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Ver. 7. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit] Such cursing men are cursed men; and for such slippery and deceitful persons the Lord is the avenger of all such, 1 Thessalonians 4:8. Under his tongue is mischief] That is, in his heart, which is by nature placed beneath the tongue, making its use of it for much mischief, Matthew 12:34 Jas 3:8. The word Toch, here rendered fraud, signifieth, properly, the middle of anything, Quoniam fraus in medio cordis est, saith R. David, because fraud is in the middle of the heart, and therehence sent into the mouth.
Ver. 8. He sitteth in the lurking places, &c.] A. description of a highway robber, saith Diodati, under which name are meant all violent and fraudulent men, and their actions.
Ver. 9. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den] See Job 38:40, [See Trapp on “Job 38:40”] When he draweth him into his net] That is, into his bonds, debts, mortgages, saith Chrysostom. When a poor man is once gotten into these nets, wicked oppressors do not only rob but ravish them; coining their money upon poor men’s skins, and wringing the sponges of poor people into their own purses. David compareth them to cannibals, Psalms 14:4, to greedy lions here. Another saith they are like the fish polypus, that lying in wait for other fishes upon the rock, assimilateth to the rock and taketh them in his net, which he hath naturally behind his head, and can spread at his pleasure, before they find themselves in danger (Sir Richard Berkley’s Summum Bonum).
Ver. 10. He croucheth (or crusheth), and humbleth himself] Lion like, Job 38:40. He can sow the fox’s skin to the lion’s hide for a need, and to compass his design. As proud as he is, yet in subtlety he can abase himself; and, with glavering speeches and fawning behaviour, indirectly endeavour the overthrow of the innocent and distressed. To which purpose he can put himself to pain, feign himself sick and in a dying condition (as those do that stand for the popedom), counterfeit and pretend humility, but all is hypocrisy, Seipsum aegrum, et attritum fingit (of David). That the poor may fall by his strong ones] Whether teeth or paws. Per impia decreta, saith R. Obadiah, by his wicked decrees, by the hands of his privados, desperate assassinates, saith another expositor.
Ver. 11. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten] That is, he knoweth it not, regardeth it not. To learn is nothing else but to remember, said Socrates; and what a man hath utterly forgotten it is all one as if he had never known it; 2 Peter 1:9, he “hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins,” that is, he was never purged. See Psalms 10:4.
Ver. 12. Arise, O Lord] Surge, age, summe Pater, said Mantuan to the pope, stirring him up against the Turks; may we better say to the Almighty God, against his people’s enemies, O God, lift up thine hand Lift it up on high, that it may fall down the more heavily. In the first verse of this psalm the prophet complained that God stood afar off, and hid himself in time of trouble, Here he is entreated to arise, to come near, to put forth his hand for his people’s help, &c.
Ver. 13. Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God?] q.d. It is time for thee, Lord, to arise and bestir thyself; for otherwise what will become of thy great name? The saints cannot endure that God should be slighted. He hath said in his heart] Psalms 10:3,4. This sticks in David’s stomach, and draws this prayer from him, who was now blessedly blown up with a holy zeal for God; as was also good Zuinglius, when he said, In aliis mansnetus ero, in blasphemiis in Christum non ita, In other matters I can be mild and patient, but not so in case of blasphemy against Christ.
