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. Of the title “Maschil,” See Gill on “Ps. 32:1,” title. The occasion of this psalm is here related, the history of which is in 1 Sam. 21:7.

Why boastest thou thyself in mischief? &c.] Or “in evil” [[21]]; in that which is sinful; to glory in riches, wisdom, and strength, which are not in themselves evil, is wrong; and to rejoice in such boastings, all such rejoicing is evil; to be a doer of mischief, or sin, is bad; to make a sport of…

Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs Abundance of mischiefs, in a variety of ways, against many persons, even all good men. What properly belongs to the heart is here ascribed to the tongue; because, as Aben Ezra observes, it is the interpreter and discoverer of the thoughts of the heart: out of the…

Thou lovest evil more than good Indeed not good at all; such comparatives being strong negatives; see (Ps. 118:8, Ps. 118:9) ; a wicked man loves evil, and nothing else; his carnal mind being enmity to all that is good and lying rather than to speak righteousness; as appears by his affirming that…

Thou lovest all devouring words Or “words of swallowing up” [[23]]; such as lies, calumnies, and detractions are, which devour the characters and reputations of men, and are the cause sometimes of their utter ruin and destruction; of the devouring and blasphemous words of antichrist see (Rev.

God shall likewise destroy thee for ever As a just retaliation for the mischief done to others; or, “therefore God shall destroy” [[24]] even body and soul in hell, with an everlasting destruction, which will be the case of every wicked man, and particularly of the antichristian party, (Rev.

The righteous also shall see The Targum adds, “the punishment of the wicked”; particularly what is before predicted of Doeg. The judgments of God upon the ungodly, as they are certain, so they will be visible, either in this world, or in that to come, ; and fear; the Targum adds, “from before the…

Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength The Targum renders it, “that made not the Word of the Lord his strength”. These are the words the righteous would say, when they should see the destruction of Doeg: see the man, the mighty man, and his end; what all his ill gotten honour and riches…

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God Or rather it should be supplied, “I shall be” [[3]]; since David was at this time an exile from the house of God: and this expresses his faith and confidence, that, notwithstanding his present troubles, he should be restored again, and be in a…

I will praise thee for ever Both in this world, as long as he lived, and had a being in it; and in the world to come, to all eternity. This is a resolution respecting what he would do, when he should be in the happy condition he was confident of; because thou hast done it; the Targum interprets it,…