1,2.
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Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: preserve me from the
violent man: which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they
gathered together for war. Singular nouns in v. 1 give way to plural
references in v. 2: First, the leader of the rebellion comes in for attention,
and then his supporters.
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3.
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They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent (Psa.
55:21; 59:7; 64:3). A clear allusion to Gen. 3: The lie of the serpent is
repeated here. “Ye shall be as gods” becomes, in the historical
con-text here, glib promises of advancement and power for those whom Absalom
seeks to win over to his cause.
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4.
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The violent man... purposed to overthrow my goings.
Both Shimei (2 Sam. 16:5-13) and Ahithophel (17:1-3) were examples of
such.
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5.
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A snare... a net... gins (RSV “trap”...
“net”... “snares”) (Psa. 31:4; 57:6; 64:5; 142:3) all
speak of secret and deceitful activity.
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7.
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Thou hast covered my head means ‘Thou hast been
my bodyguard’ (1 Sam. 28:2). In his flight from Jerusalem, David had only
a few loyal supporters (2 Sam. 15:18). The king’s hopes lay in God, not in
human support.
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8.
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Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked. ‘Do
not give me over to the hateful and harmful whims of my wicked
enemies.’
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9.
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Let the mischief of their own lips cover them. And so
it came about. Absalom, Ahithophel, Shimei, Ziba, and all such sooner or later
were brought down by their own disloyalty.
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10.
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Burning coals, such as the rocks which Shimei hurled at
David, ultimately came back upon the thrower, not through Abishai’s
indignation, but through the overruling power of God which David had prayed
for.
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Let them be cast... into deep pits, that they rise not up
again. How well this language (and v. 11) suits Absalom in his wretched
end:
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“And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in
the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him” (2 Sam.
18:17).
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12,13.
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I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the
afflicted, and the right of the poor. Surely the righteous shall give thanks
unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence. A marvelous
expression of faith. God is in control — all will yet be well; cp. the
spirit of David’s reaction to the curses of Shimei:
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“So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him,
Curse David... let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him.
It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction, and that the Lord will
requite me good for his cursing this day” (2 Sam. 16:10-12).
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1.
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The evil man and the violent man are Rabshakeh
and his cruel master Sennacherib.
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2.
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Continually are they gathered together for war. The
Land overrun and Jerusalem besieged.
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3.
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They have sharpened their tongues, as in vv. 9,11: the
blistering propaganda campaign against the king and his God (cp. Psa.
139:19-22).
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4.
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Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked. There is
no imagining the tortures that would have been meted out to Hezekiah if he had
fallen into Assyrian hands. Nineveh bas-reliefs of this campaign tell a
blood-curdling story.
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6.
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I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God; hear the voice of my
supplications, O Lord. This is Isa. 37:1-7,14-20.
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10.
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Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into the
fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again. First, the fire of the
Lord fell upon them (Isa. 30:30-33). And then, outside Jerusalem, thousands of
corpses had to be burned or buried in “Tophet”.
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11.
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Evil... men... shall hunt the violent man to
overthrow him. Sennacherib was finally slain by his own sons (Isa.
37:38).
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12,13.
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This is very appropriate to Hezekiah personally. To dwell
in thy presence was the highest ambition of this man whose leprosy had
excluded him from the sanctuary of the Lord.
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2.
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Which imagine mischiefs in their heart, e.g., Mark 3:6;
11:18.
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3.
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They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. See
the sustained encounters in Matt. 22, recognized by Jesus as one phase of Gen.
3:15 (thus Matt. 23:33: “Ye serpents, ye generations of
vipers”). Compare also Rom. 3:13, linked with a quotation from Psa.
14 about Gentile hostility. In the rejection of Jesus, Jews and Gentiles joined
enthusiastically together (cp. Psa. 2:1 with Acts 4:23-28).
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4.
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Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked: Luke
13:31-33.
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6-8.
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The prayer of Gethsemane. But that prayer ended with,
“Not my will... but thy will!”
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9.
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Let the mischief of their own lips cover them. It did.
“His blood be on us and on our children” (Matt. 27:25) was followed
by A.D. 70. And the decree of Caiaphas, that “one man should die for the
people” (John 11:50), resulted in the annulment of his own priesthood.
Compare also Psa. 7:16 and see on 109:5-20.
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10.
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Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into the
fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again: Prov. 16:27; 25:21,22;
Rom. 12:20. Coals of fire may be a curse (Ezek. 10:2; Psa. 120:2-4), but in
certain instances (with those who recognize their sins?) they may also be a
blessing (Isa. 6:6,7)!
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13.
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The upright shall dwell in thy presence. The
Ascension.
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