I. APPEAL TO JEHOVAH. A PRAYER FOR HELP (1-2). I. The Petition of the Psalmist (1a). Because of the prevailing corruption. 2. The Provocation by the Wicked (1b-2). II. AFFIRMATION BY DAVID. PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED (3-4). Their mendacious words quoted. III. ANSWER FROM JEHOVAH. A PROMISE OF HELP (5). His veracious words quoted. IV. ASSURANCE OF DAVID. PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTEOUS (6-8). I. The Perfection of the Word (6). 2. The Preservation of the Righteous (7-8). In spite of. the prevailing corruption. SUPERSCRIPT.-A psalm of David. SUBSCRIPT.-For the Chief Musician. PRIMARY AssoCIATION.-Writer is David: time, probably while he was at Saul's court or during his outlaw life. Prophecy and psalmody meet in this psalm, for we hear the writer addressing God and God answering through the writer. Note, three voices heard, (a) the psalmist's, (b) the oppressors', and (c) the Lord's. PROPHETIC -ANTICIPATION.-Belongs to thÇ, same period as the previous psalm. If, as we believe, all true lielievers are caught away (1 Thess. iv.) immediately preceding the.commencement ofDaniel's seventieth "week" then particular point is given to the complaint of the psalmist-prophet recorded in first and following verses. How truly will this psalm express the feelings of the godly Jewish remnant at that time. PERSONAL APPLICATION.-Note that in 1-4, man is spoken of, in 5-8, God. Their words are strongly contrasted. Men's words are the weapons of the wicked; Jehovah's words are the safety of the saint. The words of the wicked are worthless, the words of Jehovah are weighty. The words of the wicked manifest, Vanity (2), Flattery (2), Duplicity (2), and Audacity (3). The words of the Lord are Pure (6), Proved (2), and Preserved (7). The devil uses words to ensnare and slay men; the Lord uses words (the gospel)
to enlighten and save n1en. Remember that our words, too, are powerful for good or for evil. Three great mistakes made by the wicked in their statements (4) namely, (a) their tongue sqall not prevail; (b) their lips are not their own; (c) they are not their own masters (Rom. vi. 16). Even God's people need to remember that their tongues, their lips and themselves altogether belong to rnother. The foolish attitude of the men of to-day is, "The untrue is true because we pronounce it true," 3-4. The Word of God is true cur rency, the best medium of exchange in all human dealings. VERSE NOTES B "s Jeh ah £ "th ell ,, 1. r. ave, ov , or . . . note connection w1 5c; go y, see note on iv. 3; "ceaseth ... fail "; graciousness and trustworthiness seem to have quite disappeared; a calamity for any country. 2. c£ 1 Sam. xxi.v. 9. Hypocrisy and duplicity are universal; c£ 2 Tim. iii.; "vanity" or, falsehood; their words are hollow and unreal; (b) their lips and heart are neither consistent nor constant, ctr. the men of Zebulon, 1 Chron. xii. 3 3 ; see Prov. xxvi. 24 ff. 3. Or, "May Jehovah . . ." 4. "Who is lord," i.e. they deceive themselves into thinking that no one can call them to account for all the falsehoods by which they seek to obtain theil- evil ends. 3-4. See James iii. 1-12. 5. "For ... for," hr. "because of ... because of ... "; the moment for action has at last come; here is the answer to iii. 7 and vii. 6; (c) see x. 5 note. 6. In Jehovah's words, no dross, no alloy of falsehood or flattery, ctr. words of men, 2-4; (b) omit" as,"; silver is the embl<:m of purity and preciousness, cxix. 40; "seven times purified," i.e. again and again until no trace of dross is left; seven is the number of completeness and perfection. 7. Br. "Thou (emph.) Jehovah wilt preserve them," i.e. the poor and needy of 5; "Thou wilt guard him ... "i.e. each one of the sufferers is singled out as the object of divine care; "this generation," from denoting people of some particular age, the expression comes to indicate a class of persons in a good or bad sense; this usage is frequent in Scripture, e.g. Matt. xvii. 17. 8. When vile men are raised- to positions of authority, the wicked swagger everywhere unabashed and unrestrained. This will be truer still of the last days; see xi. 3.
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