Psalm 125:3
Read Psalm 125:3 Using Other Translations
What does Psalm 125:3 mean?
For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of
the
righteous
Which, according to Kimchi, is Jerusalem; but Aben Ezra
interprets it of the Israelites that inherit the land. And, the
people of God are no doubt designed; the Lord's justified and
chosen ones, his portion, and the lot of his inheritance; and all
that belong unto them, their persons, families, estates, and good
name: in all which they are sometimes oppressed and afflicted by
wicked men; who are a rod of correction in the hand of the Lord,
the rod of men with which he chastises them; but this shall not
always continue: so the word is used for a rod of correction, (
Proverbs
22:15 ) . It sometimes signifies a sceptre; an ensign of
power and government, ( Genesis
49:10 ) ; and here may intend the nations of the world, as
Aben Ezra interprets it; or the antichristian states, prevailing
and ruling over the people of God in a tyrannical manner, which
shall not always last; the reign of antichrist will come to an
end, and the Lord will destroy him with the rod of his mouth. It
sometimes signifies a tribe; and the Syriac version seems so to
take it here,
``the tribe of the wicked shall not rest in the part of the righteous;''they shall no more dwell among them, lest, being led by their example, they should learn their works, and do as they do; so Aben Ezra and Kimchi. But rather, with Gussetius F15, this is to be understood of a measuring rod; laid not on persons, but on lands and estates; and best agrees with the lot, inheritance, and estate of the righteous; and may signify, that though wicked men unjustly seize upon and retain the farms, possessions, and estates of good men, as if they were assigned to them by the measuring line; yet should not hold them long, or always;
lest the righteous put forth their hands unto
iniquity;
for the righteous are not perfect in this life: they are not
without sin, nor do they live without the commission of it; and
may be under temptation, by long afflictions and oppressions, and
seeing the wicked prosper, to desert their profession of
religion, and forsake the ways of God, and join with the wicked,
and commit iniquity as they do; and therefore, to prevent this,
the Lord will not suffer them always to be under affliction and
oppression; see ( Psalms 37:8 ) (
Psalms 73:2
Psalms 73:3
Psalms
73:13 Psalms 73:14
) ( Isaiah
57:16 ) ( Hosea 7:9 ) , or them and
theirs to be always in the hand of the enemy.
F15 Ebr. Comment. p. 818.
