Yahweh.
". . . Psalms 53’s position between Psalms 52, 54 favors an ancient tradition relating to the life of David. Psalms 52 relates to the story of Doeg (cf. 1 Samuel 22) and Psalms 54 to the incident of the Ziphites (cf. 1 Samuel 23; 1 Samuel 26). The term ’fool’ (nabal, Psa 53:1) is suggestive of Nabal, who acted foolishly to David and his men (cf. 1 Samuel 25)." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 388.]
David reflected on the wickedness of the entire human race and voiced confidence that God would punish sinners. He longed for God to establish His kingdom on earth (cf. Mat 6:10).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. Reflection on the human race 53:1-3
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
A fool in the ancient Hebrew view of life was a person who did not acknowledge God’s existence intellectually, practically, or both (cf. Romans 1). He lived as though God does not exist. Such a viewpoint leads to unrestrained behavior. The fool’s conduct is essentially corrupt, in addition to being abominable to God (i.e., vile). No one is completely or consistently good because everyone disregards God from time to time.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 53:1-6
IN this psalm we have an Elohistic recast of Psa 14:1-7, differing from its original in substituting Elohim for Jehovah (four times) and in the language of Psa 53:5. There are also other slight deviations not affecting the sense. For the exposition the reader is referred to that of Psa 14:1-7. It is only necessary here to take note of the divergences.
The first of these occurs in Psa 53:1. The forcible rough construction “they corrupt, they make abominable,” is smoothed down by the insertion of “and.” The editor apparently thought that the loosely piled words needed a piece of mortar to hold them together, but his emendation weakens as well as smooths. On the other hand, he has aimed at increased energy of expression by substituting “iniquity” for “doings” in the same clause, which results in tautology and is no improvement. In Psa 53:3 the word for “turned aside” is varied, without substantial difference of meaning. The alteration is very slight, affecting only one letter, and may be due to error in transcription or to mere desire to amend. In Psa 53:4 “all,” which in Psa 14:1-7 precedes “workers of iniquity,” is omitted, probably as unnecessary.
The most important changes are in Psa 53:5, which stands for Psa 14:5 and Psa 14:6 of Psa 14:1-7. The first is the insertion of “where no fear was.” These words may be taken as describing causeless panic, or, less probably, as having a subjective reference, and being equal to “while in the midst of careless security.” They evidently point to some fact, possibly the destruction of Sennacheribs army. Their insertion shows that the object of the alterations was to adapt an ancient psalm as a hymn of triumph for recent deliverance, thus altering its application from evil-doers within Israel to enemies without. The same purpose is obvious in the transformations effected in the remainder of this verse. Considerable as these are, the recast most ingeniously conforms to the sound of the original. If we could present the two versions in tabular form, the resemblance would appear more strikingly than we can here bring it out. The first variation-i.e., “scatters” instead of “in the generation”-is effected by reading “pizzar” for “bdhor,” a clear case of intentional assonance. Similarly the last word of the verse, “has rejected them,” is very near in consonants and sound to “his refuge” in Psa 14:6. The like effort at retaining the general sound of the earlier psalm runs through the whole verse. Very significantly the complaint of the former singer is turned into triumph by the later, who addresses the delivered Israel with “Thou hast put them to shame,” while the other psalm could but address the “fools” with “Ye would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted.” In like manner the tremulous hope of the original, “God is his refuge,” swells into commemoration of an accomplished fact in “God has rejected them.” The natural supposition is that some great deliverance of Israel had just taken place, and inspired this singular attempt to fit old words to new needs. Whatever the historical occasion may have been, the two singers unite in one final aspiration, a sigh of longing for the coming of Israels full salvation, which is intensified in the recast by being put in the plural (“salvations”) instead of the singular, as in Psa 14:1-7, to express the completeness and manifoldness of the deliverance thus yearned for of old, and not yet come in its perfection.