Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 14:7

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 14:7. O that the salvation — Or, more literally, Who will give from Zion salvation to Israel? From Zion the deliverance must come; for God alone can deliver them; but whom will he make his instruments?

When the Lord bringeth back — For it is Jehovah alone who can do it. Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. That is, according to Calmet, the remains of the kingdom of Israel, and those of Judah, shall be rejoined, to their mutual satisfaction, and become one people, worshipping the same God; and he has endeavoured to prove, in a dissertation on the subject, that this actually took place after the return from the Babylonish captivity.

Many of the fathers have understood this verse as referring to the salvation of mankind by Jesus Christ; and so it is understood by my old MS. Psalter, as the following paraphrase will show: Qwa sal gyf of Syon hele til Israel? qwen Lord has turned a way the captyfte of his folk, glad sal Jacob, and fayne be Israel. Qwa bot Crist that ge despyse, qwen ge wit nout do his counsaile of Syon fra heven, sal gyf hele til Israel? that es, sal saf al trew cristen men, noght als ge er that lufs noght God. And qwen our Lord has turned o way the captyfte of his folk: that es, qwen he has dampned the devel, and al his Servaundes, the qwilk tourmentes gude men, and makes tham captyfs in pyne. Then glade sal Jacob; that es, al that wirstils o gayns vices and actyf: and fayne sal be Israel: that es, al that with the clene egh of thair hert, sees God in contemplatyf lyf. For Jacob es als mikil at say als, Wrestler, or suplanter of Syn. Israel es, man seand God.

Of the two chief opinions relative to the design of this Psalm:

1. That it refers to Absalom's rebellion.

2. That it is a complaint of the captives in Babylon; I incline to the latter, as by far the most probable.

I have referred, in the note on Psalms 14:3, to that remarkable addition of no less than six verses, which is found here in the Vulgate, the Vatican copy of the Septuagint, the AEthiopic, and the Arabic, and also in St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, Romans 3:13-18, which he is supposed to have quoted from this Psalm as it then stood in the Hebrew text; or in the version of the Seventy, from which it has been generally thought he borrowed them. That they are not interpolations in the New Testament is evident from this, that they are not wanting in any MS. yet discovered; and they exist in all the ancient versions, the Vulgate, Syriac, AEthiopic, and Arabic. Yet it has been contended, particularly by St. Jerome, that St. Paul did not quote them from this Psalm; but, being intent on showing the corruption and misery of man, he collected from different parts several passages that bore upon the subject, and united them here, with his quotation from Psalms 14:3, as if they had all belonged to that place: and that succeeding copyists, finding them in Romans, as quoted from that Psalm, inserted them into the Septuagint, from which it was presumed they had been lost. It does not appear that they made a part of this Psalm in Origen's Hexapla. In the portions that still exist of this Psalm there is not a word of these additional verses referred to in that collection, neither here nor in the parallel Psalm liii.

The places from which Jerome and others say St. Paul borrowed them are the following: -

Romans 3:13: "Their mouth is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit." Borrowed from Psalms 5:10.

"The poison of asps is under their lips." From Psalms 140:3.

Romans 3:14: "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." From Psalms 10:7.

Romans 3:15: "Their feet are swift to shed blood." From Proverbs 1:16, or Isaiah 59:7.

Romans 3:16-18: "Destruction and misery are in their ways, the way of peace they have not known, and there is no fear of God before their eyes." From Psalms 59:7; Psalms 59:8.

When the reader has collated all these passages in the original, he will probably feel little satisfaction relative to the probability of the hypothesis they are summoned to support.

