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2. The ungodly in his pride, etc Before uttering his prayer against the ungodly, the Psalmist briefly sets forth their wickedness in cruelly vexing the afflicted, for no other reason but because they disdain and despise them, through the pride with which they are inflated. And their cruelty is not a little enhanced from this, that, forgetful of all humanity, they contemptuously triumph over the poor and afflicted, mocking them and inflicting injuries upon them. ¹⁹³¹⁹³     “En se mocquant d’eux et les outrageant.” — Fr. Cruelty is, indeed, always proud, yea, rather, pride is the mother of all wrongs; for if a man did not through pride magnify himself above his neighbors, and through an overweening conceit of himself despise them, even common humanity would teach us with what humility and justice we ought to conduct ourselves towards each other. But David here intended to state that the only cause why the ungodly, whom he accuses, exercise their cruelty against the wretched and the needy, from whom they receive no provocation, is the pride and arrogance of their own spirits. Let every one, therefore, who desires to live justly and unblameably with his brethren, beware of indulging or taking pleasure in treating others disdainfully; and let him endeavor, above all things, to have his mind freed from the disease of pride. The word דלק, dalak, signifies to suffer persecution, as well as to persecute; and, therefore, some prefer translating the words, The poor is persecuted in the pride of the ungodly. ¹⁹⁴¹⁹⁴     דלק, dalak, signifies two things, to persecute, and to be set on fire; and though we render it in the former sense, and so apply it to רשע, rasha, the wicked, in the active tense, — the wicked persecutes the poor, yet the ancient interpreters generally render it in the passive, and apply it to עני, anay, the poor, that in the pride of the wicked he is set on fire, that is, brought into great tribulation.” — Hammond. The word used by the Septuagint is ἐμπυριζέται. There may be an allusion in the Hebrew word to the fires which persecutors have kindled for burning to death the confessors and martyrs of Christ. They may also not improperly be rendered thus, The poor burns in the pride of the ungodly, because this is the more common signification of the word. The pride of the wicked, like fire, devours the poor and afflicted.

3. For the ungodly praiseth himself. This verse is variously explained. Literally the reading is, For praiseth the wicked or ungodly; and it is therefore necessary to supply some word, but what word is disputed. ¹⁹⁶¹⁹⁶     “Il y a mot en mot, Car louis le meschant et il y faut, suppleer quelque petit mot: or, cela on y besongne diversement.” — Fr. Some translate the words, ungodly and violent man, in the accusative case, thus: He praiseth the ungodly, and blesseth the violent man; because they think it strange that after “praiseth” the sentence should end abruptly, without any thing being said of who or what was praised. But since it is quite common in Hebrew, when the agent and the subject are one and the same person, to express the word only once, while we repeat it in order to complete the sense, the interpretation which I have followed appears to me the most proper, namely, that the ungodly man praises himself, and boasts of the desire of his soul, and blesses himself. Now, it may be asked, What is this desire of soul? It is usually understood in this sense, ¹⁹⁷¹⁹⁷     “On la repete pour patnaire le sense.” — Fr. that the ungodly flatter and applaud themselves, while fortune smiles on them, and they obtain their wishes, and enjoy whatever they desire; just as David adds, a little after, that they abuse their prosperity, in attempting whatever comes into their fancy. But, in my opinion, desire of soul here denotes rather lust, and the intemperate gratification of passion and appetite; and thus the meaning is, that they indulge themselves with delight in their depraved desires, and, despising the judgment of God, fearlessly absolve themselves from all guilt, maintain their innocence, ¹⁹⁸¹⁹⁸     “Es s’osent bien absoudre et tenir pour innocens.” — Fr. and justify their impiety. Moses uses a similar form of expression in Deuteronomy 29:19,

“I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart.”

