Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 55:19
God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
19. The judgement of his enemies.
God shall hear, and afflict them ] Or, humble them. This, which is the rendering of the Ancient Versions, is probably right. But it requires a change of the vocalisation. The text as it stands must be rendered with R.V., God shall hear, and answer them, meaning apparently, that God will hear their raging and answer them with judgement. But this is an unnatural form of expression. The object to the verbs ‘hear’ and ‘answer’ could hardly be other than the Psalmist or his prayer.
even he that abideth of old ] Render, He that sitteth enthroned eternally, as Judge of the world. (Cp. “Thou most worthy Judge Eternal.”) Cp. Deu 33:27; Psa 9:7-8; Psa 29:10; Psa 74:12; Hab 1:12.
Because they have no changes ] This is best taken as a relative clause, dependent on the preceding sentence. Render with R.V. (placing a comma only after of old),
(The men) who have no changes,
And who fear not God.
‘Changes’ will mean vicissitudes of fortune. God will humble these men, who, because their prosperity is unbroken, fear Him not. Cp. Psa 10:4-6; Psa 73:4 ff. The truth is a general one, but the Psalmist is thinking particularly of his own enemies. The P.B.V., for they will not turn, nor fear God, takes changes in the sense of change of mind, repentance, an interpretation adopted by some critics, but not justified by usage. The text is not free from difficulty, but the explanation given above is sufficiently probable to make it unnecessary to assume a further corruption or displacement of the text.
Selah in the middle of a sentence is quite inexplicable, and must be misplaced, as it seems to be in Psa 55:7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
God shall hear and afflict them – That is, God will hear my prayer, and will afflict them, or bring upon them deserved judgments. As this looks to the future, it would seem to show that when in the previous verse he uses the past tense, and says that God had redeemed him, the language there, as suggested above, is that of strong confidence, implying that he had such certain assurance that the thing would be, that he speaks of it as if it were already done. Here he expresses the same confidence in another form – his firm belief that God would hear his prayer, and would bring upon his enemies deserved punishment.
Even he that abideth of old – The eternal God; he who is from everlasting. Literally, He inhabits antiquity; that is, he sits enthroned in the most distant past; he is eternal and unchanging. The same God who has heard prayer, will hear it now; he who has always shown himself a just God and an avenger, will show himself the same now. The fact that God is from everlasting, and is unchanging, is the only foundation for our security at any time, and the only ground of success in our plans. To a Being who is always the same we may confidently appeal, for we know what he will do. But who could have confidence in a changeable God? Who would know what to expect? Who can make any calculation on mere chance?
Because they have no changes … – Margin, With whom there be no changes, yet they fear not God. Literally, To whom there are no changes, and they fear not God. Prof. Alexander supposes this to mean that God will hear the reproaches and blasphemies of those who have no changes, and who, therefore, have no fear of God. The meaning of the original is not exactly expressed in our common version. According to that version, the idea would seem to be that the fact that they meet with no changes or reverses in life, or that they are favored with uniform prosperity, is a reason why they do not fear or worship God. This may be true in fact (compare the notes at Job 21:9-14), but it is not the idea here. The meaning is, that the God who is unchanging – who is always true and just – will afflict, that is, will bring punishisment on those who heretofore have had no changes; who have experienced no adversities; who are confident of success because they have always been prosperous, and who have no fear of God. Their continual success and prosperity may be a reason – as it often is – why they do not feel their need of religion, and do not seek and serve God; but the precise truth taught here is, that the fact of continued prosperity is no argument for impunity and safety in a course of wrong doing. God is unchangeable in fact, as they seem to be; and an unchangeable God will not suffer the wicked always to prosper. To constitute safety there must be a better ground of assurance than the mere fact that we have been uniformly prospered, and have experienced no reverses hitherto.
