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David, no doubt, was in very great grief when he said to Abiathar (1Sa 22:22), "I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house," who were put to death upon Doeg's malicious information; to give some vent to that grief, and to gain some relief to his mind under it, he penned this psalm, wherein, as a prophet, and therefore with as good an authority as if he had been now a prince upon the throne, I. He arraigns Doeg for what he had done, Ps 52:1. II. He accuses him, convicts him, and aggravates his crimes, Ps 52:2-4. III. He passes sentence upon him, Ps 52:5. IV. He foretels the triumphs of the righteous in the execution of the sentence, Ps 52:6,7. V. He comforts himself in the mercy of God and the assurance he had that he should yet praise him, Ps 52:8,9. In singing this psalm we should conceive a detestation of the sin of lying, foresee the ruin of those that persist in it, and please ourselves with the assurance of the preservation of God's church and people, in spite of all the malicious designs of the children of Satan, that father of lies.

This psalm purports to be "a psalm of David," and there is no reason to doubt that he was the author. The occasion on which it was composed is stated in the title. The correctness of this title has been called in question by DeWette and Rudinger, on the ground that the contents of the psalm do not seem to them to be so well suited to that occasion as to the times of Absalom or Ahithophel. There does not, however, appear to be any just reason for doubting the correctness of the title, as all the circumstances referred to in the psalm are susceptible of application to the act of Doeg the Edomite, on the occasion referred to, namely, that mentioned in 1 Samuel 22:9 ff. David had fled to Ahimelech the priest at Nob, 1 Samuel 21:1. By Ahimelech he had been supplied with bread, and furnished with the sword with which he himself had slain Goliath. On this occasion, an Edomite was present, named Doeg, whose character was, from some cause well known; and David felt that he would not hesitate to betray anyone, or do any act of wickedness or meanness, if it would subserve his own purposes 1 Samuel 22:22. Apprehensive of danger, therefore, even in the presence and under the protection of Ahimelech, and supposing that his place of retreat could not be concealed from Saul, he fled to Achish, king of Gath 1 Samuel 21:10, until in the fear of danger there, he feigned madness, and was driven away as a madman 1 Samuel 21:14-15. he found refuge for a time in the cave of Adullam, where he supposed he would be safe, 1 Samuel 22:1-2. From that cave he went to Mizpeh, in Moab 1 Samuel 22:3-4, and thence, at the suggestion of the prophet Gad, he went into the forest of Hareth, 1 Samuel 22:5.

At this time, Doeg the Edomite, in order to secure the favor of Saul, and to show that there was one at least who was friendly to him, and was willing to deliver up to punishment those who had encouraged David in his rebellion, informed Saul of the fact that David had been seen with Ahimelech at Nob, and that Ahimelech had given him food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine. The result was, that Ahimelech and the priests who were with him were summoned before Saul; that they were accused by him of the crime; that Saul commanded those who were around him to fall on Ahimelech and the priests and to put them to death; and when they all hesitated, Doeg himself fell upon them and executed the barbarous order. Eighty-five priests thus perished by the sword, and the city of Nob was destroyed, 1 Samuel 22:9-19. It was the conduct of Doeg in this matter that is the subject of this psalm. Doeg is called "the Edomite." He was probably a native of Idumea, who had connected himself with Saul, and who hoped to secure his special favor by thus informing him of those who were in league with his enemy David. Some have supposed that he was a native-born Jew, and that he is called an Edomite because he may have had his residence in Idumea; but the more obvious supposition is that he was a native of that land. On Idumea, see the notes at Isaiah 11:14; notes at Isaiah 34:5-6; notes at Isaiah 63:1.

On the phrase in the title, "To the chief Musician," see the notes at the introduction to Psalm 4:1-8. The fact that it is thus addressed to the overseer of the public music shows that, though it originally had a private reference, and was designed to record an event which occurred in the life of David, it yet had so much of public interest, and contained truth of so general a nature, that it might properly be employed in the public devotions of the sanctuary.

On the word "Maschil," see introduction to Psalm 32:1-11. The psalm is divided, in the original, apparently for musical purposes, or to adapt it in some way to the music of the sanctuary, into three parts, which are indicated by the word "Selah," at the close of Psalm 52:3, Psalm 52:5. These, however, have no reference to the sense, or to the natural divisions of the psalm.

