Psalm 51

Superscription: 1. For the end, an instruction of David, 2. when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said to him: David came to the house of Abimelech.

This incident is described in 1 Kgdms 21–22. David, having fled from Saul, was received by Abimelech, who gave him the showbread—for lack of ordinary bread—and the sword of Goliath, thinking that he was going somewhere on an errand for the king, as David told him. At Nob at that time was Doeg, who was tending Saul’s asses; and when he returned and Saul was reproaching his servants with bitter words, that not one of them cared for his interests or told him where David was, he told Saul about it. Saul sent for Abimelech and all the clergy, sentenced them to death, and when none of his servants would carry out his verdict, Doeg again served him and killed eighty-five men who bore the ephod—the linen vestment. After that Saul sent men to destroy the city itself and to destroy all living things there, from man to beast. Only one son of Abimelech, Abiathar, escaped and told David about it. This moved David to compose the present psalm, in which he depicts the moral depravity of the slanderous and flattering tongue that destroys the innocent, the divine judgment upon such people, and his own assured safety under the shelter of God, and thereby animates to patience those subjected to malicious slander and all manner of injustice—with the hope that the Lord does not abandon those who hope in Him and always gives a good end or outcome to their difficult circumstances. This is why he inscribed this psalm: for the end, an instruction—that is, he knew what end would befall those who do evil and those who endure it. Take courage! As the supreme example of this, David himself showed the way. Saint Chrysostom notes that this psalm rightly follows after the thirty-third, which is inscribed: a psalm of David, when he changed his countenance before Abimelech: and he dismissed him, and he went away (Ps. 33:1).

Doeg, from the Hebrew, means: restless, vain, fearful. Abimelech means: innocent, righteous. Slander and evil speech are full of fear and have no rest.

Verse 3. Why do you boast in wickedness, O mighty one? Iniquity all day long.

Why do you boast? Why do you think so highly of yourself and in your thoughts place yourself high and display yourself before others, as though the craftiness of the tongue were some merit? Or why do you rely greatly on flattery and cunning and rest on them as on a firm support, as on a reliable instrument for gaining influence and strength among others, for ordering your affairs and carving out your further path? Why do you boast in wickedness? The Prophet marvels at how people reach such a degree of evil that in their blindness they boast of that over which they ought to weep. Even if you have fallen into evil, why also boast of it? Evil that has reached impudence is the height of corruption, a sign of a seared conscience and of attaining the depths of evil. Why do you boast in wickedness, O mighty one? (The mighty one is either Saul, or Doeg by virtue of Saul’s favor.) A reproach to the powerful one who is powerful in evil: what is there to boast of? That he killed a man? But even a scorpion, a spider, and other venomous creatures can do the same. Was power given to you in order to equal these insignificant insects? (Augustine). And how ruinous it is to be strong in evil! One who is weak in evil is timid and does evil secretly; and therefore when conscience awakens, good will overpower evil and he repents; whereas one who is strong in evil does evil boldly and prides himself on it as on some perfection—and so there is nothing to trouble his heart, nothing to bring him to repentance and amendment. Iniquity all day long. All day—every day, every time, always. That is, only iniquity upon iniquity. A pitiful reproach! Craft and cunning have taken hold of the heart, give the person no rest, and on his bed he weaves schemes, and in his dreams he sees only images of intrigues.

Verse 4. Your tongue has devised unrighteousness: like a sharpened razor you have wrought deceit.

The tongue does not think; but in the mind and heart thoughts are woven—the tongue serves only as the instrument for their manifestation and execution. The tongue is mentioned, and not the heart, because (in the saying of the Wise One) the heart of fools is in their mouth (Sir. 21:29), that is, it is not deep but on the surface, and they are so subject to its impulses that they immediately follow them and carry out its demands without resistance, whether through the tongue or by other means. Unrighteousness (αδικια) is either the opposite of truth—and that is a lie—or the opposite of righteousness and goodness—and that is offense, insult, harm. Doeg devised unrighteousness—a lie—by presenting to Saul Abimelech as being of one mind with David against Saul, whereas he had received him as an envoy loyal to the king; and his intent was to wound David and Abimelech in order to prove his own loyalty—a quality of weak and ill-disposed souls! Like a sharpened razor you have wrought deceit. Those who are low and fainthearted are feeble both in spirit and body; and therefore for the execution of their evil designs they employ flattery before the powerful—crafty and evil flattery (δολος), which does not reveal its ill-will toward others but only goodwill toward the powerful and a readiness to act in his interests; yet, like a razor, swiftly and imperceptibly wounds the heart of the powerful person, and through him others as well. By his ill-disposed and flattering word, Doeg inflamed Saul to frenzy—and he destroyed the priestly city with all its inhabitants.

Verse 5. You have loved evil more than good, unrighteousness more than speaking truth.

This verse explains the first half of the preceding verse—that is, your tongue has devised unrighteousness — and points to the ill-disposed disposition in the heart of Doeg that caused him to weave the lie. You have loved — that is, completely, or such is your character that every time an occasion presents itself, you devise evil for your neighbor and not good. Evil more than good. Ill-will more than goodwill—evil, and not benevolence. In the heart of every person there is always a mixture of good and evil; and sometimes one prevails, sometimes the other, yet a person always by his own will chooses one or the other. Therefore he is subject to condemnation if he does evil rather than good. Unrighteousness more than speaking truth. To the mind belongs truth, to the heart belongs goodness. Where the heart is, there the mind is also. An evil heart does not allow the mind to see and hold truth and give it weight. Where evil is, truth cannot dwell. Therefore an evil heart compels the mind to weave lies.