They fear not God – They do not regard him. They do not dread his interposition as a just God. How many such there are upon the earth, who argue secretly that because they have always been favored with success, therefore they are safe; who, in the midst of abundant prosperity – of unchanging good fortune, as they would term it – worship no God, feel no need of religion, and are regardless of the changes of life which may soon occur, and even of that one great change which death must soon produce!
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 55:19
Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
No changes
Who can they be–where can they live, of whom it can be said that they have not changes! Can they be inhabitants of this world of which, if one thing can be said of it with greater certainty than another, it is that it is a scene of perpetual change! Change and decay in all around I see. No changes! We must not take the expression in a hard and narrow literal sense, or it would be true of no man. Many changes Come alike to all, and one at the end of life of which Job speaks when he says, All the days of my appointed time will I wait until my change come. The changes of which the psalmist speaks must mean changes that disturb, changes that unhinge all plans end arrangements, changes which frustrate hopes. These are the changes which some men have not, and because they have them not they fear not God. Our subject, therefore, is–the perils of an undisturbed life.
I. How is this? Freedom from change was never intended to work such sad result, but quite the reverse. It is due not to absence of change, but to the mans own perverse and perverting heart. He turns the sweet into the bitter, the healthy into the poisonous. It is mans eye which is evil, because God is good. The fact that a mans life has not been wrecked by storms or rent by great upheaving sorrows should appeal to the mans gratitude. He should say, What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation, and will call upon the name of the Lord. But it is melancholy to see what a strange power the heart has to turn good into evil. It is like some plants which can elaborate and secrete out of bright sunshine and pure air and water the very elements of death. Such are the men who have no changes, and therefore–mark the word–therefore they fear not God. They have no changes. They devise their plans, and they all succeed. Whatever they touch turns into gold, All the vessels they launch on the great sea of life have prosperous voyages, and return heavily laden with a rich cargo. Their neighbours have losses and misfortunes, but they, never. Now, this wonderful exemption from sudden and sharp vicissitudes tends to engender self-confidence. They are prone to imagine that their better fortune is due to better management. And no doubt not a little may be said in favour of their view of the case. For business, like every other thing, has its own laws, the observance of which will for the most part conduce to prosperity. But such prosperity has a melancholy tendency to produce forgetfulness of God. And when it has gone on for years in an unbroken stream, and a stream swelling and deepening with the years, then is this tendency seen, and this sore temptation felt in their most horrible forms. Because they have no change, therefore, etc. And the like may be said of unbroken, uninterrupted health. But others besides have frequently no changes. The circle of their social life seems wonderfully free from infraction, and that for a long period. It seems as if the ordinary calamities of life could not reach them. There has been no darkening of the windows, there has been no grave to purchase, there has been no hearse at the door. The deepest fountains of sorrow have been unopened, there has been no yearning, unavailing as it is keen, for the touch of a vanished hand, and the sound of a voice that is still. And what is the result, what at least is too often the result? Therefore they fear not God. His blessings have been so constant and so great that they do not fear Him. They think that to-morrow will be as to-day, and still more abundant. The absence of change produces hardness of nature. As one of the greatest blessings is tenderness of heart, so one of the greatest perils in life is that the heart should become hardened. A healthy heart is one which is open to all Divine influences and to all just human appeals. A man becomes practically useless as his heart loses power of sympathy. Hence is change so needful for us would we succour the sorrow of others. But a man cannot do this if he has never known sorrow of his own, if he be one who has no changes. Ah! if the world were made up of no other class of men than these, life would be a fearful thing. It is well that there are some hearts that cannot be thus steeled, hearts that can feel for others, and that can feel for others because frequently they have themselves known sorrow and trouble. No heart has had a thorough education which has not passed through the school of grief. Until it has sat in this class it is crude and narrow and hard. The tendency of continued prosperity, or exemption from calamity, is to create in the mind a sense of claim upon God, and a sense of wrong when the interruption comes. When the usual blessing does not make its appearance at the usual time, the man looks up under a sense of wrong, and upbraids the Providence which seems to have forgotten him. Why has it forgotten him? Why should he be deprived of his usual mercies? And instead of reckoning up all the years during which his table has been spread and his cup has run over, and bursting forth in a song of thanksgiving for all he has received, he complains of God for the removal, or