David, indeed, says a little after, that the ungodly abuse their prosperity, by flattering themselves; but here, in my judgment, he expresses something more weighty, namely, that they acquire praise from their presumptuousness, and glory in their wickedness; and this foolish confidence, or bold assurance, is the cause of their throwing off all restraint and breaking forth into every kind of excess. Accordingly, I interpret the words praise and bless as having the same meaning, just as the words, ungodly and violent man, are synonymous in this place, although they differ from each other as genus and species. With these statements agrees what is immediately added in the end of the verse that these ungodly persons despise God. To translate the verb, to blaspheme, as has been done by some, or to provoke to anger, as has been done by others, is too remote from the scope of the passage. David rather teaches, that the cause of their careless indulgence in the gratification of their lusts, is their base contempt of God. He who duly reflects that God will be his judge is so much alarmed by this reflection, that he dares not bless his soul while his conscience accuses him of guilt and of being given to the practice of sin. ¹⁹⁹¹⁹⁹     “Cependant qu’il se sent coulpable et adonne k mM faire.” — Fr.

4. The ungodly, in the pride of his countenance, etc Others translate the words, The ungodly man, by reason of the violence of his anger, or, in the pride which he displays, does not inquire after God. But this partly perverts the meaning, and partly weakens the force of what David intended to express. In the first place, the word inquire, which is here put absolutely, that is, without any noun which it governs, is, according to this translation, improperly limited to God. David simply means, that the ungodly, without examination, permit themselves to do any thing, or do not distinguish between what is lawful and unlawful, because their own lust is their law, yea, rather, as if superior to all laws, they fancy that it is lawful for them to do whatever they please. The beginning of well-doing in a man’s life is inquiry; in other words, we can only begin to do well when we keep ourselves from following, without choice and discrimination, the dictates of our own fancy, and from being carried away by the wayward propensities of our flesh. But the exercise of inquiring proceeds from humility, when we assign to God, as is reasonable, the place of judge and ruler over us. The prophet, therefore, very properly says, that the reason why the ungodly, without any regard or consideration, presume to do whatever they desire, is because, being lifted up with pride, they leave to God nothing whatever of the prerogative of a judge. The Hebrew word פף, aph, which we have translated countenance, I have no doubt is here taken in its proper and natural signification, and not metaphorically for anger; because haughty persons show their effrontery even by their countenance.

In the second clause, the prophet more severely, or, at least, more openly, accuses them, declaring that all their wicked imaginations show that they have no God. All his devices say, There is no God ²⁰⁰²⁰⁰     The sentence in the Hebrew text is elliptical, and hence it has been variously translated. Literally it is, “No God all his thoughts.” The Syriac version renders it, “There is no God in all his thoughts.” The Septuagint reads, Οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ θεὸς ἐνώπιον αὐτου, “God is not before him.” Mudge renders it, “No God is all his wicked politics;” Horsley, “No God is the whole of his philosophy.” and Fry, “There is no Elohim is all his thought.” By these words I understand, that through their heaven-daring presumption, they subvert all piety and justice, as if there were no God sitting in heaven. Did they truly believe that there is a God, the fear of the judgment to come would restrain them. Not that they plainly and distinctly deny the existence of a God, but then they strip him of his power. Now, God would be merely like an idol, if, contented with an inactive existence, he should divest himself of his office as judge. Whoever, therefore, refuse to admit that the world is subject to the providence of God, or do not believe that his hand is stretched forth from on high to govern it, do as much as in them lies to put an end to the existence of God. It is not, however, enough to have some cold and unimpressive knowledge of him in the head; it is only the true and heartfelt conviction of his providence which makes us reverence him, and which keeps us in subjection ²⁰¹²⁰¹     “Qui nous le fait avoir en reverence et nous tient le subjets.” — Fr. to him. The greater part of interpreters understand the last clause as meaning generally, that all the thoughts of a wicked man tend to the denial of a God. In my opinion, the Hebrew word מזמות, mezimmoth, is here, as in many other places, taken in a bad sense for cunning and wicked thoughts, ²⁰²²⁰²     “Pour meschantes et malicieuses pensees.” — Fr. “Wicked and malicious thoughts.” so that the meaning, as I have noticed already, is this: Since the ungodly have the hardihood to devise and perpetrate every kind of wickedness, however atrocious, it is from this sufficiently manifest, that they have cast off all fear of God from their hearts.

