King James Version
Psalms 139
24 verses with commentary
Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me</strong>—The verb <em>chaqar</em> (חָקַר, 'searched') means to probe deeply, to examine thoroughly, like a miner excavating precious ore. This is no surface-level glance but divine investigation to the core of being. The parallel verb <em>yada</em> (יָדַע, 'known') signifies intimate, experiential knowledge—the same word used of marital union (Ge...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Searched . . .**—Comp. Psalm 44:21, “shall not God search this out.” The word is used of mining operations, Job 28:3; of exploring a country, Judges 18:2.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
28-36. The ninth plague is made prominent as peculiarly wonderful.
**they rebelled not--**Moses and Aaron promptly obeyed God (He 11:27); (compare Ex 7:1-11:10 and Psa 78:44-51, with which this summary substantially agrees). Or, rather, the "darkness" here is figurative (Jr 13:16), the literal plague of darkness (Ex 10:22, 23) being only alluded to as the symbol of God's wrath which overhung Egy...
Read full commentary →Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off</strong>—God's omniscience extends to the mundane rhythm of daily life: sitting down and standing up, the bookends of every human activity. The Hebrew <em>binah</em> (בִּינָה, 'understandest') suggests discernment of what lies beneath the surface. God perceives our thoughts while they're still 'afar off'—...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Down-sitting and uprising**—as in Deuteronomy 6:7, to denote the whole daily life—business and rest.
**Thought.**—An Aramaic form found nowhere else, but, from one possible derivation (“companion”), meaning the thoughts which are inseparable companions, *most intimate thoughts.*
Comp. *Macbeth *3:2:
“How now, my lord? Why do you keep alone,
Of sorriest fancies your companions making?”
**Afar...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
28-36. The ninth plague is made prominent as peculiarly wonderful.
**they rebelled not--**Moses and Aaron promptly obeyed God (He 11:27); (compare Ex 7:1-11:10 and Psa 78:44-51, with which this summary substantially agrees). Or, rather, the "darkness" here is figurative (Jr 13:16), the literal plague of darkness (Ex 10:22, 23) being only alluded to as the symbol of God's wrath which overhung Egy...
Read full commentary →Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. compassest: or, winnowest
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways</strong>—The verb <em>zarah</em> (זָרָה, 'compassest') means to winnow or sift grain, examining every kernel. God sifts our path (journey, course of life) and our lying down (rest, private life). The phrase <em>art acquainted</em> comes from <em>sakan</em> (סָכַן), meaning to be familiar through careful observat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Compassest.**—There is some obscurity about this word. The Hebrew verb means first *to scatter, *and is used of throwing corn about to winnow it (Isaiah 30:24; Jeremiah 4:11; Ruth 3:2). Hence by an easy metaphor it may mean *to sift *or *search out. *The LXX. and Theodotion, followed by the Vulg., have *traced, investigated. *Jerome has *winnowed. *The Authorised Version rendering appears to...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
28-36. The ninth plague is made prominent as peculiarly wonderful.
**they rebelled not--**Moses and Aaron promptly obeyed God (He 11:27); (compare Ex 7:1-11:10 and Psa 78:44-51, with which this summary substantially agrees). Or, rather, the "darkness" here is figurative (Jr 13:16), the literal plague of darkness (Ex 10:22, 23) being only alluded to as the symbol of God's wrath which overhung Egy...
Read full commentary →For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether</strong>—God's omniscience anticipates even our speech. Before a word exists <em>in</em> (בְּ) the tongue—before articulation, while still mere intention—the LORD knows it <em>altogether</em> (<em>kulloh</em>, כֻּלֹּה, 'completely, entirely'). Jesus echoed this truth: we will give account for every idle word ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **For there is not . . .**—This has been understood in two ways:—
My tongue cannot utter a word which thou dost not altogether know.
or,
Before my tongue can utter a word thou knowest it altogether.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
28-36. The ninth plague is made prominent as peculiarly wonderful.
