David persuadeth to patience and confidence in God, by the different estate of the godly and the wicked.
A Psalm of David.
Title. לדוד ledavid.— This Psalm was made by David in his old age; and it is an excellent hymn on the equal providence of God, at that time exercised towards the Jews; see the note on Psalms 1:4. It contains an exhortation to good men to persevere in a religious course of life: and David assured them, that if they did so, they should see, as he himself had done, that the prosperity of the wicked should not last long; and that God would certainly reward those who with meekness and patience would continue to trust in, and rely upon him. Dr. Delaney conjectures upon this Psalm, that when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, perceived, upon David's return after the rebellion of Absalom, that the king had conceived an ill opinion of him, through the false suggestions of his servant Ziba, (2 Samuel 16:1-4; 2 Samuel 19:24-30.) it is natural to suppose the generous and upright heart of Mephibosheth to be distressed, dejected, and uneasy to the last degree, and taking rash and repining resolutions to banish himself from a country where he had found such treacherous treatment, &c. And what could be more natural, and more consoling under these circumstances, than for the good king to entreat him to forego those rash resolutions; to admonish him, that if he bore his present low estate with patience and resignation to the divine will, he should soon see it bettered; to remind him that the prosperity of the wicked was short, &c. And in what words could all this have been conveyed more strongly, than in those of this Psalm? See Life of David, b. i. c. 14, &c. It should be observed, that this Psalm is alphabetical at every other verse; or, more properly, they are made two verses, which should be but one long one; as Lamentations 1:2.