Psalm 49 commentary

PSALM 49 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
INTRODUCTION
SPURGEON, "Title. To the Chief Musician, a Psalm for the sons of Korah. This
is precisely the same as on former occasions, and no remark is needed.
Division. The poet musician sings, to the accompaniment of his harp, the
despicable character of those who trust in their wealth, and so he consoles the
oppressed believer. The first four verses are a preface; from Psalms 49:5-12 all
fear of great oppressors is removed by the remembrance of their end and their
folly; Psalms 49:13 contains an expression of wonder at the perpetuity of folly;
Psalms 49:14-15 contrast the ungodly and the righteous in their future; and from
Psalms 49:16-20 the lesson from the whole is given in an admonitory form. Note
the chorus in Psalms 49:2; Psalms 49:20, and also the two Selahs.
ELLICOTT, "This psalm, though didactic, does not altogether belie the promise
of lyric effort made in Psalms 49:4. Not only is it cast in a lyrical form, with an
introduction and two strophes, ended each by a refrain (see Note, Psalms 49:12),
but it rises into true poetry both of expression and feeling. Indeed, it is not as a
philosophical speculation that the author propounds and discusses his theme, but
as a problem of personal interest (Psalms 49:15-16); hence throughout the
composition a strain of passion rather than a flow of thought.
PETT, "This is the last of the Psalms of the sons of Korah (42-49) to be found in
this second part. (In the third part see 84-85; 87-88).
The Psalm is addressed to both rich and poor, and is a meditation on wealth. It
can be seen as in very close parallel with the Book of Proverbs. It could be called
a ‘wisdom’ Psalm, and gives warning that while wealth may appear desirable in
this life, it offers nothing for the next. Then the only question that will count will
be as to whether we were right with God.
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah.
A psalm.
1 Hear this, all you peoples;
listen, all who live in this world,
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BARNES, "Hear this, all ye people - That is, What I am about; to utter is worthy
of universal attention; it pertains equally to all mankind. The psalmist; therefore calls
on all the nations to attend to what he is about to say. Compare the notes at Isa_1:2.
Give ear - Incline your ear; attend. Compare the notes at Psa_17:6. See also Isa_
37:17; Isa_55:3; Dan_9:18; Pro_2:2.
All ye inhabitants of the world - The truth to be declared does not pertain
exclusively to any one nation, or any one class of people. All are interested in it. The
term here rendered “world” - ‫חלד‬ cheled, - means properly “duration of life, lifetime;”
then, “life, time, age;” and then it comes to denote the world, considered as made up
of the living, or the passing generations.
CLARKE, "Hear this, all ye people - The four first verses contain the author’s
exordium or introduction, delivered in a very pompous style and promising the
deepest lessons of wisdom and instruction. But what was rare then is common-place
now.
GILL, "Hear this,.... Not the law, as some Jewish writers (l) interpret it, which was
not desirable to be heard by those that did hear it; it being a voice of wrath and
terror, a cursing law, and a ministration of condemnation and death; but rather
‫דא‬ ‫,אחויתא‬ "this news", as the Targum; the good news of the Gospel; the word of "this"
salvation; the voice from heaven; the word not spoken by angels, but by the Lord
himself: or ‫החכמה‬ ‫,זאת‬ "this wisdom", as Kimchi interprets it; which the psalmist was
about to speak of, Psa_49:3; also the parable and dark saying he should attend unto
and open, Psa_49:4; and indeed it may take in the whole subject matter of the psalm;
all ye people: not the people of Israel only, but all the people of the world, as
appears from the following clause; whence it is evident that this psalm belongs to
Gospel times; in which the middle wall of partition is broken down, and there is no
difference of people; God is the God both of Jews and Gentiles; Christ is the Saviour
and Redeemer of one as well as of the other; the Spirit of God has been poured out
upon the latter; the Gospel has been sent into all the world, and all are called upon to
hear it;
give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world, or "of time"; so the word is rendered
"age", the age of a man, Psa_39:5. The inhabitants of this world are but for a time;
wherefore Ben Melech interprets the phrase by ‫הומן‬ ‫,אנשי‬ "men of time", the
inhabitants of time; it is peculiar to the most High to "inhabit eternity", Isa_57:15.
Under the Gospel dispensation there is no distinction of places; the Gospel is not
confined to the land of Judea; the sound of it is gone into all the world, and men may
worship God, and offer incense to his name, in every place; and whoever fears him in
any nation is accepted of him.
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HENRY, "This is the psalmist's preface to his discourse concerning the vanity of
the world and its insufficiency to make us happy; and we seldom meet with an
introduction more solemn than this is; for there is no truth of more undoubted
certainty, nor of greater weight and importance, and the consideration of which will
be of more advantage to us.
I. He demands the attention of others to that which he was about to say (Psa_49:1,
Psa_49:2): Hear this, all you people; hear it and heed it, hear it and consider it; what
is spoken once, hear twice. Hear and give ear, Psa_62:9, Psa_62:11. Not only, “Hear,
all you Israelites, and give ear all the inhabitants of Canaan,” but, Hear, all you
people, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the world; for this doctrine is not
peculiar to those that are blessed with divine revelation, but even the light of nature
witnesses to it. All men may know, and therefore let all men consider, that their
riches will not profit them in the day of death. Both low and high, both rich and
poor, must come together, to hear the word of God; let both therefore hear this with
application. Let those that are high and rich in the world hear of the vanity of their
worldly possessions and not be proud of them, nor secure in the enjoyment of them,
but lay them out in doing good, that with them they may make to themselves friends;
let those that are poor and low hear this and be content with their little, and not envy
those that have abundance. Poor people are as much in danger from an inordinate
desire towards the wealth of the world as rich people from an inordinate delight in it.
He gives a good reason why his discourse should be regarded (Psa_49:3): My mouth
shall speak of wisdom; what he had to say, 1. Was true and good. It is wisdom and
understanding; it will make those wise and intelligent that receive it and submit to it.
It is not doubtful but certain, not trivial but weighty, not a matter of nice speculation
but of admirable use to guide us in the right way to our great end. 2. It was what he
had himself well digested. What his mouth spoke was the meditation of his heart (as
Psa_19:14; Psa_45:1); it was what God put into his mind, what he had himself
seriously considered, and was fully apprized of the meaning of and convinced of the
truth of. That which ministers speak from their own hearts is most likely to reach the
hearts of their hearers.
JAMISON, "Psa_49:1-20. This Psalm instructs and consoles. It teaches that
earthly advantages are not reliable for permanent happiness, and that, however
prosperous worldly men may be for a time, their ultimate destiny is ruin, while the
pious are safe in God’s care.
All are called to hear what interests all.
world — literally, “duration of life,” the present time.
K&D 1-4, "(Heb.: 49:2-5) Introduction. Very similarly do the elder (in the reign
of Jehoshaphat) and the younger Micha (Micah) introduce their prophecies (1Ki_
22:28; Mic_1:2); and Elihu in the Book of Job his didactic discourses (Psa_34:2, cf.
Psa_33:2). It is an universal theme which the poet intends to take up, hence he calls
upon all peoples and all the inhabitants of the ‫ד‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֶ‫.ח‬ Such is the word first of all for this
temporal life, which glides by unnoticed, them for the present transitory world itself
(vid., on Psa_17:14). It is his intention to declare to the rich the utter nothingness or
vanity of their false ground of hope, and to the poor the superiority of their true
ground of hope; hence he wishes to have as hearers both ‫אדם‬ ‫,בני‬ children of the
common people, who are men and have otherwise nothing distinctive about them,
and ‫ישׁ‬ ִ‫י־א‬ַ‫נ‬ ְ , children of men, i.e., of rank and distinction (vid., on Psa_4:3) - rich and
3

poor, as he adds to make his meaning more clear. For his mouth will, or shall, utter
‫ּות‬‫מ‬ ְ‫כ‬ ָ‫,ה‬ not: all sorts of wise teachings, but: weighty wisdom. Just in like manner ‫ּות‬‫נ‬‫בוּ‬ ְ
signifies profound insight or understanding; cf. plurals like ‫ּות‬‫נ‬‫י‬ ִ , Isa_27:11, ‫ּת‬‫ע‬‫וּ‬ ְ‫,י‬ Ps.
42:12 and frequently, ‫וּת‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫,שׁ‬ Jer_22:21. The parallel word ‫ּות‬‫נ‬‫בוּ‬ ְ in the passage before
us, and the plural predicate in Pro_24:7, show that ‫ּות‬‫מ‬ ְ‫כ‬ ָ‫,ח‬ here and in Pro_1:20; Pro_
9:1, cf. Psa_14:1, is not to be regarded, with Hitzig, Olshausen, and others, as another
form of the singular ‫מוּת‬ ְ‫כ‬ ָ‫.ח‬ Side by side with the speaking of the mouth stands ‫ב‬ ֵ‫ל‬ ‫גוּת‬ ָ‫ח‬
(with an unchangeable Kametz before the tone-syllable, Ew. §166, c): the meditation
(lxx µελέτη) of the heart, and in accordance therewith the well-thought-out discourse.
What he intends to discourse is, however, not the creation of his own brain, but what
he has received. A ‫ל‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫,מ‬ a saying embodying the wisdom of practical life, as God
teaches men it, presents itself to his mind demanding to be heard; and to this he
inclines his ear in order that, from being a diligent scholar of the wisdom from above,
he may become a useful teacher of men, inasmuch as he opens up, i.e., unravels, the
divine Mashal, which in the depth and fulness of its contents is a ‫ה‬ ָ‫יד‬ ִ‫,ח‬ i.e., an
involved riddle (from ‫,חוּד‬ cogn. ‫ד‬ַ‫ג‬ፎ, ‫ד‬ ַ‫ק‬ ָ‫,)ע‬ and plays the cithern thereby (‫ב‬ of the
accompaniment). The opening of the riddle does not consist in the solving of it, but
in the setting of it forth. ‫ח‬ ַ‫ת‬ ָ , to open = to propound, deliver of a discourse, comes
from the phrase ‫יו‬ ַ ၲ‫־‬‫ת‬ ֶ‫ח-א‬ ַ‫ת‬ ָ , Pro_31:26; cf. Psa_119:130, where ‫ח‬ ַ‫ת‬ ֵ , an opening, is
equivalent to an unlocking, a revelation.
CALVIN, "1.Hear this, all ye people. Whoever may have been the penman of
this psalm, it discusses one of the most important principles in divine philosophy,
and there is a propriety in the elevated terms designed to awaken and secure
attention, with which the Psalmist announces his purpose to discourse of things
of a deep and momentous nature. To a superficial view, indeed, the subject might
seem trite and common-place, treating, as he does, of the shortness of human life,
and the vanity of those objects in which worldly men confide. But the real scope
of the psalm is, to comfort the people of God under the sufferings to which they
are exposed, by teaching them to expect a happy change in their condition, when
God, in his own time, shall interpose to rectify the disorders of the present
system. There is a higher lesson still inculcated by the Psalmist — that, as God’s
providence of the world is not presently apparent, we must exercise patience, and
rise superior to the suggestions of carnal sense in anticipating the favorable issue.
That it is our duty to maintain a resolute struggle with our afflictions, however
severe these may be, and that it were foolish to place happiness in the enjoyment
of such fleeting possessions as the riches, honors, or pleasures of this world, may
be precepts which even the heathen philosophers have enforced, but they have
uniformly failed in setting before us the true source of consolation. However
admirably they discourse of a happy life, they confine themselves entirely to
commendations upon virtue, and do not bring prominently forward to our view
that God, who governs the world, and to whom alone we can repair with
confidence in the most desperate circumstances. But slender comfort can be
derived upon this subject from the teaching of philosophy. If, therefore, the Holy
4

