Psalm 7:9

Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) Establish.—Literally, let him stand erect.

For the righteous God trieth.—Better, thou trier of hearts and reins, thou just God. The Hebrew word translated try is used, like it, for testing metals (Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 17:3).

Benson Commentary

Psalm 7:9. Let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end — Let the malice of mine enemies cease: put a stop to their wicked practices, either by changing their hearts or tying their hands: say to it as thou dost to the sea, Hitherto hast thou gone, but thou shalt advance no further. Hebrew, The wickedness of the wicked shall have an end; it shall cease: it shall be rooted out and destroyed. But establish the just — Or, And thou wilt establish, or confirm, or uphold the just, all just persons and causes; which is opposed to wickedness coming to an end, last mentioned. For the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins — And, therefore, he knows the secret wickedness of the wicked, and how to bring it to an end; and he is a witness to the secret sincerity of the just, and has secret ways of establishing them in it. “It is predicted, that wickedness will, in the end, be abolished, and the just immoveably established, by Him who knoweth intimately the very thoughts and desires of both good and bad men, and will give to each their due reward. How can we doubt of this when it has pleased God to afford so many examples and preludes to it in his dispensations of old time? The righteous cause hath already triumphed in Christ; let us not doubt that it will do so in the church. Happy the man whose hope is therefore in God, because he saveth the upright in heart.” — Horne.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:1-9 David flees to God for succour. But Christ alone could call on Heaven to attest his uprightness in all things. All His works were wrought in righteousness; and the prince of this world found nothing whereof justly to accuse him. Yet for our sakes, submitting to be charged as guilty, he suffered all evils, but, being innocent, he triumphed over them all. The plea is, For the righteous God trieth the hearts and the reins. He knows the secret wickedness of the wicked, and how to bring it to an end; he is witness to the secret sincerity of the just, and has ways of establishing it. When a man has made peace with God about all his sins, upon the terms of grace and mercy, through the sacrifice of the Mediator, he may, in comparison with his enemies, appeal to God's justice to decide.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to and end - Of all the wicked; wickedness not in this particular case only, but wickedness of all forms, and in all lands. The prayer here is a natural one; when a man becomes impressed with a sense of the evil of sin in one form, he wishes that the world may be delivered from it in all forms and altogether.

But establish the just - The righteous. This stands in contrast with his desire in regard to the wicked. He prays that the righteous may be confirmed in their integrity, and that their plans may succeed. This prayer is as universal as the former, and is, in fact, a prayer that the world may come under the dominion of the principles of truth and holiness.

For the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins - That is, the hearts and reins of all people. He understands the character of all people; he is intimately acquainted with all their thoughts, and purposes, and feelings. To search or try "the heart and the reins" is an expression frequently used in the Bible to denote that God is intimately acquainted with all the thoughts and feelings of people; that is, that he thoroughly understands the character of all people. The word "heart" in the Scriptures is often used to denote the seat of the "thoughts;" and the word "reins" seems to be used to denote the most secret feelings, purposes, and devices of the soul - as if lodged deep in our nature, or covered in the most hidden and concealed portions of the man. The word "reins," with us, denotes the kidneys. In the Scriptures the word seems to be used, in a general sense, to denote the inward parts, as the seat of the affections and passions.

