Psalms 52:3

3 You 1love evil more than good, 2Falsehood more than speaking what is right. Selah.

Psalms 52:3 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 52:3

Thou lovest evil more than good
Indeed not good at all; such comparatives being strong negatives; see ( Psalms 118:8 Psalms 118:9 ) ; a wicked man loves evil, and nothing else; his carnal mind being enmity to all that is good

[and] lying rather than to speak righteousness;
as appears by his affirming that Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for David, when he did not, ( 1 Samuel 22:10 1 Samuel 22:15 ) ; and by suffering some things to pass for truths which were falsehoods, when it lay in his power to have disproved them: and such a lover of lies is antichrist; see ( 1 Timothy 4:2 ) ( 2 Thessalonians 2:11 ) .

Selah; on this word, (See Gill on Psalms 3:2). The Targum renders the word "Selah" here "for ever", as in ( Psalms 52:5 ) .

Psalms 52:3 In-Context

1 Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises destruction, Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit.
3 You love evil more than good, Falsehood more than speaking what is right. Selah.
4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent, And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Psalms 36:4
  • 2. Psalms 58:3; Jeremiah 9:5

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. "Selah" may mean: "Pause, Crescendo" or "Musical interlude"
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