Ghost in this psalm introduces to our notice truths which are sufficiently
familiar to experience, it is that he may raise our minds from them to the higher
truth of the divine government of the world, assuring us of the fact, that God sits
supreme, even when the wicked are triumphing most in their success, or when
the righteous are trampled under the foot of contumely, and that a day is coming
when he will dash the cup of pleasure out of the hands of his enemies, and rejoice
the hearts of his friends, by delivering them out of their severest distresses. This
is the only consideration which can impart solid comfort under our afflictions.
Formidable and terrible in themselves, they would overwhelm our souls, did not
the Lord lift upon us the light of his countenance. Were we not assured that he
watches over our safety, we could find no remedy from our evils, and no quarter
to which we might resort under them.
The remarks which have been made may explain the manner in which the
inspired writer introduces the psalm, soliciting our attention, as about to
discourse on a theme unusually high and important. Two things are implied in
this verse, that the subject upon which he proposes to enter is of universal
application, and that we require to be admonished and aroused ere we are
brought to a due measure of consideration. The words which I have translated,
inhabitants of the world, are translated by others, inhabitants of time; but this is
a harsh mode of expression, however much it may agree with the scope of the
psalm. He calls upon all men indiscriminately, because all were equally
concerned in the truths which he intended to announce. By sons of Adam, we
may understand the meaner or lower class of mankind; and by sons of men,
(212) the high, the noble, or such as sustain any pre-eminence in life. Thus, in the
outset, he states it to be his purpose to instruct high and low without exception;
his subject being one in which the whole human family was interested, and in
which every individual belonging to it required to be instructed.
SPURGEON, "Ver. 1-4. In these four verses the poet prophet calls universal
humanity to listen to his didactic hymn.
Ver. 1. Hear this, all ye people. All men are concerned in the subject, it is of
them, and therefore to them that the psalmist would speak. It is not a topic which
men delight to consider, and therefore he who would instruct them must press
them to give ear. Where, as in this case, the theme claims to be wisdom and
understanding, attention is very properly demanded; and when the style
combines the sententiousness of the proverb with the sweetness of poesy, interest
is readily excited. Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world. "He that hath ears to
hear let him hear." Men dwelling in all climes are equally concerned in the
subject, for the laws of providence are the same in all lands. It is wise for each
one to feel I am a man, and therefore everything which concerns mortals has a
personal interest to me. We must all appear before the judgment seat, and
therefore we all should give earnest heed to holy admonition which may help us
to prepare for that dread event. He who refuses to receive instruction by the ear,
will not be able to escape receiving destruction by it when the Judge shall say,
"Depart, ye cursed."
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. Strange it is that two Psalms so near together, as this and the
5

forty-fifth should, and should alone imitate, or be the forerunners of, two works
of David's son; thisâ€”Ecclesiastes, the formerâ€”the Canticles. J. M. Neale.
COKE, "Title. ‫למנצת‬ ‫לבני‬ ‫קרח‬ ‫מזמרו‬ lamnatseach libnei korach mizmor.— The
author of this psalm is not known, nor the particular occasion of it. But it seems
to be a meditation on the vanity of riches: and the usual haughtiness of those
who possess them: As a remedy for this, it sets before them the near prospect of
death, from which no riches can save, in which no riches can avail. The author
considers the subjects he is treating, as a kind of wisdom concealed from the
world, a mystery, an occult science, with respect to the generality of mankind.
WHEDON, "1. People… inhabitants of the world—The subject is of world-wide
concern, and the psalmist invites attention accordingly. It would seem by this call
that the occasion of the psalm was one in which foreign nations, equally with the
Hebrews, had cause to consider the brief and deceptive triumph of wickedness.
‫,חלד‬ (hheled,) world, here means world with reference to its duration— a period
of time, age. The psalmist’s call is upon all the dwellers of this age.
COFFMAN, "A BLESSED PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE
Here we have the Old Testament equivalent of the New Testament instructions
against the folly of trusting in material riches. Christ's declaration that, "A
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of his possessions," as well as his
encounter with the Rich Young Ruler, and his parable of the Rich Fool, are
doctrinally anticipated in this psalm.
Scholars refer to this psalm as `didactic,' a psalm loaded with teaching or
instructions. In some of the psalms, the psalmist is (1) praising God; in others he
is (2) prophesying; and in some he is (3) praying; but, "In this one, he is (4)
preaching."[1]
In all discussions of the folly of trusting in riches, it should be pointed out that
riches are a threatening temptation, not only to their possessors, but to the poor
also. "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil," as an apostle noted; and
people who are without riches may inordinately desire them, covet them, and
commit all kinds of wickedness in order to procure them. Thus, the scriptural
warning to all men: (1) let not those who have riches inordinately glory in them
or trust them; and (2) let not those of us who are poor inordinately desire them
or sinfully seek to possess them.
Yes, there are some wonderful instructions here regarding the folly of trusting in
earthly riches; but there is one verse that outweighs all the others in the psalm
put together. It is Psalms 49:15.
"But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; for He will receive me"
(Psalms 49:15).
We have made this the title of the psalm. Everything else in it fades into the
background, because the glory of this verse shines like the sun at perihelion.
6

We shall devote most of our attention to this verse, because it provides the
answers, the eternal answers, to all of the great problems encountered in the lives
of mortal men, including that of the perplexity arising from the inequalities
between the wicked rich and the godly poor.
The date and occasion when the psalm was written are unknown, although the
superscription that assigns it to the sons of Korah has caused some to suppose it
was written in the times of David, or soon afterwards. Such questions are of little
importance.
The organization of the psalm suggested by Addis is as follows.
I. The announcement that a great mystery is about to be revealed (Psalms
49:1-4).
II. The haughty boastfulness of wicked men trusting in untrustworthy riches
(Psalms 49:5-8).
III. Those who trust in riches live as if they were immortal, but they all die
(Psalms 49:9-12).
IV. Why such conduct is foolish, and why the hope of the godly is preferable
(Psalms 49:13-15).
V. Fate of the wicked contrasted with that of the righteous (Psalms 49:16-20).[2]
Addis also identified Psalms 49:12,20 as a refrain and suggested that it would be
appropriate to insert it again after Psalms 49:4,8, and Psalms 49:15, just as it
already appears after Psalms 49:12 and Psalms 49:20.
Psalms 49:1-4
"Hear this, all ye peoples;
Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world,
Both low and high,
Rich and poor together.
My mouth shall speak wisdom;
And the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
I will incline mine ear to a parable:
I will open my dark saying upon the harp."
7

"All ye peoples ... all ye inhabitants of the earth" (Psalms 49:1). Only a world-
shaking truth, significant for every soul who ever lived on earth, could be
entitled to such an introduction as this. The revelation of this great truth is not
for Jews only, but for all men and all classes of peoples in the whole world.
"Both low and high, rich and poor together" (Psalms 49:2). Spurgeon suggested
that all preaching should thus be directed to all ranks and divisions of mankind.
"To suit our word for the rich alone is wicked sycophancy; and to aim at
pleasing the poor alone is to act the part of a demagogue. Truth must be spoken
so as to command the ear of all; and wise men seek to learn that acceptable
style."[3]
"A parable ... I will open my dark saying" (Psalms 49:4). The `parable' and the
`dark saying' here are the same thing, the truth announced in Psalms 49:15.
"Both in Hebrew and in Greek, the words `parable,' and `proverb' are
translated from the same word."[4] The meaning here is, "That the psalmist is
inspired to make the pronouncement which he is about to utter."[5]
Thus we have three different words applicable to the earthshaking truth to be
announced, namely, proverb, parable, and dark saying. We might even call it a
riddle or a mystery.
EBC 1-9, "THIS psalm touches the high-water mark of Old Testament faith in a
future life; and in that respect, as well as in its application of that faith to
alleviate the mystery of present inequalities and non-correspondence of desert
with condition, is closely related to the noble Psalms 73:1-28, with Which it has
also several verbal identities. Both have the same problem before them-to
construct a theodicy, or "to vindicate the ways of God to man"-and both solve it
in the same fashion. Both appear to refer to the story of Enoch in their
remarkable expression for ultimate reception into the Divine presence. But
whether the psalms are contemporaneous cannot be determined from these data.
Cheyne regards the treatment of the theme in Psalms 73:1-28, as "more skilful,"
and therefore presumably later than Psalms 49:1-20, which he would place
"somewhat before the close of the Persian period." This date rests on the
assumption that the amount of certitude as to a future life expressed in the psalm
was not realised in Israel till after the exile.
After a solemn summons to all the world to hear the psalmist’s utterance of what
he has learned by Divine teaching (Psalms 49:1-4), the psalm is divided into two
parts, each closed with a refrain. The former of these (Psalms 49:5-12) contrasts
the arrogant security of the prosperous godless with the end that awaits them;
while the second (Psalms 49:13-20) contrasts the dreary lot of these victims of
vain self-confidence with the blessed reception after death into God’s own
presence which the psalmist grasped as a certainty for himself, and thereon bases
an exhortation to possess souls in patience while the godless prosper, and to be
sure that their lofty structures will topple into hideous ruin.
The psalmist’s consciousness that he speaks by Divine inspiration, and that his
message imports all men, is grandly expressed in his introductory summons. The
8