**they rebelled not--**Moses and Aaron promptly obeyed God (He 11:27); (compare Ex 7:1-11:10 and Psa 78:44-51, with which this summary substantially agrees). Or, rather, the "darkness" here is figurative (Jr 13:16), the literal plague of darkness (Ex 10:22, 23) being only alluded to as the symbol of God's wrath which overhung Egy...
Read full commentary →Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me</strong>—The verb <em>tzur</em> (צוּר, 'beset') means to bind, confine, or enclose—like a city under siege. God surrounds David from all temporal directions: behind (past) and before (future). This is not hostile encirclement but protective encompassing. The laying on of God's hand (<em>kaph</em>, כַּף) suggests both authori...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Beset**—as a beleagured city from which there is no escape.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
28-36. The ninth plague is made prominent as peculiarly wonderful.
**they rebelled not--**Moses and Aaron promptly obeyed God (He 11:27); (compare Ex 7:1-11:10 and Psa 78:44-51, with which this summary substantially agrees). Or, rather, the "darkness" here is figurative (Jr 13:16), the literal plague of darkness (Ex 10:22, 23) being only alluded to as the symbol of God's wrath which overhung Egy...
Read full commentary →Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it</strong>—The adjective <em>pele</em> (פֶּלֶא, 'wonderful') denotes what is extraordinary, surpassing, miraculous—used of God's mighty works (Exodus 15:11). Divine omniscience isn't just comprehensive but <em>qualitatively different</em> from human knowledge. It is <em>high</em> (<em>sagab</em>, שָׂגַב)—exalted, ina...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Such . . .**—God’s omniscience is for man at once *transcendent, unattainable, impossible. *Possibly the article has dropped away, and we should read *this knowledge. *LXX. and Vulg. have “thy knowledge.”
For the thought comp. Psalm 139:17-18, and Romans 11:33.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
28-36. The ninth plague is made prominent as peculiarly wonderful.
**they rebelled not--**Moses and Aaron promptly obeyed God (He 11:27); (compare Ex 7:1-11:10 and Psa 78:44-51, with which this summary substantially agrees). Or, rather, the "darkness" here is figurative (Jr 13:16), the literal plague of darkness (Ex 10:22, 23) being only alluded to as the symbol of God's wrath which overhung Egy...
Read full commentary →Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
These rhetorical questions assert God's omnipresence—His presence fills all space, leaving nowhere beyond His reach. "Whither shall I go" (אָנָה אֵלֵךְ/'anah 'elekh) asks where could I possibly walk. "From thy spirit" (מֵרוּחֲךָ/me-ruchakha) can mean "from your Spirit" or "from your presence"—the two are inseparable. "Flee from thy presence" (מִפָּנֶיךָ אֶבְרָח/mipanekha 'evrach) uses the word for...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Spirit.**—If this clause stood alone we should naturally understand by God’s *Spirit *His creative and providential power, from which nothing can escape (comp. Psalm 104:30). But taken in parallelism with *presence *in the next clause the expression leads on to a thought towards which the theology of the Old Testament was dimly feeling, which it nearly reached in the Book of Wisdom. “The Spi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
28-36. The ninth plague is made prominent as peculiarly wonderful.
**they rebelled not--**Moses and Aaron promptly obeyed God (He 11:27); (compare Ex 7:1-11:10 and Psa 78:44-51, with which this summary substantially agrees). Or, rather, the "darkness" here is figurative (Jr 13:16), the literal plague of darkness (Ex 10:22, 23) being only alluded to as the symbol of God's wrath which overhung Egy...
Read full commentary →If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there</strong>—David explores God's omnipresence through cosmic extremes. <em>Heaven</em> (<em>shamayim</em>, שָׁמַיִם) represents the highest heights, God's dwelling place. <em>Hell</em> (<em>sheol</em>, שְׁאוֹל) is the grave, the realm of the dead, the lowest depths. The emphatic <em>thou art there</em...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **If I make my bed in hell.**—Literally, *If I make Sheôl my bed. *(For the thought see Amos 9:2, and comp. Proverbs 15:11; Job 26:6.)