There is a great diversity of opinion among interpreters respecting the first clause of this verse. The translators of the Septuagint version, thinking the word יחילו, yachilu, which is in the future tense, derived from the root חלל, chalal, which it is not, have rendered it, his ways are defiled. But it is agreed among the Jewish expositors, that it is derived from the root חול, chol. Many among them, however, take it actively for to put one in fear, or to put one to trouble, as if it had been said, The ways of the ungodly are dreadful to the good, and torment them. ²⁰³²⁰³     The Greek word which they use is Βεβηλουνται,. Aben Ezra’s rendering is, “His ways always cause terror.” Some also apply the words to God, reading the sentence thus, His ways come, that is to say, have their course, or prosper at all times. This, however, in my judgment, is too forced. But as this word, in other texts of Scripture, means to be prosperous, I am surprised that there should be any difference of opinion among the learned concerning this passage, when immediately, in the next clause, the prophet clearly shows that he is speaking of the prosperous condition of the ungodly, and the continued course of pleasure which intoxicates them. He not only complains of this their prosperity, but from it he aggravates their guilt, in that they take occasion, from the goodness of God, to harden themselves in their wickedness. I would, therefor explain the verse thus: As they enjoy a continued course of prosperity, they dream that God is bound or plighted to them, and hence they put his judgments far from them; and if any man oppose them, they are confident they can immediately put him down, or dash him to pieces with a puff or breath. Now, we understand the simple meaning of the prophet to be, that the ungodly mock God, taking encouragement from his forbearance; as that base tyrant, Dionysius, because he had a prosperous voyage, after having plundered the temple of Proserpine, ²⁰⁴²⁰⁴     “Apres qu’il ent pilld le temple de Proserpine.” — Fr. boasted that God favored the sacrilegious. ²⁰⁵²⁰⁵     Vale. lib. 1, chapter 2. Hence it is, that they put far from them the judgments of God.

In the opinion of some, these words, On high are thy judgments before him, mean much the same thing as if the prophet had said, God treats them with too much clemency, and spares them; just as he elsewhere complains of their being exempted from the common afflictions of life. But this interpretation does not so well agree with the words; yea, it appears to be unnatural and forced. The judgments of God then are said to be on high to the ungodly, because, presuming upon the great distance of God from them, ²⁰⁶²⁰⁶     “Pource que se confians de la longue distance qui est entre Dieu et eux.” — Fr. they promise themselves not only a truce with death during their whole life, but also an everlasting covenant with it. We see how, by procrastinating the evil day, they harden themselves, and become more and more obstinate in evil; ²⁰⁷²⁰⁷     “Car nous voyons comme delayans le temps, il s’endureissent et obstinent au mal de plus en plus.” — Fr. yea, persuading themselves that God is shut up in heaven, as if they had nothing to do with him, they strengthen themselves in the hope of escaping unpunished; ²⁰⁸²⁰⁸     “En l’esperance de jamais ne venir le conte.” — Fr. “In the hope of never being called to account.” as we see them, in Isaiah, (Isaiah 22:13) jesting at the threatenings of the prophets, saying, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die.” When the prophets, in order to inspire the people with terror, denounced the dreadful vengeance of God, which was ready to be inflicted upon them, these wicked men cried out that it was all whims or idle stories. God therefore bitterly inveighs against them, because, when he called the people to mourning, ashes, and sackcloth, these mockers encouraged them to minstrelsy and feasting; and at length he swears, “As I live, surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die.” The faithful, indeed, lift up their eyes to heaven to behold the judgments of God; and they are not less afraid of them than if they were just ready to fall upon their heads. The ungodly, on the contrary, despise them, and yet, in order not to be disturbed or tormented with the fear or apprehension of them, they would banish them into heaven; just as the Epicureans, although they did not presume avowedly to deny the existence of a God, yet imagined that he is confined to heaven, where he indulges himself in idleness, without taking any concern about what is done here below. ²⁰⁹²⁰⁹     “Font a croire qu’il est au ciel, on il se donne du bon temps sans se soucier de ce qu’il se fait yci bas.” — Fr. From this infatuation flows their presumptuous confidence of which David speaks, by which they assure themselves of being able to destroy, with a puff or blast alone, all who are enemies to them. The word פוח, phuach, which sometimes signifies to ensnare, is here more properly taken for to puff, or to blow out.

