The title prefixed to this Psalm ascribes it to David, and connects it with the occasion when Doeg informed Saul that David had been received by Ahimelech at Nob, and assisted with the means for his flight (1 Samuel 21, 22). The character denounced in the Psalm is in some respects such as we may suppose Doeg to have been. He was a man of wealth and importance as the chief of Saul’s herdmen (or, according to the LXX, the keeper of his mules). His tongue was “a deceitful tongue,” because although the facts he reported were true, he helped to confirm Saul in a false and cruel suspicion. It “devised destruction” and “loved all devouring words,” for his story was told with malicious intent and fatal result. Just sufficient appropriateness may be traced to account for the title having been prefixed by the compiler of this division of the Psalter, or for the Psalm having been connected with the story of Doeg in some historical work from which the compiler took it.

But the entire absence of any reference to the cold-blooded and sacrilegious murder of the priests at Nob, in which Doeg acted as Saul’s agent, when all his other officers shrank from executing his brutal order, makes it difficult, if not impossible, to suppose that the Psalm was really written by David on that occasion, unless we could assume that it was composed after Doeg’s information was given but before the massacre was perpetrated, which is wholly improbable.

To judge from its contents, the Psalm is a denunciation of some wealthy and powerful noble, who had been guilty of ruining innocent persons by malicious slanders or false evidence. As reference is made to his wealth (Psalm 52:7), and his wrongdoing is contrasted with the loving-kindness of God, it seems probable that he was one of those magnates so frequently denounced by the prophets, who, in defiance of their duty of lovingkindness to their neighbours, enriched themselves by impoverishing the poor, and did not scruple to ruin their victims by the use of false evidence and the subservience of venal judges. See for example, Micah 2:1 ff; Micah 3:1 ff; Micah 6:12; Micah 7:3. The Psalmist speaks as the representative of the sufferers, who will rejoice at their oppressor’s fall as a proof of God’s righteous judgement.

As to the particular occasion and date of the Psalm little can be said. The evils to which it refers were rife in the eighth century, but they had existed before and continued to exist after. A couple of parallels in Jeremiah (Psalm 52:1; Psalm 52:8) are insufficient to establish its dependence upon that book. Its author may have been a prophet. His tone of authority and vigorous denunciation of evil in high places recall Isaiah’s denunciation of Shebna (Isaiah 22:15 ff), and, in a less degree, Jeremiah’s denunciation of Pashhur (Psalm 20:3 ff), and Hananiah (Psalm 28:5 ff). Evidently it is directed against some conspicuous individual, and is not merely a general denunciation.

The Psalm falls into two divisions.

i. The unscrupulous evil-doer is called to account; his character is described; and his fate foretold (Psalm 52:1-5).

ii. With awe the righteous contemplate his fall, and rejoice over the judgement of this self-confident braggart: while the Psalmist contrasts his own security under the protection of God, and makes vows of public thanksgiving (Psalm 52:6-9).

On the title, For the chief Musician, Maschil of David, see Introd. pp. xix f. It is the first of four ‘Maschil’ Psalms.

1. This verse states the theme of the Psalm; the contrast between man’s wrongdoing and God’s lovingkindness. The two halves of the verse correspond to the two divisions of the Psalm. The statement of the second line is abruptly introduced, but it is virtually the answer to the question of the first. What avails it thee to boast of successful evil-doing (Psalm 10:3)? it is vain: the lovingkindness of God (endureth) all the day; that covenant love in which the Psalmist trusts (Psalm 52:8), and of which all His ‘saints’ (Psalm 52:9) are the object.

O mighty man] Perhaps simply, as P.B.V., thou tyrant, for power soon degenerates into tyranny: but rather perhaps with sarcastic irony, thou hero! Cp. Isaiah 5:22; Jeremiah 9:3.

God] El, ‘the strong one’ (cp. Psalm 50:1), is significantly used here. The braggart tyrant thinks himself strong, but there is a stronger than he, who will call him to account.

1–5. Denunciation of the evil-doer and prediction of his fate.

2. Thy tongue deviseth] Cp. Psalm 35:20. Sins of the tongue—falsehood, slander, false witness, and the like—are frequently denounced in the Psalms and by the Prophets. See Psalm 5:9; Psalm 10:7; Psalm 12:2 ff; Micah 6:12; Jeremiah 9:3; &c.

mischiefs] R.V., very wickedness (as in Psalm 5:9); or destruction, perhaps not without a reminiscence of the original meaning of the word, a yawning gulf, for his tongue is ready to swallow up (Psalm 52:4) the righteous. The plur. denotes mischief or destructiveness of every kind.

like a sharp rasor] Lit., like a whetted rasor, which cuts you before you are aware, as you handle it incautiously. The tongue and its words are elsewhere compared to swords and spears and arrows (Psalm 55:21, Psalm 57:4, Psalm 59:7, Psalm 64:3; cp. Proverbs 26:18). Comp. Shakespeare, Cymbeline, iii.4,

“’Tis slander,

Whose edge is sharper than the sword.”

working deceitfully] The partic. cannot, unless we assume a laxity of construction, be in agreement with thy tongue; nor can it well be referred to the sharp rasor. It is best to take it as a vocative, O thou worker of deceit. Cp. Psalm 101:7.

3. evil more than good] Evil rather than good, evil and not good. The meaning is not merely that he has a preference for evil, but that he chooses evil instead of good, like the nobles censured in Micah 3:2, “who hate the good and love the evil.”

righteousness] Not merely truth, but truth regarded as promoting and securing justice. The aim and result of his falsehoods was injustice.

