Annotations Upon the Books of Poetry, Psalms · Psalm 58
PSALM LVIII.
Verſ. 1. DO ye indeed ſpeak righteouſneſse, O congregation, &c.] Some conceive that by this word congregation any pack of wicked men may be meant, that combined together againſt David. But I rather think it is meant of thoſe that were in place of authority; as if he had ſaid, You that are Sauls counſellers and judges, by your place ye ought to ſpeak righteouſneſſe, and judge uprightly, even as God doth, whoſe perſon ye repreſent, Iſa. 45.19. I the Lord ſpeak righteouſneſſe, I declare things that are right: and indeed in your proceedings againſt me this you pretend to doe, you colour over your practiſes againſt me with a pretence of zeal for juſtice, and for the good of the kingdome: but ſuch is the clear juſtice of my cauſe, that I dare appeal to your ſelves; when to flatter Saul for your own advantage, you can ſlander one that you know is guiltleſſe, and that hath deſerved ſo well both of him and the whole kingdome, is this to ſpeak righteouſneſſe? judge your ſelves: do ye judge uprightly, O ye ſons of men ſee the Note Pſal. 57.4.
Verſ. 2. Yea, in heart you work wickedneſse, &c.] Hereby David would imply, that they did not only ſpeak and doe that which was wicked, but that they alſo did it wittingly, having plotted & contrived it before in their hearts; & ſo conſequently, that the miſchief they did, proceeded not from humane frailty, & the over-bearing power of any ſudden temptation, but from the mere wickedneſſe of their hearts: you weigh the violence of your hands in the earth; that is, the evil and injuſtice which you have plotted in your hearts you afterwards act openly, not in a corner, but in the ſight of all men. And by this phraſe, you weigh the violence of your hands, he implyes 1. that deliberately they contrived to execute the evil they had conceived in their hearts; and 2. that in all the violence wherewith they oppreſſed him and others, they pretended juſtice. A pair of balances is the emblem of juſtice, becauſe that doth exactly determine the juſt weight of things, making no difference between gold and lead; and therefore to imply that they pretended to weigh all things duly, and to deal with all men exactly, according to the balance of juſtice, and yet did notwithſtanding oppreſſe men with much violence, he expreſſeth it thus, that they weighed the violence of their hands in the earth.
Verſ. 3. The wicked are eſtranged from the womb, &c.] To wit, from God and his people, and from all holineſſe and righteouſneſſe; as the Apoſtle ſaith of naturall men, that they are alienated from the life of God, Eph. 4.18. See the Note Pſal. 54.3: they goe aſtray as ſoon as they be born; that is, even from their childhood. Now though this be the naturall and common condition of all mankind, yet David mentions it here with reſpect to his enemies, and as an aggravation of their wickedneſſe, as implying thereby, that it was by long cuſtome grown uncurable. By his reſtraining power God doth ſo bridle the corruptions of ſome graceleſſe men, that they are of a more harmleſſe converſation then others are; and if they do at ſome times break out into ſome lewd courſes, yet they recover themſelves, and give over ſuch courſes again: but now of his enemies David would imply this, that they had been deſperately wicked even from the cradle; which is that the Prophet alſo intended in Iſa. 48.8. thou waſt called a tranſgreſſor from the womb. As for the following words, ſpeaking lies, that particular of their lying and ſlandering is perhaps the rather expreſſed, becauſe lying is uſually one of the firſt ſins of young children.
Verſ. 4. Their poiſon is like the poiſon of a ſerpent, &c.] That is, Their virulent diſpoſition and wickedneſſe is as deadly to men, againſt whom as ſerpents they ſpit out their venome and malice, as the poiſon of ſerpents is: they are like the deaf adder, (or aſp) that ſtoppeth her ear, &c. Some writers report of the aſp, that to prevent the charmer, ſhe is wont to lay one ear cloſe and hard to the ground, and to ſtop the other with her tail, that ſhe may not hear his enchantments. In reference hereto, or at leaſt to the common conceit of people herein, David here compares his enemies, that would by no means be perſwaded to deſiſt from their wicked courſes, though theſe perſwaſions tended meerly to their good, to theſe adders or aſps, that thus ſtop their eares againſt the charmer, when he ſeeks only to rid them of their poiſon, and to make them harmleſſe. And it may be that he had herein particular reſpect to Saul and his courtiers, in that after they had heard that moving Apology of David 1 Sam. 24.9. they left not off to perſecute him; which ſome therefore think was the occaſion of penning this Pſalm. We have ſeverall other places of ſcripture, that allude to that which is ſaid of the ſerpent and the charmer; as that Eccleſ. 10.11. Surely the ſerpent will bite without inchantment, and that Jer. 8.17. I will ſend ſerpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed: but yet this doth not juſtify charmes, ſee Deut. 18.10. for ſimilitudes are often taken in the ſcripture from ſinfull practiſes, as from the thief Rev. 16.15. See alſo Luk. 16.8, and 18.1. &c.
