PSALM 140
David complains of the implacable cruelty of his enemies, and of their treachery and rancorous
calumnies. In the close, having besought God’s help, and expressing his persuasion of obtaining
his layout, he comforts himself with the hope of deliverance, and just vengeance being executed
upon his enemies.
To the chief Musician — A Psalm of David.
Psalm 140:1-5
Deliver me, O Jehovah! from the evil man, (homo,) preserve me from the man (vir) 222 of
injuries. 2. Who imagine mischiefs in their heart; daily they congregate for war. 3. They have
sharpened their tongue like a serpent: 223 the poison of an asp 224 is under their lips. Selah 4. Keep
us, O Jehovah! from the hands of the wicked: preserve me from the man of injuries, who plot to
overthrow my goings. 5. The proud have set a snare for me, and have spread a net with cords: by
the way side they have set gins for me. 225 Selah
222 “The word ‘man’ in these two lines is expressed in the first by (homo,) in the second by (vir.)” — Jebb’s Translation
of the Psalms, etc., volume 1.
223 Mant translates —
“The serpent’s brandished tongue is theirs.”
“The verb,” says he, “here rendered ‘brandished,’ signifies either ‘to whet, sharpen,’ which is performed by reiterated
motion or friction, or to ‘vibrate.’ In either case the metaphor, as applied to a wicked tongue, is beautiful and appropriate. I have
preferred the latter as affording a more poetical image. See Parkhurst on , 3.” In illustration of this figure Kimchi observes,
that “the serpent when it comes to bite will open its mouth, and will hiss, and move its tongue here and there as if it would make
it sharp as a barber’s razor. ”
224 The original word , achshub, rendered “asp,” is to be found in Scripture only in this place; and though it evidently denotes
some of the serpent tribe, it is not so easy to determine the particular species intended. In our English Bible it is translated “adder,”
and as the word is derived from an Arabic verb, which signifies to coil up, or bend back, it has been said that this act perfectly
corresponds with the nature of the adder, which in preparing to strike contracts itself into a spiral form, and raises its horrid head
from the middle of the orb; and which also assumes the same form when it goes to sleep, coiling its body into a number of circles,
with its head in the center. — ( Paxton’s Illustrations of Scripture , vol. i. p. 428.) But the same action is common to most serpents;
and this name may, therefore have reference to no particular species. Some, however, contend that it is another name for the
pethem , or asp mentioned in Job 20:14 , the venom of which is so deadly as to be incurable and followed by speedy death, unless
the wounded part is amputated. Such seems to have been the opinion of the LXX., as they render it by ασπις , in which they are
followed by the Vulgate and by the Apostle Paul, who quotes this text in Romans 3:13 . Calvin here adopts the word sanctioned
by these authorities.
“As to the poison, it will be observed, that in the venomous serpents there is a gland under the eye secreting the poisonous
matter which is conveyed in a small tube or canal to the end of a fang which lies concealed at the roof of the mouth. This fang
is moveable at the pleasure of the serpent, and is protruded when it is about to strike at an antagonist. The situation of this poison,
which is in a manner behind the upper lip, gives great propriety to the expression — ‘Adders’ poison is under their lips.’ The
usage of the Hebrew language, renders it by no means improbable that the fang itself is called , lashon , ‘a tongue,’ in the
present text; and a serpent might be said to sharpen its tongue, when in preparing to strike it protruded its fangs. We do not see
any explanation by which a more consistent meaning may be extracted from the expression here employed.” — Illustrated
Commentary upon the Bible.
225 The imagery in this verse is borrowed from the practices of hunters and fowlers in the eastern regions of the world, who
are accustomed to take and destroy the ferocious beasts and the larger species of birds by a variety of ingenious snares and
devices. It is a curious circumstance, as noticed by Thevenot, that artifices of this kind are literally employed against men as
well as against birds and wild beasts by some of the Orientals. “The cunningest robbers in the world,” says he, as quoted by
Mant, “are in this country. They use a certain slip, with a running noose, which they cast with so much slight about a man’s neck
when they are within reach of him, that they never fail, so that they strangle him in a trice.”
