Verse 5
Psalms 53:5. Where no fear was —
Where there was no great or
sufficient cause of fear. They
who designed to secure
themselves from all fear and
danger, by their contempt of
God, and by the persecution of
good men, and by other wicked
courses, were, by these means,
filled with the terrors which
they sought to avoid. For God
hath scattered the bones, &c. —
Hath not only broken the bones,
that is, their strength and
force, which are often signified
by bones; but also dispersed
them hither and thither, so that
there is no hope of a
restoration. Of him that
encampeth against thee — That
is, against thy people,
expressed Psalms 53:4, or
Israel, or Zion, as it is in the
next verse. Many refer this to
Sheba, who blew the trumpet of
rebellion afresh, 2 Samuel 20:2,
and who, being left at last to
shift for himself, was shut up
in the city of Abel, and there
taken and beheaded; after which,
it is thought, his body was
exposed to the fowls of the air,
or the wild beasts, insomuch
that his bones were at last
scattered. Thou hast put them to
shame — Thou, O Zion, or
Jerusalem, or thou church of
God, for the great and strange
disappointment of their hopes
and confidence; because God hath
despised them — Or rejected
them. Therefore it is no wonder
if they could not stand before
thee.
Verse 6
Psalms 53:6. O that the
salvation, &c. — See on Psalms
14:7. |