4. devouring words] Lit., words of swallowing up. Cp. the use of the verb in Psalm 35:25, “We have swallowed him up”: and Psalm 53:4.

O thou deceitful tongue] This rendering is certainly preferable to that of the margin, ‘and the deceitful tongue.’ The bold identification of the offender with the offending member is far more vigorous, and perfectly legitimate. Cp. Psalm 120:2-3; Psalm 12:3; 1 Kings 19:18.

5. likewise] We might have expected therefore, as P.B.V. following Vulg. loosely renders: but likewise is significant. There is a correspondence and equivalence between the sin and its punishment Cp. Micah 2:1-10, where the idea is worked out that the heartless oppressors who have driven the poor from their homes will be driven from the land into exile.

The doom of the wicked man is forcibly described by various figures. He fancies himself securely intrenched in the fortress of his wealth, but God will break him down (Jdg 8:9) and that for ever, so that there will be no restoration of the ruins. He is at ease in his home, but God will take him as a man takes a coal from the hearth with tongs or shovel, and plucking him out of his dwelling, drive him forth as a homeless wanderer (Deuteronomy 28:63; Proverbs 2:22; Job 18:14, R.V.). He is “spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil” (Psalm 37:35), but God will uproot him out of the land of the living. Cp. for the phrase Jeremiah 11:19; and note the contrast between the fate of the wicked and the future of the Psalmist (Psalm 52:8).

The verbs in this verse might be rendered as in the LXX, as a prayer, “May God destroy thee” &c.; but the rendering in the future is preferable. Sentence is pronounced in a tone of prophetic authority. Cp. Isaiah 22:17 ff.

Selah marks the conclusion of the first part of the Psalm.

6, 7. And the righteous shall see, and fear,

And shall laugh at him, (saying),

Lo, &c.

The first impression produced by the sight is that of fear; not alarm, but awe; a deeper reverence for God and His government of the world: the next impression that of scorn and derision (Psalm 2:4) for the braggart who trusted in his wealth. Such rejoicing is no mere vindictive triumph at the wicked man’s ruin. Malicious satisfaction at the calamity of the wicked is condemned in the O.T.; see Job 31:29; Proverbs 24:17. But inasmuch as the judgement of the wicked is an illustration and proof of the government of God, it must be welcomed with joy by the righteous. Cp. Revelation 18:20; Revelation 19:1 ff. It must be remembered moreover that the apparently unchecked prosperity of the wicked was a sore trial of faith to those whose view of God’s working was limited to this world. They naturally and rightly desired a vindication of His righteousness, and rejoiced when they saw it. See further Introd. pp. lxxxviii ff, and cp. Psalm 58:10 f; Psalm 64:7 ff; Psalm 5:11, note.

6–9. The sight of his fall inspires the righteous with awe, and gives occasion for rejoicing at this proof of God’s just government of the world, for trustful hope, and grateful thanksgiving.

7. The words of the righteous. There is a touch of sarcasm in the use of the word geber (akin to gibbor, Psalm 52:1) for man (as perhaps in Isaiah 22:17, see R.V. marg.), denoting a man in his full vigour.

that made not God his strength] Or, stronghold. The tense implies that it was the constant habit of his mind.

but trusted &c.] Cp. Psalm 49:6.

in his wickedness] The singular of the word rendered mischiefs (R.V. very wickedness) in Psalm 52:2. It may here mean greed, or covetousness. But the rendering of the Targ. and the Syr. in his wealth (whence A.V. marg. substance), seems to represent a slightly different reading, which agrees well with the parallel, in the abundance of his riches.

8. But I am like a green olive tree] R.V., But as for me, I am like a green olive tree, rightly emphasising the contrast between the fate of the wicked man and the hopes of the speaker. But who is the speaker? Is it, as is commonly supposed, the Psalmist? or is the speech of the righteous in Psalm 52:7 continued, but with a transition to the singular, in order more forcibly to express the personal faith of each individual? It makes little difference to the sense: the Psalmist, if he is the speaker, speaks as the representative of the righteous.

like a green olive tree in the house of God] It is possible (cp. Psalm 92:13) that trees grew in the temple courts, as they grow at the present day in the Haram area, and that he compares his prosperity and security to that of the carefully tended trees planted in sacred ground. But more probably two figures are combined. He is like an evergreen olive tree, while the wicked man is rooted up: he is God’s guest, enjoying His favour and protection. For the metaphor of the tree cp. Jeremiah 11:16; Hosea 14:8 (of the nation); Psalm 1:3; Psalm 92:12 ff: and for that of the guest see Psalm 23:6; Psalm 27:4; Psalm 15:1. Note too that God’s house may mean the land of Israel (Hosea 9:15), in which the righteous dwells securely while the wicked man is driven out of it (Psalm 52:5).

mercy] Rather, lovingkindness, as in Psalm 52:1.

9. I will praise thee] R.V., I will give thee thanks, “the sacrifice of thanksgiving,” Psalm 50:23.

because thou hast done it] For this emphatic absolute use of the verb cp. Psalm 22:31; Psalm 37:5.

I will wait &c.] R.V., I will wait on thy name, for it is good, in the presence of thy saints. Cp. Isaiah 26:8. But ‘in the presence of thy saints’ implies some public act of praise (cp. Psalm 22:25; Psalm 54:6); and it is probable that for wait some word meaning proclaim should be read, thus: I will proclaim that thy name is good, In the presence of thy saints. God’s chasîdîm, ‘saints’ or ‘beloved ones,’ are those who are the object of His chĕsĕd or lovingkindness. Cp. Psalm 50:5; and Appendix, Note 1.