140John Calvin Comm on Psalms (V5)
To the chief Musician, etc. I cannot bring myself to restrict this Psalm to Doeg, as the great
body of interpreters do, for the context will clearly show that it speaks of Saul, and of the counselors
who ceased not to inflame the king — himself sufficiently incensed against the life of one who was
a saint of God. Being as he was a figure of Christ, we need not wonder that the agents of the devil
directed so much of their rage against him. And this is the reason why he animadverts so sharply
upon their rancor and treachery.
The terms wicked and violent men denote their unwarranted attempts at his destruction without
provocation given. He therefore commends his cause to God, as having studied peace with them,
as never having injured them, but being the innocent object of their unjust persecution. The same
rule must be observed by us all, as it is against violence and wickedness that the help of God is
extended. David is not Multiplying mere terms of reproach as men do in their personal disputes,
but conciliating God’s favor by supplying a proof of his innocence, for he must always be upon
the side of good and peaceable men.
2.Who imagine mischief’s in their heart . Here he charges them with inward malignity of heart.
And it is plain that the reference is not to one man merely, for he passes to the plural number (in a
manner sufficiently common,) reverting from the head to all his associates and copartners in guilt.
Indeed what was formerly said in the singular number may be taken indefinitely, as grammarians
say. In general he repeats what I have noticed already, that the hostility to which he was subjected
arose from no cause of his. From this we learn that the more wickedly our enemies assail us, and
the more of treachery and clandestine acts they manifest, the nearer is the promised aid of the Holy
Spirit, who himself dictated this form of prayer by the mouth of David. The second clause may be
rendered in three ways. Literally it reads, who gather wars, and so some understand it. But it, is
well known that the prepositions are often omitted in the Hebrew, and no doubt lie means that they
stirred up general enmity by their false information’s being as the trumpet which sounds to battle.
Some render the verb — to conspire, or plot together , but this is a farfetched and meager sense.
He intimates afterwards in what manner they stirred up unjust war by the wicked calumnies which
they spread, as they could not crush a good and innocent person by violence, otherwise than by
first overwhelming him with calumny.
4.Keep me, O Jehovah! To complaints and accusations he now again adds prayer, from which
it appears more clearly, as I observed already, that it is God whom he seeks to be his avenger. It is
the same sentiment repeated, with one or two words changed; for he had said deliver me , now he
says keep me , and for the wicked man he substitutes the hand of the wicked . He had spoken of their
conceiving mischief’s, now of their plotting how they might ruin a poor unsuspecting individual.
What he had said of their fraud and deceit he repeats in figurative language, which does not want
emphasis. He speaks of nets spread out on every side to circumvent him, unless God interposed
for his help. Though at first sight the metaphors may seem more obscure than the prayer was in its
simple unfigurative expression, they are far from darkening the previous declarations, and they add
much to the strength of them. From the word , geim , which signifies proud or lofty in the Hebrew,
we learn that he does not speak of common men, but of men in power, who considered that they
would have no difficulty in crushing an insignificant individual. When our enemies attack us in the
insolence of pride, let us learn to resort to God, who can repel the rage of the wicked. Nor does he
mean to say that they attacked him merely by bold and violent measures, for he complains of their
spreading gins and snares; both methods are spoken of, namely, that while they were confident of
the power which they possessed, they devised stratagems for his destruction.
141John Calvin Comm on Psalms (V5)
Psalm 140:6-10
I said to Jehovah thou art my God; hear the voice of my supplication. 7. O, Jehovah, my
Lord! the strength of my salvation, thou hast set a covering upon my head in the day of arms. 226
Grant not, O Jehovah! the desires of the wicked; they have devised, do not though consummate,
they shall be exalted. Selah. 9. As for the head of those compassing me about, let the mischief of
his lips cover him. 10. Let coals with fire fall upon them; he shall cast them into deeps, 227 they
shall not rise again.
6.I said to Jehovah . In these words he shows that his prayers were not merely those of the lips,
as hypocrites will make loud appeals to God for mere appearance sake, but that he prayed with
earnestness, and from a hidden principle of faith. Till we have a persuasion of being saved through
the grace of God there can be no sincere prayer. We have here an excellent illustration of the nature
of faith, in the Psalmist’s turning himself away from man’s view, that he may address God apart,
hypocrisy being excluded in this internal exercise of the heart. This is true prayer — not the mere
idle lifting up of the voice, but the presentation of our petitions from an inward principle of faith.
