Psalms 52:7
Ver. 7. 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 are come to; and what his wickedness, deceit, and cruelty, have brought upon him. The righteous make the Lord their strength, put their trust in him, in whom is everlasting strength; do all they do in his strength; fly to him as their "strong hold", as the word {b} may be rendered; thither they run, and are safe: but the rich man's wealth is his strong city, Pr 18:10; there he thinks himself safe, and places his confidence in it, as follows:
but trusted in the abundance of his riches; See Gill on "Ps 49:6"; so the antichristian whore is represented as boasting of her riches and honour, and trusting in them, that they would always continue, Re 18:7; like the fool in Lu 12:19;[and] strengthened himself in his wickedness; encouraged and hardened himself in sin, gave up himself to it; and, by art obstinate continuance in it, strengthened the vicious habits contracted; stretched out his hand against God, and strengthened himself against the Almighty; went on in a daring manner, promising himself impunity; and as if his wickedness was his strength, his safeguard and protection: or in his mammon, his wealth and substance; as the Targum interprets it; and so R. Saadiah Gaon {c}, and with which the Syriac version agrees; and then the sense is the same with the other clause. But, alas! what are all such forces of strength, when wrath comes forth from the Lord of hosts? Job 36:18.{b} wzwem "arcem suam", Cocceius; "presidium, munimemtum", Michaelis. {c} Apud Kimchi in loc. Psalms 52:8Ver. 8. But I [am] like a green olive tree in the house of God,.... Or rather it should be supplied, "I shall be" {d}; 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 very flourishing condition, in the church of God; which is here meant by "the house of God": it being of his building, and where he dwells, and where to have a place is the great privilege of the saints; they are planted there by the Lord himself, and shall never be rooted up; they are fixed there, and shall never go out; which was David's confidence, Ps 23:6; and where he believed he should be as "a green olive tree"; which is a very choice and fruitful tree, has fatness in it, produces an excellent oil; is beautiful to look at; delights in hot climates and sunny places; is found on mountains, we read of the mount of Olives; is ever green and durable, and its leaves and branches are symbols of peace: all which is applicable to truly righteous persons and believers in Christ; who are the excellent of the earth, are filled with the fruits of righteousness; are fat and flourishing; have the oil of grace, the anointing which teacheth all things; are a perfection of beauty, made perfectly comely through Christ's comeliness; thrive under him, the sun of righteousness; grow in the mountain of the Lord's house, the church: their grace is incorruptible, their leaf withers not; they are rooted in Christ, and ever continue; they are the sons of peace, and their last end will be eternal peace. Now as such David was assured he should be, when his enemy would be rooted up out of the land of the living, and cast like a dry and worthless branch into everlasting burnings; the ground of which confidence follows:I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever; the mercy of God is not only an encouragement to trust, but the object of it; not the absolute mercy of God, but the grace and goodness of God in Christ Jesus, which endures continually, Ps 52:1; and so does hope in it, which never makes ashamed, but abides to the end. The psalmist seems to have respect to the mercy promised him, that he should sit upon the throne. This he believed, and therefore was assured he should be in the flourishing circumstances in the house of God before mentioned.{d} "Ero", Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus. Psalms 52:9Ver. 9. 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, "the revenge of my judgment"; meaning the vengeance of God on Doeg; and to the same sense Aben Ezra and Kimchi: though it may refer to the comfortable and happy condition he should be in, Ps 52:8; and which he wholly ascribes to the grace and goodness of God, and not to any merits of his own, and therefore determines to praise him for it;and I will wait on thy name; on the Lord himself, in his house and ordinances, for his presence and fresh supplies of grace and strength, when he should be restored. Or the sense is, that in the mean while he would wait patiently on the Lord, until he had accomplished what he had promised, and David believed;for [it is] good before thy saints; the sense is, either that it is good to wait upon the Lord and for him; which appears to be so to all the saints, by the comfortable experience they have had of it, Isa 40:31; or the name of the Lord is good unto them, pleasant, delightful, and comfortable, as proclaimed, Ex 34:6; see So 1:3; and also Re 15:4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.