Psalms 16:4

4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips.

Psalms 16:4 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
New Living Translation (NLT)
4 Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods. I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood or even speak the names of their gods.
The Message Bible (MSG)
4 Don't just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I'll never treat god-names like brand-names.
American Standard Version (ASV)
4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that give gifts for another [god]: Their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, Nor take their names upon my lips.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
4 Those who quickly chase after other gods multiply their sorrows. I will not pour out their sacrificial offerings of blood or use my lips to speak their names.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
4 The sorrows of those who take another [god] for themselves multiply; I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood, and I will not speak their names with my lips.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
4 Those who run after other gods will have nothing but trouble. I will not pour out offerings of blood to those gods. My lips will not speak their names.

Psalms 16:4 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 16:4

Their sorrows shall be multiplied
Not the sorrows of the saints and excellent ones, by seeing the idolatry of men, as Aben Ezra interprets it; but the sorrows of such

[that] hasten [after] another [god];
a false god, an idol, to serve and worship it; for, generally speaking, idolaters are more forward, eager, and hasty to attend a false worship, than the worshippers of the true God are to attend his service: now their sorrows are many, even in their worship, by cutting their bodies with knives and lancets, as the worshippers of Baal did; and by sacrificing their own children, which, notwithstanding their rash and precipitate zeal, could not fail of giving them pain and uneasiness; and, besides temporal punishments inflicted on them for their idolatry by God, and stings of conscience, which must sometimes attend them, the wrath of God lies upon them, and they will have their portion in the lake of fire, and the smoke of their torment will ascend for ever and ever. Some render the words, "their idols are multiplied"; and so the Chaldee paraphrase,

``they multiply their idols, and after that hasten to offer their sacrifices;''

when men leave the true God, they know not where to stop; the Heathens had not less than thirty thousand gods, and the Jews when they fell into idolatry ran in the same way, ( Jeremiah 2:28 ) ( 11:13 ) ( Hosea 8:11 ) . The word "god" is not in the original text, though the supplement is countenanced by the Jewish writers F16, who interpret it in this way; but I rather think the text is to be understood not of Heathen idolaters, but of unbelieving Jews, who, rejecting the true Messiah, hasten after another Messiah, king, and saviour; when Jesus the true Messiah came they received him not; but when another came in his own name they were eager to embrace him, ( John 5:43 ) ; and to this day they are hastening after another; and in their daily prayers pray that the coming of the Messiah might be (hdyhmb) , "in haste", in their days F17; and the sense of the passage is, that the sorrows of the Jews, rejecting the Messiah and hastening after another, would come thick and fast upon them, until wrath came upon them to the uttermost, ( Matthew 24:6-8 ) ( 1 Thessalonians 2:16 ) ; and it holds good of all, whether Jews or Gentiles, that hasten after another saviour; that say to the works of their hands, that they are their gods, or go about to establish a righteousness of their own, or seek for life and salvation by their own doings; these, sooner or later, will lie down in sorrow, ( Isaiah 50:11 ) ;

their drink offerings of blood will I not offer:
meaning not the libations of the Gentiles, which were not wine, according to the law, ( Numbers 15:10 ) ; but blood, even sometimes human blood; but the sacrifices of the Jews, which were either got by blood, murders and robberies, and on that account were hateful to God, ( Isaiah 61:8 ) ; or rather the sacrifices of bloodthirsty persons, whose hands were full of blood, ( Isaiah 1:11-15 ) ; and such were the offerings of the priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, in Christ's time, who were the children of them that killed the prophets, and sought after the blood of Christ. Or it may be rendered, "I will not offer their drink offerings because of blood" F18; meaning his own blood shed for the remission of sins, which being obtained, there remains no more offering for sin; and so the words may express the abolition of all legal sacrifices, and the causing of them to cease through the blood and sacrifice of Christ. This shows the person speaking to be a priest, and therefore could not be David, but must be the Messiah, who is a priest after the order of Melchizedek; and who had a better sacrifice to other up than any of the offerings of the Jews, even his own self, by which he has put away sin for ever. He adds,

nor take up their names into my lips;
not the names of idol deities, nor of their worshippers, but of the Jews that rejected him as the Messiah, for whom he would not pray, ( John 17:9 ) ; and so as he refused to offer their sacrifices, he would not perform the other part of his priestly office for them in intercession; though this may also have respect to the rejection of the Jewish nation as the people of God; writing a "Loammi", ( Hosea 1:9 ) , upon them, declaring them to be no longer the children of the living God; leaving their names for a curse, a taunt, and a proverb in every place; expressing the utmost abhorrence of them, and showing the utmost indignation at them, as persons whose names were not worthy or fit to be mentioned, ( Ephesians 5:3 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F16 Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Ben Melech, & Abendana in loc.
F17 Seder Tephillot, fol. 128. 2.
F18 (Mdm) "propter sanguinem", Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis.

Psalms 16:4 In-Context

2 I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips.
5 LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Psalms 32:10; Proverbs 23:29
  • 2. Exodus 18:11; Exodus 20:3; S Deuteronomy 8:19; S Deuteronomy 31:20; Psalms 106:37-38
  • 3. S Exodus 23:13
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