1 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?
To the Overseer. -- `Destroy not.' -- A secret treasure of David, in his fleeing from the face of Saul into a cave. Favour me, O God, favour me, For in Thee is my soul trusting, And in the shadow of Thy wings I trust, Until the calamities pass over.
I -- I have said, `Gods ye `are', And sons of the Most High -- all of you, But as man ye die, and as one of the heads ye fall,
and having heard, they did enter at the dawn into the temple, and were teaching. And the chief priest having come, and those with him, they called together the sanhedrim and all the senate of the sons of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have them brought,
And lo, a man, by name Joseph, being a counsellor, a man good and righteous, -- he was not consenting to their counsel and deed -- from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who also himself was expecting the reign of God,
And morning having come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus, so as to put him to death;
Lo, days are coming -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have raised to David a righteous shoot, And a king hath reigned and acted wisely, And done judgment and righteousness in the earth. In his days is Judah saved, and Israel dwelleth confidently, And this his name that Jehovah proclaimeth him, `Our Righteousness.'
Lo, for righteousness doth a king reign, As to princes, for judgment they rule.
To refresh him in the fear of Jehovah, And by the sight of his eyes he judgeth not, Nor by the hearing of his ears decideth. And he hath judged in righteousness the poor, And decided in uprightness for the humble of earth, And hath smitten earth with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips he putteth the wicked to death. And righteousness hath been the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness -- the girdle of his reins.
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou hast known that they are elders of the people, and its authorities; and thou hast taken them unto the tent of meeting, and they have stationed themselves there with thee,
-- A Psalm of Asaph. God hath stood in the company of God, In the midst God doth judge. Till when do ye judge perversely? And the face of the wicked lift up? Selah.
By Solomon. O God, Thy judgments to the king give, And Thy righteousness to the king's son. He judgeth Thy people with righteousness, And Thy poor with judgment. The mountains bear peace to the people, And the heights by righteousness. He judgeth the poor of the people, Giveth deliverance to the sons of the needy, And bruiseth the oppressor.
To the Overseer. -- `Destroy not,' by David. -- A secret treasure, in Saul's sending, and they watch the house to put him to death. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God, From my withstanders set me on high.
and saith unto the judges, `See what ye are doing -- for not for man do ye judge, but for Jehovah, who `is' with you in the matter of judgment; and now, let fear of Jehovah be upon you, observe and do, for there is not with Jehovah our God perverseness, and acceptance of faces, and taking of a bribe.'
And all the elders of Israel come unto the king, to Hebron, and king David maketh with them a covenant in Hebron before Jehovah, and they anoint David for king over Israel.
`Judges and authorities thou dost make to thee within all thy gates which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, for thy tribes; and they have judged the people -- a righteous judgment. Thou dost not turn aside judgment; thou dost not discern faces, nor take a bribe, for the bribe blindeth the eyes of the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
`And I take the heads of your tribes, men, wise and known, and I appoint them heads over you, princes of thousands, and princes of hundreds, and princes of fifties, and princes of tens, and authorities, for your tribes. And I command your judges at that time, saying, Hearkening between your brethren -- then ye have judged righteousness between a man, and his brother, and his sojourner;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 58
Commentary on Psalms 58 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 58
It is the probable conjecture of some (Amyraldus particularly) that before Saul began to persecute David by force of arms, and raised the militia to seize him, he formed a process against him by course of law, upon which he was condemned unheard, and attainted as a traitor, by the great council, or supreme court of judicature, and then proclaimed "qui caput gerit lupinum-an outlawed wolf,' whom any man might kill and no man might protect. The elders, in order to curry favour with Saul, having passed this bill of attainder, it is supposed that David penned this psalm on the occasion.
Sin appears here both exceedingly sinful and exceedingly dangerous, and God a just avenger of wrong, with which we should be affected in singing this psalm.
To the chief musician, Al-taschith, Michtam of David.
Psa 58:1-5
We have reason to think that this psalm refers to the malice of Saul and his janizaries against David, because it bears the same inscription (Al-taschith, and Michtam of David) with that which goes before and that which follows, both which appear, by the title, to have been penned with reference to that persecution through which God preserved him (Al-taschith-Destroy not), and therefore the psalms he then penned were precious to him, Michtams-David's jewels, as Dr. Hammond translates it.
In these verses David, not as a king, for he had not yet come to the throne, but as a prophet, in God's name arraigns and convicts his judges, with more authority and justice than they showed in prosecuting him. Two things he charges them with:
Psa 58:6-11
In these verses we have,