As respects the sense or the contents of the psalm, it is divided into three parts, which are not indicated by this musical mark.

I. The first refers to the character of the calumniator and informer, Psalm 52:1-4. He was a man who was confident in himself, and who did not regard the goodness of God, Psalm 52:1; a man whose tongue devised mischiefs like a sharp razor, Psalm 52:2; a man who loved evil more than good, and a lie more than the truth, Psalm 52:3; and a man who loved to utter words that would destroy the character and the happiness of others, Psalm 52:4.

II. The judgment, or punishment that would come upon such a man, Psalm 52:5-7.

(a) God would destroy and root him out of the land, Psalm 52:5;

(b) the righteous would see this, and would triumph over him as one who was brought to a proper end - the proper end of one who did not make God his strength; who trusted in his riches; who strengthened himself in the purposes of wickedness, Psalm 52:6-7.

III. The security - the preservation - the joy, of the author of the psalm, Psalm 52:8-9. The aim - the purpose - of the informer referred to in the psalm, namely Doeg, had been really to disclose the place of David's retreat, and to have him delivered into the hands of Saul. This he hoped to accomplish through Ahimelech the priest. He supposed, evidently, that when Saul was informed that David had been with "him," Ahimelech would be brought before Saul and required to give information as to the place where David might be found, and that thus David would be delivered into the hands of Saul. But in this he had been disappointed. David had fled, and was secure.

Ahimelech was summoned to meet Saul 1 Samuel 22:11, and with him were summoned also all "his father's house, the priests that were in Nob." In reply to the charge that he had conspired against Saul; that he had befriended David; that he had "given him," in modern language, "aid and comfort;" that he had assisted him so that he could "rise against Saul," and that he had so befriended him that he could "lie in wait for him" at that time - he boldly declared his conviction that Saul had not a more faithful subject in his realm than David was; "And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honorable in thine house?" There Ahimelech stood - an example of a bold, firm, independent, honorable, honest man. He maintained the innocence of David, as well as his own. He sought no favor by joining in the clamor against David. He did not seek to avert the blow which he could not but see was impending over himself, by any mean compliance with the prejudices of the king.

He did nothing to flatter the offended monarch, or to gratify him in his purpose to arrest David, the fugitive. He made no offer to disclose to him the place of his concealment. Any one of these things - any act in the line of that which Doeg had performed - might have saved his life. That he knew the place of David's retreat, is apparent from a circumstance incidentally referred to in the ultimate account of the affair, for, after Ahimelech had been put to death, it is said that one of his sons - Abiathar - fled at once to David 1 Samuel 22:20-21, and disclosed to him the dreadful manner of his father's death; thus showing that the knowledge of the place of his retreat was in the possession of the family, and could easily have been disclosed to Saul, and yet it was not done. Neither Ahimelech, nor anyone of his family, even intimated to Saul that they knew where David then was, and that they could put him in possession of the means of securing him. That the fact that they did not and would not betray the place of his retreat was one cause of the wrath of Saul, is apparent from the reason assigned why the "footmen" were commanded to put them to death; "And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me," 1 Samuel 22:17.

It cannot be doubted, therefore, that if there had been an offer of furnishing the information; if there had been a tender of their services in the case; if there had been evinced a spirit of ready compliance with the prejudices and passions of Saul; if there had been among them the same spirit of mean sycophancy which characterized Doeg - Ahimelech and the whole family would have been safe. But no such thing was done; no such offer was made; no such spirit was evinced. There they stood - noble-minded people - father, son, all the family, true to honor, to virtue, to religion; true to God, to Saul, to David, and to themselves. They hid the secret in their own bosoms; they neither proffered nor submitted to any mean or dishonorable compliances that they might save their lives. There was, on the one hand, Doeg, "the "mighty" man," but "the mean informer;" on the other, a noble-minded man standing up in the conscious integrity of what he had done, and maintaining it even at the hazard of life.

