Verse by Verse

1 We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us,
The deeds You did in their days,
In days of old:

² You drove out the nations with Your hand,
But them You planted;
You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.

³ For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword,
Nor did their own arm save them;
But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance,
Because You favored them.

⁴ You are my King, O God;
Command victories for Jacob.

⁵ Through You we will push down our enemies;
Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.

⁶ For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor shall my sword save me.

⁷ But You have saved us from our enemies,
And have put to shame those who hated us.

⁸ In God we boast all day long,
And praise Your name forever. Selah

⁹ But You have cast us off and put us to shame,
And You do not go out with our armies.

¹⁰ You make us turn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.

¹¹ You have given us up like sheep intended for food,
And have scattered us among the nations.

¹² You sell Your people for next to nothing,
And are not enriched by selling them.

¹³ You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scorn and a derision to those all around us.

¹⁴ You make us a byword among the nations,
A shaking of the head among the peoples.

¹⁵ My dishonor is continually before me,
And the shame of my face has covered me,

¹⁶ Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
Because of the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷ All this has come upon us;
But we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.

¹⁸ Our heart has not turned back,
Nor have our steps departed from Your way;

¹⁹ But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals,
And covered us with the shadow of death.

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God,
Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god,

²¹ Would not God search this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.

²² Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

²³ Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
Arise! Do not cast us off forever.

²⁴ Why do You hide Your face,
And forget our affliction and our oppression?

²⁵ For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
Our body clings to the ground.

²⁶ Arise for our help,
And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.

For the intro, see the previous post on Psalms 42 and 43.

our fathers have told us (v.1) — about the deliverance from Egypt, God’s care for the people in the wilderness and His “planting” them in Canaan. Exodus 12:26-27; Psalm 78:3.

them You planted (v.2) — referring to the people of Israel

You afflicted the peoples (v.2) — referring to the Gentile inhabitants of the land

did not gain possession (v.3) — Deuteronomy 8:11-17; Joshua 24:12

You favored them (v.3) —  The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).

The interrelated notions of Israel’s relationship with and dependence on God is vividly emphasized in verse 3 by the piling up of biblically-theologically charged expressions — in the first half of the verse focusing on Israel’s inability “by their own sword … and their own arm” (i.e., by their military strength alone) to take possession of the land (recalling the phraseology of Joshua in Joshua 24:12), and in the second half of the verse focusing, by contrast, on God’s right hand and His arm (synonyms denoting His majestic and redemptive power; cf. Psalm 77:15; Exodus 15:6, 16; Isaiah 53:1), the light of His presence (signifying privileged position [i.e., relationship] as the recipient of God’s “enlightening” salvation and love), and His favor (i.e., God’s unconditional, love-motivated and merciful blessing) — Wechsler, page 125.

in God we boast (v.8) — Psalm 34:2; Jeremiah 9:24; Romans 2:17

You have cast us off (v.9) —  This is intended not as a statement of actual fact (which would contradict a host of other biblical passages), but rather as a description of the psalmist’s feelings at that time, in the midst of Israel’s distressing situation. Wechsler, page 125-126.

cast us off (v.9) — Psalm 43:2; 60:1; 74:1; 89:38; 108:11

The scoffing and scorn and laughing in verses 13 and 14 is due to the supposed failure of Israel’s God to care for His people.

we have not forgotten You (v.17) — Unlike the circumstances in many psalms, the suffering here does not appear to be the result of sin. Wechsler suggests the context may be just before the nation was taken into captivity  by Sennacherib. He also discusses whether the circumstances are due to chastisement for disobedience or testing for refinement.

jackals (v.19) — The Hebrew word can be translated jackal, whale, sea-monster or dragon.

