Psalm 4:3 (Part 1)

Note: I am not sure why this Psalm specifically has had so much translational variation; but, just the same it has. This verse is no different. So we will start by addressing these but in a little different fashion than just including various notes on it. I think the two that address this the best are Franz Delitzsch and Calvin, so we will focus on their notes to see perhaps a better translation than what exists in most of our bibles.

To start, we have “We know” or“But know” or some such similar translation at the beginning of the verse. But Delitzsch says properly translated it should be “So know then” which would emphasize Calvin’s comment that this is a continuing emphasis from the previous verse, not a separate thought. Calvin says, “This is a confirmation of the previous verse; for it shows that the cause of David’s boldness consisted in this, that he depended upon God, the founder of his kingdom.” This point is better emphasized when we properly translate it with the intending wording and show that the thought is continued from the prior verse rather than being two separate thoughts. Delitzsch references the grammatical precedent from 2 Kin. 4:41 which begins, “So he said…” in like fashion to this verse.

Next we have the words “set apart for Himself”. Calvin says, “The Hebrew word Phalah (you will find this as palah Strong’s 6395 if you look it up yourself), signifies to separate and it here refers to separation to honor and dignity; as if he had said, you admit no one as king but he who is chosen by your own suffrages, or who pleases you; but it is the peculiar prerogative of God to make choice of whom He will.” Delitzsch agrees and breaks it down by saying, “To make a separation, make a distinction… in an extraordinary and remarkable way… so that consequently what is meant is not the mere selection, but the remarkable selection to a remarkable position of honor. [This is he who] Jehovah Himself, not men, has thus remarkably distinguished [and who] is a pious man.” The Septuagint takes a possible translation of this Hebrew word, wonderfully, and renders it “made wonderful”. This is undoubtedly an attempt to capture in translation what is also needed in context. While I am not a linguistic expert it seems to me that perhaps the Septuagint got this one right. The Amplified treats this very well also and renders it, “has set apart for Himself [and gives distinction to]” in order to accomplish the desired effect. Matthew Poole says, “hath wonderfully separated me” to convey this idea.

Next we have what is rendered in most of our translations as “one who is godly”, “godly man”, or “the godly”. The other word that is used here is “merciful” rather than “godly”. Calvin says,“By the word merciful… he doubtless vindicates his right to be king, from the fact that this was a quality that belonged to himself. Now, God usually furnishes those whom He reckons worthy of having this honor conferred upon them, with the endowments requisite for the exercise of their office, that they may not be as dead idols. Some understand the word chasid (you will find this as chaciyd Strong’s 2623), in a passive sense, not as denoting a beneficent person, but one who is placed on the throne by the favor of God. As, however, I meet with no examples of this signification of the word in Scripture, I think it safer to follow the common interpretation, which is this: God has chosen a king, who answers to the character which should be possessed by all whoa re called to fill such an exalted station, in as much as he is merciful and beneficent.”

That is primarily the extent that I found translational difference here. Therefore, presupposing these men are right, a better translation of this verse would read as follows, “So know then, the Lord has made wonderful for Himself one who is merciful; Jehovah will hear when I call to Him.”

“So know then…”
¨ David does not here boast of his own strength, or riches, or armies by which he obtained the kingdom. But as He was chosen by God, he intimates that the many attempts of his enemies against him would be without success, because they would find from experience, that God, whose power they could not successfully resist, was against them. JC
¨ You fight not against me but the Lord. MP
¨ Take notice of it, consider it, be assured of the truth, of it; it may be depended upon as fact. JG

“The Lord has made wonderful for Himself”
¨ [God] hath rejected the other royal person and family, and hath called me by name, and chosen me out of all the tribes and families of Israel, and out of my father’s family, though I was the youngest of them, and thought by Samuel and by my father to be most remote from His honor. MP

“One who is merciful”
¨ [This] testimony David gives to himself, not out of vain-glorious humor, but merely because he was constrained to it by the calumnies of his enemies, for his own just and necessary vindication. MP