To beget in himself a persuasion of his obtaining his present requests from God, he recalls to his
mind what deliverance’s God had already extended to him. He speaks of his having been to him
as a shield in every time of danger. Some read the words in the future tense — “Thou wilt cover
my head in the day of battle.” But it is evident David speaks of protection formerly experienced
from the hand of God, and from this derives comfort to his faith. He comes forth, not as a raw and
undisciplined recruit, but as a soldier well tried in previous engagements. The strength of salvation
is equivalent to salvation displayed with no ordinary power.
8.Grant not, O Jehovah! the desires of the wicked228 We might render the words Establish not ,
though the meaning would be the same — that God would restrain the desires of the wicked, and
frustrate all their aims and attempts. We see from this that it is in his power, whenever he sees
proper, to frustrate the unprincipled designs of men, and their wicked expectations, and to dash
their schemes. When, therefore, it is found impracticable to bring our enemies to a right state of
mind, we are to pray that the devices which they have imagined may be immediately overthrown
and thwarted. In the next clause there is more ambiguity. As the Hebrew verb , puk, means to
lead out, as well as to strike or fall, the words might mean, that God would not carry out into effect
the counsels of the wicked. But the opinion of those may be correct who read — their thought is
thou wilt not strike , David representing such hopes as the wicked are wont to entertain. We find
him elsewhere ( Psalm 10:6 ) describing their pride in a similar way, in entirely overlooking a divine
providence, and considering all events as subject to their control, and the world placed under their
sole management. The word which follows with thus come in appropriately — they shall be lifted
up, in illusion to the wicked being inflated by pride, through the idea that they can never be overtaken
226 That is, in the day of battle, in the day of the clashing or noisy collision of arms.
227 In the French version it is, as in our English Bible — “ Fosses profondes ;” “deep pits.” The Hebrew word, according to
Parkhurst, properly means breaches or disruptions of the earth, such as are made by an earthquake. He conceives that the Psalmist
alludes to the punishment of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and of the two hundred and fifty men who burnt incense. ( Numbers
16:31-35 .) See Parkhurst on . Bishop Horsley, who concurs with Parkhurst in the supposed allusion, translates chasms of the
yawning earth , observing that he cannot otherwise than by this periphrasis express the idea of the word
228 “The desires which the wicked have for my destruction.” — Phillips .
142John Calvin Comm on Psalms (V5)
by adversity. If the other reading be preferred, the negative particle must be considered as repeated
— “Suffer not their attempts to be carried into effect; let them not be exalted.” At any rate David
is to be considered as censuring the security of his enemies, in making no account of God, and in
surrendering themselves to unbridled license.
9.As for the head, etc . There may be a doubt whether, under the term head, lie refers to the
chief of the faction opposed to him; for we call suppose an inversion in the sentence, and a change
of the plural to the singular number, bringing out this sense. 229 “Let the mischief of their wicked
speeches, which they intended against me, fall upon their own head.” 230 As almost all interpreters,
however, have taken the other view, I have adopted it, only understanding the reference as being
to Saul rather than Doeg. There follows an imprecation upon the whole company of his enemies
generally, that coals may fall upon them , alluding to the awful fate of Sodom and Gomorrha. We
find this elsewhere ( Psalm 11:6 ) set forth by the Spirit of God as an example of Divine vengeance,
to terrify the wicked; and Jude ( Jude 1:7 ) declares that God testified, by this example of everlasting
significance, that he would be the Judge of all the ungodly. Some translate what follows — the wilt
cast them into the fire , which might pass. But as: , beth, in the Hebrew often denotes instrumentality,
we may properly render the words — thou wilt cast them down By fire, or With fire, as God sent
it forth against Sodom and Gomorrha. He prays they may be sunk into deep pits, whence they may
never rise. God sometimes heals those whom he has smitten with great severity; David cuts off the
reprobate from the hope of pardon, as knowing them to be beyond recovery. Had they been
disposable to repentance, he would have been inclinable on his part to mercy.