even the diminution, of his comforts. The absence of change produces neglect of eternity. Nothing is more certain than this, and nothing is more natural. When men are settled in any condition which yields them satisfaction they long to remain in it. To live for the present life is as natural as to live in it; and it is the main temptation we have all to overcome to set our affection on things which are on the earth. It is wonderful how men get reconciled by habit even to a state which is by no means the happiest; but when it is one of comfort they have no desire to see it altered or disturbed. Soul, take thine ease, is a very common feeling among those whose circumstances are on the whole fairly pleasant. They get settled in their lives. They have their portion in this life; and they do not think of another life, nor care to think of it. How many will have to thank God for ever for the blow which swept away in a night the wealth in which they trusted. It was then that for the first time they understood the meaning of the words, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. How many, too, who have forgotten God in the days of their vigour, have found Him on their beds when the strength has gone from them like water from the summer brook. And some have needed a still greater change. But even these changes may fail. Some have borne them all, and still fear not God. Happy the man that has learnt to place his hope in God. (Enoch Mellor, D. D.)
The discipline of change
The natural heart of man longs for peace, and looks to repose as fit and proper. We feel ourselves in the midst of ceaseless change and decay, and are always seeking a centre of rest. We would hasten our escape from the windy storm and tempest. Yet, with all our longing for peace, we are played on by forces that make for change and unrest, swirled by the ceaseless flux and flow of the tide. Life is like the swift ships, says Job, like ships driven out in the darkness, tossed on the storm, battling on to a quiet harbour. It is like vapour of the hills, says St. James, like the fragile mist that can be withered by sun or torn by wind. There is no real rest in the world for body, or mind, or heart, of soul. This condition of unstable equilibrium is, of course, most evident in connection with outward things in our life, the trappings and the circumstances. But the same transiency is seen in inward things also. Even love suffers loss, as the objects of love pass off at the dread call of night. Even faith cannot remain fixed, but has new problems which demand new efforts at adjustment. We must admit also, if we are honest with ourselves, that we need the stimulus of constant change if life is to attain its best results. We settle down in slothful ease and sluggish indifference, with eyes blinded and hearts made fat by the prosperity that knows no fear. Changelessness would only lull the senses and the faculties to sleep. We are only kept alert by the unstable tenure with which we hold life and all it contains. If we knew we would only meet the expected and always at the expected turn or road, there could be no expectation at all, no wonder, no apprehension, no fear, no hope, no faith. Experience could bring no education, and all our powers would be atrophied. Most of all is this true in the moral sphere. It is in no lotus isle that men are bred. In the stress and strain of life character is formed. Through doubt and uncertainty and sore trial of faith is faith alone made perfect. As a matter of fact, degeneracy has always set in with both nations and men when prosperity has been unchecked and the sunshine of favour has been unalloyed. It is through the conquest of nature, and through the conquest of enemies, and through self-conquest that the conquering peoples have been built. The lesson is painted on a large canvas in universal history; and it is repeated to us in miniature in individual experience. Men live only by custom and convention when they are withdrawn from this discipline of change; and to live only by custom is to be drugged by an opiate. Everything that makes men great partakes of the discipline. There is no music in a monotone; there is no are in one universal drab colour. Thought is born of mystery. Science is the daughter of wonder, and wonder is the fruit of all the changes and movements of the world. Religion even has her secure empire in the hearts of men through the needs of mens hearts, the need for which they crave of a changeless centre in the midst of change. Every deep crisis of life, with its thrill of joy or its spasm of sorrow, with its message, of loss or of gain, is part of Gods higher education. The discipline of change is meant to drive us out beyond the changing hour to the thought of eternity, out from the restless things of sense to find rest in God. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow, the same in nature, in character, in love, even as Jesus revealed Him, the eternal Father who yearns over His children in deathless love. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. If that is failure, even though it means continual peace and prosperity, what shall we say of the failure of those who know the desolation and terror of change and yet have not learned; who still cling to the things of sense that have failed them before; who have suffered all the strokes of fortune, all the pangs Of heart, all the shocks that paralyze the soul, and yet have never submitted, never trusted, never feared, never loved God? What failure is like that of those who have been chastened and yet never softened, who have gone through the fire without learning the lesson, who have tasted the sorrow without the sympathy, who have borne the cross without the love? (Hugh Black, M. A.)
