Psalm 52:1 ¶ «To the chief
Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told
Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.» Why boastest
thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth
continually. 2 Thy tongue deviseth
mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. 3 Thou lovest evil more than good; and
lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. 4 Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou
deceitful tongue. 5 God shall likewise
destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy
dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
Let’s examine the event that inspired this Psalm.
1Samuel 21:1 ¶ Then came
David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting
of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The
king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any
thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee:
and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. 3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give
me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. 4 And the priest answered David, and said,
There is no common bread under mine hand, but
there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at
least from women. 5 And David answered
the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about
these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy,
and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in
the vessel. 6 So the priest gave him
hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken
from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
7 Now a certain man of the servants of
Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an
Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. 8 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there
not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword
nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste. 9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the
Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped
in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no
other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.
David then fled to the Philistines but was driven away. The
narrative picks up again in the next chapter of 1Samuel.
1Samuel 22:6 ¶ When Saul
heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul
abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all
his servants were standing about him;) 7
Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye
Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards,
and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds; 8 That all of you have conspired against me,
and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son
of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me
that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this
day? 9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite,
which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse
coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 10 And he enquired of the LORD for him, and gave
him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. 11 Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the
priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in
Nob: and they came all of them to the king. 12
And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am,
my lord. 13 And Saul said unto him, Why
have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast
given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should
rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? 14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said,
And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king’s son
in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? 15 Did I then begin to enquire of God for him?
be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to
all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or
more. 16 And the king said, Thou shalt
surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father’s house. 17 And the king said unto the footmen that stood
about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also is
with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But
the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the
priests of the LORD. 18 And the king
said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite
turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five
persons that did wear a linen ephod. 19
And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword,
both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep,
with the edge of the sword.
20 ¶ And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of
Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. 21 And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain
the LORD’S priests. 22 And David said
unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he
would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy
father’s house. 23 Abide thou with me,
fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt
be in safeguard.
In this passage in Psalm 52, the first part of it, David seems to
be tearing into Doeg’s character as an evil man. The implication here is that
Doeg was not just ‘doing his duty’ as we would say but relished in bringing the
destruction of the priests and used his duty to the king as an excuse, knowing
the king’s paranoia and what fruit it would bear. We all know people who, while
doing what is considered the right thing or the dutiful thing, did it with the
wrong attitude. They can do the right thing with a malicious, evil bent of
mind.
Be warned as you inform on someone who has committed a crime, a
sin, or simply a mistake in the world, at work, or in your family that you will
be judged by your attitude in doing so. A smarmy, self-righteous frame of mind
or a malicious smile is not suitable for a Christian to carry.
Notice the context of people whose tongues devise mischief and
work deceitfully.
Romans 1:29 Being filled
with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud,
boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they
which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have
pleasure in them that do them.
Commentators like John Gill suggest that this is also the
character of the Antichrist, the Beast of Revelation.
Psalm 52:6 ¶ The righteous
also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: 7 Lo, this is the man that made
not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and
strengthened himself in his wickedness. 8
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in
the mercy of God for ever and ever. 9 I
will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on
thy name; for it is good before thy saints.
David speaks here of laughing at the circumstances the wicked
person will bring on himself. This is a sort of modern “how’s that working out
for you?” sort of comment. I am reminded of;
Psalm 7:16 His mischief
shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his
own pate.
The evil that men and women do sometimes comes back on them. While
I do not think it is seemly for a Christian to laugh at the misery of someone
else, even misery that person brought on himself, I can understand why we would
laugh.
But God does not take pleasure in the misery of the foolish or the
wicked.
Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto
them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from
your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Those who depend on their riches can have a shock waiting for
them, and rather quickly.
Luke 12:16 And he spake a
parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth
plentifully: 17 And he thought within
himself, saying, What shall I do, because I
have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down
my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my
goods. 19 And I will say to my soul,
Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink,
and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou
fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those
things be, which thou hast provided?
But David is like a green olive tree and he trusts in, praises
God, and waits on the mercy of the Lord.
Psalm 1:1 ¶ Blessed is the
man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and
in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the
rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also
shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
God can be trusted, David says, and waiting on the Lord is good
for those sanctified by Him. God will deal with both Doeg and Saul.
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