very name which he gives to the world suggests the latter thought; for it means-
the world considered as fleeting. Since we dwell in so transitory an abode, it
becomes us to listen to the deep truths of the psalm. These have a message for
high and low, for rich and poor. They are like a keen lancet to let out too great
fulness of blood from the former, and to teach moderation, lowliness, and care
for the Unseen. They are a calming draught for the latter, soothing when
perplexed or harmed by "the proud man’s contumely." But the psalmist calls for
universal attention, not only because his lessons fit all classes, but because they
are in themselves "wisdom," and because he himself had first bent his ear to
receive them before he strung his lyre to utter them. The brother-psalmist, in
Psalms 73:1-28, presents himself as struggling with doubt and painfully groping
his way to his conclusion. This psalmist presents himself as a divinely inspired
teacher, who has received into purged and attentive ears, in many a whisper
from God, and as the result of many an hour of silent waiting, the word which he
would now proclaim on the housetops. The discipline of the teacher of religious
truth is the same at all times. There must be the bent ear before there is the
message which men will recognise as important and true.
There is no parable in the ordinary sense in the psalm. The word seems to have
acquired the wider meaning of a weighty didactic utterance, as in Psalms 73:2.
The expression "Open my riddle" is ambiguous, and is by some understood to
mean the proposal and by others the solution of the puzzle; but the phrase is
more naturally understood of solving than of setting a riddle, and if so, the
disproportion between the characters and fortunes of good and bad is the
mystery or riddle, and the psalm is its solution.
The main theme of the first part is the certainty of death, which makes infinitely
ludicrous the rich man’s arrogance. It is one version of
"There is no armour against Fate;
Death lays his icy hand on kings."
Therefore how vain the boasting in wealth, when all its heaps cannot buy a day
of life! This familiar thought is not all the psalmist’s contribution to the solution
of the mystery of life’s unequal partition of worldly good; but it prepares the
way for it, and it lays a foundation for his refusal to be afraid, however pressed
by insolent enemies. Very significantly he sets the conclusion, to which
observation of the transiency of human prosperity has led him, at the beginning
of his "parable." In the parallel psalm (Psalms 73:1-28) the stager shows himself
struggling from the depths of perplexity up to the sunny heights of faith. But
here the poet begins with the clear utterance of trustful courage, and then
vindicates it by the thought of the impotence of wealth to avert death. The
hostility to himself of the self-confident rich boasters appears only for a moment
at first. It is described by a gnarled, energetic phrase which has been diversely
understood. But it seems clear that the "iniquity" (A.V. and R.V.) spoken of in
Psalms 49:5 b is not the psalmist’s sin, for a reference here to his guilt or to
retribution would be quite irrelevant; and if it were the consequences of his own
evil that dogged him at his heels, he had every reason to fear, and confidence
9

would be insolent defiance. But the word rendered in the A.V. heels, which is
retained in the R.V. with a change in construction, may be a participial noun,
derived from a verb meaning to trip up or supplant; and this gives a natural
coherence to the whole verse, and connects it with the following one. "Pursuers"
is a weak equivalent for the literal "those who would supplant me," but conveys
the meaning, though in a somewhat enfeebled condition. Psalms 49:6 is a
continuance of the description of the supplanters.
They are "men of this world," the same type of man as excites stern disapproval
in many psalms: as, for instance, in Psalms 17:14 -a psalm which is closely
related to this, both in its portrait of the godless and its lofty hope for the future.
It is to be noted that they are not described as vicious or God-denying or defying.
They are simply absorbed in the material, and believe that land and money are
the real, solid goods. They are the same men as Jesus meant when He said that it
was hard for those who trusted in riches to enter into the kingdom of heaven. It
has been thought that the existence of such a class points to a late date for the
psalm; but the reliance on riches does not require large riches to rely on, and
may flourish in full perniciousness in very primitive social conditions. A small
elevation suffices to lift a man high enough above his fellows to make a weak
head giddy. Those to whom material possessions are the only good have a
natural enmity towards those who find their wealth in truth and goodness. The
poet, the thinker, and, most of all, the religious man, are targets for more or less
active "malice," or, at all events, are recognised as belonging to another class,
and regarded as singular and "unpractical," if nothing worse. But the psalmist
looks far enough ahead to see the end of all the boasting, and points to the great
instance of the impotence of material good-its powerlessness to prolong life. It
would be more natural to find in Psalms 49:7 the statement that the rich man
cannot prolong his own days than that he cannot do so for a "brother." A very
slight change in the text would make the initial word of the verse ("brother") the
particle of asseveration, which occurs in Psalms 49:15 (the direct antithesis of
this verse), and is characteristic of the parallel Psalms 73:1-28. With that reading
(Ewald, Cheyne, Baethgen, etc.) other slight difficulties are smoothed; but the
present text is attested by the LXX and other early versions, and is capable of
defence. It may be necessary to observe that there is no reference here to any
other "redemption" than that of the body from physical death. There is a
distinct intention to contrast the man’s limited power with God’s, for Psalms
49:15 points back to this verse, and declares that God can do what man cannot.
Psalms 49:8 must be taken as a parenthesis, and the construction carried on
from Psalms 49:7 to Psalms 49:9, which specifies the purpose of the ransom, if it
were possible. No man can secure for another continuous life or an escape from
the necessity of seeing the pit-i.e., going down to the depths of death. It would
cost more than all the rich man’s store; wherefore he-the would-be ransomer-
must abandon the attempt forever.
PETT 1-5, "An Appeal To Listen To His Words (Psalms 49:1-5).
The Psalmist commences by making an appeal to all men, both high and low,
rich and poor, to listen to his wisdom. Note his recognition that he is speaking
mysteries (parables, dark sayings). This would confirm that he expects them to
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see in what he is saying something more than the usual platitudes. For he is in
fact indicating that for those who trust God this life is not the end. There is hope
beyond the grave. Such glimpses of a future hope are found a number of times in
Davidic Psalms (e.g. Psalms 16:10-11; Psalms 17:15; Psalms 23:6) and in
Proverbs (Proverbs 11:4; Proverbs 13:14; compare Proverbs 10:2; Proverbs
14:27; Proverbs 14:32; Proverbs 15:24).
Psalms 49:1-5
‘Hear this, all you peoples,
Give ear, all you inhabitants of the world,
Both low and high,
Rich and poor together.
My mouth will speak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart will be of understanding.
I will incline my ear to a parable,
I will open my dark saying on the harp.
For what reason should I fear in the days of evil,
When iniquity at my heels compasses me about?
His appeal is to all people of all classes. It contains a universal appeal which is
characteristic of wisdom literature, but is also found in the prophets (see Micah
1:2). He wants it known that what he has to say applies to everyone. The word
for ‘world’ is an unusual one indicating the transitory nature of the world. And
it is the transitory nature of life that is a central idea in the Psalm.
He speaks to ‘both low and high’. This is literally ‘both sons of mankind (adam)
and sons of men (ish - important men)’. Thus it is to the common man and also to
the distinguished man. It is also to rich and poor. To the rich lest they trust in
their riches. To the poor lest they become discontented with their lot. All need to
heed his words. None must see themselves as outside their scope.
He explains that his aim is to give wisdom and understanding (literally ‘wisdoms
and understandings’. The plural indicates the length and breadth of that wisdom
and understanding). In other words he is speaking of the deeper things in life.
Yet he recognises also that he can only do so in terms of simile and metaphor. He
is not speaking of what is commonplace. He thus speaks in comparisons (mashal)
and dark sayings (chidah).
‘I will incline my ear --.’ He leans forward, as it were, to hear what God has to
say, for what he has to say is coming from God..
The word mashal (parable) indicates a comparison, a proverb, a parable, a
metaphorical saying, or a poem (Isaiah 14:4). It is illustrative rather than literal.
The word chidah (dark saying) indicates an enigma or riddle (Judges 14:12 ff; 1
Kings 10:1), a simile or parable (see Ezekiel 17:2), an obscure utterance, a
mystery, a dark saying. For both words used together elsewhere see Psalms 78:2;
Proverbs 1:6; Ezekiel 17:2. Certainly one of the great mysteries of life to many
was the prosperity of the unrighteous. Why should God allow the unrighteous to
prosper, and the truly righteous to go in need? Men often saw only the outward
11