Afflictions
There are some who have no changes of fortune from prosperity to adversity. Therefore, says the psalmist, they fear not God.
I. Different kinds.
1. Disappointments.
2. Financial ruin.
3. Sickness.
II. Uses.
1. Corrective. Before I was afflicted I went astray.
2. Instructive. Prosperity is apt to intoxicate the imagination; affliction teaches humility and dependence upon God.
3. Sanctifying. They purify the heart, bring God nearer to the soul, and make the promises more precious.
III. Improvement.
1. Continued prosperity is not always best for man. If prosperity hardens the heart and keeps God out, then is affliction a blessing.
2. Under severe affliction grace is needed to keep the soul from despair.
3. If we are without affliction, are we sure that we do not spirtually need their discipline? (L. O. Thompson.)
Lifes vicissitudes
You pick up two stones lying near the seashore and only a few yards apart. They not only belong to the same geological formation, but have been splintered from the same rock. One is rugged, made up of sharp, uneven angles, and irregular, broken surfaces. The other is smooth, rounded into an almost perfect sphere, has every delicate vein showing, and is polished as on a lapidarys wheel. What is the secret of this contrast? The one had fallen from the cliff and had been stranded above high-water mark. It had lain for centuries just where it dropped. It had undergone no changes and upheavals. The other had fallen within reach of the waves, and every ebbing and flowing tide had lashed it to and fro for year upon year. It had never been left still for long, but had been tossed, jostled, ground, and polished against the pebbly beach till it took that form of comeliness and beauty. So it is with many lives. The lives of some seem to have fallen to them in pleasant places. Life has brought few changes. And the Holy Book says of such, Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. Other lives are Still from one sorrow to another thrown. They sometimes say, All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me. But what spiritual beauty they have won from their tribulations!
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 19. Because they have no changes] At first Absalom, Ahithophel, and their party, carried all before them. There seemed to be a very general defection of the people; and as in their first attempts they suffered no reverses, therefore they feared not God. Most of those who have few or no afflictions and trials in life, have but little religion. They become sufficient to themselves, and call not upon God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
God shall hear; either,
1. My prayers against them, mentioned Psa 55:15. Or,
2. Their reproaches, Psa 55:12; their deceitful and treacherous speeches, Psa 55:21. He said God would hear his voice, Psa 55:17; now he adds that God will hear his enemies voice also, of which he spake Psa 55:3.
Afflict them; or, testify against them, or give an answer to them; not in words, but really, and by dreadful punishments, as this word signifies, Eze 14:4; which seems best to agree with the next foregoing word, God will hear and answer them. He that abideth of old, Heb. he that inhabiteth antiquity or eternity; who is eternal, and therefore unchangeable and almighty; and consequently, as he ever was, so he still is and will be, ready to defend his people, and to destroy their enemies; and none can prevent nor hinder-him in either of those designs.
No changes; either,
1. For the better; because they do not repent nor turn from their sins. But then the next clause must be rendered, as it is in the Hebrew, and not fear God. Or rather,
2. For the worse; for of such destructive changes this word, when applied to persons. is generally used in Scripture, as Job 10:17; Job 14:14, &c., because they meet with no crosses nor disappointments, and hitherto all their counsels succeed well, and the people flow in to them unanimously; as it was in the beginning and progress of Absaloms rebellion.