These verses are not found in the best copies of the Vulgate, though it appears they were in the old Itala or Antehieronymain version. They are not in the Codex Alexandrinus of the Septuagint; nor are they in either the Greek or Latin text of the Complutensian Polyglot. They are wanting also in the Antwerp and Parisian Polyglots. They are neither in the Chaldee nor Syriac versions. They are not acknowledged as a part of this Psalm by Theodoret, Chrysostom, Euthymius, Arnobius, Apollinaris, the Greek Catena, Eusebius, of Caesarea, nor Jerome. The latter, however, acknowledges that they were in his time read in the churches. I have seen no Latin MS. without them; and they are quoted by Justin Martyr and Augustine. They are also in the Editio Princeps of the Vulgate, and in all the ancient Psalters known. They are in that Psalter which I have frequently quoted, both in the Latino-Scotico-English version and paraphrase.

Of this version the following is a faithful copy, beginning with the third verse of the fourteenth Psalm: -

Al tha helddid togyher; thai er made unprofytable:

Thar es none that dos gude; thar es none til one.

A grave opynnand, es the throte of tham.

With thaire tunges trycherusly thai wroght

Venym of snakes undir the lippis of tham.

Qwhas mouth es ful of werying and bitternes:

Swyft thaire fete to spil blode.

Brekyng and wikednes in thair waies:

And the way of pees thai knew noght:

The drede of God es noght byfore the eghen of thaim.

There is a good deal of difference between this, and that version attributed to Wiclif, as it stands in my large MS. Bible, quoted in different parts of the New Testament, particularly in Psalms 14:1; Psalms 100:0; Psalms 13:1, c. I shall give it here line for line with the above. Alle boweden aweye to gydre: thei ben maad unprofitable: There is not that doith good thing, ther is not to oon. A Sepulcre opnyng is the throote of hem: With her tungis thei diden gylinly or trecherously: The venym of eddris, that is clepid Aspis, under her lippis: The mouth of whom is ful of cursing, or worrying and bittrenesse: The feet of hem ben swift to schede out blood: Contricion or defouling to God, and infelicite or cursidnesse,

the wayes of hem; And thei knewen not the weyes of pees; The dreed of God is not bifore her ygen.

The words underlined in the above are added by the translator as explanatory of the preceding terms. It is worthy of remark that Coverdale inserts the whole of the addition in this Psalm, and Cardmarden has inserted it in his Bible, but in a letter different from the text.

It is now time to state what has been deemed of considerable importance to the authenticity of these verses; viz., that they are found in a Hebrew MS., numbered by Kennicott in his catalogue 649. It is in the public library at Leyden; contains the Psalms with a Latin version and Scholia; and appears to have been written about the end of the fourteenth century, and probably by some Christian. I shall give the text with a literal translation, as it stands in this MS., line for line with the preceding: -

קבר פתוח גרונם

An open sepulchre is their throat;

לשׁונם יחליקון

With their tongues they flatter;

חמת עכשוב תחת לשונם

The venom of the asp is under their tongue;

אשר פיהם אלה ומרמה מלא

Whose mouth of cursing and bitterness is full;

קלו רגליהם לשפוך דם

Swift are their feet to shed blood;

מזל רע ופגע רע בדרכיהם

An evil aspect, and an evil event, in their ways:

ודרך שלום לא ידעו

And the way of peace they know not.

אי פחד אלהים לנגר עיניהם

No fear of God before their eyes.

It would be easy to criticise upon the Hebrew in this long quotation. I shall content myself with what Calmet, who received his information from others that had inspected the Leyden MS., says of this addition: "Les seavans, qui ont examine ce manuscrit, y ont remarque un Hebreu barbare en cet endroit; et des facons de parler, qui ne sentent point les siecles ou la langue Hebraique etoit en usage." "Learned men, who have examined this MS., have remarked a barbarous Hebraism in this place, and modes of speech which savour not of those ages in which the Hebrew language was in use."

If this be an interpolation in the Psalm, it is very ancient; as we have the testimony of Jerome, who was prejudiced against it, that it was read in all the churches in his time, and how long before we cannot tell. And that these verses are a valuable portion of Divine revelation, as they stand in Romans 3:13-18, none can successfully deny. See Rosenmuller, Kennicott, and De Rossi.