trimmings and not the importance of the inner heart which riches could destroy.
‘On the harp.’ He intends to set it to music. Men will often listen to the wisdom of
a song where they would eschew the same words if plainly put.
And the question that he raises is as to why he should fear when evil abounds,
and when he is dogged by injustice and sin which threaten to trip him up. David
especially, for example, had known what it meant to be ‘on the run’, as had
Elijah. And they had learned in such experiences to trust in God.
BI, "Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: both low and
high, rich and poor, together.
The inequalities of society
Impressive and instructive that scene in the wood of Senart, when a luxurious Louis,
royally caparisoned for hunting, met a wretched peasant with a coffin. “For
whom? . . . For a poor brother slave, whom your majesty has sometimes noticed
slaving in those quarters.” “What did he die of? . . . Of hunger.” The king gave his
steed the spur. Sad is it that such a contrast was ever possible on earth, and sadder
still that it may yet be witnessed even in this enlightened and philanthropic land.
There are other inequalities. I read, not long since, that a Glasgow bank director,
convicted of having appropriated half a million sterling, was sentenced to eight
months’ imprisonment; and that on the same day a little half-starved boy, charged
with stealing cake worth a halfpenny, was sentenced to fourteen days’ hard labour
and four years in a reformatory. “One law for the rich, and another for the poor.”
These social inequalities have led to much disturbance. Christian divines have
abandoned the subject to philosophers, agitators, and would-be reformers. It always
has seemed to me that Christianity must have something to say that the world has a
right to know; and unless this is done, there never will be a complete mastery of the
problem. Social inequality must have arisen from some other kind of inequality.
Social inequalities sprang out of the irregularities of human nature. No two men are
made alike. Social inequalities are not without relief and compensation in some other
kind of inequality. “Uneasy is the head that wears a crown,” and uneasy the heart of
him who owns millions of dollars. The Saviour did not devote His attention to
surface measures of reform, but to a new heart, confident that the regeneration of
man means the regeneration of society. (G. C. Lorimer, D. D.)
2 both low and high,
rich and poor alike:
BARNES, "Both low and high - Those alike of humble and those of exalted
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rank, for it pertains equally to all. On the meaning of the “terms” employed here, see
the notes at Isa_2:9. These truths pertained to the “low;” that is, to those of humble
rank, as teaching them not to envy the rich, and not to fear their power; and they
pertained to those of exalted rank, as teaching them not to trust in their riches, and
not to suppose that they could permanently possess and enjoy them.
Rich and poor together - As equally interested in these truths; that is, What the
psalmist was about to say was adapted to impart useful lessons to both classes. Both
needed instruction on the subject; and the same class of truths was adapted to
furnish that instruction. The class of truths referred to was derived from the
powerlessness of wealth in regard to the things of most importance to man, and from
the fact that all which a man can gain must soon be left: teaching those of one class
that they should not set their heart on wealth, and should not pride themselves on
possessing it, and teaching the other class that they should not envy or fear the
possessor of riches.
CLARKE, "Both low and high,.... Or "both the sons of Adam and the sons of
men". By the sons of "Adam" are meant the multitude of the people, as Ben Melech
explains it; the common people, the meaner sort, the base things of this world; and
such are they, generally speaking, who are called by grace under the Gospel
dispensation: and by "the sons of men" are meant the princes, nobles, and great men
of the earth; men of high birth and illustrious extraction: so Adam is rendered, "the
mean man", and "Ish", the word here used, "the great man", in Isa_2:9. And though
not many, yet some of this sort are called by grace; and all of them have a peculiar
concern in many things spoken of in this psalm; see Psa_49:12;
rich and poor together: these are called upon to hearken to what is after said, that
the one may not be elated with and trust in their riches, and that the other may not
be dejected on account of their poverty; and seeing both must die, and meet together
at the judgment day; and inasmuch as the Gospel is preached to one as to another;
and for the most part the poor hear it, receive it, and are called by it.
SPURGEON, "Ver. 2. Both low and high, rich and poor, together. Sons of great
men, and children of mean men, men of large estate, and ye who pine in poverty,
ye are all bidden to hear the inspired minstrel as he touches his harp to a
mournful but instructive lay. The low will be encouraged, the high will be
warned, the rich will be sobered, the poor consoled, there will be a useful lesson
for each if they are willing to learn it. Our preaching ought to have a voice for all
classes, and all should have an ear for it. To suit our word to the rich alone is
wicked sycophancy, and to aim only at pleasing the poor is to act the part of a
demagogue. Truth may be so spoken as to command the ear of all, and wise men
seek to learn that acceptable style. Rich and poor must soon meet together in the
grave, they may well be content to meet together now. In the congregation of the
dead all differences of rank will be obliterated, they ought not now to be
obstructions to united instructions.
Ver. 2. In this Psalm David, as it were, summons and divides mankind. In the
first verse he summons: "Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of
the world." In the second verse he divides: Both low and high, rich and poor,
together. The word in the Hebrew for high is (vya ynb), bene ish, sons of Ish, and
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the word for low is (Mda ynb) bene Adam, sons of Adam. If we should translate
the text directly, according to the letter, the words must run, sons of men and
sons of men; for, sons of Adam and sons of Ish are both translated sons of men.
Yet when they are set together in a way of opposition, the one signifieth low and
the other high; and so our translators render it according to the sense, not sons
of men and sons of men, but low and high. Junius translates to this sense, though
in more words, as well they who are born of mean men, as they who are born of
the honourable. Joseph Caryl.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Ver. 2.
1. The common needs of rich and poor men.
2. The common privileges of rich and poor saints.
3. Their common service.
4. Their common heaven.
ELLICOTT, "(2) Both high and low.—The two Hebrew expressions here used,
benê-âdam and benê-îsh, answer to one another much as homo and vir in Latin.
The LXX. and Vulg., taking âdam in its primary sense, render “sons of the soil
and sons of men.” Symmachus makes the expressions stand for men in general
and men as individuals.
Shall be of understanding.—The copula supplied by the Authorised Version is
unnecessary. The word rendered meditation may mean, from its etymology,
“muttered thoughts,” and it is quite consistent to say, my musings speak of
understanding. So LXX. and Vulgate.
WHEDON, "2. Low and high—The classifications of this verse are intended, by
mentioning the extreme orders of society, to comprehend all the intermediate
ranks also, without exception. They are specifications under the general terms
“all nations,” “all inhabitants of the age.” See note on Psalms 4:2
3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom;
the meditation of my heart will give you
understanding.
BARNES, "My mouth shall speak of wisdom - That is, I will utter sentiments
that are wise, or that are of importance to all; sentiments that will enable all to take a
just view of the subject on which I speak. This indicates “confidence” in what he was
about to utter, as being eminently deserving of attention.
14

And the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding - What I reflect
on, and what I give utterance to, in the matter under consideration. The idea is, that
he had meditated on the subject, as to what was real wisdom in the matter, and that
he would now give utterance to the result of his meditations. It was not wisdom in
general, or intelligence or understanding as such on which he designed to express the
results of his thoughts, but it was only in respect to the proper value to be attached to
wealth, and as to the fact of its causing fear Psa_49:5 in those who were not
possessed of it, and who might be subjected to the oppressive acts of those who were
rich.
GILL, "My mouth shall speak of wisdom,.... Or "wisdoms" (m); of Christ, who
is so called, Pro_1:20. He being as a divine Person the wisdom of God, and the only
wise God; and having all the treasures of wisdom in him, as man and Mediator: of
him the prophet spake, and of him the apostles and all Gospel ministers speak; of the
glories of his Person, of the fulness of his grace, and of his wonderful works;
especially of that of redemption and salvation by him, in which there is an abounding
of wisdom and prudence. Or the Gospel may be meant, and all the truths of it, in
which there is a glorious display of divine wisdom; it is the wisdom of God in a
mystery; hidden and ancient wisdom; and which, when truly understood, makes a
man wise unto salvation; see 1Co_2:6;
and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding; or
"understandings" (n); and this is in order to the former; what the heart meditates the
mouth speaks. If the heart meditates on understanding, the mouth will speak of
wisdom; and a man should think before he speaks, especially the ministers of the
Gospel: they ought to meditate on the word of God, the Gospel, and the truths of it,
that their profiling may appear to all; that they may understand divine things
themselves, and deliver them out to the understanding of others: their concern
should be, that through meditation they may have a good treasure of wisdom and
knowledge in their hearts, that out of it they may bring forth things pleasant and
profitable unto others.
CALVIN, "3.My mouth shall speak of wisdom The prophet was warranted in
applying these commendatory terms to the doctrine which he was about to
communicate. It is, no doubt, by plain appeals to observation that we find him
reproving human folly; but the general principle upon which his instruction
proceeds is one by no means obvious to the common sense of mankind, not to say
that his design in using such terms is less to assert the dignity of his subject than
simply to awaken attention. This he does all the more effectually by speaking as
one who would apply his own mind to instruction rather than assume the office
of exhortation. He puts himself forward as an humble scholar, one who, in acting
the part of teacher, has an eye at the same time to his own improvement. It were
desirable that all the ministers of God should be actuated by a similar spirit,
disposing them to regard God as at once their own teacher and that of the
common people, and to embrace in the first place themselves that divine word
which they preach to others. (213) The Psalmist had another object in view. He
would secure the greater weight and deference to his doctrine by announcing
that he had no intention to vend fancies of his own, but to advance what he had
learned in the school of God. This is the true method of instruction to be followed
15

in the Church. The man who holds the office of teacher must apply himself to the
reception of truth before he attempt to communicate it, and in this manner
become the means of conveying to the hands of others that which God has
committed to his own. Wisdom is not the growth of human genius. It must be
sought from above, and it is impossible that any should speak with the propriety
and knowledge necessary for the edification of the Church, who has not, in the
first place, been taught at the feet of the Lord. To condescend upon the words,
some read in the third verse, And the meditation of my heart shall speak of
understanding But as it were a harsh and improper expression to say that the
meditation of the heart speaks, I have adopted the simpler reading.
SPURGEON, "Ver. 3. My mouth shall speak of wisdom. Inspired and therefore
lifted beyond himself, the prophet is not praising his own attainments, but
extolling the divine Spirit which spoke in him. He knew that the Spirit of truth
and wisdom spoke through him. He who is not sure that his matter is good has
no right to ask a hearing. And the meditation of my heart shall be of
understanding. The same Spirit who made the ancient seers eloquent, also made
them thoughtful. The help of the Holy Ghost was never meant to supersede the
use of our own mental powers. The Holy Spirit does not make us speak as
Balaam's ass, which merely uttered sounds, but never meditated; but he first
leads us to consider and reflect, and then he gives us the tongue of fire to speak
with power.
None.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Ver. 3. The deep things of God are intended,
1. To exercise our minds to understand them.
2. To try our faith by believing themâ€”"incline" implies a submissive mind.
3. To excite our joy as we grasp themâ€”"upon the harp."
4. To employ our faculties in explaining them to others.
4 I will turn my ear to a proverb;
with the harp I will expound my riddle:
BARNES, "I will incline mine ear to a parable - The phrase “I will incline
mine ear” means that he would listen or attend to - as we incline our ear toward those
whom we are anxious to hear, or in the direction from which a sound seems to come.
Compare Psa_5:1; Psa_17:1; Psa_39:12; Isa_1:2. On the word rendered “parable”
here ‫משׁל‬ mâshâl - see the notes at Isa_14:4. Compare Job_13:12, note; Job_27:1,
note. The word properly means similitude; then, a sentence, sententious saying,
16