They fear not God; their prosperous success makes them go on securely and obstinately in their wicked courses, without any regard to God, or dread of his judgments; there being nothing which more hardens mens hearts, and makes them presumptuous and incorrigible, than uninterrupted prosperity. See Psa 30:6; Pro 1:32; Jer 22:21.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. God hears the wicked inwrath.
abidethor, “sitteth.”
of oldenthroned as asovereign.
Because . . . nochangesProsperity hardens them (Ps73:5).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
God shall hear and afflict them,…. That is, either he shall hear the prayers of his servant, imprecating evils upon his enemies,
Ps 55:9; and shall bring them down upon them, in answer to his requests; or it may be, rendered, “God shall hear and answer them” c; he shall hear their blasphemies, and take notice of their wickedness, and answer them by terrible things in righteousness;
even he that abideth of old; or “is the inhabitant of eternity” d
Isa 57:15; the eternal God, from everlasting to everlasting, who was before all creatures and before all time, and will ever remain the same, out of whose hands there is no escaping. The Targum is,
“and he inhabiteth the heavens from of old to everlasting.”
Selah; of this word, [See comments on Ps 3:2].
Because they have no changes; Kimchi renders it, who hath no changes; taking to be the same with , and interprets it of God; connecting it with the former clause, that he that abideth of old hath no changes. There is no variableness nor shadow of turning with him; he never changes his mind, nor alters his counsel, whether it be for good or evil; and yet wicked men fear him not. But rather this is to be understood of sinners, as the Targum paraphrases it,
“who are not of old, and who do not change their evil way;”
who have no changes in their hearts, nor in their lives, but continue in their natural and sinful estate, without any impression of the power and grace of God upon them. Or they have no changes in their worldly circumstances, from good to bad, as Aben Ezra explains it; things go well with them, and they are not in trouble as other men; they are at ease and quiet, and are settled on their lees; see Job 10:17. Or they have no regard to their last change by death; and are not afraid of that, as Jarchi interprets it; they put away this evil day far from them; think nothing about it, as if it would never be, and as if they had made an agreement with it that this change should never come upon them, Job 14:14;
therefore they fear not God; do not serve and worship him now, and are not afraid of his judgments here or hereafter; no change being made in their hearts, nor any alteration in their secular affairs for the worse; but having much goods laid up for many years, and sentence against their evil works not being speedily executed, their hearts are hardened, and they live secure in sin.
c “et respondeat illis”, Cocceius. d “et incola antiquitatis, vel aeternitatis”, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
19 God shall hear, and afflict them As the verb ענה, anah, which I have rendered afflict, signifies, occasionally, to testify, some understand David to say that God would rise up as a witness against them. The syntax of the language will scarcely, however, admit of this, as, in Hebrew, the letter ב, beth, is generally subjoined in such a case. There seems no doubt that the word signifies here to addict or punish, although this is rather its signification implicitly and by a species of irony; for, most commonly, ענה, anah, means to answer. Having said that God would hear him, he adds that he would answer him, in the way of avenging his cause, in the punishment of his enemies. The epithet, or descriptive title, which he applies to God, is one calculated to comfort the pious mind in times of trouble and confusion. Much of that impatience into which we are hurried arises from not elevating our thoughts to the eternity of God. Can anything be more unreasonable than that poor mortals, who pass away like a shadow, should measure God by their feeble apprehensions, which is to cast him down from his eternal throne, and subject him to the fluctuations of a changing world? As חלף , chalaph, may signify to cut off as well as to change, some have supposed that David here complains of the destruction of the wicked having been too long deferred; but this is not a probable interpretation. The term has been more properly rendered changes But even those who have adopted this rendering have varied in the sense of the passage. (315) Some understand it to mean that no change to the better was to be expected in their character; that they were so bent upon evil as to be inflexible to repentance; so entirely under the influence of a cruel disposition, as never once to incline to humanity or mercy. Others, with more reason, consider that he refers, in the language of complaint, to the uninterrupted flow of their prosperity, which was such that they seemed exempt from the common vicissitudes of life. He represents them as being corrupted by this indulgence, and casting off from their minds every principle of fear, as if they were privileged with immunity from mortal ills. The copulative particle will thus carry the force of a consequence — they have no changes, and therefore they fear not God (316) It is an undeniable truth, that the longer the wicked are left in the enjoyment of their pleasures, they are only hardened the more in their evil courses; and that where pride has the ascendancy in the heart, the effect of the Divine indulgence is to make us forget that we are men. In the connection between the two parts of the verse there is an implied censure of the infatuation of those who are led by their exemption from adversity to conclude that. they are a species of demigods; for, how insignificant is the course of human life when compared with the eternity of God? We have need to be upon our guard when under prosperity, lest we fall into the secure spirit which the Psalmist here alludes to, and even carry our exultation to the extent of a defiance of the Almighty.
