Psalm 63:11

But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) Sweareth by him.—This is explained as meaning, “swear allegiance to him as the king,” on the analogy of Zephaniah 1:5. And this suits the context. On the other hand, the natural way to understand the phrase, “swear by” or “in him,” is to refer it to the only oath allowed to the Israelite,” by the name of Jehovah” (Deuteronomy 6:13; Isaiah 65:16; comp. Amos 8:14), in which case we must explain by Deuteronomy 10:20-21, “Swear by his (Jehovah’s) name; He is thy praise.” Those who are loyal to Jehovah, who appeal to Him in all troubles, will find this promise true, “They shall glory,” while the unfaithful and false, not daring to make the solemn appeal, will have their mouth stopped. (Comp. Romans 3:19.)

Benson Commentary

Psalm 63:11. But the king shall rejoice in God — I, who am anointed to be king, and who shall actually be king when these my enemies are fallen by the sword. Every one that sweareth by him — By the name of God, namely, in truth, and judgment, and righteousness, as it is expressed Jeremiah 4:2, that is, every sincere servant and worshipper of God that invokes his name, and makes him the object of his religious reverence and fear: all which is implied in swearing by him, as an oath taken, as in the presence of God, is an immediate appeal and solemn act of worship to him. Accordingly, swearing is often put for the whole worship of God, and swearers by him, for worshippers of him. See Isaiah 45:23, compared with Romans 14:16; Isaiah 65:16. Shall glory — Shall rejoice in my deliverance and exaltation, both for their respect for the honour and service of God, which I shall advance, and for the benefits which all good men and the whole kingdom shall receive by my government: whereas, in Saul’s time, the vilest men were exalted, good men oppressed and persecuted, and the whole kingdom groaned under his tyranny. But the mouth of them that speak lies — That now make it their business to invent or spread slanderous reports concerning me and others of God’s people; shall be stopped — They shall be so silenced that they shall not have a word to say for themselves. He may mean also, that when he should be in power, he would severely restrain and punish such wicked practices. Apply this to Christ’s enemies. Those that speak lies against him, who pervert the right ways of the Lord, and speak ill of his holy religion, their mouths will be stopped too, when the Lord shall come to reckon for all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Christ’s second coming will be the everlasting triumph of all his faithful friends and followers, who may therefore now triumph in the believing hopes of it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

63:7-11 True Christians can, in some measure, and at some times, make use of the strong language of David, but too commonly our souls cleave to the dust. Having committed ourselves to God, we must be easy and pleased, and quiet from the fear of evil. Those that follow hard after God, would soon fail, if God's right hand did not uphold them. It is he that strengthens us and comforts us. The psalmist doubts not but that though now sowing in tears, he should reap in joy. Messiah the Prince shall rejoice in God; he is already entered into the joy set before him, and his glory will be completed at his second coming. Blessed Lord, let our desire towards thee increase every hour; let our love be always upon thee; let all our enjoyment be in thee, and all our satisfaction from thee. Be thou all in all to us while we remain in the present wilderness state, and bring us home to the everlasting enjoyment of thee for ever.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But the king shall rejoice in God - This passage, as was remarked in the Introduction to the psalm, shows that this psalm could not have been composed in the time of Saul, since the title king was not then given to David. The use of the term here in the third person does not prove that the psalm could not have been written by David himself, for he may have spoken of himself simply as "the king," and all the more forcibly and properly as he was driven unjustly from his throne, and was now an exile, yet was still a king - the king. The title was his; the throne belonged to him, and not to Absalom who had driven him from it. It was not improper to allude to this fact in the manner in which it is referred to here, and to say that "the king" - the true, the real king - himself - should and would rejoice in God. He would find God to be his helper; and by God he would yet be restored to his throne.

Every one that sweareth by him shall glory - Everyone that sweareth to him, or maintains his oath of allegiance to him, shall be honored.

But the mouth of them that speak lies - All who have sworn falsely; all who have professed allegiance and have proved unfaithful; all those who, contrary to their oaths and their obligations, have been found in the rebellion. They shall not be permitted to exult or rejoice, but they shall be confounded and silenced. This expresses, therefore, the fullest confidence in God; the absolute belief of David that he would be again placed on his throne, and again permitted "to see the power and glory of God as" he had "seen it in the sanctuary" Psalm 63:2; the belief that he would be restored to prosperity, and that his enemies would be humbled and destroyed - So it will be with all who put their trust in God. There is certain joy and triumph for them, if not in this world, at least in the world to come.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. the king—that is, David himself, and all who reverence God, "shall share a glorious part," while treacherous foes shall be for ever silenced (Ps 62:4).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The king; I, who am already anointed king, and who shall be actually king, when these mine enemies are fallen by the sword. He speaks of himself in the third person, either out of modesty or out of prudence, because it was ambiguous, and might be understood either of himself or of Saul, whereby, he might avoid the envy of the expression, if this Psalm was composed before he was king. That sweareth by him; either,

1. By the king; by whom they sometimes did swear, as \Genesis 42:15 2 Samuel 15:21. But they did also swear by some other persons, of eminent place and authority, though under the king, as 1 Samuel 1:26 20:3. Nor is it likely that the psalmist would justify those kinds of oaths; this practice of swearing by one’s name being accounted a part of that worship which is proper to God, both in the Old and New Testament. If this were meant of the king, it might better be rendered, that sweareth it, (for so the particle beth is sometimes used) him, as subjects used to swear homage to their prince. So the sense is, all those that shall own me for their king. Or,

2. By God, who was last mentioned, that sweareth by the name of God, to wit, in truth, and judgment, and righteousness, as it is expressed, Jeremiah 4:2, i.e. every sincere servant and worshipper of God; swearing being oft put for the whole worship of God, whereof it is a considerable part, and swearers by God for worshippers of him, as Isaiah 19:18 45:23, compared with Romans 14:11 Isaiah 65:16. Shall glory; shall rejoice in my deliverance and exaltation, both for their respect to the honour and service of God, which I shall advance, and for the benefits which all good men and the whole kingdom shall feel by my government; whereas in Saul’s time the vilest men were exalted, and good men oppressed and persecuted, and the whole kingdom groaned under his tyranny.