The Psalmist confirms these statements in the next verse, where he tells us that the persons of whom he speaks are fully persuaded in their hearts that they are beyond all danger of change. He saith in his heart, I shall not be moved from generation to generation The ungodly often pour forth proud language to this effect. David, however, only touches the hidden ulcer of their vile arrogance, which they cherish in their own breasts, and therefore he does not say what they speak with their mouth, but what they persuade themselves of in their hearts. It may here be asked, Why does David blame in others what he professes concerning himself in so many places? ²¹⁰²¹⁰     Psalm 3:7; 23:4; 27:3, etc. — Fr. for trusting to the protection of God, he courageously triumphs over all dangers. ²¹¹²¹¹     “Il ose dire hardiment qu’il ne redoute nuls dangers et les desfie tous.” — Fr. “He courageously declares that he is not afraid of any dangers, and defies them all.” And surely it becomes the children of God effectually to provide for their safety, so that, although the world should a hundred times fall into ruins, they may have the comfortable assurance that they will remain unmoved. The answer to this question is easy, and it is this, The faithful promise themselves security in God, and no where else; and yet while they do this, they know themselves to be exposed to all the storms of affliction, and patiently submit to them. There is a very great difference between a despiser of God who, enjoying prosperity today, is so forgetful of the condition of man in this world, as through a distempered imagination to build his nest above the clouds, and who persuades himself that he shall always enjoy comfort and repose, ²¹²²¹²     “Et se fait a croire qu’il sera tousjours a son aise et repos.” — Fr. — there is a very great difference between him and the godly man, who, knowing that his life hangs only by a thread, and is encompassed by a thousand deaths, and who, ready to endure any kind of afflictions which shall be sent upon him, and living in the world as if he were sailing upon a tempestuous and dangerous sea, nevertheless, bears patiently all his troubles and sorrows, and comforts himself in his afflictions, because he leans wholly upon the grace of God, and entirely confides in it. ²¹³²¹³     “Toutesfois pource qu’il s’appuye du tout sur la grace de Dieu, et s’y confie, porte patienment toutes molestes et ennuis et se console en ses afflictions.” — Fr. The ungodly man says, I shall not be moved, or I shall not shake for ever; because he thinks himself sufficiently strong and powerful to bear up against all the assaults which shall be made upon him. The faithful man says, What although I may happen to be moved, yea, even fall and sink into the lowest depths? my fall will not be fatal, for God will put his hand under me to sustain me. By this, in like manner, we are furnished with an explanation of the different effects which an apprehension of danger has upon the good and the bad. Good men may tremble and sink into despondency, but this leads them to flee with all haste to the sanctuary of God’s grace; ²¹⁴²¹⁴     “Se retirent de bonne heure vers la grace de Dieu pour se mettre au sauvete comme en un lien de refuge et asseurance.”— Fr. “Betake themselves with all haste to the grace of God, to put themselves in safety as in a place of refuge and security.” whereas the ungodly, while they are affrighted even at the noise of a falling leaf, ²¹⁵²¹⁵     “Au bruit des fueilles qui tombent des arbres.” — Fr. “At the noise of leaves falling from the trees.” and live in constant uneasiness, endeavor to harden themselves in their stupidity, and to bring themselves into such a state of giddy frenzy, that being, as it were, carried out of themselves, they may not feel their calamities. The cause assigned for the confidence with which the prosperous ungodly man persuades himself that no change shall come upon him is, because he is not in adversity This admits of two senses. It either means, that the ungodly, because they have been exempted from all calamity and misery during the past part of their life, entertain the hope of a peaceful and joyful state in the time to come; or it means, that through a deceitful imagination they exempt themselves from the common condition of men; just as in Isaiah, (Isaiah 28:15) they say,

“When the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
it shall not come upon us.”