ANALYSIS OF THE FOURTEENTH PSALM

This Psalm is the practical atheist's character, and has TWO parts: -

I. The description of the practical atheist, Psalms 14:1-7.

II. A petition for the Church, Psalms 14:7.

I. 1. The atheist is here noted to us by different characters: -

1. From his name, נבל nabal, a fool, or rather a churl; no natural fool, but a sinful: a fool in that in which he should be wise.

2. His hypocrisy or cunning; he saith, but he will not have it known, it is to himself, "He saith in his heart." He is a close, politic fool.

3. His saying, or his chief and prime principle: "There is no God."

4. From his practice; confessing God in his words for some political advantages, yet in his works denying him. For, 1. His heart is wicked and unregenerate: "They are corrupt." 2. He is a sinner in a high practical degree: "They have done abominable works." 3. He performs no duty: "There is none that doeth good." He commits sin; he omits duty.

2. The psalmist demonstrates what he said three ways; and convinces them: -

1. By the testimony of God himself; he is a witness against them. He is, 1. An eyewitness: he looks on. 2. He is in heaven, and they are continually under his notice: "He looked down from heaven." 3. He sees the children of men, their hearts and their works. 4. And the object of his looking is to inquire after their religion: "To see if there were any that did understand and seek God."

2. And then he gives his testimony in these general terms: "They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

3. Next he accuses them of two sins of which they were especially guilty. 1. Injustice: "They eat up my people as bread." 2. Impiety: "They call not upon the Lord."

4. And that his testimony is true, he convinces them, 1. By the light of their own conscience: "Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?" Does not their own conscience tell them that all this is true? Do they not know this? 2. By fear and terror, the effects of an evil conscience: "There were they in great fear." They said, There is no God; but their conscience told them that God was in the congregation of the righteous, and that they should grievously answer for their injustice and impiety. 3. By the hardness of their heart, and contempt of the good counsels of the godly. If he reproved, they mocked. If he said God was his refuge, they laughed him to scorn. "Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge."

II. The second part of the Psalm contains a petition for the Church: -

1. He prays that God would send salvation to his people.

2. That it might be out of Zion; because Christ was anointed and set a King upon the holy hill of Zion: "O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!"

3. For then the consequence would be the great joy and happiness of all his people for their deliverance from captivity, spiritual and temporal: "When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad."

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 14-17 Godly people in ungodly society

Continuing the theme of Psalms 10-13 (concerning the godly person who is downtrodden), the psalmist notes what happens when people refuse to acknowledge God and live as if he does not care about their actions. The result is a corrupt society (14:1-3). Because they have rejected God they have rejected the true standard by which to judge good and evil. They live solely for themselves, with no consideration for others and no thought for God (4). But in the end victory will go to the poor and downtrodden, because God is on their side (5-7).

In Psalms 15:0 David considers the requirements necessary to enter the presence of God (15:1). These all have to do with character and behaviour, not with religious beliefs and observances. People must be honest in their actions, truthful in their speech, and disciplined in their avoidance of slander and gossip (2-3). They must know how to make right judgments between things that are good and things that are not. In addition they must be reliable and trustworthy, keeping their word even when it hurts. They must be generous and helpful, and never take advantage of the poor or defenceless (4-5a). Such people will dwell in the presence of God and enjoy the lasting security that only God can give (5b).

Psalms 16:0 is David’s thanksgiving for one of the many occasions when God rescued him from what seemed to be certain death. He finds pleasure in the fellowship of God and his people, and rejects all other gods and those who worship them (16:1-4). Possessions may satisfy people and property may enrich them, but David considers that because he has God, he has all the satisfaction and wealth he desires (5-6). God is David’s instructor, friend and protector, the source of his stability and security (7-8). God delivers him from death and leads him through life, giving him the constant joy of his presence (9-11).

(The feelings that David expressed in Psalms 16:0 may have represented ideals that he himself never fully experienced. They find their full meaning in Jesus Christ; see Acts 2:25-28; Acts 13:35-37.)