The result is well known, and was that which, so far as the fate of Ahimelech was concerned, could easily have been anticipated. Saul, maddened against David, was now equally infuriated against the honest man who had befriended him. He commanded him to be put to death at once. And here, in this remarkable transaction, where so much of meaness and honor, of fidelity and falsehood, of integrity and corruption, of soberness and passion, come so near together, we have another strikng instance of firmness and virtue. Saul commanded the "footman," (margin, the "runners,") who were about him, to "turn and slay" Ahimelech and his sons. Yet the "footmen" declined to do the bloody work. Noble men, themselves, they saw here an instance of true nobleness of character and of deed in the priests of the Lord; and they refused, even at the peril of the wrath of Saul, to execute an unrighteous sentence on men so noble, so honorable, so true. There was one, however, that would do it. There stood the mean, the sycophantic, the base man, Doeg, who had 'informed' against the priests, and he was ready to do the work. The command was given, and he consummated the work of betrayal and of meanness, by putting at once to the sword, fourscore and five priests of the Lord, and by carrying desolation and death through the city of their habitation, smiting "with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep;" 1 Samuel 22:18-19.

In the meantime David was safe, and it is this fact which he celebrates when he says in this psalm, "I am like a green olive tree in the house of God," Psalm 52:8; and it is for this that he gives praise, Psalm 52:9.

The psalm refers, therefore, to the character and the conduct of an "informer," one of the most odious characters among men. In a book claiming to be a revelation from God, as the Bible does - a book designed for all mankind, and intended to be adapted to all ages, and in a world where such people would be found in all lands and times, it was proper that the character of such should be at least once held up in its true light, that men may see what it really is. Any bad man may make himself more odious by becoming an "informer;" any good man may suffer, as David did, from the acts of such a one; and hence, the case in the psalm may suggest useful lessons in every age of the world.

The psalmist points out the malevolence of a powerful enemy, and predicts his destruction, Psalm 52:1-5. At which destruction the righteous should rejoice, Psalm 52:6, Psalm 52:7. The psalmist's confidence on God, Psalm 52:8, Psalm 52:9.

The title is, "To the chief Musician, an instructive Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul, and said to him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech." The history to which this alludes is the following: David, having learned that Saul was determined to destroy him, went to take refuge with Achish, king of Gath: in his journey he passed by Nob, where the tabernacle then was, and took thence the sword of Goliath; and, being spent with hunger, took some of the shewbread. Doeg, an Edomite, one of the domestics of Saul, being there, went to Saul, and informed him of these transactions. Saul immediately ordered Ahimelech into his presence, upbraided him for being a partisan of David, and ordered Doeg to slay him and all the priests. Doeg did so, and there fell by his hand eighty-five persons. And Saul sent and destroyed Nob and all its inhabitants, old and young, with all their property; none escaping but Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, who immediately joined himself to David. The account may be found 1 Samuel 21:1-7; 1 Samuel 22:9-23. All the Versions agree in this title except the Syriac, which speaks of it as a Psalm directed against vice in general, with a prediction of the destruction of evil.

Though the Psalm be evidently an invective against some great, wicked, and tyrannical man, yet I think it too mild in its composition for a transaction the most barbarous on record, and the most flagrant vice in the whole character of Saul.

INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 52

To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. Of the title "Maschil", See Gill on Psalm 32:1, title. The occasion of this psalm is here related, the history of which is in 1 Samuel 21:7. The sum of it is this; David having fled from Saul, came to Ahimelech the priest at Nob, and desired bread and a sword of him, which were given him, Doeg the Edomite being present at the same time. Sulpicius Severus (s) calls him a Syrian, following the Greek version of 1 Samuel 21:7; and so does Josephus (t), through a mistake of the letter for an Aramite instead of an Edomite; See Gill on 1 Samuel 21:7 and See Gill on 1 Samuel 22:9; this man observed what was done for David by the priest; and when Saul complained to his captains that they all conspired against him, and no man was sorry for him, or showed him the intrigue between David and his son; Doeg stood up and related what, and more than what he had heard and seen pass between David and Ahimelech; upon which Saul sent for the priest, and all his father's house with him, and charged him with treasonable practices; and though he solemnly protested his innocency, Saul would not believe him, but ordered his footmen to fall upon him, and upon all the priests with him; but they refusing, he commanded Doeg to do it, who accordingly did, and slew eighty five priests, and destroyed all in the city of Nob, men, women, children, and sucklings, oxen, asses, and sheep; only Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, escaped, who fled to David, and reported the whole affair; upon which he penned this psalm: in which he has respect not only to the then present case, but to future times, Doeg being a type of antichrist, the man of sin; in his name, which signifies "anxious [and] solicitous" (u), as he was to gain the king's favour, and obtain wealth and honour; so is antichrist to grasp all power, civil and ecclesiastical, and to get worldly honour and riches: in the country he was of, being an Edomite; and it is easy to observe, that Edom is the name which the Jews commonly give to the Roman empire, in which antichrist has his seat and power: in his religion, being a proselyte of the Jews, and was at an act of devotion, detained before the Lord, when he saw and heard what passed between David and Ahimelech; so antichrist appeared with the mask of religion, rose up out of the church, and sat in the temple of God, showing himself as though he was God: in his office, the chiefest of the herdmen, or mightiest among the shepherds of Saul; so antichrist calls himself "princeps pastorum", that is, "the chief of pastors"; assuming to himself the title which belongs to Christ, the chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls: and, lastly, in his cruelty in slaying the priests of the Lord. Antichrist is notorious for shedding and drinking the blood of the saints, the faithful confessors and witnesses of Jesus Christ. In this psalm David upbraids him with his glorying in his wickedness, and checks it by observing that the grace and goodness of God to his people ever endures, Psalm 52:4; charges him with devising mischief, and loving it, Psalm 52:2; and foretells his everlasting ruin and destruction, Psalm 52:5; which will be seen by the righteous with pleasure, who will have just reason to insult over him, Psalm 52:6; and the psalm is concluded with an account of the happy condition and comfortable frame of soul the psalmist was in, in a view of all his troubles and enemies; he was flourishing in the church of God, trusted in the mercy of God for ever, and determined always to praise him and wait upon him, which is good for the saints to do, Psalm 52:8.

(s) Sacr. Hist. l. 1. p. 43. (t) Antiqu. l. 6. c. 12. s. 1. 4. (u) A rad. "solicitus, anxius fuit", Buxtorf.

LII.

In this psalm the voice of the community of pious Israel plainly speaks. (See Note, Psalm 52:8.) The traditional title has not the slightest support in the contents or tone of the poem. (See Note, title.) The tyrant, or mighty man, who is addressed, is most probably one of those base time-servers who, against the national party, and against the religious sentiment, sold themselves to the foreign power that happened to be in the ascendant; and who, by lending themselves as the instruments of tyranny, became the means of rousing the patriotic spirit which at length, under the hand of Maccabæus, succeeded in shaking off the foreign yoke. The rhythm is varied and well sustained.

Title.—See title Psalms 4, 32. This is one of a series of three Elohistic psalms.

The historical reference in this inscription serves to cast discredit on the inscriptions generally, as showing on what insufficient grounds they could be received. There is not a syllable in the poem which conveniently applies to Doeg, or to the occurrence narrated in 1Samuel 22:17; on the contrary, the accusation of lying (Psalm 52:1-3), the imputation of trust in riches (Psalm 52:7), as well as the general tone in which the psalm is couched, are quite against such an application.

The title prefixed to this Psalm ascribes it to David, and connects it with the occasion when Doeg informed Saul that David had been received by Ahimelech at Nob, and assisted with the means for his flight (1 Samuel 21, 22). The character denounced in the Psalm is in some respects such as we may suppose Doeg to have been. He was a man of wealth and importance as the chief of Saul’s herdmen (or, according to the LXX, the keeper of his mules). His tongue was “a deceitful tongue,” because although the facts he reported were true, he helped to confirm Saul in a false and cruel suspicion. It “devised destruction” and “loved all devouring words,” for his story was told with malicious intent and fatal result. Just sufficient appropriateness may be traced to account for the title having been prefixed by the compiler of this division of the Psalter, or for the Psalm having been connected with the story of Doeg in some historical work from which the compiler took it.

But the entire absence of any reference to the cold-blooded and sacrilegious murder of the priests at Nob, in which Doeg acted as Saul’s agent, when all his other officers shrank from executing his brutal order, makes it difficult, if not impossible, to suppose that the Psalm was really written by David on that occasion, unless we could assume that it was composed after Doeg’s information was given but before the massacre was perpetrated, which is wholly improbable.

