2 Sons of men! till when `is' my glory for shame? Ye love a vain thing, ye seek a lie. Selah.
According to their abundance so they sinned against Me, Their honour into shame I change.
Thou destroyest those speaking lies, A man of blood and deceit Jehovah doth abominate.
Wherefore, putting away the lying, speak truth each with his neighbour, because we are members one of another;
and ye do not turn aside after the vain things which do not profit nor deliver, for they `are' vain,
that, according as it hath been written, `He who is glorying -- in the Lord let him glory.'
Hath a nation changed gods? (And they `are' no gods!) And My people hath changed its honour For that which doth not profit.
Thus said Jehovah: What -- have your fathers found in Me perversity, That they have gone far off from Me, And go after the vanity, and become vain,
Israel hath been saved in Jehovah, A salvation age-during! Ye are not ashamed nor confounded Unto the ages of eternity!
and they have been affrighted and ashamed of Cush their confidence, and of Egypt their beauty,
Because sentence hath not been done `on' an evil work speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of man is full within them to do evil.
`Till when, ye simple, do ye love simplicity? And have scorners their scorning desired? And do fools hate knowledge?
He judgeth Thy people with righteousness, And Thy poor with judgment.
And the king doth rejoice in God, Boast himself doth every one swearing by Him, But stopped is the mouth of those speaking lies!
To the Overseer. -- `Destroy not.' -- A secret treasure, by David. Is it true, O dumb one, righteously ye speak? Uprightly ye judge, O sons of men?
My soul `is' in the midst of lions, I lie down `among' flames -- sons of men, Their teeth `are' a spear and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword.
The counsel of the poor ye cause to stink, Because Jehovah `is' his refuge.
Why have nations tumultuously assembled? And do peoples meditate vanity?
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.