This conviction that the underworld was not exempt from the vigilance and even from the visitation of Jehovah makes an advance in thought from Psalm 6:5 (where see Note), &c, where death is viewed as cutting off the Hebrew altogether from his relation to the Th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**37. with silver and gold--**presented them by the Egyptians, as an acknowledgment due for their labors in their bondage (compare Ex 12:35).
**one feeble person--**or, "stumbler," unfit for the line of march. Compare "harnessed," that is, accoutred and marshalled as an army on march (Ex 13:18; Is 5:27).
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea</strong>—<em>Wings of the morning</em> (<em>kanfei-shachar</em>, כַּנְפֵי־שָׁחַר) evokes the swift, eastward-spreading dawn light—the fastest natural phenomenon known to the ancient world. To ride dawn's light from east to the furthest west (<em>uttermost parts of the sea</em> = westernmost Mediterranean) repre...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **If . . .**—Literally,
I lift wings of dawn
I dwell in the end of the sea.
**The wings of the morning.—**This exquisite image suggesting not only the pinions of cloud that seem often to lift the dawn into the sky, but also the swift sailing of the light across the world, may be compared to the “wings of the sun” in Malachi 4:2, and the “wings of the wind” in Psalm 18:10.
**The uttermost parts...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
38. (Compare Ex 12:33; De 11:25).
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me</strong>—The conditional clauses of verses 8-9 ('if I...') resolve in this assurance: <em>even there</em> (גַּם־שָׁם, <em>gam-sham</em>). Wherever 'there' is—heights, depths, east, west—God's hand performs a dual function: <em>lead</em> (<em>nachah</em>, נָחָה, to guide) and <em>hold</em> (<em>achaz</em>, אָחַז, to grasp f...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Even there **. . .—The expressions “lead me,” “hold me,” are elsewhere used of the protecting and guiding providence of God (Psalm 5:8; Psalm 23:3; Psalm 27:11; Psalm 73:24). And yet the psalmist speaks here as if he were a guilty being trying to escape from the Divine notice. The truth is a profound one. Even when God discovers and overtakes those who guiltily try to hide from Him, it is t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**39. covering--**in sense of protection (compare Ex 13:21; Nu 10:34). In the burning sands of the desert the cloud protected the congregation from the heat of the sun; an emblem of God's protecting favor of His people, as interpreted by Isaiah (Is 4:5, 6; compare Nu 9:16).
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me</strong>—David explores a third hypothetical escape: concealment in darkness (<em>choshek</em>, חֹשֶׁךְ). <em>Cover me</em> (<em>shuf</em>, שׁוּף) means to overwhelm or crush—darkness as refuge from exposure. But the conditional sentence breaks mid-verse (completed in v. 12): what we expect to be dark beco...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **If I** **say **. . .—Rather,
I say only let darkness crush me,
And light become night around me.
Commentators have mostly been frightened by the metaphor in the first line, though it has been preserved both by the LXX. and Vulg., and can only be avoided either by forcing the meaning of the verb from what it bears in Genesis 3:15, Job 9:17, or altering the text. Yet the Latins could speak ev...
Read full commentary →Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. hideth: Heb. darkeneth not the darkness and: Heb. as is the darkness, so is the light
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee</strong>—The emphatic <em>yea</em> (גַּם, <em>gam</em>) concludes the thought from v. 11. <em>Hideth not</em> (<em>lo-yachshik</em>, לֹא־יַחְשִׁיךְ)—darkness cannot darken things from God. Night <em>shines</em> (<em>ya'ir</em>, יָאִיר) as day—to divine perception, no ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Hideth not.—**Better to keep as near as possible to the original *maketh not dark. *Others render *cannot be too dark for thee. *The highest development of the psalmist’s thought is of course to be found in St. John’s declaration, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”
**Shineth.—**Or, *giveth *light.
**The darkness **. . .—Literally, *as darkness, so light.*
*“*God is the light w...
