2 O ye sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor? `How long' will ye love vanity, and seek after falsehood? Selah
As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame.
Thou wilt destroy them that speak lies: Jehovah abhorreth the blood-thirsty and deceitful man.
Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
and turn ye not aside; for `then would ye go' after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain.
that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Hath a nation changed `its' gods, which yet are no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
thus saith Jehovah, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
`But' Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be put to shame nor confounded world without end.
And they shall be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? And scoffers delight them in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?
He will judge thy people with righteousness, And thy poor with justice.
But the king shall rejoice in God: Every one that sweareth by him shall glory; For the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. Psalm 64 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Do ye indeed in silence speak righteousness? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
My soul is among lions; I lie among them that are set on fire, Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword.
Ye put to shame the counsel of the poor, Because Jehovah is his refuge.
Why do the nations rage, And the peoples meditate a vain thing?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 4
Commentary on Psalms 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 4
David was a preacher, a royal preacher, as well as Solomon; many of his psalms are doctrinal and practical as well as devotional; the greatest part of this psalm is so, in which Wisdom cries to men, to the sons of men (as Prov. 8:4, 5), to receive instruction. The title does not tell us, as that of the former did, that it was penned on any particular occasion, nor are we to think that all the psalms were occasional, though some were, but that many of them were designed in general for the instruction of the people of God, who attended in the courts of his house, the assisting of their devotions, and the directing of their conversations: such a one I take this psalm to be. Let us not make the prophecy of scripture to be of more private interpretation than needs must, 2 Pt. 1:20. Here
To the chief musician on Neginoth. A psalm of David.
Psa 4:1-5
The title of the psalm acquaints us that David, having penned it by divine inspiration for the use of the church, delivered it to the chief musician, or master of the song, who (according to the divine appointment of psalmody made in his time, which he was chiefly instrumental in the establishment of) presided in that service. We have a particular account of the constitution, the modelling of the several classes of singers, each with a chief, and the share each bore in the work, 1 Chr. 25. Some prophesied according to the order of the king, v. 2. Others prophesied with a harp, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, v. 3. Of others it is said that they were to lift up the horn, v. 5. But of them all, that they were for song in the house of the Lord (v. 6) and were instructed in the songs of the Lord, v. 7. This psalm was committed to one of the chiefs, to be sung on neginoth-stringed instruments (Hab. 3:19), which were played on with the hand; with music of that kind the choristers were to sing this psalm: and it should seem that then they only sung, not the people; but the New-Testament appoints all Christians to sing (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16), from whom it is expected that they do it decently, not artfully; and therefore there is not now so much occasion for musical instruments as there was then: the melody is to be made in the heart. In these verses,
In singing these verses we must preach to ourselves the doctrine of the provoking nature of sin, the lying vanity of the world, and the unspeakable happiness of God's people; and we must press upon ourselves the duties of fearing God, conversing with our own hearts, and offering spiritual sacrifices; and in praying over these verses we must beg of God grace thus to think and thus to do.
Psa 4:6-8
We have here,
In singing these verses, and praying over them, let us, with a holy contempt of the wealth and pleasure of this world, as insufficient to make us happy, earnestly seek the favour of God and pleasingly solace ourselves in that favour; and, with a holy indifferency about the issue of all our worldly concerns, let us commit ourselves and all our affairs to the guidance and custody of the divine Providence, and be satisfied that all shall be made to work for good to us if we keep ourselves in the love of God.