Psalms 26:4 - John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Bible Comments

I have not sat with vain persons,.... Or "men of vanity" t; who are full of it; who are addicted to the vanities of the world; who pursue the riches, honours, pleasures, and profits of it; which is no other than walking in a vain show: whose thoughts, words, and actions are vain; who are vainly puffed up in their fleshly mind, and walk in the vanity of it; who take the name of God in vain, and whose common discourse is foolish, frothy, light, and empty; and who are men of a vain conversation, and are rash, imprudent, and deceitful: men of bad principles may very well go by this name, who are vain and unruly talkers, and whose doctrines are doctrines of vanity, and no other than vain babbling; and also men guilty of idolatrous practices, who observe lying vanities, and worship them, and lift up their souls unto them; with such vain men, in any of these senses, the psalmist would have nothing to do; he would not keep company with them, nor have any communion, consultation, and conversation with them; it may be, he may have some respect to the men that were about Saul, to whom such a character agreed; or he may say this, and what follows, to remove a calumny cast upon him and his friends; as if they that were with him were such men as here described, and in Psalms 26:5;

neither will I go in with dissemblers: or "hidden" or "unknown" persons u, who lie in private lurking places, to murder the innocent, or secretly take away the good names and characters of men, and it is not known who they are; or who commit sin secretly; go into secret places to do their works in the dark, and hide themselves to do evil; as the Targum, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, interpret it; who love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil; or who cover themselves with lying and flattering words, that it is not known what their real intentions be; they speak one thing, and mean another; are an assembly of treacherous men: such are all deceitful workers, who lie in wait to deceive, and walk in craftiness; and hypocrites, who have the form of religion, but are strangers to the power of it; and who are to be turned away from, and avoided; the houses, assemblies, cabals, and company of such, are to be shunned; see Genesis 49:6; or such as are "signed", or "marked"; that is, infamous persons w.

t עם מתי שוא "cum hominibus vanitatis", Gejerus, Michaelis. u עם נעלמים "cum occultis", Vatablus, Michaelis; "absconditis", Gejerus; so Ainsworth. w Vide Schultens de def. Hod. ling. Heb. s. 188.

Psalms 26:4

4 I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.