In another prayer that probably belongs to the time of David’s flight from the murderous Saul, David emphasizes his innocence in the strongest terms (17:1-5). He asks God to protect him from his enemies (6-9), after which he describes their wickedness (10-12) and pronounces their certain destruction. Their hunger for wickedness is only building up a heavier weight of judgment, which will not only fall on them but will also affect their offspring (13-14). The wicked are never satisfied, but the psalmist finds full satisfaction in his experience of God (15).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When Jehovah bringeth back the captivity of the people. Then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.”

One of the best comments on this we have seen is that of Addis:

Here is the Messianic hope. The Psalmist anticipates a time when Yahweh will “bring back the captivity” of His people. This expression need mean no more than a radical change for the better in the state of the people. “Restore the fortune” would be an adequate translation.O. W. E. Addis, Peake’s Commentary on the Bible (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 375.

“There is no need to refer the expression `bringeth back the captivity’ to the Babylonian exile.”J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 334. The expression here has the same meaning that it has in Job 42:10. namely, “restoring prosperity to.”

Jacob and Israel here are names that refer to the people of God.

The appearance of this Messianic promise at the end of this prophesy of the third total depravity of the race of Adam (When this was written there had already been two such hardenings.) has the utility of revealing this Psalms 14, and its twin Psalms 53, as a double prophecy of the Third Judicial Hardening of Adam’s race and God’s response to it in the First Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, bringing life and immortality to light through the gospel, and ushering in the dispensation of Christianity. This is “God’s last word to man.” “Last of all, God sent his Son” (Matthew 21:37). When, once more, Satan is able to accomplish through the indifference and wickedness of mankind another situation of total hardening and depravity, our rebellious race may indeed expect the final Judgment of the Great Day.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Oh that the salvation of Israel - Margin, “Who will give,” etc. The Hebrew literally is, “Who will give out of Zion salvation to Israel?” The word “Israel” refers primarily to the Hebrew people, and then it is used generally to denote the people of God. The wish here expressed is in view of the facts referred to in the previous verses - the general prevalence of iniquity and of practical atheism, and the sufferings of the people of God on that account. This state of things suggests the earnest desire that from all such evils the people of God might be delivered. The expression in the original, as in the margin, “Who will give,” is a common expression in Hebrew, and means the same as in our translation, “Oh that.” It is expressive of an earnest desire, as if the thing were in the hand of another, that he would impart that blessing or favor.

Out of Zion - On the word “Zion,” see the note at Isaiah 1:8. It is referred to here, as it is often, as the seat or dwelling-place of God; the place from where he issued his commands, and from where he put forth his power. Thus in Psalms 3:4, “He heard me out of his holy hill.” Psalms 20:2, “the Lord ... strengthen thee out of Zion.” Psalms 128:5, “the Lord shall bless thee out of Zion.” Here the phrase expresses a wish that God, who had his dwelling in Zion, would put forth his power in granting complete deliverance to his people.

When the Lord bringeth back - literally, “In Yahweh’s bringing back the captivity of his people.” That is, the particular salvation which the psalmist prayed for was that Yahweh would return the captivity of his people, or restore them from captivity.

The captivity of his people - This is “language” taken from a captivity in a foreign land. It is not necessary, however, to suppose that any such literal captivity is here referred to, nor would it be necessary to infer from this that the psalm was written in the Babylonian captivity, or in any other particular exile of the Hebrew people. The truth was, that the Hebrews were often in this state (see the Book of Judges, “passim”), and this language came to be the common method of expressing any condition of oppression and trouble, or of a low state of religion in the land. Compare Job 42:10.

