Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 123:4
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, [and] with the contempt of the proud.
4. Our soul is exceedingly filled ] The close resemblance of this clause to Psa 120:6 a in the use of a rare form of the adverb ( rabbath), and of the reflexive pronoun (lit. ‘filled for itself ’), may indicate that both Psalms were written by the same author.
scorning ] Or, jeers. The cognate verb is used in Neh 2:19; Neh 4:1, “they jeered at us” “they jeered at the Jews.”
those that are at ease ] Those who live in careless confident security, regardless alike of the judgements of God and the sufferings of men. Cp. Job 12:5; Amo 6:1; Zec 1:15.
the proud ] So the K’thbh: according to the Q’r the consonants are to be read as two words, the proudest oppressors.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Our soul is exceedingly filled – Thoroughly sated. This verse states the nature and the source of the contempt which they were called to bear.
With the scorning of those that are at ease – According to one view of these Psalms of Degrees (see the Introduction to Psa 120:1-7) this would be an instance of an ascent in the sense, or of the going up of the thought, where in Psa 123:3 there was mention made in general of contempt, and in this verse the thought is carried onward and upward, or there is an additional idea which gives intensity to it. It is the scorn proceeding from those who are at ease; that is, the frivolous, the affluent, the proud. The word scorning means derision, mockery. The idea in the Hebrew is derived from stammering, which the word properly means; and then, mockery, as repeating over the words of another, or imitating the voice of one in derision. Compare Psa 2:4; Job 22:19. The phrase those that are at ease properly refers to those who are tranquil or quiet, Job 12:5; Isa 32:18; Isa 33:20; and then it is used of those who are living at ease; those who are living in self-indulgence and luxury, Amo 6:1; Isa 32:9, Isa 32:11. Here it would seem to refer to those who, in our language, are in easy circumstances; the affluent; those who are not compelled to toil: then, the frivolous, the fashionable, those in the upper walks of life. The contempt was aggravated by the fact that it came from that quarter; not from the low, the ignorant, the common, but from those who claimed to be refined, and who were distinguished in the world of gaiety, of rank, and of fashion. This, even for good people (such is human nature), is much more hard to bear than contempt is when it comes from those who are in the lower walks of life. In the latter case, perhaps, we feel that we can meet contempt with contempt; in the former we cannot. We disregard the opinions of those who are beneath us; there are few who are not affected by the opinions entertained of them by those who are above them.
And with the contempt of the proud – Those who are lifted up; either in rank, in condition, or in feeling. The essential idea is, that it was the contempt of those to whom mankind look up. Religious people have always had much of this to encounter, and often it is in fact a more severe test of the reality and power of religion than the loss of goods, or than bodily pains and penalties. We can bear much if we have the respect – the praise – of those above us; it is a very certain test of the reality and the power of our religion when we can bear the scorn of the great, the noble, the scientific, the frivolous, and the fashionable. Piety is more frequently checked and obscured by this than it is by persecution. It is more rare that piety shines brightly when the frivolous and the fashionable flown upon it than when princes attempt to crush it by power. The church has performed its duty better in the furnace of persecution than it has in the happy scenes of the world.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 123:4
Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scorning of those that are at ease.
Man disregarding man
I. Mans disregard for man explains the social sorrows of the world. Were all men lovingly interested in each other, would there be pauperism, fraud, oppression, persecution, war, etc.?
II. Mans disregard for man reveals the moral apostasy of mankind. The constitution of the soul, with its moral sense and social sympathies, as well as the Bible, assure us that man was made to love his brother, that no man should seek his own supremely, but each anothers weal. Sin has broken the social bond, shattered the social temple, unstrung the social harp.
III. Mans disregard for man proves the worlds need of a Redeemer. If men do not care for men, who is to help the world? There is only One who can do it, and that is Christ. He came for this purpose, He came to redeem men from all iniquity. (Homilist.)
Antagonism against Gods people
The quarrel is very old, and easily explained. It is the antagonism between darkness and light, between sin and holiness, between Satan and Christ, between hell and heaven. And though it may not be pleasant to be mocked and calumniated by these men, what a humiliation it would be to receive their praise! How low would you sink in your own esteem, were they to make flattering speeches, and tell you that you had done famously! That is a patronage from which one would instinctively recoil. Be thankful that they can use no other weapons than calumny and contempt. The Jews had to contend at the same time with open violence. Were their power equal to their will, they would deprive you of your civil rights, they would confiscate your property, they would confine you in dungeons, they would burn you at the stake. In Athens, they would have condemned Socrates, the greatest and best philosopher of antiquity, to drink the cup of hemlock; and they would have banished Aristides, because they were tired of hearing every one call him Aristides the Just. In Jerusalem, they would have goaded on the senseless rabble, and swelled the ferocious shout, Not this man, but Barabbas. In St. Andrews, they would have sat at the castle windows, and feasted their eyes when good Patrick Hamilton was consuming in the flames, and they, would have gone in afterwards, and dined with an unimpeachable appetite. In slave countries, they would tar and feather the missionaries, who proclaim to the degraded negroes the unsearchable riches of Christ. The same satanic spirit still reigns; and can we be too grateful that these enemies of the Cross are kept in chains! We live in a land of civil and religious freedom; and they cannot go beyond the boundaries of misrepresentation and scorn. They may show their teeth and growl, but they cannot bite. They may curse you, but they cannot lay a finger upon you. (N. McMichael.)