7. His mouth is full of cursing. The scope of these four verses is this: If God intends to succor his servants, it is now a proper time for doing so, inasmuch as the lawlessness of the ungodly has burst forth to the utmost possible excess. In the first place, he complains that their tongues are full of perjuries and deceits, and that they carry or hide mischief and wrongs, it being impossible to have any dealings with them in any matter without loss and damage. The word אלה, alah, which some render cursing, does not signify the execrations which they throw out against others, but rather those which they call down upon their own heads: for they do not scruple to utter the most awful imprecations against themselves, that thereby they may the better succeed in deceiving others. It is, therefore, not improperly rendered by some, perjury, for this word ought to be joined to the other two, deceit and malice. Thus the wicked are described as cursing or swearing falsely, so far as it contributes to forward their purposes of deceiving and doing injury. Hence follow mischief and injustice, because it is impossible for the simple, without suffering detriment, to escape their snares, which are woven of deceits, perjuries, and malice.

8. He will sit in the ensnaring places of the villages. ²¹⁷²¹⁷     Horsley renders the eighth verse thus:
   “He sitteth in ambush* in the villages in secret places;
He murdereth the innocent;
his eyes are ever watching for the helpless.”
   And he has the following note: ”Symmachus and St Jerome certainly read thus ישכ מארב בחצרים, and they both render, ה, as a participle. ‘He sitteth prowling about the farm-houses.’ This I take to be the true reading and the true rendering. The image is that of a beast of prey of the lesser order, a fox or a wolf, lying upon the watch about the farm-yard in the evening.”
   *Or, “he sitteth prowling about the farmyard.” I have purposely avoided changing the verbs of the future tense into another tense, because they imply a continued act, and also because this Hebrew idiom has extended even to other languages. David, therefore, describes what ungodly men are accustomed to do. And, in the first place, he compares them to highwaymen, who lie in wait at the narrow parts of roads, and choose for themselves hiding-places from which they may fall upon travelers when off their guard. He says also, that their eyes are bent or leering, ²¹⁸²¹⁸     Bishop Mant reads “peering eyes.” Concerning the word, says he, “which I have rendered peering, Parkhurst says that it is applied to winking or half closing the eyes in order to see more distinctly. The Septuagint and Vulgate translations, which mean look at, behold, give the general sense, but not the beautiful image expressed in the Hebrew.” by a similitude borrowed from the practice of dart-shooters, who take their aim with leering, or half shut eyes, in order to hit the mark the surer. Nor does he here speak of the common sort of highwaymen who are in the woods; ²¹⁹²¹⁹     “Qui sont parmi les bois.” — Fr but he directs his language against those great robbers who hide their wickedness under titles of honor, and pomp, and splendor. The word חצרים, chatserim, therefore, which we have rendered villages, is by some translated palaces; as if David had said, they have converted their royal mansions into places of robbery, where they may cut the throats of their unhappy victims. But granting the word to have this allusion, I consider that it refers principally to the practice of robbers, to which there is a reference in the whole verse, and I explain it thus: Like as robbers lie in wait at the egresses of villages, so these persons lay their snares wherever they are.

In the next verse, he sets forth their cruelty in a light still more aggravated, by another comparison, saying, that they thirst for their prey like lions in their dens Now, it is a step higher in wickedness to equal in cruelty wild beasts than to make havoc after the manner of robbers. It is worthy of remark, that he always joins deceits and snares with violence, in order the better to show how miserable the children of God would be, unless they were succoured by help from heaven. There is also added another similitude, which expresses more clearly how craft in catching victims is mingled with cruelty. They catch them, says he but it is by drawing them into their net By these words he means, that they not only rush upon them with open force and violence, but that, at the same time also, they spread their nets in order to deceive.