(315) The reason of this difference arises from the ambiguity of the meaning of the original word, which signifies change simply, without reference to the kind of change. Of the two senses which our Author proceeds to state, the first is that adopted by the Chaldee, which reads, “Wicked men, who change not their very evil course, and fear not the sight of God, shall perish.” Dathe, while he admits the ambiguity of the word, follows the Chaldee. Gesenius gives the same interpretation. “But,” says Walford, “this reduces the passage nearly to an identical proposition; so that the probable meaning is, vicissitudes of fortune. These men had enjoyed great prosperity, and been subjected to few trials; they were therefore enamoured of this world and its pleasures, and gave themselves little regard about the will and authority of God. See Psa 73:5.”
(316) “That is,” says Williams, “they suppose they also shall live for ever; or, at least, that things will go on the same for ever. See 2Pe 3:4.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) God shall hear.Render this verse,
God shall hear and afflict them,
He abideth of old;
One in whom are no changes,
And yet they fear not God.
(Comp. Jas. 1:17, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.) As the text stands, for afflict we should have answer; but the LXX. and Vulg. have the true reading. The Selah must be removed as plainly out of place. The plural pronoun is used poetically for the singular. The word changes, chalpth, is used of troops relieving guard (Job. 14:14), of servants taking their turn of work, of a change of clothing, &c. Here generally variableness. The rendering of the Authorised Version does not suit the context. The reason of the assertion that, in spite of his in variableness, the wicked do not fear God, appears in the next verse. Instead of respecting those in covenant with one who does not change, they have not feared to attack and oppress them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. God shall hear, and afflict them He “shall hear” me and afflict them. Or, as Hengstenberg: “God will hear the tumult of the enemies and answer them judicially.”
He that abideth of old Or, is enthroned from eternity, taking , ( kedem,) to denote time. But the word often denotes east, and Furst renders “even he who is enthroned, or rideth along, upon the east wind,” (the Simoon,) and this accords with the warning tone of the psalm, for when God goeth forth to judgment he is represented as sitting enthroned upon the cherubim, or riding upon the tempest. See on Psa 46:8; Psa 80:1; Psa 18:10; Psa 104:3.
