Psalms 52:3

3 Thou hast loved evil rather than good, Lying, than speaking righteousness. 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 To the Overseer. -- An instruction, by David, in the coming in of Doeg the Edomite, and he declareth to Saul, and saith to him, `David came in unto the house of Ahimelech.' What, boasteth thou in evil, O mighty one? The kindness of God [is] all the day.
2 Mischiefs doth thy tongue devise, Like a sharp razor, working deceit.
3 Thou hast loved evil rather than good, Lying, than speaking righteousness. Selah.
4 Thou hast loved all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
5 Also -- God doth break thee down for ever, Taketh thee, and pulleth thee out of the tent, And He hath uprooted thee Out of the land of the living. Selah.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.