The Hebrew word כליה kilyâh, means the same as the word "reins" with us - the kidneys, Exodus 29:13, Exodus 29:22; Job 16:13; Isaiah 34:6; Deuteronomy 32:14. From some cause, the Hebrews seem to have regarded the "reins" as the seat of the affections and passions, though perhaps only in the sense that they thus spoke of the "inward" parts, and meant to denote the deepest purposes of the soul - as if utterly concealed from the eye. These deep thoughts and feelings, so unknown to other people, are all known intimately to God, and thus the character of every man is clearly understood by him, and he can judge every man aright. The phrase used here - of trying the hearts and reins - is one that is often employed to describe the Omniscience of God. Compare Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 17:10; Jeremiah 20:12; Psalm 26:2; Psalm 139:13; Revelation 2:23. The particular idea here is, that as God searches the hearts of all people, and understands the secret purposes of the soul, he is able to judge aright, and to determine correctly in regard to their character, or to administer his government on the principles of exact justice. Such is the ground of the prayer in this case, that God, who knew the character of all people, would confirm those who are truly righteous, and would bring the wickedness of the ungodly to an end.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. the hearts and reins—the affections and motives of men, or the seat of them (compare Ps 16:7; 26:2); as we use heart and bosom or breast.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Let the malice of mine enemies cease, put a stop to their wicked practices, either by changing their hearts, or by tying their hands, or some other way; say to it, as thou dost to the sea, Hitherto hast thou gone, but thou shalt go no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed. Or,

The wickedness of the wicked shall have an end; not an end of perfection, which is to be accomplished; but all end of termination, it shall cease; and an end of destruction, it shall be rooted out. Or, Let, I pray thee, wickedness consume the wicked, i.e. those that are maliciously and incorrigibly such. And so this prayer is opposed to that following prayer for the just. And such prayers against some wicked men we find used by prophetical persons, which are not rashly to be drawn into precedent by ordinary persons.

Establish; or, and thou wilt establish, or confirm, or uphold; which is opposed to that coming to an end or consuming last mentioned.

The just; all just persons and causes, and mine in particular, which is so.

The righteous God trieth the heart and reins; and therefore he knows that I have not so much as a thought or a desire of that mischief which Cush and others report I am designing against Saul.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,.... Which will not be till the measure of it is fully up, and that will not be till the wicked are no more; for, as long as they are in the world they will be committing wickedness, and like the troubled sea continually cast up the mire and dirt of sin; and they will remain to the end of the world, till the new Jerusalem church state shall take place, when all the Lord's people will be righteous, and there will not be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts, nor a pricking brier or grieving thorn in all the land; for, in the new earth will no sinner be, but righteous persons only; and for this state the psalmist may be thought to pray; however by this petition and the following he expresses his hatred of sin and love of righteousness: some choose to render the words (c), "let wickedness now consume the wicked"; as in the issue it will, unless the grace of God takes place; some sins consume the bodies, others the estates of wicked men, and some both; and all are the means of destroying both body and soul in hell, if grace prevent not; this may be considered as a declaration of what will be, being a prophetic petition (d);

but establish the just; or righteous one; meaning himself, and every other who is made righteous, not by his own righteousness, but by the righteousness of Christ imputed to him; and who needs not to have his righteousness established, which is in itself stable, firm, and sure, and cannot be more so; it is an everlasting one, and cannot be abolished, but abides for ever, and will answer for him in a time to come; but his faith to be established more and more in its exercise on this righteousness: nor do the persons of the just need establishing, or can they be more stable than they are, as considered in Christ, as they are the objects of God's everlasting love, secured in the covenant of grace, and built on Christ the foundation; but the graces of faith, hope, and love, need daily establishing on their proper object, they being weak, fickle, and inconstant in their acts; and the saints need more and more establishing in the doctrines of the Gospel, and in their adherence to the cause of God and Christ and true religion; and it is God's work to establish them, to whom the psalmist applies; see 1 Peter 5:10;

for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins; he is righteous himself in his nature, and in all his works, and he knows who are righteous and who are wicked; he knows the hearts, thoughts, affections, and inward principles of all men, and the springs of all their actions; he looks not at outward appearances, but at the heart; and as he can distinguish between the one and the other, he is capable of punishing the wicked and of confirming the righteous, consistent with the truth of his perfections.

(c) "consumat nunc vel quaeso malum impios", Muscuius, Vatablus, so Jarchi, Kimchi, & Ben Melech. (d) "Consumat nunc malum impios", Pagninus, Montanus, Hammond; so Obadiah Gaon.