Read full commentary →For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.</strong> The Hebrew <em>קָנָה</em> (qanah, 'possessed') means to create, acquire, or form—God's sovereign ownership begins at conception. <strong>Reins</strong> (כִּלְיָה, kilyah) refers to the kidneys, anciently considered the seat of emotion and moral character; God forms not just the body but the inner person. <...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **For **. . .—The mystery of birth regarded as one of the greatest mysteries (see Ecclesiastes 11:5), is a proof of God’s omniscience.
**Possessed.**—The context seems to require *formed, fashioned, *as, according to Gesenius, in Deuteronomy 32:6, (Authorised Version “bought”) (Comp. Genesis 14:19, where *maker *should be read for possessor.)
For “reins” see Psalm 16:7.
**Covered me.**—Most c...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
42-45. The reasons for these dealings: (1) God's faithfulness to His covenant, "His holy promise" of Canaan, is the fountain whence flowed so many acts of marvellous kindness to His people (compare Psa 105:8, 11). Ex 2:24 is the fundamental passage [Hengstenberg]. (2) That they might be obedient. The observance of God's commands by Abraham was the object of the covenant with him (Ge 18:19), as it ...
Read full commentary →I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. right: Heb. greatly
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.</strong> This verse appears in the middle of Scripture's most intimate exploration of God's omniscience and omnipresence, specifically within a section celebrating God's intimate involvement in human formation (v.13-16).<br><br>"I will praise thee" (אוֹדְךָ/<em>odekha...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **For I** **am **. . .—Literally, *because I am fearfully separated *or *distinguished *(see Note on Psalm 26:7; Psalm 40:5), which might mean *separated from the womb, i.e., born. *(Comp. Galatians 1:15; Psalm 22:10.) Or if the reference is national rather than individual, it would imply, as so frequently, the choice of Israel by Jehovah in distinction to other races.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
42-45. The reasons for these dealings: (1) God's faithfulness to His covenant, "His holy promise" of Canaan, is the fountain whence flowed so many acts of marvellous kindness to His people (compare Psa 105:8, 11). Ex 2:24 is the fundamental passage [Hengstenberg]. (2) That they might be obedient. The observance of God's commands by Abraham was the object of the covenant with him (Ge 18:19), as it ...
Read full commentary →My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. substance: or, strength, or, body
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.</strong> <em>Substance</em> (עֹצֶם, otsem) means bone, frame, or essence—the structural foundation of personhood. <strong>Made in secret</strong> (בַּסֵּתֶר, ba-sether) describes the hidden, mysterious process of gestation. <strong>Curiously wrought</strong> (רָקַם, raqam)...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Substance.—**Aquila “bones,” LXX. and Vulg. “bone,” Symmachus “strength.” Perhaps, generally, *body. *But the common Hebrew word for bone differs only in the pointing.
**In** **secret.—**Comp. *Æ*sch. *Eum. *665.
**Curiously wrought.**—From the use of the verb in Exodus 26:36; Exodus 27:16, it plainly refers to some kind of tapestry work, but whether of the nature of weaving or embroidery i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
42-45. The reasons for these dealings: (1) God's faithfulness to His covenant, "His holy promise" of Canaan, is the fountain whence flowed so many acts of marvellous kindness to His people (compare Psa 105:8, 11). Ex 2:24 is the fundamental passage [Hengstenberg]. (2) That they might be obedient. The observance of God's commands by Abraham was the object of the covenant with him (Ge 18:19), as it ...
Read full commentary →Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. all: Heb. all of them which: or, what days they should be fashioned
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.</strong> <em>Unperfect</em> (גֹּלֶם, golem) means embryo, unformed mass—God sees value in the earliest stages of human development. <strong>In thy book</strong> (בְּסִפְרְךָ, be-sifrecha) references divine foreordination...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) This difficult verse, rendered word for word, gives—
“My fœtus (literally, *rolled*) saw thine eyes,
And on thy book all of them were written;
Days were formed, and not (or, as the Hebrew margin, *to him*) one in them.”
