2610 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But [it was] thou,.... The Targum is, "but thou Ahithophel"; of whom the words are literally to be understood, and so they are in the Talmud (u); and mystically and typically of Judas; a man mine equal; "a man", and not a beast, nor a devil; but a man, from whom humanity, kindness, and tenderness might have been expected; though both Ahithophel...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
We took sweet counsel together,.... Not in religious matters; for in these the testimonies of the Lord were David's counsellors, Psalms 119:24; but in civil things: hearty counsel is one branch of friendship, and which greatly sweetens it, Proverbs 27:9; as this may be applied to Christ and Judas, it may denote the mutual delight and pleasure they...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Let death seize upon them,.... Ahithophel and his accomplices, Judas and the men with him; as a mighty man, as the king of terrors, and shake them to pieces. Or, "let him exact upon them" (a); as a creditor upon the debtor, and demand the debt of punishment for sin: or let him come upon them at an unawares; let them not die a natural, but a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
As for me, I will call upon God,.... Not upon a creature, on idols and images, on angels or saints departed; but upon God, in his time of trouble, for salvation and deliverance from enemies; who is able to save. This is to be understood of calling upon God in prayer; as Psalms 55:17 explains it, and the Targum here renders it; though sometimes...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray,.... These being the stated times of prayer with the Jews, and which continued to later ages, Daniel 6:10. These times, they say (b), were fixed by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: the morning prayer by Abraham, according to Genesis 22:3, the prayer of the "minchah" by Isaac, according to Genesis 24:63; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle [that was] against me,.... That is, God had preserved his life, and delivered him safe and sound from many a battle which was fought against him, and might seem at first to go against him; and had given him peace and rest from all his enemies before the present trouble came upon him, 2 Samuel 7:1;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
God shall hear and afflict them,.... That is, either he shall hear the prayers of his servant, imprecating evils upon his enemies, Psalms 55:9; and shall bring them down upon them, in answer to his requests; or it may be, rendered, "God shall hear and answer them" (c); he shall hear their blasphemies, and take notice of their wickedness, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He hath put forth his hands,.... The psalmist returns and describes, in this verse Psalms 55:3, the cruelty, perfidy, and hypocrisy of his false friend; who had stretched forth his hands against such as be at peace with him, or he pretended to be at peace with. So Ahithophel put forth his hands against David, by whom he had been admitted into his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[The words] of his mouth were smoother than butter,.... Such were the words of Ahithophel, when in counsel with David; and such the words of Judas, when he said to Christ, "hail, master", and kissed him, Matthew 26:49; but war [was] in his heart; even a civil war, rebellion against his prince; that was what Ahithophel meditated in his heart; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Cast thy burden upon the Lord,.... These are either the words of the Holy Ghost to David, according to Jarchi; or of David to his own soul in distress, and may be directed to any good man in like circumstances. The word rendered "burden" signifies a gift and so the words are translated by many, "cast thy gift upon the Lord" (f); what he has given...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But thou, O God, shall bring them down,.... Ahithophel and his accomplices in the conspiracy against David, Judas and the wicked Jews concerned in Christ's death; and did not believe in him; into the pit of destruction, or "corruption" (i); either the grave, where bodies being put corrupt and putrefy; or hell, where the wicked are punished with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Psalms 56 To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David when the Philistines took him in Gath. The words "jonathelemrechokim" are by our translators left untranslated. Aben Ezra takes them to be the beginning of a song; and others think they are the name of a musical instrument: but they seem rather to design the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Be merciful unto me, O God,.... For David could expect no mercy at the hands of men, among whom he was, whose tender mercies were cruel; he being at Gath, the city of Goliath, whom he had slain, and whose sword he had now with him; and among his brethren and friends, who he might justly fear would revenge his death upon him: wherefore he betakes...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Mine enemies would daily swallow [me] up,.... For not one man only, but many, were his enemies; who observed and watched him, and were eagerly desirous of his ruin. The believer has many enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, seeking to devour and destroy him, though they cannot; for [they be] many that fight against me, O thou most High; he appeals...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
What time I am afraid,.... It was a time of fear with him now; he was afraid of Achish king of Gath, 1 Samuel 21:12; so believers have their times of fear; about their interest in the love, and grace, and covenant of God; about their sins and corruptions, and the prevalence of them, fearing they shall perish by them; and about their enemies, who...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
In God I will praise his word,.... Or praise him for his words for the whole Scripture that was then in being; for those testimonies which were David's counsellors in times of difficulty and distress; and particularly for some word of promise made unto him, he was persuaded would be fulfilled, and in which he gloried and made his boast of, and on...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Every day they wrest my words,.... Form, fashion, and shape them at their pleasure; construe them, and put what sense upon them they think fit. The word (u) is used of the formation of the human body, in Job 10:8; They put his words upon the rack, and made them speak what he never intended; as some men wrest the Scriptures to their own...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They gather themselves together,.... And meet in some one place, to contrive ways and means to do hurt, and then assemble together again to put them in execution; as did the Jews with respect to Christ, Matthew 26:3. Aben Ezra supposes a various reading without any reason; and that, instead of יגורו which Jarchi renders "they lodge", and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Shall they escape by iniquity?.... Shall such iniquity as this, or persons guilty of it, go unpunished, or escape righteous judgment, and the vengeance of God? No; and much less shall they escape by means of their iniquity; by their wicked subtlety, or by any evil arts and methods made use of, by making a covenant with death, and an agreement with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou tellest my wanderings,.... Not his sins; though these are aberrations or wanderings from the ways of God's commandments; yet these are not told by the Lord: he takes no account of them; the number of them is not kept by him; they are blotted out, cast behind his back, and into the depths of the sea; though sometimes his people think they are...