“Jehovah will hear when I call to Him”
¨ […] I am assured that god will hear my prayers, and save me out of your hands. MP
¨ […] he does not call upon God in vain, but finds a ready hearing. Their undertaking consequently runs counter to the miraculously evidenced will of God and must fail by reason of the loving relationship in which the dethroned and debased one stands to God. K&D, Franz Delitzsch
¨ [God will] deliver out of the hands of enemies, and cut them off: wherefore it is a vain thing for men to set themselves against Christ and his people. JG

Above, including in the notes we used to consider the translation, we have the commentaries that would credit this to David and in regards to him alone. But there are three that view this as having application with Christ Himself, and some that readily discuss this in light of all of the elect, not David only. Although the notes that are forthcoming represent extra opinion in regards to this verse, they are all in agreement with only one exception, Robert Hawker, as to the application of this being assigned literally to David as well as Christ and the elect. We will now consider the two remaining opinions.

With application to Christ:

“The Lord has made wonderful for Himself”
¨ [This is] also of the Messiah, God's Holy One, whom He has chosen out from among the people to be their Savior and Redeemer, to the glory of His grace; wherefore the work of the Lord has prospered in His hands. JG
¨ What a beautiful view we have in this verse in reference to the person of Jesus, the Father’s holy one, the Father’s only one, in whom His soul delighteth. RH
¨ God has, in like manner, set apart the Lord Jesus for Himself, that merciful One; and those that attempt to hinder His advancement will certainly be baffled, for the Father hears Him always. MH

Part two will continue with the commentaries that see this as having application to the elect and a short study on what that means.

Psalm 4:2

Note: There is some difference of opinion as to what men are being addressed here. Calvin, at least within the eight commentaries I reference for this study, stands alone in stripping the reference of nobility and rank. All of the others did make that application with Franz Delitzsch diving into the original Hebrew to show the support for such a claim.

“How long, oh you sons of men”
• By calling those he addresses the sons, not of Adam, or of some common person, but of men, he seems by the way to reprove their pride. In the words how long, he condemns their perverse obstinacy; for what he means, is not that they were stirred up against him merely by some sudden impulse, but that the stubborn purpose of injuring him was deeply fixed in their hearts. Had not their maliciousness deprived them of their understanding, the many instances in which God had proved Himself to be David’s defender would have compelled them to desist from their attempts against him. JC
• Princes and potentates, as this Hebrew phrase seems and is thought to signify, who are engaged with Saul or Absalom against me. MP
• [Here] we are led from the closet of prayer into the field of conflict. Remark the undaunted courage of the man of God. He allows that his enemies are great men… but still here believes them to be foolish men, and therefore chides them, as though they were but children. CHS
• Meaning great men, the nobles of Israel; and so the Jewish interpreters generally explain it… and so they were the kings and princes of the earth, and the rulers of the Jewish Sanhedrim, the chief priests and elders, who were the enemies of Christ; and such, generally speaking, have been the persecutors of the saints; these men of power and authority, of dignity and honour, and who were in high places, and boasted of their titles and grandeur, the psalmist addresses. JG
• Righteous in his relation to God he turns rebukingly towards those who contemn him whose honor is God’s honor, viz. to the partisans of Absalom. In this and the preceding Psalm David makes as little mention of his degenerate son as he does of the deluded king in the psalms belonging to the period of his persecution by Saul. The address is directed to the aristocratic party, whose tool Absalom had become. K&D, Franz Delitzsch
• Of great men, so some, men of high degree, understanding it of the partisans of Saul or Absalom, “how long will you oppose me and my government, and continue disaffected to it, under the influence of the false and groundless suggestions of those that wish evil to me?” Or it may be taken more generally: God, by the psalmist, here reasons with sinners to bring them to repentance. MH