Jacob shall rejoice - Another name for the Hebrew people, as descended from Jacob, Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 41:21; Isaiah 10:21; Isaiah 14:1; Amos 7:2; et soepe. Prof. Alexander renders this, “Let Jacob exult; let Israel joy.” The idea seems to be, that such a restoration would give great joy to the people of God, and the language expresses a desire that this might soon occur - perhaps expressing the idea also that in the certainty of such an ultimate restoration, such a complete salvation, the people of God might now rejoice. Thus, too, it will not only be true that the redeemed will be happy in heaven, but they may exult even now in the prospect, the certainty, that they will obtain complete salvation.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

David, after having laid down the doctrine of consolation, again returns to prayers and groanings. By this he teaches us, that although God may leave us for a long time to languish, yet we ought not to weary, or lose courage, but should always glory in him; and, again, that while our troubles continue, the most effectual solace we can have is often to return to the exercise of prayer. When he asks the question, Who shall give salvation? this does not imply, that he was looking either to the right hand or to the left, or that he turned away his eyes from God in search of another deliverer; he intends only to express the ardor of his desire, as if he had said, When will the time at length come when God will display his salvation, and make it fully manifest? By the word Sion, which he adds, he testifies that his hope is fixed on God; for Sion was the holy place from which God had promised to hear the prayers of his servants; and it was the dwelling-place of the ark of the covenant, which was an external pledge and symbol of the presence of God. He does not, therefore, doubt who would be the author of his salvation; but he asks, with a sorrowful heart, when at length that salvation will come forth which is to be expected from no other source than from God alone. The question may, however, be put, if this prayer refers to the time of Saul, how can Sion, with propriety, be named as being already the sanctuary of God? I will not deny that the Psalmist, by the spirit of prophecy, may have predicted what had not yet actually taken place; but I think it highly probable, that this psalm was not composed until the ark of the covenant had been placed on mount Sion. David, as we know, employed his leisure hours in committing to writing, for the benefit of posterity, events which had happened long before. Besides, by expressing his desire for the deliverance of Israel, we are taught that he was chiefly anxious about the welfare of the whole body of the Church, and that his thoughts were more occupied about this than about himself individually. This is worthy of being the more carefully marked when we consider, that, while our attention is engrossed with our own particular sorrows, we are in danger of almost entirely neglecting the welfare of our brethren. And yet the particular afflictions with which God visits each of us are intended to admonish us to direct our attention and care to the whole body of the Church, and to think of its necessities, just as we see David here including Israel with himself.

When the Lord shall have brought back the captivity of his people, In these words, David concludes, that God will not suffer the faithful to languish under continual sorrow, according as it is said in another psalm, (Psalms 126:5) “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” He doubtless aims at confirming and encouraging himself and all the godly to hope for the promised deliverance. He therefore says, in the first place, that although God may delay, or at least may not make so much haste as we would wish, he will, nevertheless, show himself to be the defender of his people, by redeeming them from captivity. And, in the next place, he assuages their sorrow, by setting forth that the issue of it will be joyful, seeing it will at length be turned into gladness. The captivity, of which he makes mention, is not the Babylonish, or the dispersion of his people among the heathen nations; it rather refers to an oppression at home, when the wicked exercise dominion like tyrants in the Church. We are, therefore, taught by these words, that when such furious enemies waste and destroy the flock of God, or proudly tread it under foot, we ought to have recourse to God, whose peculiar office it is to gather together his Israel from all places whither they have been dispersed. And the term captivity, which he employs, implies, that when the wicked overthrow at their pleasure all good and lawful order in the midst of the Church, it is converted into a Babylon or Egypt. Farther, although David defers the joy of the holy people, to the time of their deliverance, yet the consolatory prospect of this should serve not only to moderate our grief, but also to mix and season it with joy.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 14:1-7

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one ( Psalms 14:1-3 ).

God's estimation of man. None righteous. None that seeketh after God. None that are good, no, not one. Paul quotes this in Romans, chapter 2, as he is laying out his premise and developing the theme of, "The whole world guilty before God." Paul then quotes this, "There is none that seeketh after God. There is none that is good. There is none that is righteous, no, not one."

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD. There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! [Oh that the Messiah would come!] when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad ( Psalms 14:4-7 ).

