Psalm 52:3

3 Thou hast loved wickedness more than goodness; unrighteousness better than to speak righteousness. Pause.

Psalm 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 ) .

Psalm 52:3 In-Context

1 Why dost thou, O mighty man, boast of iniquity in thy mischief? All the day

2 thy tongue has devised unrighteousness; like a sharpened razor thou hast wrought deceit.

3 Thou hast loved wickedness more than goodness; unrighteousness better than to speak righteousness. Pause.

4 Thou has loved all words of destruction, and a deceitful tongue.

5 Therefore may God destroy thee for ever, may he pluck thee up and utterly remove thee from thy dwelling, and thy root from the land of the living. Pause.

6 And the righteous shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him, and say,

7 Behold the man who made not God his help; but trusted in the abundance of his wealth, and strengthened himself in his vanity.

8 But I am as a fruitful olive in the house of God: I have trusted in the mercy of God for ever, even for evermore.

9 I will give thanks to thee for ever, for thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before the saints.