“to turn my glory into shame”
• […] as they were fully determined to disgrace him whom God had exalted to the royal throne, he asks them [this]… [and] although loaded with every kind of reproach, both among the high and the low, he yet courageously keeps fast hold of the glory or the honor of royalty which God had graciously promised him, or had conferred upon him, and is fully persuaded that God will at length vindicate his right to it. JC
• i.e. be made by you a matter of reproach or scorn? By his glory he probably means that high honor and royal majesty which God had either promised to him, or conferred upon him; wherewith, when he was in great straits and dangers, they might possibly reproach him. MP
• He asks them how long they mean to make his honor a jest, and his fame a mockery? Had not repeated disappointments convinced them that the Lord’s anointed was not to be overcome by all their calumnies? Did they mean to jest their souls into hell, and go on with their laughter until swift vengeance should turn their merriment into howling? CHS
• Meaning either God, who was his glory (Ps. 3:3); whom they reproached when they said there was no help for him in Him… or rather his royal glory and majesty, which they attempted to vail by casting him down from his excellency, by dethroning him, and setting up Absalom in his room. So the Jews endeavoured to turn the glory of Christ into shame, which lay in His being the only begotten of the Father; by denying His Sonship, by condemning Him to death; because He said He was the Son of God; and by mocking at Him under that character on the cross; and also by their spitting upon, buffeting, and crucifying the Lord of glory; by reproaching His Gospel, ministers, and people; and by not acknowledging Him as the Messiah, and submitting to His righteousness. And wicked men do as much as in them lies to turn the glory of the saints into shame, by aspersing their character, taking away their good name and reputation among men; by reproaching and reviling them, and speaking all manner of evil of them; and by persecuting them in the most violent manner. JG
• How long shall my honor become a mockery, namely to you and by you. K&D, Franz Delitzsch
• They may well be taken as God’s own words, charging sinners with the wrong they do Him in His honor: or, if David’s words, the term glory may be understood of God, whom he called his glory (Ps. 3:3). Idolaters are charged with changing the glory of God into shame, Rom. 1:23. All willful sinners do so by disobeying the commands of His law, despising the offers of His grace, and giving the affection and service to the creature which are due to God only… they profess to know Him, but in works deny Him, [and] do what in them lies to turn His glory into shame. MH

Note: The rest of this verse, which will vary depending on what version you are using, is grossly misinterpreted by the NIV if that is your version of choice. But all of the others were in a basic agreement with their translations of this verse with some small variances; but, the variances at least keep in context with the verse and used viable words in order to translate it. Even the word “worthless”, which you will find in the NKJV and NASB for example, is a viable translation for the Hebrew word riyq and in general is in agreement with the context of the Psalm and this verse specifically. But the NIV goes pretty far out of the realm of translational integrity when it renders it “How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?” This is just poor hermeneutics. One other thing, in some of your versions you will see the word “leasing”, this is pointed out in Spurgeon’s commentary as an old Saxon word signifying falsehood.

“How long will you love vanity and seek after lying?”
• In these words, he partly reproaches his enemies for the wicked and perverse passions with which he saw them to be impelled, although they falsely pretended to be actuated by godly zeal; and he partly derides their folly in flattering themselves with the hope of success while fighting against God. And it is a most pointed rebuke. Even when the ungodly rush head long into all manner of wickedness with the grossest malice, they soothe themselves with deceitful flatteries in order not to be disturbed with feelings of remorse. JC
• [To] affect and pursue these courses and designs of opposing me and my kingdom, which you will certainly find to be in vain, and to no purpose. By lying he may design these horrid calumnies, which the partisans either of Saul or Absalom had raised against him, and which they joined with their other endeavors to make him odious to all people, and so the better to effect his ruin. MP
• He tells them that they love vanity, and seek after leasing, that is, lying, empty fancies, vain conceits, wicked fabrications. In the contemplation of their perverse continuance in their vain and lying pursuits, the Psalmist solemnly pauses and inserts a Selah. Surely we too may stop while, and meditate upon the deep-seated folly of the wicked, their continuance in evil, and their sure destruction; and we may learn to admire that grace which has made us to differ, and taught us to love the truth, and seek after righteousness. CHS
• […] it is… to be rendered: since ye love… that which is empty – the proper name for their high rank is appearance – how long will ye pursue after… falsehood? – they seek to find out every possible lying pretext, in order to trail the honor of the legitimate king in the dust.They are eager to injure his official at the same time as his personal reputation. K&D, Franz Delitzsch
• Those that love the world, and seek the things that are beneath, love vanity, and seek lies; as those also do that please themselves with the delights of sense, and portion themselves with the wealth of this world, for these will deceive them, and so ruin them. The God of heaven thinks the time long that sinners persist in dishonoring Him and in deceiving and ruining themselves. MH