Psalm 140:11-13
The man (vir) of tongue shall not be established in the earth, evil shall hunt the man (vir)
231 of violence to banishments. 12. I have known that God will accomplish the judgment of the
poor, the judgment of the afflicted. 13. Surely the righteous will praise thy name, the upright shall
dwell before thy face.
11.The man of tongue , 232etc. Some understand by this the loquacious man, but the sense is
too restricted; nor is the reference to a reproachful, garrulous, vain and boastful man, but the man
of virulence, who wars by deceit and calumny, and not openly. This is plain from what is said of
the other class of persons in the subsequent part of the sentence, that his enemies were given to
open violence as well as to treachery and cunning — like the lion as well as the wolf — as formerly
he complained that the poison of the asp or viper was under their lips. The words run in the future
229 “Car il pourreit estre que l’ordre des mots seroit renverse, et que le nombre singulier seroit mis pour le pluriel, en ce sens ,”
etc. — Fr.
230 “The meaning of the verse may be, that the mischief designed by the wicked against others shall fall on their own head, as
Psalm 7:17 , ‘his violence shall descend on his own head;’ or it may express the leader of the hostile party, as Saul or Doeg, in
the case of David being here the speaker.” — Phillips .
231 is the word for man in both these clauses.
232 “A man, of tongue , i.e., of evil tongue; a slanderer or detractor.” — Phillips . The Bible translation renders the phrase “an
evil speaker;” and the Chaldee Paraphrase has “the man of detraction, with a three-forked tongue;” because such a man wounds
three at once — the receiver, the sufferer, and himself.
143John Calvin Comm on Psalms (V5)
tense, and many interpreters construe them into the optative form, or into a prayer; but I prefer
retaining the future tense, as David does not appear so much to pray, as to look forward to a coming
deliverance. Whether his enemies wrought by treachery, or by open violence, he looks forward to
God as his deliverer. The figure drawn from hunting is expressive. The hunter, by spreading his
toils on all sides, leaves no way of escape for the wild beast; and the ungodly cannot by any
subterfuge elude the divine judgments. Mischief hunts them into banishment’s , for the more they
look for impunity and escape, they only precipitate themselves more certainly upon destruction.
12.I have known; that God , etc. There can be no question that David here seals or corroborates
his prayer by turning his thoughts and discourse to the providential judgments of God, for, as I
have already said, doubtful prayer is no prayer at all. He declares it to be a thing known and
ascertained that God cannot but deliver the afflicted. As he may connive for a time, however, and
suffer good and upright persons to be grievously tried, David suggests as consideration which may
meet this temptation, that God does so advisedly, that he may relieve those who are in affliction,
and recover those who are oppressed. He accordingly says in express words that he will be the
judge of the poor and the afflicted . In this way does he encourage both others and himself under
continued troubles, till the time proper for deliverance arrive, intimating that though he might be
universally considered an object of pity in being exposed to the fury of the wicked, and in not being
immediately delivered by the hand of God, he would not give way to despair, but remember that
it was the very part of God to undertake the cause of the poor. It were to weaken the passage if we
considered David merely to be speaking of his own individual case.
He infers ( Psalm 140:13 ) that the righteous would give thanks to God, and be safe under his
help. For the particle , ach, which is often adversative in the Hebrew, is here affirmative, and
denotes inference or consequence from what was formerly stated. Though the godly may be silenced
for a time, and through the force of trouble may not raise the praises of God, David expresses his
conviction that what was taken away would be speedily restored, and they would celebrate the
loving kindness of the Lord with joy and alacrity. As this is not easily believed in circumstances
of trial, the already referred to is inserted. We must endeavor, though with a struggle, to rise to a
confident persuasion, that however low they may be brought, the Lord’s people will be restored to
prosperity, and will soon sing his praises. The second clause of the verse gives the reason of their
thanksgiving’s. He speaks of this as being the ground of the praises of the righteous, that they
experience God’s care of them, and concern for their salvation. For to dwell before God’s face is
to be cherished and sustained by his fatherly regards.
144John Calvin Comm on Psalms (V5)
