Psalms 62:4
in Psalms 62They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They only consult to thrust him down from his dignity; They delight in lies; They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. [Selah
KJV
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
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This verse in Psalms 62
Commentary
11 notes on this verse"But they have thought to cast away my price; they ran in thirst: they blessed with their mouth but cursed with their heart." The price of [humanity's redemption] is the blood of Christ: "You have been bought," it is said, "with a price; do not become the slaves of people." The soldiers of Satan planned, therefore, to make this price useless to us, leading again into slavery those who had once been freed. "They ran in thirst." He is speaking of the eager plots of the demons, because they run against us, thirsting for our destruction.
This site's exposition
How long will you threaten
on Psalms 62:3-4
The complaint comes as a question put to the attackers themselves. Barnes reads the leaning wall and the tottering fence as how the enemies see him, ready to fall at a push. They bless with the mouth and keep the curse inside.
This site's exposition
with their mouths they bless
Albert Barnes sees Absalom in the lies, a son who won the people with a blessing in his mouth and a curse inwardly. The lofty perch is the king's high rank.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Nevertheless, mine honour they have thought to drive back" (ver. 4). Conquered while they slay men yielding, by the blood of the slain multiplying the faithful, yielding to these and no longer being able to kill; "Nevertheless, mine honour they have thought to drive back." Now because a Christian cannot be killed, pains are taken that a Christian should be dishonoured. For now by the honour of Christians the hearts of ungodly men are tortured: now that spiritual Joseph, after his selling by his brethren, after his removal from his home into Egypt as though into the Gentiles, after the humiliation of a prison, after the made-up tale of a false witness, after that there had come to pass that which of him was said, "Iron passed through the soul of him:" now he is honoured, now he is not made subject to brethren selling him, but corn he supplieth to them hungering. Conquered by his humility and chastity, uncorruptness, temptations, sufferings, now honoured they see him, and his honour they think to check. ...Is it all against one man, or one man against all; or all against all, or one against one? Meanwhile, when he saith, "ye lay upon a man," it is as it were upon one man: and when he saith, "Slay all ye," it is as if all men were against one man: but nevertheless it is also all against all, because also all are Christians, but in One. But why must those divers errors hostile to Christ be spoken of as all together? Are they also one? Truly them also as one I dare to speak of: because there is one City and one city, one People and one people, King and king. One City and one city is what? Babylon one, Jerusalem one. By whatsoever other mystical names besides She is called, yet One City there is and one city; over this the devil is king, over that Christ is King. ...
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 15 · Written before 99.
proposed
Let us cleave, therefore, to those who cultivate peace with godliness, and not to those who hypocritically profess to desire it. For [the Scripture] saith in a certain place, "This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." [Isaiah 29:13] And again: "They bless with their mouth, but curse with their heart." [Psalm 62:4] And again it saith, "They loved Him with their mouth, and lied to Him with their tongue; but their heart was not right with Him, neither were they faithful in His covenant." [Psalm 78:36-37] "Let the deceitful lips become silent," [and "let the Lord destroy all the lying lips, ] and the boastful tongue of those who have said, Let us magnify our tongue; our lips are our own; who is lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, and for the sighing of the needy, will I now arise, saith the Lord: I will place him in safety; I will deal confidently with him." [Psalm 12:3-5]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency,.... Either from the excellency of God, from his greatness, and from his height, as Kimchi; or from his grace, as the Arabic version: that is, they consulted to discourage him from looking to God, his rock and fortress, and from trusting in him; or rather, from his own excellency, from what high estate of dignity and honour he was advanced to, or designed for, namely his kingly office.