Personal Summary:

There are a couple of important differences in approach to this verse. On the one hand you have commentators that are approaching it from the historical perspective and then using it as an example for our personal walk with God (Calvin, Poole, Delitzsch, and Spurgeon). On the other hand you have some using this verse more with David being seen as a mouthpiece for God and God condemning the wicked (Henry, Gill, and, not included in these notes, Robert Hawker as well). Perhaps both are sincerely accurate and worthy of our consideration as we contemplate this verse.

When can this application not be seen as true in the interaction of wicked men with a righteous God? Their assault is relentless and the lies are abundant. The evil they perpetrate in the vain hope that they will rise above and conquer God is seen throughout the annals of history. In Satan himself we see this and he was thrown out of heaven as a result. We see this in the Tower of Babel. We see this in their attacks on David. We see this most vividly in their attacks on Christ. Oh how they loathed the sight of Him! His righteousness and His divinity stood in stark contrast to their sin and false religion and they hated Him for it. They hated Him so much that they mocked Him, and spit on Him, and tortured Him, and finally killed Him. They conspired against Him and made stories both while He was on the earth and after He had ascended into heaven to try and discredit Him, as they still do today. Turn your televisions on and at almost any given moment of any day there will be a program out there that questions the validity of God and His Son. And that is but a drop in a very large bucket when compared with the vast amount of literature that has been produced to the same end. Yet they all fail. We as the people of God must pause as instructed and contemplate this great evil. God still reigns supreme and His glory shines forth forever more. God is long suffering with the wicked, they are allowed to join in conspiracy against Him and His people for a time, but we know that will not be so forever. There will come a day when this will be no more. There will come a day when they will willingly bow and confess that he is Lord of lords and King of kings but it will be too late. Grace will no longer be offered. The love of God will not condescend to them any longer. Their wickedness will see its rightful end and punishment and God will still be seated firmly on His thrown with His holiness radiating, untarnished for all of eternity.

But let us also contemplate the great advantages of grace. For all we like sheep have gone astray (Isa. 53:6); it is only through the unwarranted love of God that we are not as lost in our sins and inclined to pit ourselves against Him as the wicked are. It is only because He chose us before the foundation of the earth that we are saved from our iniquity, it is only because Christ died for our sins and propitiated the wrath of God against us that we stand here today one with the Father and the Son, it is only because the Spirit gave us the effectual call that we did not refuse the free offer of the Gospel, it is only because He sustains us that we do not fail and fall back into sin never to be recovered again. Marvel not in yourselves, marvel in this: that God loved you so much that He has accomplished 100% of the requirements for your salvation for you and then sustains you until He calls you home to Him. What a thought! What a reality! What a blessed truth we are to revel in! Never forget that the reason we can be bold like David and stand strong as the people of God is because it is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed… His compassions fail not. (Lam. 3:22) Because of this we may stand strong as righteous examples in contrast to the wicked, and it is not only that we can, but that we must. They may mock us and lie about us, they may assault us and in the end it doesn’t matter, for eternity is our reward and damnation is theirs. It is the Lord they assault and we are merely the closest target they may reach, but He will sustain the righteous saints of today as he has done through all of time and as we see here that He had done so many times with His servant David.

The wicked will perish and the righteous prevail; but it is the glory of God that will stand true thought it all. What a wonderful day it will be when we, with the angels in heaven, will rest not day and night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. (Rev. 4:8) May we all with cheerful hearts say, Come Lord Jesus, come! (Rev. 22:20)