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Psa 124:1-8
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. Those that are at ease] The Babylonians, who, having subdued all the people of the neighbouring nations, lived at ease, had none to contend with them, and now became luxurious, indolent, and insolent: they were contemptuous and proud.
ANALYSIS OF THE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THIRD PSALM
The oppressed followers of God make application to him for mercy. In this application they express three things: –
I. Their confidence in God.
II. Prayer for mercy.
III. An account of their oppressors.
I. Their trust in God.
1. “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes.” We trust in thee alone.
2. “O thou that dwellest in the heavens.” Infinitely raised above us; but affected with our miserable condition, and always ready to help us.
This he shows by a double similitude: –
1. “As the eyes of servants,” i.e., men-servants, “look unto the hand of their masters.”
2. “As the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress:” both might be beaten; and here both beg to be saved from farther stripes.
3. “So our eyes,” c. God’s children are always looking up to him.
4. “Until that he have mercy” abate his stripes, and take off his hand.
II. Their prayer for mercy.
1. Before they lifted their eyes to God, but now they cry for mercy.
For this crying, they give the following reasons: –
1. “We are exceedingly filled with contempt.” To suffer contempt is much; to be filled with it is more; and to be exceedingly filled with it is worst of all.
2. We are scorned: they join words and actions to show how much they despise us.
III. They give the character of those by whom they suffer.
1. They are at ease – loaded with wealth, and sunk in indolence.
2. They are proud – puffed up with a sense of their own importance; and this leads them to despise others. Proud men are for the most part empty, shallow-pated men: and contempt and scorn from such wounds deeply; especially if they rise, as they often do, from the dunghill. The sick lion in the fable found it extremely galling to be kicked by the foot of an ass.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
With the scornful and contemptuous carriage of thine and our enemies, who live in great ease and glory, whilst we, thy people, are overwhelmed with manifold calamities.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. of those that are ateaseself-complacently, disregarding God’s law, and despisingHis people.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease,…. That are in easy and affluent circumstances; abound in the things of this world, and have more than heart can wish; have no outward trouble, as other men, or as the saints have; nor any uneasiness of mind, on account of sin and their eternal state: they have been at ease from their youth; Satan, that has the possession of them, keeps the goods in peace; and their consciences are seared as with a red hot iron, and they are past feeling; though they are far from having any true solid peace of mind: and such persons are generally scorners of the saints, and load them with their gibes and jeers in a most insolent manner; which makes it very irksome and grievous to bear;
[and] with the contempt of the proud: who are proud of their natural abilities; of their wealth and riches, and of their honours and high places: and such are generally scorners, and deal in proud wrath; and, through their pride, persecute the poor saints with their reproaches, and by other ways; see Pr 21:24. Some understand by these characters, “that are at ease”, or “quiet” f, and are “proud”, or “excellent” g, as the phrases may be rendered, such described by them as are the objects, and not the authors, of scorn and contempt; even the saints, who are the quiet in the land, and the excellent in the earth; those precious sons of Zion, who are disesteemed by the men of the world, Ps 35:20.
f “pacatorum”, Montanus; “tranquillorum”, Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis. g “excellentium”, Hammond; a rad. “eminuit”, Gejerus; so an eminent Rabbi with the Jews is called “Gaon”, as R. Saadiah Gaon, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) The scorning.The Hebrew offers a rare use of the articleprobably it should be reproduced by our demonstrative, this scorning. The LXX., however, have, The scorn for those at ease, and the contempt for the proud, which requires only the substitution of a letter, removes an anomaly in construction, and gives a better sense: Let our desire be satisfied to the full with the scorn for those at ease, and the same contempt for the proud. Notice how the figure is retained. The oppressors are the masters and mistresses, living in luxury, while the slaves wait. Gesenius quotes Sallust (secundis rebus ferox) in illustration of the wantonness of secure and luxurious power. As we read the verse, we seem to feel
The whips and scorns of time,
The oppressors wrong, the proud mans contumely.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 123:4. Of those that are at ease Or, Of the insolent. The Hebrew word shaanannim is used not only for quiet or secure, in the original notion, but, by a metonymy of the cause for the effect, for insolent or scornful; because ease and security too often make men so.