To judge from its contents, the Psalm is a denunciation of some wealthy and powerful noble, who had been guilty of ruining innocent persons by malicious slanders or false evidence. As reference is made to his wealth (Psalm 52:7), and his wrongdoing is contrasted with the loving-kindness of God, it seems probable that he was one of those magnates so frequently denounced by the prophets, who, in defiance of their duty of lovingkindness to their neighbours, enriched themselves by impoverishing the poor, and did not scruple to ruin their victims by the use of false evidence and the subservience of venal judges. See for example, Micah 2:1 ff; Micah 3:1 ff; Micah 6:12; Micah 7:3. The Psalmist speaks as the representative of the sufferers, who will rejoice at their oppressor’s fall as a proof of God’s righteous judgement.

As to the particular occasion and date of the Psalm little can be said. The evils to which it refers were rife in the eighth century, but they had existed before and continued to exist after. A couple of parallels in Jeremiah (Psalm 52:1; Psalm 52:8) are insufficient to establish its dependence upon that book. Its author may have been a prophet. His tone of authority and vigorous denunciation of evil in high places recall Isaiah’s denunciation of Shebna (Isaiah 22:15 ff), and, in a less degree, Jeremiah’s denunciation of Pashhur (Psalm 20:3 ff), and Hananiah (Psalm 28:5 ff). Evidently it is directed against some conspicuous individual, and is not merely a general denunciation.

The Psalm falls into two divisions.

i. The unscrupulous evil-doer is called to account; his character is described; and his fate foretold (Psalm 52:1-5).

ii. With awe the righteous contemplate his fall, and rejoice over the judgement of this self-confident braggart: while the Psalmist contrasts his own security under the protection of God, and makes vows of public thanksgiving (Psalm 52:6-9).

On the title, For the chief Musician, Maschil of David, see Introd. pp. xix f. It is the first of four ‘Maschil’ Psalms.

Ps 52:1-9.

Compare

1Sa 21:1-10; 22:1-10,

for the history of the title.

Ps 52:1

gives the theme; the boast of the wicked over the righteous is vain, for God constantly cares for His people. This is expanded by describing the malice and deceit, and then the ruin, of the wicked, and the happy state of the pious.

1. mighty man--literally, "hero." Doeg may be thus addressed, ironically, in respect of his might in slander.

Why boastest thou thyself in Mischief? - Why dost thou "exult" in that which is wrong? Why dost thou find pleasure in evil rather than in good? Why dost thou seek to triumph in the injury done to others? The reference is to one who prided himself on schemes and projects which tended to injure others; or who congratulated himself on the success which attended his efforts to wrong other people.

O mighty man - DeWette and Luther render this, "tyrant." The original word would be properly applied to one of rank or distinction; a man of "power" - power derived either from office, from talent, or from wealth. It is a word which is often applied to a hero or warrior: Isaiah 3:2; Ezekiel 39:20; 2 Samuel 17:10; Psalm 33:16; Psalm 120:4; Psalm 127:4; Daniel 11:3; Genesis 6:4; Jeremiah 51:30. So far as the "word" is concerned, it might be applied either to Saul or to any other warrior or man of rank; and Professor Alexander supposes that it refers to Saul himself. The connection, however, seems to require us to understand it of Doeg, and not of Saul, This appears to be clear

(a) from the general character here given to the person referred to, a character not particularly applicable to Saul, but applicable to an informer like Doeg Psalm 52:2-4; and

(b) from the fact that he derived his power, not from his rank and office, as Saul did, but mainly from his wealth Psalm 52:7. This would seem to imply that some other was referred to than Saul.

The goodness of God endureth continually - literally, "all the day." That is, the wicked man could not hope to prevent the exercise of the divine goodness toward him whom he persecuted, and whom he sought to injure. David means to say that the goodness of God was so great and so constant, that he would protect his true friends from such machinations; or that it, was so unceasing and watchful, that the informer and accuser could not hope to find an interval of time when God would intermit his care, and when, therefore, he might hope for success. Against the goodness of God, the devices of a wicked man to injure the righteous could not ultimately prevail.