Geneva Study Bible

Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the {h} hearts and reins.

(h) Though they pretend a just cause against me, yet God will judge their hypocrisy.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. More exactly:

O that the evil of wicked men might come to an end, and that thou wouldest establish the righteous;

For a trier of hearts and reins is God the righteous.

The last clause adds the ground upon which the hope and prayer of the first clause is based. God is righteous, and He is a discerner of hearts; there can therefore be no doubt of His will and His ability to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked by an impartial judgement. Cp. 1 Samuel 16:7; Isaiah 11:3-4. According to the ancient exegetical tradition represented by the Hebrew accents (Wickes’ Treatise on the Accentuation &c., p. 43), the first clause should be rendered, O let evil make an end of the wicked, and it is certainly a striking truth that the punishment of the wicked springs out of their own misdeeds: comp. Psalm 7:14 ff., and perhaps Psalm 34:21 : but the sense given by the LXX, Jerome, and the English Versions is probably right.

trieth the hearts and reins] A favourite thought with Jeremiah: see ch. Jeremiah 11:20, Jeremiah 17:10, Jeremiah 20:12; cp. Revelation 2:23. The heart is regarded in the O.T. as the organ of thought and will, which determines the man’s moral and religious character, the reins (kidneys) as the seat of the emotions: see Delitzsch, Biblical Psychology, § xiii.; and Oehler, Old Testament Theology, § 71.

9, 10. His own personal need is but one small part of the great cause, and he passes on to pray for the larger hope of the universal destruction of evil and triumph of the righteous.

Psalm 7:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 7:10-11) In this strophe we hear the calm language of courageous trust, to which the rising and calmly subsiding caesural schema is particularly adapted. He is now concerned about the cessation of evil: Oh let it come to an end (גּמר intransitive as in Psalm 12:2; Psalm 77:9).... His prayer is therefore not directed against the individuals as such but against the wickedness that is in them. This Psalm is the key to all Psalms which contain prayers against one's enemies. Just in the same manner וּתכונן is intended to express a wish; it is one of the comparatively rare voluntatives of the 2 pers. (Ew. 229): and mayst Thou be pleased to establish.... To the termination of evil which is desired corresponds, in a positive form of expression, the desired security and establishment of the righteous, whom it had injured and whose continuance was endangered by it. וּבחן is the beginning of a circumstantial clause, introduced by ו, but without the personal pronoun, which is not unfrequently omitted both in the leading participial clause, as in Isaiah 29:8 (which see), and in the minor participial clause as here (cf. Psalm 55:20): cum sis equals quoniam es. The reins are the seat of the emotions, just as the heart is the seat of the thoughts and feelings. Reins and heart lie naked before God-a description of the only kardiognoo'stees, which is repeated in Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 20:12, Revelation 2:23. In the thesis the adjective is used with אלהים in the sing. as in Psalm 78:56, cf. Psalm 58:12. God is the righteous God, and by his knowledge of the inmost part He is fully capable of always showing Himself both righteous in anger and righteous in mercy according to the requirements and necessity of the case. Therefore David can courageously add על־אלהים מגנּי, my shield doth God carry; ל Psalm 89:19) would signify: He has it, it (my shield) belongs to Him, על (1 Chronicles 18:7) signifies: He bears it, or if one takes shield in the sense of protection: He has taken my protection upon Himself, has undertaken it (as in Psalm 62:8, cf. Judges 19:20), as He is in general the Saviour of all who are devoted to Him with an upright heart, i.e., a heart sincere, guileless (cf. Psalm 32:1 with Psalm 7:2). צדּים is intentionally repeated at the end of the first two lines - the favourite palindrome, found more especially in Isaiah 40:1. And to the mixed character of this Psalm belongs the fact of its being both Elohimic and Jehovic. From the calm language of heartfelt trust in God the next strophe passes over into the language of earnest warning, which is again more excited and somewhat after the style of didactic poetry.