Verse 22 is quoted in Romans 8:36. The same theme appears in Psalm 44:11.

why do You sleep (v.23) —  Further affirmation that the psalmist’s reference in verse 9 to God “rejecting” His people is intended as a figure of speech, and not literally, is evident in his use of the same phrase here in verse 23 in parallel to the clearly figurative expression “Why dost Thou sleep, O Lord?” — for, in point of fact, the Lord, who keeps Israel, “neither slumbers nor sleeps” (Psalm 121:4; cf. also Isaiah 27:3). Whether the distress experienced by the psalmist and his people is intended as chastisement or refinement — or a mixture of both — their relationship with God is an existent reality, grounded not in the obedience (or lack thereof) of Israel, but in the Lord’s faithful love, or lovingkindness. Hence it is fundamentally for the sake of (i.e., to maintain the integrity of) the Lord’s lovingkindness, and not his or his people’s own comfort or reputation, that the psalmist makes his appeal. — Wechsler, page 127.

our soul is bowed down (v.25) — Psalm 119:25

As with so many of these psalms, some commentaries see the application in the sufferings of Israel during the Tribulation. I’m not certain if that is the primary intended application, but I an absolutely certain that the believing remnant during that time will use these psalms in that context.

We do not know the date when this psalm was written, but we know from the contents and from the setting in which it is located that it is a prophecy of the final experience of the faithful remnant of Israel before King Messiah will appear to deliver them and restore them as His earthly people to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Like Job of old, the faithful remnant cry, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Though they are looking ahead for approaching victory through the Messiah, their present state or circumstances are sill among their own ungodly nation, Israel, who reject God and the Messiah. God is no longer with the nation, as He was in the wilderness, and some of the time when they were in the land of promise. They are a reproach, a scorn and rejected. The remnant bewail themselves and their situation, but acknowledge they are of Israel, similar to that of Daniel when he was in Babylon (Daniel 9).

The deepest cry of the remnant arises from their deepest emotions for the Messiah to come to their rescue. The answer to their cry is found in the 45th Psalm. — Phillips, pages 113, 116, 119.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.

² He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.

³ He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord.

⁴ Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

⁵ Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.

⁶ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
My ears You have opened.
Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.

⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”

⁹ I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness
In the great assembly;
Indeed, I do not restrain my lips,
O Lord, You Yourself know.

¹⁰ I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
From the great assembly.

¹¹ Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord;
Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.

¹² For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;
They are more than the hairs of my head;
Therefore my heart fails me.

¹³ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
O Lord, make haste to help me!

¹⁴ Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who seek to destroy my life;
Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor
Who wish me evil.

¹⁵ Let them be confounded because of their shame,
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

¹⁶ Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let such as love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”

¹⁷ But I am poor and needy;
Yet the Lord thinks upon me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

There is a great contrast between the 22nd Psalm and the 40th one: In the 22nd Psalm we see the crucifixion of the Messiah in all of it’s detail and suffering. It is presented in such a way that there can be no doubt of it; one can stand at the cross of Calvary and read the details.

But when we come to the 40th Psalm, we find in it a submission to the cruel crucifixion that is missing in the 22nd Psalm. God seems to gradually unfold these great truths to David and to all who read. — Phillips, page 93.

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In view of the fact that verses 6-7 are cited as the direct utterance of Christ in Hebrews 10:5-10, this entire psalm, which is clearly connected to these two verses as part of the same first-person utterance, should also be taken as the direct expression of Christ concerning His first advent — though at various points also applicable, in a paradigmatic sense, of circumstances in David’s own life. — Wechsler, page 117

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heard my cry (v.1) — The expression “(God) heard my cry” here signifies — as does every biblical reference to God “hearing” (or “seeing”) — God’s compassionate fulfillment of human need. In this case that need is that of Christ, in His humanity, being brought up out of the pit (v.2) — i.e., from Sheol (which is parallel to “pit” in Psalm 30:3), thus reiterating the point of Psalm 16:10 in which David explicitly affirms God’s resurrection of the Messiah from the dead before His body would undergo decay.  Further evidence of God’s special solicitude is indicated in v.5, where, speaking now both for Himself and Israel corporately, Christ remarks God’s wonders (referring to His specific acts of deliverance, as in Exodus 34:10; Judges 6:13; Psalm 106:22, etc.) and His “thoughts toward us” — which latter phrase refers not only to God’s paternal “thoughts” of welfare, but, in light of the specific phraseology, to His greatest blessing of justification. — Wechsler, pages 117-118.

