78 Let the proud be disappointed, for they have overthrown me wrongfully. I will meditate on your precepts.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Let the proud be put to shame. We have already often had occasion to remark, that, in the Hebrew language, the future tense is frequently used in the sense of the optative mood, as here, -- They shall be put to shame, for, Let them be put to shame. Still it would not be unsuitable to explain the meaning thus' As the proud have dealt mischievously with me, and molested me without a cause, the Lord will give them their reward. But as almost all interpreters are agreed that this is a prayer, in the translation of the verse I am unwilling to depart from the generally received explanation, especially as the language is expressly addressed to God himself. It is important to attend to the reason why the Psalmist hopes that God will be an enemy to his enemies; namely, because they wickedly and maliciously assaulted him. The word sqr, sheker, which I have rendered falsely, is by some translated, without a cause; but they seem only to hit upon the one half of the prophet's meaning; for this word, in my opinion, is to be referred to the stratagems and artifices by which the wicked endeavored to destroy David. Whence we gather, that whenever we are wrongfully persecuted by wicked men, we are invited to have recourse directly to God for protection. At the same time, we are taught that we have no reason to be abashed at their insolence; for, whatever power they may arrogate to themselves, He will beat down their loftiness, and lay it low, to their shame; so that, being confounded, they will serve as an example, to teach others that nothing is more ridiculous than to sing the song of triumph before the victory is gained. The verb 'sych, asiach, in the second clause of the verse, may be rendered, I will speak of, as well as I will meditate upon; implying, that, when he had obtained the victory, he would proclaim the goodness of God, which he had experienced. To speak of God's statutes, is equivalent to declaring out of the law, how faithfully he guards his saints, how securely he delivers them, and how righteously he avenges their wrongs.
Let the proud be ashamed - Referring here to his enemies, who appear to have been in the higher ranks of life, or to have been those who prided themselves on their wealth, their station, or their influence. See the notes at Psalm 119:51. The psalmist asks here that they might be confounded or put to shame; that is, that they might fail of accomplishing their purposes in regard to him. See Psalm 25:2-3, notes; Job 6:20, note.
For they dealt perversely with me - They were not honest; they deceived me; they took advantage of me; they were not true to their professions of friendship. Compare the notes at Isaiah 59:3; notes at Job 8:3; notes at Job 34:12.
Without a cause - Hebrew, "by a lie." That is, They have been guilty of falsehood in their charges or accusations against me. I have given them no occasion for such treatment, and their conduct is based on an entire misrepresentation. See the notes at John 15:25.
But I will meditate in thy precepts - See the notes at Psalm 1:2. I will not be diverted from thee, from thy law, from thy service, by all that man can do to me; by all the false charges which the enemies of religion may bring against me; by all the contempt or persecution that I may suffer for my attachment to thee. See Psalm 119:23, note; Psalm 119:69, note.
Let the proud be ashamed - To reduce a proud man to shame, is to humble him indeed. Let them be confounded. Without cause - without any colourable pretext, have they persecuted me.
Let the proud be ashamed,.... The same persons he before speaks of as accursed, who had him in derision, and forged a lie against him. Here he prays that they might be ashamed of their scoffs and jeers, of their lies and calumnies, the evils and injuries they had done him; that they might be brought to a sense of them, and repentance for them; when they would be ashamed of them in the best manner: or that they might be disappointed of their ends, in what they had done, and so be confounded and ashamed, as men are when they cannot gain their point; or be brought to shame and confusion eternally;
for they dealt perversely with me without a cause; or, "they perverted me with falsehood" (w); that is, they endeavoured to pervert him with lies and falsehood, and lead him out of the right way; or they attempted, by their lies and calumnies, to make him out to be a perverse and wicked man, and pronounced and condemned him as such, without any foundation or just cause for it;
but I will meditate in thy precepts; he was determined, in the strength of grace, that those ill usages should not take off his thoughts from religious things, or divert him from his duty to his God: none of these things moved him; he still went on in the ways of God, in his worship and service, as Daniel did, when in like circumstances.
(w) "mendacio me opprimere quaerunt", Tigurine version; "mendaciis", Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis.
but I . . . meditate in thy precepts--and so shall not be "ashamed," that is, put to shame (Psalm 119:80).
*More commentary available at chapter level.