apophthegm; then, a proverb; then, a song or poem. There is usually found in the
word some idea of “comparison,” and hence, usually something that is to be
illustrated “by” a comparison or a story. The reference here would seem to be to some
dark or obscure subject which needed to be illustrated; which it was not easy to
understand; which had given the writer, as well as others, perplexity and difficulty.
He proposed now, with a view to understand and explain it, to place his ear, as it
were, “close to the matter,” that he might clearly comprehend it. The matter was
difficult, but he felt assured he could explain it - as when one unfolds the meaning of
an enigma. The “problem” - the “parable” - the difficult point - related to the right
use, or the proper value, of wealth, or the estimate in which it should be held by those
who possessed it, and by those who did not. It was very evident to the author of the
psalm that the views of people were not right on the subject; he therefore proposed to
examine the matter carefully, and to state the exact truth.
I will open - I will explain; I will communicate the result of my careful inquiries.
My dark saying - The word used here - ‫חידה‬ chıydâh - is rendered “dark speeches”
in Num_12:8; “riddle,” in Jdg_14:12-19; Eze_17:2; “hard questions” in 1Ki_10:1;
2Ch_9:1; “dark saying” (as here) in Psa_78:2; Pro_1:6; “dark sentences,” in Dan_
8:23; and “proverb” in Hab_2:6. It does not elsewhere occur. It means properly
“something entangled, intricate;” then, a trick or stratagem; then art intricate speech,
a riddle; then, a sententious saying, a maxim; then a parable, a poem, a song, a
proverb. The idea here is, that the point was intricate or obscure; it was not well
understood, and he purposed “to lay it open,” and to make it plain.
Upon the harp - On the meaning of the word used here, see the notes at Isa_
5:12. The idea here is, that he would accompany the explanation with music, or
would so express it that it might be accompanied with music; that is, he would give it
a poetic form - a form such that the sentiment might be used in public worship, and
might be impressed upon the mind by all the force and power which music would
impart. Sentiments of purity and truth, and sentiments of pollution and falsehood
also, are always most deeply imbedded in the minds of people, and are made most
enduring and effective, when they are connected with music. Thus the sentiments of
patriotism are perpetuated and impressed in song; and thus sentiments of sensuality
and pollution owe much of their permanence and power to the fact that they are
expressed in corrupt verse, and that they are perpetuated in exquisite poetry, and are
accompanied with song. Scenes of revelry, as well as acts of devotion, are kept up by
song. Religion proposes to take advantage of this principle in our nature by
connecting the sentiments of piety with the sweetness of verse, and by impressing
and perpetuating those sentiments through associating them with all that is tender,
pure, and inspiriting in music. Hence, music, both vocal and that which is produced
by instruments, has always been found to be an invaluable auxiliary in securing the
proper impression of truth on the minds of people, as well as in giving utterance to
the sentiments of piety in devotion.
CLARKE, "I will incline mine ear to a parable - This was the general
method of conveying instruction among the Asiatics. They used much figure and
metaphor to induce the reader to study deeply in order to find out the meaning. This
had its use; it obliged men to think and reflect deeply; and thus in some measure
taught them the use, government, and management of their minds.
My dark saying upon the harp - Music was sometimes used to soothe the
animal spirits, and thus prepare the mind for the prophetic influx.
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GILL, "I will incline mine ear to a parable,.... In which way of speaking the
doctrines of the Gospel were delivered out by Christ, Mat_13:3. Wherefore the
prophet, representing his apostles and disciples, signifies that he would listen
thereunto, that he might attain to the knowledge thereof, and communicate it to
others;
I will open my dark saying upon the harp; the enigmas, riddles, and mysteries
of the Gospel, being understood by the ministers of it, are opened and explained in a
very pleasant and delightful manner; they are made clear and evident, and are as a
lovely song upon a harp; see Eze_33:32.
HENRY, ". He engages his own attention (Psa_49:4): I will incline my ear to a
parable. It is called a parable, not because it is figurative and obscure, but because it
is a wise discourse and very instructive. It is the same word that is used concerning
Solomon's proverbs. The psalmist will himself incline his ear to it. This intimates, 1.
That he was taught it by the Spirit of God and did not speak of himself. Those that
undertake to teach others must first learn themselves. 2. That he thought himself
nearly concerned in it, and was resolved not to venture his own soul upon that
bottom which he dissuaded others from venturing theirs upon. 3. That he would not
expect others should attend to that which he himself did not attend to as a matter of
the greatest importance. Where God gives the tongue of the learned he first wakens
the ear to hear as the learned, Isa_50:4.
III. He promises to make the matter as plain and as affecting as he could: I will open
my dark saying upon the harp. What he learned for himself he would not conceal or
confine to himself, but would communicate, for the benefit of others. 1. Some
understood it not, it was a riddle to them; tell them of the vanity of the things that are
seen, and of the reality and weight of invisible things, and they say, Ah Lord God!
doth he not speak parables? For the sake of such, he would open this dark saying,
and make it so plain that he that runs might read it. 2. Others understood it well
enough, but they were not moved by it, it never affected them, and for their sake he
would open it upon the harp, and try that expedient to work upon them, to win upon
them. A verse may find him who a sermon flies. Herbert.
JAMISON, "incline — to hear attentively (Psa_17:6; Psa_31:2).
parable — In Hebrew and Greek “parable” and “proverb” are translations of the
same word. It denotes a comparison, or form of speech, which under one image
includes many, and is expressive of a general truth capable of various illustrations.
Hence it may be used for the illustration itself. For the former sense, “proverb” (that
is, one word for several) is the usual English term, and for the latter, in which
comparison is prominent, “parable” (that is, one thing laid by another). The
distinction is not always observed, since here, and in Psa_78:2; “proverb” would
better express the style of the composition (compare also Pro_26:7, Pro_26:9; Hab_
2:6; Joh_16:25, Joh_16:29). Such forms of speech are often very figurative and also
obscure (compare Mat_13:12-15). Hence the use of the parallel word -
dark saying — or, “riddle” (compare Eze_17:2).
open — is to explain.
upon the harp — the accompaniment for a lyric.
SBC, "There are two voices always speaking in man, and attempting to govern all
other influences in his soul—despondency and aspiration. The text points to two
principles. (1) There is the bowing before, and hearkening to, the mystery of things,
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the universal, parabolic utterances; and (2) the turning the mystery and the parable
into a cheerful song, the dark saying becoming, like the bird’s song in the covert of
the night, a clear stream without sorrow and without care.
I. All Scripture itself is a dark saying on a harp. There is a Divine reticence in the
Bible; there is an awful secretiveness. As the voices of music lift us to worlds beyond
themselves, so, in an eminent sense, it is with Scripture. It is a manifold unity, like
the universe in which we live; nor have we any difficulty in finding how what is
suggested and what is revealed are alike a dark saying on the harp.
II. Man himself is a dark saying on a harp. He is himself a universe of being in which
life, and nature, and grace seek to combine in music. Man’s soul is written all over
with dark sayings. "It pleased God to reveal His Son in me," said the Apostle. Then
the handwriting flames round the chambers of the soul; until then the magnificent
works of genius are aberrations and insanities; then the harp utters the word of light,
and the dark saying on the soul flies before its tone.
III. Providence is a dark saying on a harp. The mysteries of Providence were as
startling to David as they are to us, and this very Psalm recites and records them; it
did not seem to be a world of highways to the Psalmist, and this is one of the great
causes of grief and of the dark sayings—the world and its sorrows. For the people of
God the hour shall come when all dark sayings shall melt on the harp, and life shall
no longer represent the burden, but only the bliss, of being.
E. Paxton Hood, Dark Sayings on a Harp, p. 1.
CALVIN, "4.I will incline my ear (214) to a parable The Hebrew word ‫משל‬ ,
mashal, (215) which I have translated parable, properly denotes a similitude; but
it is often applied to any deep or weighty sayings, because these are generally
embellished with figures and metaphors. The noun which follows, ‫,חידת‬ chidoth
(216) and which I have rendered an enigma, or riddle, is to be understood in
nearly the same sense. In Ezekiel 17:2, we have both the nouns with their
corresponding verbs joined together, ‫משל‬ ‫ומשל‬ ‫חידה‬ ‫,חור‬ chud chedah umshol
mashal, the literal translation being, “Enigmatize an enigma, and parabolize a
parable.” I am aware that the reference in this place is to an allegorical
discourse, but I have already adverted to the reason why, in Hebrew, the name of
enigmas or similitudes is given to any remarkable or important sayings. The
Psalmist, when he adds that he will open his dark saying, shows that nothing was
farther from his intention than to wrap the subject of his discourse in perplexing
and intricate obscurity. The truths of revelation are so high as to exceed our
comprehension; but, at the same time, the Holy Spirit has accommodated them
so far to our capacity, as to render all Scripture profitable for instruction. None
can plead ignorance: for the deepest and most difficult doctrines are made plain
to the most simple and unlettered of mankind. I see little force in the idea
suggested by several interpreters, of the Psalmist having employed his harp, that
he might render a subject in itself harsh and disagreeable more engaging by the
charms of music. He would merely follow the usual practice of accompanying the
psalm with the harp.
SPURGEON, "Ver. 4. I will incline mine ear to a parable. He who would have
others hear, begins by hearing himself. As the minstrel leans his ear to his harp,
so must the preacher give his whole soul to his ministry. The truth came to the
psalmist as a parable, and he endeavoured to unriddle it for popular use; he
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would not leave the truth in obscurity, but he listened to its voice till he so well
understood it as to be able to interpret and translate it into the common language
of the multitude. Still of necessity it would remain a problem, and a dark saying
to the unenlightened many, but this would not be the songster's fault, for, saith
he, I will open my dark saying upon the harp. The writer was no mystic,
delighting in deep and cloudy things, yet he was not afraid of the most profound
topics; he tried to open the treasures of darkness, and to uplift pearls from the
deep. To win attention he cast his proverbial philosophy into the form of song,
and tuned his harp to the solemn tone of his subject. Let us gather round the
minstrel of the King of kings, and hear the Psalm which first was led by the chief
musician, as the chorus of the sons of Korah lifted up their voices in the temple.
Ver. 4. I will incline mine ear to a parable, i.e, I will diligently attend, that I may
not sing anything ungracefully; a metaphor taken from musicians who bring
their ear close to the harp, that they may ascertain the harmony of the sound.
Victorinus Bythner.
COKE,"Psalms 49:4. I will incline mine ear to a parable, &c.— Much of the
eastern wisdom consisted in the understanding of parables, and in the
interpretation of dark sayings or riddles: the mysterious cover to this kind of
wisdom made it the most high-prized accomplishment; and here, when the
Psalmist was to raise and engage the attention of his audience, he promises that
he would speak of those things in which the highest wisdom was supposed to
consist. He says, he will incline his ear to a parable, and will open his dark saying
upon the harp: And indeed, it must be confessed, that in the composition of this
psalm, he has made use of every art to render it worthy the subject. See
Warburton's Divine Legation, and Numbers 21:27.—I will incline or stoop mine
ear, refers to the practice of musicians when they tune their instruments,
stooping down and listening attentively to the sound.
ELLICOTT, "(4) I will incline mine ear.—The psalmist first listens, that he may
himself catch the inspiration which is to reach others through his song. It was an
obvious metaphor in a nation to whom God’s voice was audible, as it was to
Wordsworth, for whom nature had an audible voice:
“The stars of midnight shall be dear
To her; and she shall lend her ear
In many a secret place,
Where rivulets dance their wayward round,
And beauty, born of murmuring sound,
Shall pass into her face.”
Parable.—Heb. mâshal, root idea, similitude. It is the term used of Balaam’s
prophecies, and of the eloquent speeches of Job. Hence here proverb-song
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(Ewald), since the psalmist intends his composition for musical accompaniment.
Dark saying.—Either from a root meaning to tie, and so “a knotty point;” or to
sharpen, and so a sharp, incisive saying. The LXX. and Vulgate have “problem,”
“proposition.”
To open the riddle is not to solve it, but to propound it, as we say to “open a
discourse.” (Comp. St. Paul’s phrase, “opening and alleging.”) The full phrase is
probably found in Proverbs 31:26, “She openeth her mouth with wisdom.’”
WHEDON, "4. A parable—A poem where similitude is used, and things
profound and spiritual are made more clear by comparison with things objective
and sensible.
Dark saying—That which lies beyond the realm of sense, particularly revelations
or oracles from God. Same as “parables,” just named.
Upon the harp—That is, poetically. In this form the bards of a people, in the
earlier ages, often preserved important matter; (see an instance in Numbers
21:27;) but especially prophets and inspired men commonly delivered their
messages in the diction, if not in the rhythm, of poetry.
EXPOSITORS DICTIONARY OF TEXTS, "Listening to God
Psalm 49:4
In this Psalm the subject is the great and dark problem of Divine providence.
The Psalmist tells us in his introduction that he will open the dark saying, the
riddle on the harp. He pierces through the surface of things to declare the utter
vanity of life without God. He tells us frankly that it is not by argument he
arrives at this certitude but by inspiration. He has listened to the wisdom that is
from above, and so has truth to declare. This is the attitude of a true Teacher,
that he is a Learner: opens his ear morning by morning to receive the right
impressions. A great preacher used to say that in preaching the thing of least
importance was the sermon. I suppose what he meant was that it is not what he
says but himself that counts most—the spiritual atmosphere he creates, the
indefinable impression of earnestness and seriousness and conviction. In all
prophetic speech there is a subtle spirit which communicates itself to disciples,
and which the teacher himself will lose if he forgets his true attitude. It is not
what we say, but the spirit of our saying it, and this is true in the final judgment
not only of speech but of all life.
I. In the higher reaches of all truth a moment of insight is of more worth than a
year of laborious learning. Certainly in religion no door is opened except to those
who bend, who wait, who incline their ear. That is why the child is the type of the
kingdom of heaven, the mind that is open to the daily lesson, that morning by
morning receives its portion, that sweetly accepts the teaching of the Master. The
secret of wisdom and power and knowledge is humility. The secret of influence is
simplicity. We learn to speak the high language of the soul as a child learns.
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II. There is a moment which came to the prophets and to men called to
exceptional work, a moment when the world has dissolved, when the earth has
faded, and heaven has opened and reveals the eternal, a moment when in all the
universe there seems nothing but God and the human soul. That moment altered
the perspective of everything afterwards: they read everything in the light of that
moment, and when in the future they were brought up against seemingly
impassable difficulties and things that seemed irreconcilable with their faith they
simply fell back on God. It is the old story, you say; a plea for faith. Yes, a plea
for faith. But be sure you know what faith is before you dismiss it
contemptuously. It is to have the ear of a learner, the heart of a child, to listen to
the Father"s voice.
III. The highest truths are not reached by analysis. The deepest appeal is not
made to logic but to imagination; not to intellect, but to heart. This is true not
only in religion, but in everything. To know and love flowers is a simpler and
higher thing than to understand the botany of flowers. And to know and love
Christ is a simpler and higher thing than to understand Christology. Let us not
kill the poet in us for the lack of listening and looking; the poet that dies so
young in most of us. We do not find the deep truths of life, they find us. This is
how the contemplative life breeds in men a richer Wisdom of Solomon ,
mellower, sweeter than all worldly activities however varied can achieve.
Surrender is the first word and the last word in this process. That surrender is
faith.—Hugh Black.
BI, "I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
Dark sayings
Some minds are darker than a dark saying. Doubt is cloudland; and cloudland
presupposes the existence of some degree of light. In complete darkness no cloud is
perceived. The time at which a man begins to doubt is the critical point of life. Doubt
in a young and inexperienced mind may develop into a demon of free thought. Much
depends upon the way in which doubt is treated by the doubter himself, and by his
advisers. Doubt is not a thing to be injudiciously dealt with. Take care how you open
a dark saying. The dark saying is any question difficult to answer or hard to solve.
Notice that David does not say, I will close up my dark saying—I will fold the serpent
up in my bosom, and let it sting me. He says, “I will open my dark saying.” Often
enough a man’s peace of mind depends upon the way in which he opens his dark
saying. Too often he has to open it himself, without sympathy or help from any one.
It may save us some disappointment if we settle it as a general rule that a