The reading “substance yet being imperfect” of the Authorised Version follows the LXX. and Vulg., and (Symmachus, “shapeless thing”) periphrastically denotes the *embryo, *whi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
42-45. The reasons for these dealings: (1) God's faithfulness to His covenant, "His holy promise" of Canaan, is the fountain whence flowed so many acts of marvellous kindness to His people (compare Psa 105:8, 11). Ex 2:24 is the fundamental passage [Hengstenberg]. (2) That they might be obedient. The observance of God's commands by Abraham was the object of the covenant with him (Ge 18:19), as it ...
Read full commentary →How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!</strong> David's response to divine omniscience (vv. 1-6) and creative providence (vv. 13-16) is wonder, not terror. <em>Precious</em> (יָקָר, yaqar) means costly, weighty, honored—God's thoughts toward His people have infinite value. <strong>Thoughts</strong> (רֵעִים, re'im) can mean purposes, plans, or inten...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Precious.**—Rather, *weighty, *the first meaning of the word. The parallelism requires this, as also the peculiar word for “thoughts,” for which see Psalm 139:2. We have here the antithesis to that verse: while the Divine penetration discovers the most intimate thought of man, man finds God’s secrets incomprehensible.
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.</strong> The attempt to number God's thoughts is futile—<em>sand</em> (חוֹל, chol) was the ancient world's symbol for the uncountable (Genesis 22:17, 32:12). God's attentiveness never exhausts itself. <strong>When I awake, I am still with thee</strong> has rich meaning: whether waking from sl...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **If I should **. . .—The original is more expressive:—
“Let me count them—more than the sand they are many:
I have awaked—and still with thee.”
With the countless mysteries of creation and providence the poet is so occupied, that they are his first waking thought; or, perhaps, as the Hebrew suggests, his dreams are continued into his early thoughts.
“Is not the vision He? tho’ He be not that...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 106 Psa 106:1-48. This Psalm gives a detailed confession of the sins of Israel in all periods of their history, with special reference to the terms of the covenant as intimated (Psa 105:45). It is introduced by praise to God for the wonders of His mercy, and concluded by a supplication for His favor to His afflicted people, and a doxology.
**1. Praise, &c.--**(See on Psa 104:35), begins...
Read full commentary →Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.</strong> The psalm's tone shifts dramatically from wonder to indignation. <em>Slay</em> (תִּקְטֹל, tiqtol, from קָטַל, qatal) is a strong term for violent death—David calls for divine judgment, not personal vengeance. <strong>The wicked</strong> (רְשָׁעִים, resha'im) are not just sinners generally but God's e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Slay the** **wicked.—**This abrupt transition from a theme so profound and fascinating to fierce indignation against the enemies of God, would certainly be strange anywhere but in the Psalms. And yet, perhaps, philosophically regarded, the subject of God’s omniscience must conduct the mind to the thought of the existence of evil, and speculation on its origin and development. But the Hebrew...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
2. His acts exceed our comprehension, as His praise our powers of expression (Ro 11:33). Their unutterable greatness is not to keep us back, but to urge us the more to try to praise Him as best we can (Psa 40:5; 71:15).
For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.</strong> This verse explains why David prays for judgment: the wicked don't just harm people but blaspheme God. <em>Speak against thee wickedly</em> (לִמְזִמָּה, limzimmah) carries the idea of plotting, scheming with malicious intent—not casual irreverence but calculated rebellion. <strong>Thine enemies</strong>...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **For they speak.**—Better, *Who rebel against thee. *This is actually the reading of the fifth of the Greek translations preserved by Origen, and entails only a change of the vowel pointing.