Verse 6. You have loved all destructive words, a deceitful tongue.

This is the explanation of the second half—that is, like a sharpened razor you have wrought deceit. The instrument of the faint-spirited ill-disposed person is flattering and cunning speeches before the powerful, turned to the ruin of one’s neighbor, which, like a flood, swallow up honor, property, and life. Destructive words are words ruinous for another, and Doeg loved all of them—that is, he missed nothing. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Therefore as the heart is, so is the tongue; and the reverse is also true. And even words not evil in appearance, poisoned by the evil of the heart, can cause great harm…

Verse 7. Therefore God will destroy you utterly, will pluck you up and uproot you from your dwelling, and your root from the land of the living.

Therefore — for ill-will, unrighteousness, lies, and crafty flattery turned to the ruin of one’s neighbor, and with no repentance or prospect of it, there follows visible divine punishment. He will destroy you utterly, because you have loved wickedness utterly, completely; he will pluck you up like a noxious and poisonous plant, and uproot you from your dwelling… Not to another place, but to another life, and not you alone, but your whole lineage — and your root from the land of the living — for the destruction of all the lineage of Abimelech and of the entire priestly city. Sensory Israel was given sensory promises and sensory punishments. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, death for death, the destruction of a lineage for the destruction of a lineage… But of themselves the ungodly will not prolong their days. Therefore let the man who desires life and loves good days restrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit (Ps. 33:13–14). It follows, conversely, that those who speak evil and practice flattery with cunning are not deserving of long life and prosperity. The tongue is a small member and yet boasts greatly. See how a small fire sets ablaze very great things. For it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison (Jas. 3:5, 8). This is why the holy Prophet resolved to guard his tongue. I said: I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue (Ps. 38:2).

Verses 8–9. The righteous will see and fear, and will laugh at him and say: Here is the man who did not set God as his helper, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth, and prevailed through his vanity.

The righteous will see and fear. The Lord sends visible punishments not as a decisive retribution but as a means for diminishing evil among people and increasing good, for strengthening the righteous and bringing sinners to repentance. The righteous will see the instructive punishment upon the sinner and will come to a greater fear of God, receiving experiential confirmation of God’s favor toward the path on which they walk, and of His disfavor toward the contrary path; they will also come to a greater fear and wariness concerning themselves, reflecting on human frailty and the ease of inclining toward evil; and fearing lest they themselves should slip and undergo the same lot, they will increase their vigilance over themselves and with deeper compunction will fall before God, their Helper, Guardian, and Guide in goodness.

And will laugh at him and say — in spiritual joy over their own safety and well-being under the shelter of God, they will say for mutual edification to themselves and to others: behold the lot of a man who trusts not in God.

Here is the man who did not set God as his helper. As the fear of God and hope in Him is the distinguishing quality of the righteous, so forgetfulness of God and estrangement from Him in mind and heart is the distinguishing quality of the negligent and those who serve the passions. They do not keep in mind that the Lord rules all things, that only the one whom He makes secure is truly secure, that in all circumstances of life solid and reliable help is only that which descends from His arm. And since a person cannot be without support, he settles upon whatever is at hand: he trusts in wealth and the wealthy, in power or the powerful, or in something else. These supports are rotten: and they fall like leaves. But he trusted in the abundance of his wealth. Doeg may have been wealthy, or, not separating himself from Saul, counted himself rich with Saul’s wealth. And prevailed through his vanity — he imagined himself powerful through vanity, relying on his closeness to Saul and the weight of his flattering and cunning tongue before him. Wealth and power, as well as the patronage of the wealthy and powerful, are illusory and not fearless hopes. But one who has given himself to God and rests in Him rejoices in his trustful assurance.

Verse 10. But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God: I have hoped in the mercy of God forever and ever.

A fruitful olive tree the owner watches over and tends in every way, and if it were given feeling and understanding, it would never occur to it that the owner might deprive it of his favor, cut it down and burn it. The holy Prophet does not put his virtues on display; he takes for comparison only this unquestionable certainty of the owner’s favor toward a good olive tree; and he does not hope in deeds but in the mercy of God. Like a fruitful olive tree, he says, always in the owner’s favor—so I in the house of God unhesitatingly hope in the mercy of God forever and ever. I have hoped — that is, I have once and for all set in my heart a firm hope in the one mercy of God, and I live in peace, being free from the torments of fear and dread for my lot that afflict those who hope not in God—and I am assured that whatever may happen to me, all of it is from the merciful hand of God and for my true good. Therefore he turns to God with the confession of this faith and hope, with which he concludes the psalm.

Verse 11. I will give thanks to You forever, for You have done this: and I will wait upon Your name, for it is good before Your holy ones.

The holy Prophet here expresses either his general confession, as though to say: I will confess and glorify Your mercy, O Lord, in everything, whatever You may do with me; or he has in mind only the present occasion and says: I sense Your mercy by faith and will always confess it—in what You have now done; or again: I will give thanks to You, O Lord, that You have so ordered human nature that one who cleaves to You through hope may live in peace, whatever outward adversities may befall. To wait upon Your name. Even while persecuted, I will patiently wait upon Your name, will not forget it, will not slip into doubt, will not depart, but will always be Yours, will always walk under Your name. For it is good before Your holy ones — to wait upon the name of God is good—or the name of God alone is good before Your holy ones… for, having settled the mind and heart before the face of God, they will not depart in memory from the name of God and are always gladdened by it—sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.