Looking forward, actually, to the Kingdom Age when God finally restores the people from captivity, and the rejoicing that shall take place. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 14

This reflective psalm and Psalms 53 are almost identical. The commentators take differing views concerning the genre since elements of individual lament, wisdom, prophetic, communal lament, and philosophical psalms are all present in this one. Merrill called it a psalm of exhortation. [Note: Merrill, "Psalms," p. 414.]

The failures of human beings that he experienced, and the knowledge that God will judge folly and corruption, led David to long for the establishment of God’s kingdom on the earth. The psalmist’s perspective was very broad in this psalm. He spoke of the godly and the ungodly, and he noted their antagonism throughout history.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. David’s longing for God’s kingdom 14:7

In the context, the enemy of God’s people is all the ungodly of the world from the beginning of history. David longed for God to save His people from these wicked antagonists. Zion was the place where the ark of the covenant and the Lord resided. David spoke of God Himself delivering His people from all their godless enemies. When David wrote, the godly were captive to the wicked in the sense that the wicked were devouring them (Psalms 14:4). Nevertheless the psalmist was confident that the Lord would deliver Israel from the wicked. When He did, Israel would rejoice and be glad. Premillenarians believe this will take place when Jesus Christ returns to earth and sets up His righteous rule for 1,000 years (cf. Zephaniah 3:14-16; Matthew 6:10; Romans 11:26-27; Revelation 20:1-6). [Note: See Allen, Rediscovering Prophecy, pp. 129-49.]

The time is coming when God will put down all wickedness and judge all the ungodly. That revelation helps His people maintain hope as they continue to experience the antagonism and persecution of those who choose to disregard God.

"The intent of Psalms 14 is to counter the temptation that humankind can manage the world in ways better than Yahweh’s way (cf. Isaiah 55:8-9). The alternative of the haughty ones is to reorder life’s good for their own benefit at the expense of the vulnerable ones (cf. Ezekiel 34:20-24). The psalm asserts and guarantees that life will not be so easily reorganized. God’s will endures. God has made the world with some built-in protections for the weak against the strong, and that must not be mocked (cf. Isaiah 10:12-14)." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 45.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

O that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of Zion!.... By whom is meant the Messiah, the Saviour of Israel, of all the elect of God, whether Jews or Gentiles; and who is so called, because the salvation of them was put into his hands, and he undertook it; and because he is the Captain and Author of it, and it is in him, and in no other. He was to come out of Zion, out of Judea, from among the Jews; Zion being, as Kimchi observes, the head of the kingdom of Israel; see

Romans 11:26. Accordingly Christ did come of the Jews, and salvation was of them, Romans 9:4; and for his coming from hence, or for his incarnation, the psalmist most earnestly wishes: he was one of those kings, prophets, and righteous men, that desired to see the days of the Messiah, Matthew 13:17. And what might move him so vehemently to wish for it, at this time, might be the sad corruption and depravity of mankind he had been describing, and the afflicted and distressed state of the saints;

when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people. The people of God are, in their unregeneracy, in a state of captivity to sin, Satan, and the law; the work of the Messiah, when he came, was to proclaim liberty to the captives, to set them free, to deliver them from their spiritual bondage: and this Christ has done; he has redeemed his people from all their sins, and from the curse of the law, and from the power of Satan, and has led captivity captive; and which has justly occasioned great joy in the redeemed ones, according to this prophecy:

Jacob shall rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad; that is, the posterity of Jacob and Israel; not his natural, but spiritual seed, such who are the true sons of Jacob, Israelites indeed; these having faith and hope in the plenteous redemption of Christ, rejoice in the view of their interest in it; they the song of redeeming love now, and these ransomed ones will hereafter come to Zion with joy, and everlasting joy upon their heads. The Jews refer this to the times of the Messiah c.

c Baal Hatturim in Numb. xxv. 12. & Midrash Tillim in loc.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.   5 There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.   6 Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.   7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