Ver. 14. Thou hast seen it] For thou art All-eye, whatever the wicked conceiteth to the contrary, making thee a God of clouts, as they say, or a heathen idol, which is nothing in the world. To requite it with thy hand] Reponendo in manu tua, by taking it in thy hand, so some render it, sc. ut propius intuearis, certius consideres, diiudices et vindices, that thou mayest take a more near and narrow view of it, and duly punish it (Aben-Ezra). The poor committeth himself unto thee] Heb. leaveth, relinquit seipsum, et currit ad te, he relinquisheth himself, and runneth unto thee, Relinquit in te onus suum (R. Solomon). Now, whosoever committeth himself and his affairs to God shall be sure to find him a faithful depositary. Thou art the helper of the fatherless] The world’s refuge, as the Grand Seignior is called; The poor man’s king, as James V, of Scotland. In God “the fatherless findeth mercy,” Hosea 14:3. And these arguments David useth in his prayer, not to move God to hear and help, but to work upon his own heart thereby, and to persuade himself to more faith, love, obedience, humility, thankfulness, whereby we are the better fitted for mercy. When a man in a ship plucks a rock it seemeth as if he plucketh the rock nearer the ship, when as, indeed, the ship is plucked nearer the reck. So is it in this case: we seem to persuade God by our arguments, when as, indeed, the change is not wrought in him, but only in ourselves; our arguments are curarum nostrarum levamenta, et fiduciae impetrandi augmenta, the cure of our cares, and props to our faith of obtaining.
Ver. 15. Break thou the arm of the wicked] That arm that hath been lifted up against the godly. See Psalms 3:8 58:7. Seek out his wickedness till thou find none] Ad alios vel inficiendos, vel infestandos, Ezekiel 23:48. Or, leave no sin of his unpunished. The Franciscans, to prove that Francis, the founder of their order, was without sin, foolishly allege this text, Quaeretur peccatum illius et non invenietur; wherein (according to the sense of the psalmist) what do they else but wish that God would trace him quite through the course and trade of his iniquities, even to the uttermost end of them, and punish him accordingly; which is done, no doubt, long since.
Ver. 16. The Lord is King for ever and ever] Therefore he will doubtless do whatsoever hath been before desired, and much more than we can ask or think. Many kings have been long lived, as was Artaxerxes Mnemon, who reigned 62 years; Augustus Caesar, 56; Queen Elizabeth, 44, &c.; but died at length, to the great grief of their subjects and servants, who are ready to wish (as once the Romans did concerning Augustus) that either they had never been or never died. But God is the King immortal, invisible, &c. The heathen are perished out of his land] The enemies, whether Jews or Gentiles, are rid out of his Church; for that is God’s land by a specialty, his peculiar portion.
Ver. 17. Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble] The whole life of a good Christian is a holy desire, saith Austin. And the desires of the righteous shall be satisfied, Proverbs 10:24, because they are framed by the Holy Spirit, according to the will of God, Romans 8:27, and they bare the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16, who knoweth the mind of the Spirit, Romans 8:27, though their desires be not uttered, Romans 8:26. Thou wilt prepare their heart] In removendis ab illo mundi negotiis, saith R. David, and by putting them into a praying frame, and so fitting them for mercy. Where God giveth a praying heart it is sure that he will show a pitying heart. If he prepare the heart, he will also bend his ear; like as when we bid our children ask us for this or that, we mean to give it them; and as when we open a purse as wide as we can pull it, it is a sign we intend to fill it to the top. Thou wilt cause thine ear to hear] Even while they are preparing, and before they can speak, many times, Isaiah 65:24; or while they are praying, as Daniel 9:20 Ac 4:31, or not long after; they shall be sure to have out their prayers, either in money or in money’s worth, as they say.
Ver. 18. To judge the fatherless, &c] The Vulgate hath it, to judge for the fatherless and for the oppressed. It is one thing (saith Austin) to judge the fatherless and another thing to judge for him; this latter is to pass sentence on his side; which God, the righteous Judge, will be sure to do without writhing or warping; for he hath all that is required of a judge originally and eminently, viz. wisdom, justice, courage, constance, and power. That the man of the earth may no more oppress] Or, terrify, daunt with terror, as Philippians 1:28. [See Trapp on “Php 1:28”] Why should one man be terrible to another, since we are all mortales e terra, worms of the earth, clods of clay, and shall shortly return to the dust whence we were taken? unde superbit homo? “I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?” Isaiah 51:12,13. Some observe that the close of this psalm is much like that of the former. How they have been taken (by the Greek Fathers especially) for one entire psalm. [See Trapp on “Ps 10:1”]