Psalm 52:1

Verse 1. By mischief is understood not simply what evil he had done, but the prosperity which he now enjoyed, obtained through mischief; as is clear both from the word boasting and from the seventh verse ... Formerly he was the chief of Saul's shepherds 1 Samuel 21:8 , but by that wicked destruction of the priests of God by Saul, and the execution of the cruel sentence, he obtained the chief place near to the king 1 Samuel 22:9 . Hermann Venema.

Verse 1. O mighty man. These words may be added by way of irony, as if he had said, A great deal of valour and prowess you have shown in slaying a company of unarmed men, the priests of the Lord, yea, women and children, no way able to resist you or else to imply the ground of his vain boasting, to wit, either his present greatness, as being a man in great place, and of great power with Saul; or the great preferments he expected from Saul. Arthur Jackson.

Verse 1. The goodness of God endureth continually. He contrasts the goodness of God with the wealth and might of Doeg, and the foundation of his own confidence as widely different from that of Doeg, his own placed upon the goodness of God, enduring for ever and showing itself effectual. It is as if he had said, The goodness of God to which I trust, is most powerful and the same throughout all time, and in it I shall at all times most surely rejoice that goodness of God, since now it sustains me, so it will exalt me in its own good time; it therefore is, and will be above me. ...

Not without emphasis does he say the goodness la of the strong God, a contrast to Doeg the hero, and the ruinous foundation of his fortune. Hermann Venema.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1. The confidence of faith.

WORKS WRITTEN ABOUT THE FIFTY-SECOND PSALM IN SPURGEON'S DAY

CHANDLER'S "Life of David," contains an Exposition of this Psalm. Vol. 1., pp. 140-143.