Psalm 52 To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of David when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”
The Edomite— “It should seem that this descendant of Esau, like one of that stock, delighting in persecuting the children of promise, vaunted himself is what he had done in causing the priests to be slain, and when none else could be found who would embrue their hands in the blood of God's priests, he became the murderer as well as the accuser of them. See the story as related at large, 1 Samuel 22. What a sad state was Saul in, to take an enemy to God into his service, and advance an Edomite over Israel!” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary) Morevoer: “In the time of Moses and Israel entering of the land Canaan, Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border [and was judged by God for it]. Though every king has a right to refuse passage through his territories to any strangers; yet in a case like this, and in a time also in which emigrations were frequent and universally allowed, it was both cruelty and oppression in Edom to refuse a passage to a comparatively unarmed and inoffensive multitude, who were all their own near kinsmen." (Adam Clarke)
Doeg— “In his flight from Saul, David was given refuge and supplies by Ahimelech, a priest of the city of Nob... Doeg [the Edomite] reported this to Saul, who subsequently ordered the massacre of all the priests in the city. None of Saul’s servants would carry out this heinous order except the informant himself. Doeg not only killed 85 priests, but also the men, women, children, infants, and animals that inhabited the town.
‘Doeg the Edomite’ can also be translated ‘Doeg the Red,’ which some have taken as a descriptive nickname for this brutal man—‘Doeg the Bloody.’” (C. J. Williams) “Doeg not only sought the favour of Saul, but… his heart, being enmity against God, hated his priests and servants, because he had a rooted aversion to piety and holiness... He appeared before Ahimelech with the semblance of piety; yet treacherously became his [and his brethren's] accuser and murderer.” (Thomas Scott)
1 Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually. 2 Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. 3 You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah
“‘Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?’ A mighty man indeed to kill men who never touched a sword! He ought to have been ashamed of his cowardice.” (Treasury of David) ‘The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and the eastern versions render it, ‘O thou! mighty in wickedness’; and to the same purpose the Targum paraphrases it, ‘mighty to shed innocent blood.’” (John Gill)— For mark my words says David: “’The goodness of God endures continually. A beautiful contrast. The tyrant's fury cannot dry up the perennial stream of divine mercy. If priests be slain their Master lives. If Doeg for a while triumphs the Lord will outlive him, and right the wrongs which he has done.” (Treasury of David)
“‘Your tongue devises destruction,’ which “implies that Doeg’s words were not uttered rashly and unadvisedly, but with premeditated malice, and a mischievous design, which he waited for an opportunity to execute; and therefore he readily took the first occasion which offered itself.— ‘like a sharp razor, working deceitfully;’ (2) wherewith a man pretending only to shave off the hair, doth suddenly and unexpectedly cut the throat. So Doeg pretended only to vindicate himself from the imputation of disloyalty, 1 Samuel 22:8, but really intended to expose the priests, who were friends to David, to the king’s fury and cruelty.” (Matthew Poole)
“‘You love evil more than good,’ “To destroy is bad enough, but to love to do it is worse.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) Jeremiah spoke of a less evil people. ”For My people are foolish, they know Me not; they are stupid children and have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil, but to do good they do not know." (Jeremiah 4:22) But these people- spiritual Edomites- know both good and evil but choose evil, yet love “‘lying rather than speaking righteousness,’ i.e. the whole and naked truth, without any such lying or malicious comment upon it.” (Matthew Poole)
4 You love all devouring words, you deceitful tongue. 5 God shall likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, and uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
You love devouring words, with unsubstantiated rumors, that destroy a man's reputation. You kill by your trickery; thus you will perish after the Judgment. “An accumulation of most expressive metaphors is here used, to mark the certainty of that dreadful and eternal punishment, which awaited this prosperous and haughty persecutor; and which awaits all who bear the same character, however in other respects distinguished.” (Thomas Scott) “This curse must be regarded as a just sentence of heaven, that this wicked man should lose his rank, his riches, his lands, and his house be desecrated for ever.” (Jefferson Vann)
6 The righteous also shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, 7 “Here is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.” 8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. 9 I will praise You forever, because You have done it; and in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good.
“‘The righteous also shaIl see and fear— The effect of such a judgment will be to produce reverence in the minds of good people - a solemn sense of the justice of God; to make them tremble at such fearful judgments; and to fear lest they should violate the law, and bring judgment on themselves.” (Albert Barnes) “‘And shall laugh at him, that is the red Edomite, not regarding his threatenings. “’But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever,’ as long as I shall live. “‘I will praise You forever, because You have done it’— destroyed mine and thine implacable enemies, and established me in the throne, and in thy house, of which I am no less assured than if it were already done. ‘And in the presence of your saints I will wait on Your name’ [— the only name given under heaven whereby men or women must be saved, Acts 4:12— I will wait] … on thy power, goodness, and faithfulness, all which are called God’s name; and I will not turn aside to any crooked path for my deliverance, as others do.” (Joseph Benson)— “For it is good.”