horrible pit (v.2) = noisy, rushing pit — a cavity through which waters rush

fear (v.3) = revere, reverentially trust

By saying that God has not desired sacrifice or required burnt offering (v.6) Christ is not repudiating the unchanging divine requirement of substitutionary (i.e., life-for-life) atonement, but rather affirming that (1) when sacrifice is offered, it must be accompanied by right heart attitude (e.g., faith-filled contrition, delight, gratitude) or else it means nothing (see especially Psalm 51:16-19), and (2), as explained by the writer of Hebrews, it was never in fact the animal sacrifices that satisfied God’s requirement for sin, “for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin” (Hebrews 10:4), but only the One sacrifice that was ever qualified by the spiritual purity (i.e., a soul untainted by sin and depravity) to do so — that of Christ Himself. — Wechsler, pages 118-119.

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My ears You have opened (v.6) — This is a unique expression in the Bible and for its meaning appeal can be made either to the custom of piercing the ear (consecration to perpetual service, Exodus 21:6; Deuteronomy 15:17) or to the idiom of opening the ear, signifying the imparting of a revelation from God (e.g., Isaiah 50:5). The common denominator of these two ideas is obedience and it is most likely that this is what the phrase is intended to stress. — Guthrie, page 477.

In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will (vs. 7-8) — Matthew 26:39; John 4:34; 6:38.

my iniquities (v.13) — For the Messiah, these were the imputed sins of the world (Galatians 3:13)

Verses 13-17 are almost identical to Psalm 70.

1 I said, “I will guard my ways,
Lest I sin with my tongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me.”

² I was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred up.

³ My heart was hot within me;
While I was musing, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴ “Lord, make me to know my end,
And what is the measure of my days,
That I may know how frail I am.

⁵ Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my age is as nothing before You;
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah

⁶ Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they busy themselves in vain;
He heaps up riches,
And does not know who will gather them.

⁷ “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.

⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.

⁹ I was mute, I did not open my mouth,
Because it was You who did it.

¹⁰ Remove Your plague from me;
I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.

¹¹ When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity,
You make his beauty melt away like a moth;
Surely every man is vapor. Selah

¹² “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And give ear to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears;
For I am a stranger with You,
A sojourner, as all my fathers were.

¹³ Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength,
Before I go away and am no more.”

Jeduthun (Intro) — A Levite, chief singer and instructor, father of one of the three families of Levitical singers. See 1 Chronicles 9:16; 16:38-42; 25:1-6; 2 Chronicles 5:12; 35:15; Nehemiah 11:17. He is mentioned in the inscriptions of Psalms 39; 62; 77.

This psalm attests thematic and phraseological parallels both to the previous psalm (e.g., “I am like a dumb man”//”I have become dumb” [38:13; 39:2, 9]; “my plague”//”Thy plague” [38:11; 39:10; in both cases referring to God’s chastisement]; “O Lord, rebuke me not … chasten me not”//”with rebukes Thou dost chasten” [38:1; 39:11]) as well as to the words of Job (e.g., “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extend of my days”//”What is my end, that I should endure?” [Psalm 39:4a; Job 6:11]; “Turn Thy gaze away from me that I may have cheer before I go and am no more”//”Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer before I go and am no more” [Psalm 39:11; Job 10:20b-21]). These latter parallels, together with the thematic focus of this psalm, suggests that Job’s repentance at the end of that book (42:6) is not for anything he said that was wrong (so Job 2:10: “In all this Job did not sin with his lips”), but rather for what he did not say — perhaps due to whispers of doubt in his hear — in correcting his companions’ erroneous portrayal of God. — Wechsler, pages 114-115.