It is dangerous putting our trust in men who are thus false; but God is faithful. (2.) He reads their doom, pronounces a sentence of death upon them, not as a king, but as a prophet: You shall be slain all of you, by the righteous judgments of God.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency. The excellencies of the righteous are obnoxious to the wicked, and the main object of their fury. The elevation which God gives to the godly in Providence, or in dispute, is also the envy of the baser sort, and they labour to pull them down to their own level. Observe the concentration of malice upon our point only, as here set in contrast with the sole reliance of the gracious one upon his Lord.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency. The excellencies of the righteous are obnoxious to the wicked, and the main object of their fury. The elevation which God gives to the godly in Providence, or in dispute, is also the envy of the baser sort, and they labour to pull them down to their own level. Observe the concentration of malice upon our point only, as here set in contrast with the sole reliance of the gracious one upon his Lord. If the wicked could but ruin the work of grace in us, they would be content; to crush our character, to overturn our influence, is the object of their consultation. They delight in lies; hence they hate the truth and the truthful, and by falsehood endeavour to compass their overthrow. To lie is base enough, but to delight in it is one of the blackest marks of infamy. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Flattery has ever been a favourite weapon with the enemies of good men; they can curse bitterly enough when it serves their turn; meanwhile, since it answers their purpose, they mask their wrath, and with smooth words pretend to bless those whom they would willingly tear in pieces. It was fortunate for David that he was well practised in silence, for to cozening deceivers there is no other safe reply. Selah. Here pause, and consider with astonishment the futile rancour of unholy men, and the perfect security of such as rest themselves upon the Lord.
To cast him down from his excellency - They are consulting to dethrone me, and use treachery and falsehood in order to bring it about: “They delight in lies.” They bless with their mouth - Probably alluding to Absalom’s blandishments of the people. He flattered them in order to get the sovereign rule. Or it may refer to the people of Jerusalem, whose perfidy he saw, while they were full of professions of loyalty, etc.; but he could not trust them, and therefore retired from Jerusalem.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency - This is the object of all their counsels and plans. They aim at one high in rank - and their purpose, their sole purpose, is to bring him down. This would apply well to the case of David in the time of the rebellion of Absalom. They delight in lies - In false pretences; in secret plans of evil; in hypocritical assurances. This was eminently true of Absalom, who made use of these arts to seduce the people from allegiance to his father. 2Sa 15:1-6. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly - They profess true attachment and zeal, but they are traitors at heart. See the notes at Psa 28:3. This, too, would apply well to the conduct of Absalom and those associated with him.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֤ךְ | ʾakh | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| מִשְּׂאֵת֨וֹ׀ | miseeto | from loftiness his | H7613 → | |
| יָעֲצ֣וּ | yaatzu | they have planned | H3289 → | 79 times |
| לְהַדִּיחַ֮ | lehadiach | to thrust [him] down | H5080 → | 55 times |
| יִרְצ֪וּ | yirtzu | they are pleased with | H7521 → | 56 times |
| כָ֫זָ֥ב | khazav | falsehood | H3577 → | 31 times |
| בְּפִ֥יו | befiv | with mouth his | H6310 → | 498 times |
| יְבָרֵ֑כוּ | yevarekhu | they bless | H1288 → | 330 times |
| וּ֝בְקִרְבָּ֗ם | uvekirbam | and in inner being their | H7130 → | 227 times |
| יְקַלְלוּ־ | yekalu- | they curse | H7043 → | 82 times |
| סֶֽלָה׃ | selah | Selah | H5542 → | 74 times |
אַ֤ךְsurely
ʾakhH389 →161 times
מִשְּׂאֵת֨וֹ׀from loftiness his
miseetoH7613 →
יָעֲצ֣וּthey have planned
yaatzuH3289 →79 times
לְהַדִּיחַ֮to thrust [him] down
lehadiachH5080 →55 times
יִרְצ֪וּthey are pleased with
yirtzuH7521 →56 times
כָ֫זָ֥בfalsehood
khazavH3577 →31 times
בְּפִ֥יוwith mouth his
befivH6310 →498 times
יְבָרֵ֑כוּthey bless
yevarekhuH1288 →330 times
וּ֝בְקִרְבָּ֗םand in inner being their
uvekirbamH7130 →227 times
יְקַלְלוּ־they curse
yekalu-H7043 →82 times
סֶֽלָה׃Selah
selahH5542 →74 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 7:22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.
it leads to
- Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.
- Psalms 40:8
I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
- Psalms 119:35
Direct me in the path of Your commandments, for there I find delight.
- Psalms 119:47–48
I delight in Your commandments because I love them.
- Hebrews 8:10
For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And…
- Psalms 1:2
Through
Psalms 28:3Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.
it leads to
- Psalms 12:2
They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 12:2
Through
Romans 1:32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
it leads to
- Romans 1:21
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- Romans 2:1–5
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
- Romans 1:21
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 62; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 21:3; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 15; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.