Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 119:78
Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: [but] I will meditate in thy precepts.
78. for they dealt perversely with me without a cause ] Better, for they have subverted me by falsehood. Cp. Lam 3:36.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let the proud be ashamed – Referring here to his enemies, who appear to have been in the higher ranks of life, or to have been those who prided themselves on their wealth, their station, or their influence. See the notes at Psa 119:51. The psalmist asks here that they might be confounded or put to shame; that is, that they might fail of accomplishing their purposes in regard to him. See Psa 25:2-3, notes; Job 6:20, note.
For they dealt perversely with me – They were not honest; they deceived me; they took advantage of me; they were not true to their professions of friendship. Compare the notes at Isa 59:3; notes at Job 8:3; notes at Job 34:12.
Without a cause – Hebrew, by a lie. That is, They have been guilty of falsehood in their charges or accusations against me. I have given them no occasion for such treatment, and their conduct is based on an entire misrepresentation. See the notes at Joh 15:25.
But I will meditate in thy precepts – See the notes at Psa 1:2. I will not be diverted from thee, from thy law, from thy service, by all that man can do to me; by all the false charges which the enemies of religion may bring against me; by all the contempt or persecution that I may suffer for my attachment to thee. See Psa 119:23, note; Psa 119:69, note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 78. Let the proud be ashamed] To reduce a proud man to shame, is to humble him indeed. Let them be confounded. Without cause – without any colourable pretext, have they persecuted me.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They dealt perversely with me, Heb. they have perverted me; either by their calumnies, whereby they have put false and perverse constructions upon all my words and actions; or by endeavouring to overthrow and destroy me, or to turn me out of the way of thy precepts. But all their wicked attempts against me shall never drive me from the study, and love, and practice of thy precepts.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
78. but I . . . meditate in thypreceptsand so shall not be “ashamed,” that is, putto shame (Ps 119:80).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let the proud be ashamed,…. The same persons he before speaks of as accursed, who had him in derision, and forged a lie against him. Here he prays that they might be ashamed of their scoffs and jeers, of their lies and calumnies, the evils and injuries they had done him; that they might be brought to a sense of them, and repentance for them; when they would be ashamed of them in the best manner: or that they might be disappointed of their ends, in what they had done, and so be confounded and ashamed, as men are when they cannot gain their point; or be brought to shame and confusion eternally;
for they dealt perversely with me without a cause; or, “they perverted me [with] falsehood” w; that is, they endeavoured to pervert him with lies and falsehood, and lead him out of the right way; or they attempted, by their lies and calumnies, to make him out to be a perverse and wicked man, and pronounced and condemned him as such, without any foundation or just cause for it;
[but] I will meditate in thy precepts; he was determined, in the strength of grace, that those ill usages should not take off his thoughts from religious things, or divert him from his duty to his God: none of these things moved him; he still went on in the ways of God, in his worship and service, as Daniel did, when in like circumstances.
w “mendacio me opprimere quaerunt”, Tigurine version; “mendaciis”, Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts. 79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies.
Here David shows,
I. How little he valued the will–will of sinners. There were those that dealt perversely with him, that were peevish and ill-conditioned towards him, that sought advantages against him, and misconstrued all he said and did. Even those that deal most fairly may meet with those that deal perversely. But David regarded it not, for, 1. He knew it was without cause, and that for his love they were his adversaries. The causeless reproach, like the curse causeless, may be easily slighted; it does not hurt us, and therefore should not move us. 2. He could pray, in faith, that they might be ashamed of it; God’s dealing favourably with him might make them ashamed to think that they had dealt perversely with him. “Let them be ashamed, that is, let them be brought either to repentance or to ruin.” 3. He could go on in the way of his duty, and find comfort in that. “However they deal with me, I will meditate in thy precepts, and entertain myself with them.”