the fire burned (v.3) — Jeremiah 20:9

David begins by reviewing his past determination not to sin with his tongue, and to guard his mouth while the wicked were in his presence (v.1) — i.e., knowing his own tendency to meet injustice with quick-tempered outbursts rather than more thoughtful and discerning responses, David determined to refrain from rash pronouncements that he might later regret as excessive, and hence sinful (as in 1 Samuel 25:21-22, 33). While this determination was, in and of itself, a good thing, consistent with biblical wisdom (see Proverbs 14:29; 17:27), David took it too far by remaining silent when he should have spoken and, in so doing, refrained even from good (v.2). That David’s silence at such a point was in fact sinful is underscored by the precept preceding — indeed, leading up to — the Second Greatest Commandment itself, in Leviticus 19:17: “You shall surely reprove your neighbor and not incur sin because of him” (i.e., if you do not reprove your neighbor when he sins, you will incur sin because you said nothing). — Wechsler, pages 115-116.

vapor (v.5) — Psalm 62:9

shadow (v.6) = image, phantom, vain show

riches (v.6) — Luke 12:20

David affirms, in the concluding section, that the fact of human transience and the futility of his works does not, in the end, exonerate him from guilt as a responsible moral agent. Though every man is indeed a mere breath (v.11) and, whatever we do or don’t do, God’s purposes will be achieved, each of us is still fully responsible for — and God is still keenly concerned with — the way in which we conduct ourselves here and now. To put it differently, it is not the “ends” for which we, as believers, are responsible, but the “means” — it is in the means, or manner, by which we live our lives that our gratitude and obedience, and hence our love for God, is expressed, and for which we are held accountable by Him. It is in this respect that David now acknowledges his transgressions (v.8) — i.e., for his “manner” of having kept silent when he should have spoken — and affirms the justness and necessity of God’s chastisement. — Wechsler, pages 116-117.

stranger/sojourner (v.12) — Leviticus 25:23; 1 Chronicles 29:15; Hebrews 11:13

I’m not certain that I’ve grasped the meaning of this psalm. If Wechsler is correct, and I have no better solution to offer, David is writing about the importance of speaking up for the Lord and not worrying about what anyone says. Our lives are short. Our hope is in the Lord. It’s only what we do for Him that matters, so we shouldn’t hesitate to do it.

1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!

² For Your arrows pierce me deeply,
And Your hand presses me down.

³ There is no soundness in my flesh
Because of Your anger,
Nor any health in my bones
Because of my sin.

⁴ For my iniquities have gone over my head;
Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

⁵ My wounds are foul and festering
Because of my foolishness.

⁶ I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.

⁷ For my loins are full of inflammation,
And there is no soundness in my flesh.

⁸ I am feeble and severely broken;
I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.

⁹ Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.

¹⁰ My heart pants, my strength fails me;
As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.

¹¹ My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague,
And my relatives stand afar off.

¹² Those also who seek my life lay snares for me;
Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction,
And plan deception all the day long.

¹³ But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth.

¹⁴ Thus I am like a man who does not hear,
And in whose mouth is no response.

¹⁵ For in You, O Lord, I hope;
You will hear, O Lord my God.

¹⁶ For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me,
Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”

¹⁷ For I am ready to fall,
And my sorrow is continually before me.

¹⁸ For I will declare my iniquity;
I will be in anguish over my sin.

¹⁹ But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong;
And those who hate me wrongfully have multiplied.

²⁰ Those also who render evil for good,
They are my adversaries, because I follow what is good.

²¹ Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, be not far from me!

²² Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!