providential thing does not mean a pleasant thing. Tim ultimate end of Providence is
the sanctification of the human heart, and it is not probable that God will sanctify us
by letting us have our own way. We frequently apply the term Providence loosely.
When we reap worldly advantage we say, It is quite providential. When trouble
comes we omit the word. The opposite of this is true as a rule. Prosperity will never
wean us from this world, but adversity may. When dark sayings trouble us, let us
pray to the Father of lights that He may guide us into all truth. We are vexed and
mystified by second causes, because we forget that He is the Great First Cause of all.
His providence to us is like a piece of tapestry reversed. We see that a hand has been
at work, but the threads are massed in confusion. In the day of account we shall see
the other side. David further says “upon the harp.” Musical instruments are called
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instruments of God. It is to the Psalms, not to the Proverbs, that the heavy heart
turns for consolation. Even when the harp hangs upon the willows, the spirit of song
awakes in sympathy with the loved and lost. It was to the Psalms that the suffering
Saviour turned in the hour and power of darkness. The introduction of the Gospel
into Europe was marked by the strength of song. “At midnight Paul and Silas prayed
and sang praises to God.” Who shall say what resolutions, what ardent longings after
purity, and peace, and truth, have been breathed into the souls of men by sacred
song? “In days when liberty of thought was choked by tyranny, when bigotry warped
the understanding and suppressed the truth, what was there left to the people but the
emotion of a song?” The clark saying was opened upon the harp, and stray seeds of
sanctity were germinated by the atmosphere of music, though sometimes it was but
the music of some distant chime. By the power of song we are transported into a
sphere where selfishness and worldliness have no part; a world where nothing
defileth or maketh a lie. Man is the only creature who abuses the gift of sound. From
him only comes the jarring note. He can only sing the new song in the world to come.
(Henry J. Swallow.)
Dark sayings on a harp
My text points to two principles; first, there is the bowing before, and hearkening to,
the mystery of things—the universal, parabolic utterances; and, second, the turning
the mystery and the parable into a cheerful song—the dark saying becoming, like the
bird’s song in the covert of the night, a clear stream, without sorrow and without
care. Find the cheerful aspect of solemn things. See how sorrow is rounded by
cheerfulness; hearken, and you will be able to give a cheerful response to the most
solemn views of life. The greatest mystery of all art, perhaps, is music; the soul that
leaps from the mere material chords and pipes, and, whilst it emanates from, plays
upon the spirit of man. There is a mystery and a meaning in music we can never
either expound or explore; and it is felt that those natures, which are the greatest
burden and mystery to themselves, find most the solace of song in the combinations
of all great sounds; we have known this, it is not always that in joyfulness of heart we
sing. The girl oppressed by some great trial and loss, as she bends over her needle, or
goes about her house-work, will sing, and, while she sings, finds unconsciously that
her song has been her medicine, and has given to her relief. And something like this
is a very general experience. Hence we have poetry for all cultured people, and hymns
for holy people; and do we not know what it is to become happy while we sing? Good
it is sometimes to utter the dark saying to the harp rather than to others; it
composes, allays, and tranquillizes the mind while we utter it. Therefore, says David,
“I will open my dark saying upon the harp.” David was a master of the harp, and we
see, plainly enough, that to him life was full of dark sayings, uttered with more or less
of clearness, coming upon him with more or less of gloom. His dark sayings are
abundant. We have often thought together of that wonderful summary of holy
genius, the Book of Psalms. He would seem to have given everything to his harp;
everywhere, as in the words of the text before us, “he was inclining his ear to a
parable.” To him, it would seem, nature was a great harp, framed, touched and
moved by the finger of God, and every object became jubilant, and even prophetic.
I. All scripture itself is a dark saying on a harp. However you regard it, you must be
amazed by its mysterious unity, not less by its mysterious murmurs—murmurs as of
a distant, infinite sea, or as in a forest we listen to the tones as of strange bells among
the far-off boughs. There is a Divine reticence in the Bible; there is aa awful
secretiveness. Oh! it is all parable; it is all dark saying! Vainly do I ever think I have
exhausted any single word or meaning; it is inspiration and revelation throughout. It
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is a “dark saying,” for it is inspiration; it is “uttered,” for it is a revelation.
II. Man himself is a dark saying on a harp. He is himself a universe of being in which
life, and nature and grace seek to combine in music. Consider thy nature: how
strange that we should be made thus, strange the opposition between sin and
conscience, even in the best of men; strange the contradiction between what man
effects and what man is. Has not his history through all time been a dark saying?
What is this creature we call man? Is he angel, or is he beast, or is he fiend? for there
are things he has done which warrant all these translations, read simply from the
sensual eye. And what a mistake the life of man seems! And sometimes, how his
failures and his inner conflicts seem to boast of him as of a being built out of the
pieces of the wreck of the fall.
III. And providence is a dark saying on a harp. The mysteries of Providence were as
startling to David as they are to us, and the very psalm whence I take this text recites
and records them; it did not seem to be a world of highways to the psalmist; and this
is one of the great causes of grief and of the dark sayings—the world and its sorrows.
It is the cry, the incessant cry, “Why hast thou made all men in vain?” The world is
full of dark sayings; it is hieroglyphic all, you feel the incongruity and the
contradiction, but you have never felt it so clearly as the Bible has stated it, and
especially the psalmists; they perpetually—Asaph, David and others—saw and
uttered their sense of the solemn discords of this life. There is a picture I have often
turned to look at in the chapel in one of the old palaces of France, and I have
sometimes looked, as the dear dreamer said, till the water has found its way to my
eyes; it is suspended over the altar—it is the cloud of eternity, and the Ancient of
Days is there, and the Lamb is there, and round the circle the harpers harping with
their harps—every one robed in white, and every brow bound with the crown—“kings
and priests unto God and to the Lamb for ever”; every eye fixed on “the Lamb, as it
had been slain,” and every crowned form bearing a harp, and striking it “to Him that
hath loved.” “To them were given harps.” Why, what does it mean? Oh, it tells how
the lost life will regain and be restored to its unity. This is that harp, all the chords of
the being one, and for ever one. Then, indeed, may we say, “I will praise thee on the
harp, O God, my God.” (E. Paxton Hood.)
Mysteries set to music
I. The mystery of nature. John Stuart Mill’s arraignment of created things is too well
known to be repeated. A more recent writer is Mr. Laing, who says in his Modern
Science and Modern Thought, “Is it true that love is creation’s finest law, when we
find this enormous and apparently prodigal waste of life going on; these cruel
internecine battles between individuals and species in the struggle for existence; this
cynical indifference of nature to suffering? There are approximately 3,600 millions of
deaths of human beings in every century, of whom at least 20 per cent., or 720
millions, die before they have attained to clear self-consciousness and conscience.
What becomes of them? Why were they born? Axe they nature’s failures and cast as
rubbish to the void? To such questions there is no answer.” Perhaps it is wrong to say
there is no answer, for considerations exist in plenty which tone down the harsher
aspects of nature’s work. But when this is admitted there remains much that is
enigmatical. Now, the effect of this mystery upon some minds is to drive them into
pessimism; it is a mystery whose discord is for ever jarring on their ears. Not so with
the man who walks by faith. He says, “I believe in God,” and instantly there is
harmony. Nature has mysteries still, but they are set to music.
II. The mystery of suffering. Huxley says, “If there is one thing plainer than another,
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it is that neither the pleasure nor the pains of life, in the merely animal world, are
distributed according to desert, for it is admittedly impossible for the lower order of
sentient beings to deserve either the one or the other. If there is a generalization from
the facts of human life which has the assent of thoughtful men in every age and
country it is that the violator of ethical rules constantly escapes the punishment he
deserves; that the wicked flourishes like a green bay tree while the righteous begs his
bread; that the sins of their fathers are visited upon the children; that in the realm of
nature ignorance is punished just as severely as wilful wrong; and that thousands
upon thousands of innocent beings suffer for the crime or unintentional trespass of
one.” (Evolution and Ethics, p. 12.)
The professor’s statements are not cast in such a form as to be above challenge, but
they may be taken as indicative of the attitude of many towards the problem of
suffering. Broken law will explain much of the world’s woe, perhaps more than we
are apt to imagine; and the educative influence of suffering is not far to seek. “Thou
hast enlarged me when I was in distress.” But after all there remains much that is
mysterious; very often moral sequences seem to fail entirely, and the good man dies
in his struggles to do right, whilst the prosperous sinner lives to satirize every sound
principle of commercial morality. Hence we have the cynic in our midst, and the
pessimist is always within shouting distance. But the man who discerns spiritual
things after a spiritual manner can feel something more than hard and unexplainable
facts in the problem of suffering. God is behind it, he says, and therefore all is well.
The mystery has lost its bitterness; it is still a dark saying, but it is a dark saying upon
the harp.
III. The mystery of death. Mr. Goldwin Smith looking at death and destruction in all
grades of creation says, “Our satellite, so far as we can see, is either a miscarriage or a
wreck,” and “if omnipotence and benevolence are to meet it must apparently be at a
point at present beyond our ken.” Mr. Smith answers himself when he says, “so far as
we can see.” Without God and immortality, the despair of the present generation is
the most natural product of mental inquiry; the picture of blighted prospects and
incompleted lives stricken down by the hand of death is enough to appal the stoutest
heart. But in Christ all mysteries are set to music. It was the superior music of
Orpheus which saved him from shipwreck on the siren’s shore, and since hope
springs eternal in the human breast, Christianity, as a gospel of glad tidings, will
always play other tunes than the note of wailing and despair; in the future, as in the
past, her better music will be the world’s salvation. (T. S. Knowlson.)
Mysteries set to music
In seeking to get instruction from the text, we may regard it broadly as inculcating
the principle, that the dark problems of the world may be so understood, that instead
of leading us to despair they become a source of light and hope and joy.
I. The problem of the divine existence. This is the first of all problems—the earliest,
the most necessary, the most irresistible. Primeval man long ago had to face it as we
have to face it to-day. For the savage dwelling in the rude cave, or in the log-hut,
reared on piles driven into the ground in the centre of a lonely lake, this was the
principal theme of speculation, even as it is still the question which by its vastness
wearies the strongest thought, and baffles the keenest insight. The first of all
questions is, at the same time, the darkest. Interrogate Nature, and what is it that it
tells you? It tells of a first cause, powerful, mighty and omnipotent. It points to a
force that is infinite, a wisdom that is transcendent, and a will that is all-dominant.
But it speaks of more than this. It speaks of a law that is invariable, relentless and
cruel. It has its tale of pain, and suffering, and sorrow, and death. If it glories in the
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sunshine and the rain, it recounts with grief the story of the plague and the
earthquake, and the unceasing strife of man, and beast, and earth, and sea, and sky.
Over all there is the one necessity, for all there is the same struggle.
II. The problem of the world. How did the world come into being? Is it the result of
chance, of fate, of a blind force working how and as it may? No millions of years, no
unimaginable stretches of time, can bring the existent out of the non-existent, the
intelligent out of the non-intelligent, the cosmos out of the chaos. How, then, can we
open this dark saying of the world’s history on the harp? How can we set it to
harmony and rhythm and music? There is one way only that I know. Behind the
world there is a Divine Person; in the movements and the laws of the world there is a
Divine will. All comes from God; all is under His care and governance.
III. The problem of man’s life. Taken as he is, and apart from his relation to God,
man’s life is inexplicable. It is a contradiction, without meaning or purpose. There is
in it the high and the low, the pure and the impure, the spiritual and the material. It
is divided in interest; it is driven this way and that; and oftentimes it becomes the
sport of a power and a fate that are too much for it. But, in the light of the Divine
love, and the mediation of Jesus, this enigma of the human life becomes plain.
IV. The progress of humanity. Nation follows nation, kingdoms and dynasties rise
and fall, and there seems to be no real progress. Civilizations are more or less
relative. We in these last times, notwithstanding our marvellous modern science and
discovery, are, in some respects, behind the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, and
Romans, or even the Celts and the Scandinavians. Is there any progress then at all as
the result of the conflict of the ages? Is life in the main stationary, or does it like a
mighty wheel go round and round for ever? The key to this question can alone be
found in Christianity. It has already infused new life into the nations, it has re.created
their moral standards, and it has given them a pre-eminence which the old Pagan
peoples never knew. It has done all this because it has set before men not only an
infinite hope, but because it has supplied them with the motive and the power to
realize it. It has given them a new ideal, it has also provided them with a new
dynamic, or force, by which they can attain the ideal. We need have no fear for the
future. Humanity, instead of having become effete and lived its day, is only setting
out on the line of infinite progress that stretches before it. Much it has done in the
past, much it has achieved in these modern times; but infinitely more will it yet
achieve before its course is run. Physically, intellectually, morally, the race has still
before it a boundless destiny. (R. Munro, B. D.)
The harp of the godly
I. Why are the words of godly life in scripture called “dark sayings”?
1. Because they are so far to seek. From the Creator, not the creature; from
eternity, not from time.
2. Because they are so little known. The world disregards them.
3. Because they meet with so much repugnance. All the impulses of our depraved
nature are averse and hostile to the wisdom that sanetifieth. Oh, how difficult to
understand what opposes our heart’s propensities!
II. Why are the details of providence in scripture called “dark savings”?
1. Because the specific designs of Providence are concealed. A man knows not
whether in any enterprise, though he has scrutinized his motive and implored
Divine direction, he is to fail or succeed. Through his failures may come his truest
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successes.
2. Because the aim of Providence is overlooked (Eph_3:1-21.; Joh_2:1-25.). We
fix our eyes on outward things, and call prosperity and adversity after them. That
is a bright Providence wherein these abound, and a dark one whereby these are
smitten. Now God looks at our souls;—their liberty from earthly fetters; their
confidence in Divine support; their formation and sustenance of holy purpose;
their culture and maturity of moral character.
3. Because the dispensations of Providence inflict pain and distress. What a dark
passage leads to conversion!
III. Why may a Christian open these upon the harp?
1. Because God has put a harp into your hands. It would be ungrateful not to use
this. Do you ask what this is? I reply, The Gospel in all its plenitude of mercy,
remedy, promise, prospect.
2. Because your dark sayings are thus opened, i.e. they become clear and plain.
Devotion illuminates the mind. While you are musing the fire kindles and burns.
3. Because every true prayer is a prophecy. The evils it deprecates will assuredly
pass away. (W. Wheeler.)
5 Why should I fear when evil days come,
when wicked deceivers surround me—
BARNES, "Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil - This verse is
designed evidently to state the main subject of the psalm; the result of the reflections
of the author on what had been to him a source of perplexity; on what had seemed to
him to be a dark problem. He “had” evidently felt that there was occasion to dread
the power of wicked rich men; but he now felt that he had no ground for that fear and
alarm. He saw that their power was short-lived; that all the ability to injure, arising
from their station and wealth, must soon cease; that his own highest interests could
not be affected by anything which they could do. The “days of evil” here spoken of are
the times which are referred to in the following phrase, “when the iniquity of my
heels,” etc.
When the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about - It would be
difficult to make any sense out of this expression, though it is substantially the same
rendering which is found in the Vulgate and the Septuagint. Luther renders it “when
the iniquity of my oppressors encompasses me.” The Chaldee Paraphrase renders it,
“why should I fear in the days of evil, unless it be when the guilt of my sin compasses
me about?” The Syriac renders it, “the iniquity of “my enemies.” The Arabic, “when
my enemies surround me.” DeWette renders it as Luther does. Rosenmuller, “when
the iniquity of those who lay snares against me shall compass me around.” Prof.
27