REFLECTIONS.We have,
1. The Psalmist’s approach unto God. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens, the place of his glorious abode, whither our prayer must be directed, and where with the eye of faith we must behold him, ready to hear and answer us.
2. The temper in which he approached God, he illustrates by the similitude of servants looking to their master or mistress for direction, sustenance, protection, chastisement, wages; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, for his divine teaching how to walk and please him; for his continual supplies of living bread to nourish our souls; for support against all those who would obstruct us in our blessed Master’s service; for the wages of the eternal inheritance which God hath promised, not of debt indeed, but of grace; or for such kind correction as he sees we need, and under which we cheerfully and patiently submit, until that he have mercy upon us, which he infallibly will show in time and eternity, to all those who perseveringly wait on him as their only refuge.
3. The plea that he urges. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us; on this alone we must found our hope, for merit we have none; in one word, it comprehends all our wants, which God knows better than we do ourselves; and it is repeated to shew the fervent importunity which those who are endued with the spirit of prayer use, when deeply sensible of the want of that mercy which they seek; for we are exceedingly filled with contempt, the common lot of God’s people, who are despised as poor, ignorant, deluded; their, holy peculiarities in sentiment and practice ridiculed, and their persons treated as the scum and off-scouring of all things, by a sensual, proud, and adulterous generation. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud; the scorners who set God at defiance, live after the indulgence of their lusts, careless and secure about futurity, puffed up with affluence and honour, taking pleasure in vilifying and insulting the despised people of God. But let such know, that there is one who resents these indignities, and will return them; the tables will quickly change at the prayer of the faithful, the despised followers of Jesus be exalted to the throne of glory, and those proud sensualists thrust down into the pit, and covered with everlasting shame and contempt.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
Oh! for faith to be looking unto Jesus as those look to the world, who live upon its smiles. My soul! hadst thou but half the concern to please thy heavenly Master, as faithful servants of the world do their earthly lords; what blessings, even from the fountain-head of happiness, wouldest thou be living upon, and in the daily enjoyment of! How will a frown from a kind master wound a loving servant; and how will a smile encourage and gladden his heart. And is there a master so kind, so loving, so gracious, so abundant in goodness, as Jesus? And yet how little dost thou live to his glory; how little are thine eyes directed to his praise, or waiting for his favor!
Blessed Jesus! let this sweet Psalm be blessed to my perusal. Henceforth, Lord, let me learn to imitate the solicitude and affection of earthly servants, who are more earnest to oblige a fellow creature, than I have been to seek thy favor, which is better than life itself. Oh! thou that dwellest in the heavens, cause my soul to be lifted up unto thee. Draw me, Lord, that I may run after thee. And let the exercises of everything I meet with here below, be sanctified to endear Jesus to my heart; that while the masters and mistresses of earthly servants have their respect and homage from those that serve them, my soul may cry out, O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast loosed my bonds.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 123:4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, [and] with the contempt of the proud.
Ver. 4. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease ] And therehence insolent and unsufferable, for , ease breedeth forgetfulness, yea, it maketh men scornful and wrongful to others.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Our soul = we. Hebrew. nephesh (App-13).
scorning = the scoffing. The reference is to the scoffing of Sennacherib and Rab-shakeh (2Ki 18:19-35; 2Ki 19:8-13. 2Ch 32:10-19. Isa 36:4-21; Isa 37:8-13). App-67.
at ease. Same Hebrew as “tumult” in 2Ki 19:28, and Isa 37:29.
proud = proud oppressors.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
with the scorning: Psa 73:5-9, Psa 119:51, Job 12:5, Job 16:4, Jer 48:11, Jer 48:27, Jer 48:29, Act 17:21, Act 17:32, Act 26:24, 1Co 4:13
Reciprocal: 1Sa 17:42 – disdained 1Sa 25:10 – Who is David 2Ki 18:23 – I will deliver 2Ki 19:3 – This day Neh 4:4 – Hear Job 35:12 – because Psa 13:2 – exalted Psa 17:10 – with Psa 31:18 – speak Psa 36:11 – foot Psa 44:13 – scorn Psa 69:20 – Reproach Psa 119:22 – Remove Psa 137:3 – For there Psa 140:5 – The proud Pro 11:12 – that Pro 14:2 – but Pro 18:3 – General Isa 36:8 – and I Jer 33:24 – thus Jer 43:2 – all the Jer 49:31 – wealthy nation Jer 51:51 – are confounded Lam 3:14 – General Lam 5:1 – behold Eze 36:6 – General Mar 5:40 – they Joh 8:22 – Will