II. How much he valued the good-will of saints, and how desirous he was to stand right in their opinion, and keep up his interest in them and communion with them: Let those that fear thee turn to me. He does not mean so much that they might side with him, and take up arms in his cause, as that they might love him, and pray for him, and associate with him. Good men desire the friendship and society of those that are good. Some think it intimates that when David had been guilty of that foul sin in the murder of Uriah, though he was a king, those that feared God grew strange to him and turned from him, for they were ashamed of him; this troubled him, and therefore he prays, Lord, let them turn to me again. He desires especially the company of those that were not only honest, but intelligent, that have known thy testimonies, have good heads as well as good hearts, and whose conversation will be edifying. It is desirable to have an intimacy with such.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
78. Let the proud be put to shame. We have already often had occasion to remark, that, in the Hebrew language, the future tense is frequently used in the sense of the optative mood, as here, — They shall be put to shame, for, Let them be put to shame. Still it would not be unsuitable to explain the meaning thus’ As the proud have dealt mischievously with me, and molested me without a cause, the Lord will give them their reward. But as almost all interpreters are agreed that this is a prayer, in the translation of the verse I am unwilling to depart from the generally received explanation, especially as the language is expressly addressed to God himself. It is important to attend to the reason why the Psalmist hopes that God will be an enemy to his enemies; namely, because they wickedly and maliciously assaulted him. The word שקר , sheker, which I have rendered falsely, is by some translated, without a cause; but they seem only to hit upon the one half of the prophet’s meaning; for this word, in my opinion, is to be referred to the stratagems and artifices by which the wicked endeavored to destroy David. Whence we gather, that whenever we are wrongfully persecuted by wicked men, we are invited to have recourse directly to God for protection. At the same time, we are taught that we have no reason to be abashed at their insolence; for, whatever power they may arrogate to themselves, He will beat down their loftiness, and lay it low, to their shame; so that, being confounded, they will serve as an example, to teach others that nothing is more ridiculous than to sing the song of triumph before the victory is gained. The verb אשיח, asiach, in the second clause of the verse, may be rendered, I will speak of, as well as I will meditate upon; implying, that, when he had obtained the victory, he would proclaim the goodness of God, which he had experienced. To speak of God’s statutes, is equivalent to declaring out of the law, how faithfully he guards his saints, how securely he delivers them, and how righteously he avenges their wrongs.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(78) Dealt.Better, wronged me; literally, bent me.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 119:78. For they dealt perversely with me For they causelessly wrest my steps. The original has the signification of perverting, or wresting the steps of any one so as to throw him down, or trip up his heels. “Let the proud be disappointed, who endeavour to trip me up without cause.” Mudge.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 119:78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: [but] I will meditate in thy precepts.
Ver. 78. Let the proud be ashamed ] Theoderet thinks that David here prayeth not against, but for, his enemies, quando quidem confusio et ignominia salutem procreat. But that is not likely.
For they dealt perversely with me
But I will meditate in thy precepts
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
proud = insolent, or arrogant.
perversely = with falsehood.
without a cause. Compare Joh 15:25 with Rom 3:24 (“freely”).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the proud: Psa 119:21, Psa 119:51, Psa 119:85, Psa 35:26
without: Psa 119:86, Psa 7:3-5, Psa 25:3, Psa 35:7, Psa 69:4, Psa 109:3, 1Sa 24:10-12, 1Sa 24:17, 1Sa 26:18, Joh 15:25, 1Pe 2:20
but I will: Psa 119:23, Psa 1:2
Reciprocal: Psa 119:15 – meditate
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 119:78-79. Let the proud be ashamed Confound all the proud contemners of thy law; let them be brought either to repentance or to shame; for they have dealt perversely with me, either by their calumnies, putting false and perverse constructions on my words and actions, or endeavouring to overthrow and destroy me, by turning me out of the way of my duty; but I will meditate in thy precepts All their wicked attempts shall never drive me from the study, and love, and practice of thy precepts. Let those that fear thee, &c. Let all pious men, who have a due regard for thy testimonies, be convinced of this, and turn their hearts and affections to me, which have been alienated from me, either by the artifices and calumnies of my adversaries, or by my sore and long distresses, causing them to think that I had deceived them with false pretences, or that God, for my sins, had utterly forsaken me. And those that have known thy testimonies That is, that have loved and practised them. The sense of this verse is much the same with that of the seventy-fourth; that good men, seeing what God had done for him, should turn themselves to him, take encouragement from him, and recognise the righteousness of God in protecting his friends.