Verſ. 6. Break their teeth, O God, &c.] See the Notes Job 4.10. and Pſal. 3.7, and 10.15.
Verſ. 7. Let them melt away as waters, which run continually, &c.] That is, like waters congealed to ſnow or ice, which when they are melted by the ſun or rain, do continually run away till they be quite waſted and gone: and obſervable it is, that whilſt his enemies might ſeem in the eye of reaſon, for their ſtrength and unmoveableneſſe, like ſo many mountains and rocks, yet by faith he looked upon them as ſo many heaps of ſnow or ice, that might ſoon come to nothing. Yet ſome hold that David compares them here to flouds of water, that continually paſſe away: for which ſee the Note Gen. 49.4. When he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, that is, the wicked man, let them be as cut in pieces, that is, as arrows that being ſhot do ſnap in ſunder, and ſo can never doe hurt.
Verſ. 8. As a ſnail which melteth, let everyone of them paſſe away, &c.] The ſnail is ſaid to melt, either 1 becauſe being troden upon, it preſently turns into a ſlimy water; or 2. becauſe being once out of the ſhell, it ſoon ſpends its moiſture, and through the heat of the ſun it waſtes and dies; yea ſome ſay that if ſalt be put upon it, hereby it will melt to water; or 3. becauſe the ſnail lives not long, but within a while waſtes away, and leaves her ſhell empty. But however here again it is worth the obſerving, that by way of contempt he compares his mighty dreadfull enemies to ſuch a poor creature as the ſnail; which though it may ſeem to threaten with its horns, yet alas there is no danger nor dread in them. Like the untimely birth of a woman, they shall not ſee the ſun; that is, as an untimely birth dies before it be born, and ſo never ſees the ſun, ſo ſhall it be with them, in the midſt of thoſe great deſigns they have conceived in their minds, they ſhall be cut off, and ſo they ſhall not be able to bring them to effect.
Verſ. 9. Before your pots can feel your thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirl-wind, &c.] That is, Before your pots can be well warmed, by the burning of the thorns which you put under them, God ſhall ſuddenly and violently cut them off as with a whirl-wind: ſo that the meaning is, that look as thorns put under a pot, though they be ſoon kindled, and with a great crackling noiſe do ſuddenly break forth into a mighty flame, yet are ſoon burnt away, before the pot can come to feel, as it were, the heat of the fire; ſo God ſhould take away Davids enemies before they had made the leaſt progreſſe in a manner in thoſe great deſigns, which raſhly, and with a great deal of fury they at firſt undertook: and therefore he adds, both living, that is, whilſt they are yet vigorous and lively, in the very flower of their lives, ſee the Note Pſal. 55.15; and in his wrath, that is, in his juſt indignation againſt them.
Verſ. 10. The righteous shall rejoyce, &c.] Meaning himſelf and others: when he ſeeth the vengeance; yet not ſimply at the deſtruction of their enemies, but becauſe themſelves are delivered, and God is glorified in their deſtruction: and therefore it is ſaid alſo in the next words, He shall wash his feet in the bloud, not of his enemies, but of the wicked. And by that phraſe of waſhing his feet in their bloud is implyed, 1. in what abundance their bloud ſhould be ſhed, ſo that the righteous might as conquerours walk up to the ankles in bloud, according to a like expreſſion Pſal. 68, 23. that thy foot may be dipped in the bloud of thine enemies; and 2. that the righteous ſhould be refreſhed by the ſhedding of theſe wicked mens bloud; as men uſed in thoſe times to refreſh themſelves by the waſhing of their feet. To which alſo ſome adde, that he ſhould hereby become more pure and holy in all his waies, as being ſtirred up thereto by Gods judgements on the wicked.
Verſ. 11. So that a man shall ſay, &c.] That is, Many men ſhall ſay, not only the righteous, who having been ſtaggered before, ſhall hereby recover themſelves, but alſo wicked men, being forced by this clear evidence to the acknowledgement of theſe truths; Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth; that is, he obſerveth and judgeth thoſe things that are done here below; neither is all the puniſhment of the wicked reſerved to the world to come.