To bring to remembrance (intro) — more literally, “for bringing to remembrance” — which suggests that it may have been recited in connection with the Feast of Trumpeting (known today as “Rosh ha-Shanah,” or the Jewish New Year festival), which is specifically described as “a memorial” (Leviticus 23:24).  Further supporting this connection is parallel thematic focus between this psalm and the Feast of Trumpets — to wit, in the latter, on personal refinement (symbolized by the “fire offering” mentioned in Leviticus 23:25) — i.e., the intended outcome of divine chastisement — and, in this psalm, on the individual’s proper response to God’s chastisement. — Wechsler, pages 112-113

One of the penitential psalm. The others are 6, 32, 51, 102, 130 and 143.

rebuke and chasten (v.1) — primarily the responsibilities of a father — David is approaching God as his Father. (Psalm 6:1)

David believes that it is his sin that has brought on his troubles (v.3). He describes the effects of that sin on him physically (vs. 3 and 7) and emotionally (vs. 6 and 8).

feeble (v.8) = numb, faint, sluggish

It is important to note that David expresses this sense of overpowering distress and powerlessness within the context of relationship and proximity to God — as indicated not only by his very act of directly addressing God throughout this psalm, but also by his declaration in v.9 that all his desire is before God and his sighing is not hidden from Him — i.e., God knows David is aggrieved over his sins and desires restoration to a healthy relationship/communion with his Lord (cf. 2 Samuel 7:20). — Wechsler, pages 113-114

my loved ones and my friends stand aloof (v.11) — Psalm 31:11

response (v.14) = argument, refutation

for in You, O Lord, I hope (v.15) — David affirms his dependence on God

I will declare my iniquity (v.18) — Psalm 32:5

As is generally the case, Williams sees a Messianic theme in this psalm.

The psalm reveals the thoughts that filled the heart of Jesus up to, and upon the Cross. The statements of verse 13 link the psalm to Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:22-24, etc. It describes His sympathetic intercession for His people, justly suffering the wrath of God because of their sins; and it records the hatred and ingratitude  of those who ought to have loved Him. He came unto His own but His own received Him not. Himself sinless, He here loads Himself with the believers’ sins; makes full confession of them; admits the justice of the Divine wrath against them; and utters no reproach against those members of His nation who sought to destroy Him. He does not excuse or belittle sin; nor does He murmur at the wrath of God against it. He magnifies that wrath, and reposes in the righteousness of that Judge of all the earth. — Williams, page 326.

1 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.

² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.

³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.

⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

⁷ Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret — it only causes harm.

⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.

¹⁰ For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.

¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

¹² The wicked plots against the just,
And gnashes at him with his teeth.

¹³ The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.

¹⁴ The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.

¹⁵ Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶ A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.

¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸ The Lord knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.

¹⁹ They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

²⁰ But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.

²¹ The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But the righteous shows mercy and gives.

²² For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.

²³ The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.

²⁴ Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.

²⁵ I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.

²⁶ He is ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.

²⁷ Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.

²⁸ For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.

²⁹ The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.

³¹ The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall slide.

³² The wicked watches the righteous,
And seeks to slay him.

³³ The Lord will not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he is judged.

³⁴ Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

³⁵ I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.

³⁶ Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

³⁷ Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;
For the future of that man is peace.

³⁸ But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹ But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰ And the Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him.

This is an acrostic psalm. There are 22 stanzas, each commencing with the successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It was written when David was an old man (v.25).

The central motif is that of divine reward, with specific focus on (1) the nature of that reward as epitomized by the eternal inheritance of “the land” in the hereafter, and (2) the character of those so rewarded, who represents only a portion (i.e., a remnant) of humanity. Both of these aspects of the “reward” motif punctuate the psalm at various points by synonymous descriptions of the rewardees (i.e., “those who wait for the Lord,” “the humble,” “those blessed by Him,” “the righteous,” “(those who) keep His way”) followed by the declaration that they will “inherit the land” (vs. 9, 11, 22, 29, 34). — Wechsler, pages 109-110.

do not fret (vs. 1, 7 and 8) = do not glow, do not grow warm — Psalm 73:3; Proverbs 23:17; 24:19

they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb (v.2) — Psalm 90:6; 103:15; Isaiah 40:6-8; James 1:10-11

rest (v.7) = be silent, be still

meek (v.11) — Considering the context of the present psalm from which Jesus cites this verse, as well as how the Hebrew word translated “humble” is used elsewhere, it becomes clear that He is referring not to those who, in the submission of their faith, set aside their own interests and priorities in order to wait upon those of God. — Wechsler, page 111

the meek shall inherit the earth (v.11) — Matthew 5:5. Earth should probably be translated “land” as also in vs. 9, 22, 29, 34. The same Hebrew word is used in all these verses.

