For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Ver. 6. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous] Or, acknowledgeth, approveth, administereth, and ordereth all things to their eternal salvation; as may appear by the opposition, wherein there is a rhetorical aposiopesis. God's knowledge of men and their ways is not merely intuitive, but approbative of the good and vindictive of the evil; εχει θεος εκδικον ομμα. His providence (which is the carrying on of his decree) is that helm which turns about the whole ship of the universe with singular skill and justice. Dominus diligit, et dirigit viam, id est, vitam et omne institutum iustorum. See Psalms 37:18; Psa 142:4 Nahum 1:7 Proverbs 2:8, with the notes there. God knows the righteous by name, Exodus 33:17, knows them for his own, looks upon them and their whole course with singular delight and complacency; they are his Hephzibah, Isaiah 62:4, the dearly beloved of his soul, Jeremiah 12:7. Verba notitiae apud Hebracos secum trahunt affectum.
But the way of the ungodly shall perish] Their practices and persons shall perish together, be done away, be lost for ever. And why? because the Lord knoweth them not; unless it be for black sheep, as we say, or rather for reprobate goats, Mat 25:32-46 Hence their souls are flung out, as out of the middle of a sling, when the souls of the saints are bound up in the bundle of life, with the Lord their God, 1 Samuel 25:29 .