He again repeats all this in the tenth verse, giving a beautiful and graphic description of the very mien or gesture of such wicked men, just as if he set before our eyes a picture of them. They crouch low, says he, and cast themselves down, ²²⁰²²⁰     The allusion is to the practice of the lion, who, when he intends to seize upon his prey, crouches, or lies down, and gathers himself together, both to conceal himself, and that he may make the greater spring upon his prey when it comes within his reach, (Job 38:39, 40.) that they may not, by their cruelty, frighten away their victims to a distance; for they would fain catch in their entanglements those whom they cannot hurt without coming close to them. We see how he joins these two things together, first snares or gins, and then sudden violence, as soon as the prey has fallen into their hands. For, by the second clause, he means, that whenever they see the simple to be fully in their power, they rush upon them by surprise with a savage violence, just as if a lion should furiously rise from his couch to tear in pieces his prey. ²²¹²²¹     “Comme si un lion sortant de son giste se levoit furieusement pour mettre sa proye par pieces.” — Fr. “As if a lion issuing from his den, furiously raised himself to spring upon his prey, and to tear it to pieces.” “When the lion” says Buffon “leaps up on his prey, he gives a spring of ten or fifteen feet, falls on, seizes it with his fore-paws, tears it with his claws, and afterwards devours it with his teeth.” The obvious meaning of the Psalmist is, that the ungodly are to be dreaded on all sides, because they dissemble their cruelty, till they find those caught in their toils whom they wish to devour. There is some obscurity in the words, to which we shall briefly advert. In the clause which we have rendered an army of the afflicted, the Hebrew word חלכאים, chelcaim, an army, in the opinion of some, is a word of four letters. ²²²²²²     Being the plural of, חלכה, chelcah, which occurs three times in this psalm, namely, here and in the eighth and fourteenth verses, where it is rendered poor. Those, however, think more accurately who hold it to be compound, and equivalent to two words. ²²³²²³    Namely, חל כאים chel caim. Those who adopt this reading observe, that according to the other view, the verb נפל, naphal, translated may fall, which is singular, is joined with a plural noun, חלכאים chelcaim, but that, by dividing this last word into two, we get a singular nominative to the verb. Hammond, however, who adopts the first opinion, observes, “That it is an elegance, both in the Hebrew and Arabic, to use the verb singular with the nominative plural, especially when the verb is placed first, as here it is;” and, therefore, he denies the validity of that objection against the ordinary rendering. Although, therefore, the verb נפל, naphal, is in the singular number, yet the prophet, doubtless, uses חל כאים, chel caim, collectively, to denote a great company of people who are afflicted by every one of these lions. I have rendered עצומימ, atsumim, his strengths, as if it were a substantive; because the prophet, doubtless, by this term, intends the talons and teeth of the lion, in which the strength of that beast chiefly consists. As, however, the word is properly an adjective in the plural number, signifying strong, without having any substantive with which it agrees, we may reasonably suppose that, by the talons and teeth of the lion, he means to express metaphorically a powerful body of soldiers. In short, the meaning is this: These wicked men hide their strength, by feigned humility and crafty courteous demeanour, and yet they will always have in readiness an armed band of satellites, or claws and teeth, as soon as an opportunity of doing mischief is presented to them.

11. He hath said in his heart. The Psalmist again points out the source from which the presumption of the ungodly proceeds. Because God seems to take no notice of their wicked practices, they flatter themselves with the hope of escaping unpunished. As, however, they do not openly utter with their mouth the detestable blasphemy, that God hath forgotten their conduct, and hath shut his eyes that he may never see it, but hide their thoughts in the deep recesses of their own hearts, as Isaiah declares, (Isaiah 29:15) the Psalmist uses the same form of expression which he used before, and which he repeats a little after the third time, namely, that the ungodly say to themselves, in their hearts, that God takes no concern whatever in the affairs of men. And it is to be observed, that the ungodly, when all things happen to them according to their wishes, form such a judgment of their prosperity as to persuade themselves that God is in a manner bound or obliged to them. ²²⁴²²⁴     “Or il faut noter que les meschans voyans que tout leur vient ‘X souchair sont tellement estat de leur prosperite, qu’ils se sont a croire que Dieu est aucunement obligd a eux.” — Fr. Whence it comes to pass, that they live in a state of constant security, ²²⁵²²⁵     “Qu’ils vivent sans crainte ne souci de l’advenir.” — Fr. “That they live without any fear or concern about the future.” because they do not reflect, that after God has long exercised patience towards them, they will undergo a solemn reckoning, and that their condemnation will be the more terrible, the greater the long-suffering of God.