Alexander, “when the iniquity of my oppressors (or supplanters) shall surround me.”
The word rendered “heels” here - ‫עקב‬ ‛âqêb - means properly “heel,” Gen_3:15; Job_
18:9; Jdg_5:22; then, the rear of an army, Jos_8:13; then, in the plural, “footsteps,”
prints of the heel or foot, Psa_77:19; and then, according to Gesenius (Lexicon) “a
lier in wait, insidiator.”
Perhaps there is in the word the idea of craft; of lying in wait; of taking the
advantages - from the verb ‫עקב‬ ‛âqab, to be behind, to come from behind; and hence
to supplant; to circumvent. So in Hos_12:3, “in the womb he held his brother by the
heel” (compare Gen_25:26). Hence, the word is used as meaning to supplant; to
circumvent, Gen_27:36; Jer_9:4 (Hebrew, Jer_9:3) This is, undoubtedly, the
meaning here. The true idea is, when I am exposed to the crafts, the cunning, the
tricks, of those who lie in wait for me; I am liable to be attacked suddenly, or to be
taken unawares; but what have I to fear? The psalmist refers to the evil conduct of his
enemies, as having given him alarm. They were rich and powerful. They endeavored
in some way to supplant him - perhaps, as we should say, to “trip him up” - to
overcome him by art, by power, by trick, or by fraud. He “had” been afraid of these
powerful foes; but on a calm review of the whole matter, he came to the conclusion
that he had really no cause for fear. The reasons for this he proceeds to state in the
following part of the psalm.
CLARKE, "The iniquity of my heels - Perhaps ‫עקבי‬ akebai, which we translate
my heels, should be considered the contracted plural of ‫עקבים‬ akebim, supplanters.
The verse would then read thus: “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, though
the iniquity of my supplanters should compass me about.” The Syriac and Arabic
have taken a similar view of the passage: “Why should I fear in the evil day, when the
iniquity of my enemies compasses me about.” And so Dr. Kennicott translates it.
GILL, "Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil,.... This is the principal
thing that all are before called to hearken to. This is the wisdom and understanding
the psalmist had been meditating upon, and was about to utter; this is the parable he
inclined his ear to, and the dark saying he would open; namely, that a saint has
nothing to fear in the worst of times; which is a riddle to a natural man. Aben Ezra
interprets "the days of evil" of the days of old age, as they are called, Ecc_12:1, which
bring on diseases, weakness, and death; in which a good man has no reason to fear;
as that he should want the necessaries of life, since they that fear the Lord shall want
no good thing; or that he should not hold out to the end, seeing God, who is the guide
of youth, is the staff of old age, and carries to hoary hairs, and will never leave nor
forsake; and though the wicked man in old age has reason to be afraid of death and
eternity at hand, the saint has not; but may sing, on the borders of the grave, "O
death! where is thy sting?" &c. 1Co_15:55. Also days in which iniquity abounds, and
error and heresy prevail, are days of evil; and though the good man may fear he shall
be led aside by the ill example of some, or by the craft of others; yet he need not,
since the foundation of God stands sure, and he knows them that are his, and will
take care of them and preserve them. Moreover, times of affliction and persecution
are evil days; see Eph_5:16; and such will be the hour of temptation, that shall try the
inhabitants of the earth, Rev_3:10. Yet the righteous man need not fear, since it is
always well with him, let his case and circumstances be what they will. Yea, the day of
death, and the day of judgment are days of evil to wicked men; and therefore they put
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them away far from them, Amo_6:3; but believers have reason to rejoice at them, the
day of their death being better than the day of their birth; and the day of judgment
will be the time of the glorious appearing of Christ to them. It is added,
when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about; that is, the sins of life
and conversation; "heels" denote "steps", and the word is sometimes so rendered, as
in Psa_56:6; and "iniquity" intends sin committed in walking; and so designs not
original sin, as some have thought, but actual sins and transgressions: and these may
be said to "compass the saints about", when they are chastised for them, and so are
brought to a sense and acknowledgment of them, and to be humbled for them; and
then they have nothing to fear in a slavish way, since these chastisements are not in
wrath, or in a way of vindictive justice, or punishment for sin; but the fruits of love
and favour. Or the sense may be, when death, the fruit of iniquity, the wages of sin,
surrounds and seizes upon me; ‫,בסופי‬ "in my end", as the Targum; in my last days, at
the heel or close of them, I will not fear; the saint has no reason to fear, when he
walks through death's dark valley; for death is abolished as a penal evil, its sting is
took away, and its curse removed. Some render the words, "when the iniquity of my
supplanters shall compass me about" (o); meaning his enemies, who either lay in
wait for him privately, and endeavoured to supplant him; or that pursued him
closely, and pressed upon his heels, just ready to destroy him; yet even then he
signifies he should not fear: and then the sense is the same with Psa_27:1; to which
agree the Syriac and Arabic versions, which render it, "the iniquity of mine enemies";
or, "when my enemies surround me": and it may be literally rendered, when "iniquity
surrounds me at my heels" (p); that is, when men, who are iniquity itself, encompass
me, are at my heels, ready to seize me, I will not fear.
JAMISON, "iniquity — or, “calamity” (Psa_40:12).
of my heels — literally “my supplanters” (Gen_27:36), or oppressors: “I am
surrounded by the evils they inflict.”
CALVIN, "5.Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil? The Psalmist now
enters upon the point on which he proposed to discourse, That the people of God
must not yield to despondency even in the most distressing circumstances, when
their enemies may seem to have enclosed them on every side, but must rest
assured that God, although he connives for a time, is awake to their condition,
and only watches the best opportunity of executing his judgments. This manner
of introducing the subject by interrogation is much more emphatic than if he had
simply asserted his resolution to preserve his mind undisturbed in the midst of
adversity. In the second clause of the verse he particularises the heaviest and
most bitter of all afflictions, those which are experienced by the righteous when
their enemies triumph in the unrestrained indulgence of their wickedness. When,
the adverb of time, must therefore be understood — When the iniquity of my
heel shall compass me about There is a different meaning which some
interpreters have attached to the words, namely, If I should fear in the days of
evil, and be guilty of the excessive anxieties of the unbeliever, — in that case,
when the hour of my death came, my iniquity would compass me about. The heel
they take to be the end of life. But this interpretation is to be dismissed at once as
most unnatural. Nor do I see what reason others have for referring this word to
the thoughts, for I believe that in no other part of Scripture can such a metaphor
29

