Psalms 55:19

God shall hear and afflict them,.... That is, either he shall hear the prayers of his servant, imprecating evils upon his enemies, Psalms 55:9; and shall bring them down upon them, in answer to his

As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. -Third strophe. His confident hope, resting upon the grounds stated in the previous prayer. Verse 16,17.

God shall hear; either, 1. My prayers against them, mentioned . Or, 2. Their reproaches, ; their deceitful and treacherous speeches, . He said God would hear his voice, ; now he adds that God will hear his enemies’ voice also, of which he spake . Afflict them; or, testify against them, or give an answer to them; not in words, but really, and by dreadful punishments, as this word signifies, ; which seems best to agree with the next foregoing word, God will hear and answer them. He that abideth of old, Heb. he that inhabiteth antiquity or eternity; who is eternal, and therefore unchangeable and almighty; and consequently, as he ever was, so he still is and will be, ready to defend his people, and to destroy their enemies; and none can prevent nor hinder-him in either of those designs. No changes; either, 1. For the better; because they do not repent nor turn from their sins. But then the next clause must be rendered, as it is in the Hebrew, and not fear God. Or rather, 2. For the worse; for of such destructive changes this word, when applied to persons. is generally used in Scripture, as , &c., because they meet with no crosses nor disappointments, and hitherto all their counsels succeed well, and the people flow in to them unanimously; as it was in the beginning and progress of Absalom’ s rebellion. They fear not God; their prosperous success makes them go on securely and obstinately in their wicked courses, without any regard to God, or dread of his judgments; there being nothing which more hardens men’ s hearts, and makes them presumptuous and incorrigible, than uninterrupted prosperity. See .

Psalms 55:19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.Ver. 19. God shall hear] sc. My prayers which are on the file before him, and as solicitors with him. Mittamus preces et lachrymas, cordis legatos, saith Cyprian. Up go prayers, down come deliverances. And afflict them] Ludit ambiguitate verbi. The same word signifieth to afflict and to answer, q.d. he shall answer me, but afflict them; answer them with blows, with bitter answers. Even he that abideth of old] And is therefore no changeling; the Eternity of Israel cannot lie, nor repent; "for he is not a man, that he should repent," 1 Samuel 15:29; neither can mine enemies hide themselves from him in any starting holes. Sedet Deus ad iudicandum, et surgit ad puniendure (Aug.). Selah] Id est, modo honorabili, saith R. Gaon. Or, So be it, O Lord. It is set in the middle of the verse, as respecting both parts of it. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God] Changed they are not by repentance (which is such a change of the heart, as bringeth forth a reformed life), but continue obstinate and obdurate; neither have they any alterations in their outward estate; they are not poured from vessel to vessel, have a constant prosperity (such as Demetrius called mare mortuum, a dead sea), and do therefore settle upon their lees, cast away all care of God and his service.

(19) God shall hear.—Render this verse, God shall hear and afflict them, He abideth of old; One in whom are no changes, And yet they fear not God. (Comp. James 1:17, “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”) As the text stands, for afflict we should have answer; but the LXX. and Vulg. have the true reading. The Selah must be removed as plainly out of place. The plural pronoun is used poetically for the singular. The word changes, chalîpôth, is used of troops relieving guard (Job 14:14), of servants taking their turn of work, of a change of clothing, &c. Here generally variableness. The rendering of the Authorised Version does not suit the context. The reason of the assertion that, in spite of his in variableness, the wicked do not fear God, appears in the next verse. Instead of respecting those in covenant with one who does not change, they have not feared to attack and oppress them.

Verse 19. Because they have no changes] At first Absalom, Ahithophel, and their party, carried all before them. There seemed to be a very general defection of the people; and as in their first attempts they suffered no reverses, therefore they feared not God. Most of those who have few or no afflictions and trials in life, have but little religion. They become sufficient to themselves, and call not upon God.

19. The judgement of his enemies. God shall hear, and afflict them] Or, humble them. This, which is the rendering of the Ancient Versions, is probably right. But it requires a change of the vocalisation. The text as it stands must be rendered with R.V., God shall hear, and answer them, meaning apparently, that God will hear their raging and answer them with judgement. But this is an unnatural form of expression. The object to the verbs ‘hear’ and ‘answer’ could hardly be other than the Psalmist or his prayer. even he that abideth of old] Render, He that sitteth enthroned eternally, as Judge of the world. (Cp. “Thou most worthy Judge Eternal.”) Cp. Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalms 9:7-8; Psalms 29:10; Psalms 74:12; Habakkuk 1:12. Because they have no changes] This is best taken as a relative clause, dependent on the preceding sentence. Render with R.V. (placing a comma only after of old), (The men) who have no changes, And who fear not God. ‘Changes’ will mean vicissitudes of fortune. God will humble these men, who, because their prosperity is unbroken, fear Him not. Cp. Psalms 10:4-6; Psalms 73:4 ff. The truth is a general one, but the Psalmist is thinking particularly of his own enemies. The P.B.V., for they will not turn, nor fear God, takes changes in the sense of change of mind, repentance, an interpretation adopted by some critics, but not justified by usage. The text is not free from difficulty, but the explanation given above is sufficiently probable to make it unnecessary to assume a further corruption or displacement of the text. Selah in the middle of a sentence is quite inexplicable, and must be misplaced, as it seems to be in Psalms 55:7.

God shall hear and afflict them - That is, God will hear my prayer, and will afflict them, or bring upon them deserved judgments.

19. God shall hear, and afflict them—He “shall hear” me and afflict them.