Because they have no changes Because they, the wicked, are not forcibly arrested and turned aside from their wicked course by the divine judgments, therefore they fear not God. Compare Ecc 8:11
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 55:19. Even he that abideth of old Even he who reigns from everlasting. Chandler, after Cocceius. The introducing God as reigning of old, and holding the government of the world from before all ages, has great propriety, and was one of the principal considerations which established David’s hope in God, that he would deliver him from this unnatural rebellion. Because they have no changes, is rendered by Chandler, They think of no succeeding changes; that is, “They are prosperous, and have no reverse of fortune, think of none, and fear none; and so fear not God.” David’s enemies had succeeded, driven him from his capital and throne; thought themselves secure, and had no apprehension or fear from the power or providence of God. Schultens gives the words this sense; “They expect no succession, either of a better life or economy; i.e. a “better state of things here or hereafter.” Some render it: They are not changed, and they fear no God. And Mudge reads the whole verse, God shall hear, and he that abideth of old, with whom are no changes, shall humble them, since they fear not God: as much as to say, “That immutable Being (with a glance at the infidelity of men) who was always faithful to his promises and friends, would support him, and humble them.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.” Psa 55:19
Sometimes this is applied to God himself rather than to individuals. In one translation the verse is set forth thus:
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Psa 55:19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
Ver. 19. God shall hear ] sc. My prayers which are on the file before him, and as solicitors with him. Mittamus preces et lachrymas, cordis legatos, saith Cyprian. Up go prayers, down come deliverances.
And afflict them
Even he that abideth of old
Selah
Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
GOD. Hebrew El. App-4. The mighty Creator. because in conflict with His creatures.
hear = hear me.
afflict them = answer them.
Even, &c. Figure of speech Parenthesis. App-6.
Selah. Connecting the true confidence of David with the false confidence of the ungodly. David’s true confidence was based on the fact that His GOD was the mighty One enduring for ever. “El” here is emphasized by the double accent Pasek, or “note line” each side of it. (App-66.)
Because . . . no changes = With whom are no changes (for the better): i.e. no improvement. See note on “alter” (Lev 27:10). Hebrew. halaph. Compare Gen 35:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
hear: Psa 65:5, Psa 143:12, 1Th 2:15, 1Th 2:16, Rev 6:10, Rev 6:11
even: Psa 90:1, Psa 90:2, Deu 33:27, Mic 5:2, Col 1:17
Because: etc. or, With whom also there be no changes, yet they fear not God
no changes: Psa 73:5, Psa 73:6, Pro 1:32, Ecc 8:11, Isa 36:20, Jer 48:11, Zep 1:12
Reciprocal: Job 10:17 – changes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 55:19. God shall hear My prayer against them, mentioned Psa 55:15, or their reproaches, Psa 55:12, their deceitful and treacherous speeches, Psa 55:21. He had said, God would hear his voice, Psa 55:17, now he adds that God will hear his enemies voice also, of which he spake, Psa 55:3. And afflict them Or, testify against them; or, give an answer to them, as , jagnaneem, may be properly rendered; not in words, but in deeds, and by dreadful punishments, as this word signifies Eze 14:4, which seems best to agree with the word next foregoing, God will hear and answer them. Even he that abideth of old Hebrew, , vejosheb kedem, he that inhabiteth antiquity, or eternity: who is eternal, and, therefore, unchangeable and almighty; who sits judge from the beginning of time, and hath always presided in the affairs of the children of men, and consequently, as he ever was, so he still is and ever will be, ready to defend his people, and to destroy their enemies; and none can prevent or hinder him in either of these designs. Chandler, after Cocceius, translates the clause, Even he who reigns from everlasting: and observes, The introducing God, as reigning of old, and holding the government of the world from before all ages, has great propriety, and was one of the principal considerations which established Davids hope in God, that he would deliver him from this unnatural rebellion. Mortal men, though ever so high and strong, will easily be crushed by an eternal God, and are a very unequal match for him. Because they have no changes No afflictions, no crosses, nor disappointments, no interruption to the constant course of their prosperity, no trouble and distress to empty them from vessel to vessel; therefore they fear not God Their prosperous success makes them go on securely and obstinately in their wicked courses, without any regard to God, or dread of his judgments; there being nothing which more hardens mens hearts, or makes them more presumptuous and incorrigible, than uninterrupted prosperity. See Psa 30:6; Pro 1:32; Jer 22:21.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
55:19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they {o} have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
(o) But their prosperous estate still continues.