      In these verses the psalmist endeavours,

      I. To convince sinners of the evil and danger of the way they are in, how secure soever they are in that way. Three things he shows them, which, it may be, they are not very willing to see--their wickedness, their folly, and their danger, while they are apt to believe themselves very wise, and good, and safe. See here,

      1. Their wickedness. This is described in four instances:-- (1.) They are themselves workers of iniquity; they design it, they practise it, and take as much pleasure in it as ever any man did in his business. (2.) They eat up God's people with as much greediness as they eat bread, such an innate and inveterate enmity they have to them, and so heartily do they desire their ruin, because they really hate God, whose people they are. It is meat and drink to persecutors to be doing mischief; it is as agreeable to them as their necessary food. They eat up God's people easily, daily, securely, without either check of conscience when they do it or remorse of conscience when they have done it; as Joseph's brethren cast him into a pit and then sat down to eat bread,Genesis 37:24; Genesis 37:25. See Micah 3:2; Micah 3:3. (3.) They call not upon the Lord. Note, Those that care not for God's people, for God's poor, care not for God himself, but live in contempt of him. The reason why people run into all manner of wickedness, even the worst, is because they do not call upon God for his grace. What good can be expected from those that live without prayer? (4.) They shame the counsel of the poor, and upbraid them with making God their refuge, as David's enemies upbraided him, Psalms 11:1. Note, Those are very wicked indeed, and have a great deal to answer for, who not only shake off religion, and live without it themselves, but say and do what they can to put others out of conceit with it that are well-inclined--with the duties of it, as if they were mean, melancholy, and unprofitable, and with the privileges of it, as if they were insufficient to make a man safe and happy. Those that banter religion and religious people will find, to their cost, it is ill jesting with edged-tools and dangerous persecuting those that make God their refuge. Be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong. He shows them,

      2. Their folly: They have no knowledge; this is obvious, for if they had any knowledge of God, if they did rightly understand themselves, and would but consider things as men, they would not be so abusive and barbarous as they are to the people of God.

      3. Their danger (Psalms 14:5; Psalms 14:5): There were they in great fear. There, where they ate up God's people, their own consciences condemned what they did, and filled them with secret terrors; they sweetly sucked the blood of the saints, but in their bowels it is turned, and become the gall of asps. Many instances there have been of proud and cruel persecutors who have been made like Pashur, Magormissabibs--terrors to themselves and all about them. Those that will not fear God perhaps may be made to fear at the shaking of a leaf.

      II. He endeavours to comfort the people of God, 1. With what they have. They have God's presence (Psalms 14:5; Psalms 14:5): He is in the generation of the righteous. They have his protection (Psalms 14:6; Psalms 14:6): The Lord is their refuge. This is as much their security as it is the terror of their enemies, who may jeer them for their confidence in God, but cannot jeer them out of it. In the judgment-day it will add to the terror and confusion of sinners to see God own the generation of the righteous, which they have hated and bantered. 2. With what they hope for; and that is the salvation of Israel,Psalms 14:7; Psalms 14:7. When David was driven out by Absalom and his rebellious accomplices, he comforted himself with an assurance that god would in due time turn again his captivity, to the joy of all his good subjects. But surely this pleasing prospect looks further. He had, in the beginning of the psalm, lamented the general corruption of mankind; and, in the melancholy view of that, wishes for the salvation which should be wrought out by the Redeemer, who was expected co come to Zion, to turn away ungodliness from Jacob,Romans 11:26. The world is bad; O that the Messiah would come and change its character! There is a universal corruption; O for the times of reformation! Those will be as joyful times as these are melancholy ones. Then shall God turn again the captivity of his people; for the Redeemer shall ascend on high, and lead captivity captive, and Jacob shall then rejoice. The triumphs of Zion's King will be the joys of Zion's children. The second coming of Christ, finally to extinguish the dominion of sin and Satan, will be the completing of this salvation, which is the hope, and will be the joy, of every Israelite indeed. With the assurance of that we should, in singing this, comfort ourselves and one another, with reference to the present sins of sinners and sufferings of saints.