or similitude be found. Others, with more plausibility, have rendered the original
word liers in wait, (217) because the Hebrew verb ‫,עקב‬ akab, signifies to deceive;
and they consider the Psalmist as intimating, that he would not fear though
crafty and treacherous men laid snares for him. In my opinion, there is no figure
intended; and he means to say, that he would have no fear when his enemies
surrounded him, and in pursuing him, trode, as it were, upon his heel. The
French have a similar expression, “Poursuyvre jusques aux talons.” (218) I agree
with them, that he speaks of enemies, but it is of their wicked persecution as they
press upon him in the height of their power, and with design to destroy him, keep
themselves near him, and tread, so to speak, upon his very heel.
SPURGEON, "Ver. 5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the
iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? The man of God looks calmly
forward to dark times when those evils which have dogged his heels shall gain a
temporary advantage over him. Iniquitous men, here called in the abstract
iniquity, lie in wait for the righteous, as serpents that aim at the heels of
travellers: the iniquity of our heels is that evil which aims to trip us up or impede
us. It was an old prophecy that the serpent should wound the heel of the
woman's seed, and the enemy of our souls is diligent to fulfil that premonition. In
some dreary part of our road it may be that evil will wax stronger and bolder,
and gaining upon us will openly assail us; those who followed at our heels like a
pack of wolves, may perhaps overtake us, and compass us about. What then?
Shall we yield to cowardice? Shall we be a prey to their teeth? God forbid. Nay,
we will not even fear, for what are these foes? What indeed, but mortal men who
shall perish and pass away? There can be no real ground of alarm to the faithful.
Their enemies are too insignificant to be worthy of one thrill of fear. Doth not the
Lord say to us, "I, even I, am he that comforteth thee; 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?"
Scholars have given other renderings of this verse, but we prefer to keep to the
authorised version when we can, and in this case we find in it precisely the same
meaning which those would give to it who translate my heels, by the words "my
supplanters."
Ver. 5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels
shall compass me about? Those that are full of years are approaching the nearer
to their happiness. They have finished their voyage, and now are in sight of the
haven. Nature's provision is spent, her stock is exhausted, and now the good man
doth not so much descend as fall into the grave, and from thence he rises to
heaven and eternal bliss. And shall he be disturbed at this? shall he be afraid to
be made happy? If I mistake not, this is the meaning of the psalmist's words.
They are generally interpreted concerning his ways in general, but they seem to
me to refer particularly to the calamity which his old age was incident to: for the
days of evil are old age, and are so called by the wise man Ecclesiastes 12:1; and
as the heel is the extreme part of the body, so it is here applied to the last part of
man's life, his declining age; and iniquity (as the word is sometimes used among
the Hebrews) signifies here penal evil, and denotes the infirmities and decays of
the concluding part of a man's life. So that the true meaning of the psalmist's
30

Psalm 49 commentary

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