the Lord laughs at him (v.13) — Psalm 2:4; 59:8

a little that a righteous man has (v.16) — Proverbs 15:16; 16:8

splendor of the meadows (v.20) — can also be translated “fat (as in ‘valuable’) of the lamb,” which makes more sense to me because fat in a piece of meat would burn during cooking or sacrificing

Verse 25 does not mean that a good man is never destitute (cf. 1 Samuel 21:3; 25:8), but that he is never forsaken by the Lord.

As a prophecy, this psalm will have its fulfillment during Israel’s future “time of trouble” (v.39) when under the oppression of the Antichrist. It has, at the same time, counsel and comfort for the people of God in any dispensation when perplexed and persecuted. — Williams, page 326.

There is certainly application today, when so many Christians are frightened and angry about the mainstreaming of evil in our country. The theme, in short, is that the prosperity of the wicked is temporary and tainted, but that of the righteous is sure and will be both better and eternal.

1 An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.

² For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.

³ The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.

⁴ He devises wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself in a way that is not good;
He does not abhor evil.

⁵ Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

⁶ Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

⁷ How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

⁸ They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.

⁹ For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.

¹⁰ Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.

¹¹ Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹² There the workers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been cast down and are not able to rise.

The central motif of this psalm is God’s hesed, traditionally translated “lovingkindness,” specifically denoting the expression of God’s covenant love (see Psalm 5:7).

Rather than pursuing the dictates of hesed exemplified by God, the ungodly (i.e., those who don’t know God, per the contrast with v.10) pursue the dictates of its opposite, pesha (“unfaithfulness”; “transgression”; “acts which break relationships”). The centrality of pesha to the ungodly is vividly underscored by the opening statement that it “speaks” — which verb translates the formulaic Hebrew term ne um, used throughout the Old Testament primarily to signify the utterances of God, whether given directly or communicated through a prophet (cf. Genesis 2:16; Psalm 110:1; Zechariah 12:1). It’s use here in the opening verse thus implies that, to the ungodly, pesha (unfaithfulness) serves the same role that God’s Word (and its exemplification in hesed) serves to the godly — to wit: the authoritative model to emulate in all aspects of life. It should be noted, moreover, that the ungodly in verse 1 refers not just to the especially wicked, but in fact, in view of how the verse is cited by Paul in Romans 3:18, everyone — “both Jews and Gentiles” — who have not submitted themselves to God, in faith, as “slaves of righteousness,” and who are therefore still “under” (i.e., slaves of) sin (Romans 6:17-18). — Wechsler, pages 107-108.

Verse 1 is quoted in Romans 3:18.

The sense of verse 2 is that the unsaved man flatters himself regarding his sin so that he does not recognize its evil and hate it.

He devises wickedness on his bed (v.4) — Proverbs 4:16; Micah 2:1

is in the heavens (v.5) = inexhaustible, never ceasing

trust (v.7) — Trust is the characteristic Old Testament word for the New Testament “faith,” and “believe.” It occurs 152 times in the Old Testament, and is the rendering of Hebrew words signifying to take refuge (e.g., Ruth 2:12); to lean on (e.g., Psalm 56:3); to roll on (e.g. Psalm 22:8); to wait for (e.g., Job 35:14). — Scofield, page 602.

pleasures (v.8) = a luxury, delight — from the Hebrew word Eden.

fountain of life (v.9) — Jeremiah 2:13; John 4:10, 14.

In Your light we see light (v.9) — For man God is the only source of light, which in the Bible is employed as a symbol of life and/or salvation, whether physical or spiritual (cf. Psalm 49:19; Isaiah 9:2; John 1:4-9; Ephesians 5:8; Revelation 21:22-23). — Wechsler, page 109

continue (v.10) = lit. “draw out at length”