**And thine enemies.**—The state of the text is unsatisfactory. The subject to the verb must be that of the last clause, and the rendering *“*enemies” of a word properly meaning *cities *is very doubtful...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3. The blessing is limited to those whose principles and acts are right. How "blessed" Israel would be now, if he had "observed God's statutes" (Psa 105:45).
Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?</strong> David's rhetorical questions demand assent: loving God requires hating His enemies. <em>Hate</em> (שָׂנֵא, sane) is strong language, but it's directed at those who <em>hate God</em>—not personal enemies but enemies of righteousness. <strong>Grieved</strong> (אֶתְקוֹטָט, etqotat, ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Do** **not I** . . .—Better—
“Must I not hate thy haters, Jehovah,
And feel loathing for thy assailants?”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
4-5. In view of the desert of sins to be confessed, the writer invokes God's covenant mercy to himself and the Church, in whose welfare he rejoices. The speaker, me, I, is not the Psalmist himself, but the people, the present generation (compare Psa 106:6).
**visit--**(Compare Psa 8:4).
I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.</strong> <em>Perfect hatred</em> (תַּכְלִית שִׂנְאָה, tachlit sin'ah) means complete, full, thorough hatred—David's opposition to God's enemies is total, not partial. This isn't emotional instability but principled conviction: those who are God's enemies become David's enemies because David has identified fully with God's cause. <...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **With perfect hatred.—**Literally, *with perfection of hatred. *Comp. Tennyson’s
“Dowered with the hate of hate.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
4-5. In view of the desert of sins to be confessed, the writer invokes God's covenant mercy to himself and the Church, in whose welfare he rejoices. The speaker, me, I, is not the Psalmist himself, but the people, the present generation (compare Psa 106:6).
**visit--**(Compare Psa 8:4).
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This imperative prayer invites God's penetrating examination through paired synonymous verbs: 'search' (chaqar—to investigate thoroughly) and 'know' (yada—intimate knowledge). The parallel 'heart' (leb) and 'thoughts' (sar'appim—disquieting thoughts or anxieties) encompass the inner life. David's invitation for divine scrutiny reflects confidence in God's omniscience (verses 1-6) and gracious judg...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Search.**—The same word with which the psalm opens. The inevitable scrutiny of the Divine Being is invited.
**Thoughts.**—As in Psalm 94:19; a word meaning (Ezekiel 31:5) *branches, *and so expressing the *ramifications *of thought.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6. Compare 1Ki 8:47; Da 9:5, where the same three verbs occur in the same order and connection, the original of the two later passages being the first one, the prayer of Solomon in dedicating the temple.
**sinned ... fathers--**like them, and so partaking of their guilt. The terms denote a rising gradation of sinning (compare Psa 1:1).
**with our fathers--**we and they together forming one mas...
Read full commentary →And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. wicked: Heb. way of pain, or, grief
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The second imperative continues verse 23's prayer, asking God to identify 'any wicked way' (literally 'way of pain' or 'idolatrous way'). The contrast between 'wicked way' and 'way everlasting' (derek olam—the ancient, eternal path) presents two destinies. This prayer acknowledges human blindness to sin and dependence on divine illumination. The verb 'lead' (nachah) implies gentle guidance, not ha...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **Wicked way.**—The Hebrew may mean (after 1Chronicles 4:9; Isaiah 14:3) *way of sorrow, *or (after Isaiah 48:5) *way of an idol, i.e., *idolatry, which is preferable.
**Way everlasting.**—Rather, here as in Jeremiah 6:16; Jeremiah 18:15, of the old, *i.e., *the true, religion, *in the ancient way. *The word rendered “everlasting” merely expresses *indefinite *time, whether past or future.
El...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-12. Special confession. Their rebellion at the sea (Ex 14:11) was because they had not remembered nor understood God's miracles on their behalf. That God saved them in their unbelief was of His mere mercy, and for His own glory.
**the sea ... the Red Sea--**the very words in which Moses' song celebrated the scene of Israel's deliverance (Ex 15:4). Israel began to rebel against God at the very ...
Read full commentary →