That speak lies; that now make it their business to invent or spread lying and slanderous reports concerning me and others of God’s people.

Shall be stopped; I shall severely restrain and punish such wicked practices.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But the king shall rejoice in God,.... Not Saul, as R. Obadiah; as if David wished him well, and that he might have reason to rejoice in God, though he sought his hurt; which sense is rejected by Abea Ezra: but either David, who speaks of himself as king, being anointed by Samuel, and who, upon the death of Saul, was so in fact; and who rejoiced, not merely at the destruction of his enemies, for he lamented the death of Saul, 2 Samuel 1:17; but in God, in his grace and goodness to him, and in his power and justice shown in the vengeance taken on them. Or rather, the King Messiah, who rejoiced in God because of the good of his people, their conversion and salvation, and their deliverance from their enemies, Psalm 21:1;

everyone that sweareth by him shall glory; not by David, though such a form of swearing was used; see 2 Samuel 15:21; or, "to him": and so describes his faithful subjects swearing allegiance to him: but rather by the Lord, in whom the king should rejoice; and designs the worshippers of him; swearing by him being sometimes put for the whole worship and service of God, Deuteronomy 6:13. The Heathens used to swear by their deities, and their chief was called Jupiter Horcius, because he presided over oaths (x). Or else that the King Christ should rejoice in God; and intends such as believe in him and confess him; see Isaiah 45:23, compared with Romans 14:11. And every such an one will glory, not in themselves, nor in anything of theirs, but in Christ, in his grace and righteousness, and in what he is unto them;

but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped; such as Saul's courtiers, who invented and spread lies of David; but now upon the death of Saul, and David's advancement to the throne, would be silent; their mouths being stopped either by death, or through fear: and so all the followers of antichrist, that make and believe a lie, will have their mouths stopped, when cast into the lake of fire, Revelation 21:8.

(x) Euripidis Medea, v. 170. Vid. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 5. c. 10.

Geneva Study Bible

But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that {g} sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

(g) All who swear by God correctly or profess him will rejoice in this worthy king.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. But the king] The connexion is unintelligible unless the king is identified with the Psalmist, whose enemies are destroyed. Cp. Psalm 61:6 ff.

that sweareth by him] Grammatically ‘him’ may refer to the king or to God, but usage decides that God is meant. Cp. Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 10:20; Isaiah 65:16. Those who invoke His Name as the attestation of their oaths are His loyal worshippers; they share the triumph of the king who is His representative.

but the mouth &c.] For the mouth &c. Those who ‘speak lies’ are those who rebel against God and His king, deluding men by false promises to join an undertaking which is false in its principle and aim. See Psalm 4:2, note; Psalm 62:4. They are all completely silenced.

Cp. the similar ending of Psalms 64. St Paul may have had the phrase in mind in Romans 3:19. The context shews how familiar the Psalms were to him.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - But the king shall rejoice in God. The "king," thus suddenly introduced, cannot be an entirely new personage, unknown to the rest of the psalm, and, therefore, must be the composer, speaking of himself in the third person (comp. Psalm 18:50; Psalm 72:1). Every one that sweareth by him (i.e. by God) shall glory; or, shall triumph (Kay). Those who swear by the Name of God show themselves to be believers in God, and will be upheld by him in time of danger (see Deuteronomy 6:13; Isaiah 65:16). But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. (On the falsehoods told by David's enemies, see 2 Samuel 15:3; 2 Samuel 16:7, 8; and comp. Psalm 38:12; Psalm 41:5-8.)



Psalm 63:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The closing strophe turns towards these foes. By והמּה he contrasts with his own person, as in Psalm 59:16., Psalm 56:7., the party of the enemy, before which he has retreated into the desert. It is open to question whether לשׁואה is intended to be referred, according to Psalm 35:17, to the persecuted one (to destroy my life), or, with Hupfeld, to the persecutors (to their own destruction, they themselves for destruction). If the former reference to the persecuted be adopted, we ought, in order to give prominence to the evidently designed antithesis to Psalm 63:9, to translate: those, however, who..., shall go down into the depths of the earth (Bttcher, and others); a rendering which is hazardous as regards the syntax, after המּה and in connection with this position of the words. Therefore translate: On the other hand, those, to (their own) ruin do they seek my soul. It is true this ought properly to be expressed by לשׁואתם, but the absence of the suffix is less hazardous than the above relative rendering of יבּקּשׁוּ. What follows in Psalm 63:10-11 is the expansion of לשׁואה. The futures from יבאוּ onwards are to be taken as predictive, not as imprecatory; the former accords better with the quiet, gentle character of the whole song. It shall be with them as with the company of Korah. תּחתּיּות הארץ is the interior of the earth down into its deepest bottom; this signification also holds good in Psalm 139:15; Isaiah 44:23.

(Note: In this passage in Isaiah are meant the depths of the earth (lxx θεμέλια τῆς γῆς), the earth down to its inmost part, with its caverns, abysses, and subterranean passages. The apostle, however, in Ephesians 4:9 by τὰ κατώτερα τῆς γῆς means exactly the same as what in our passage is called in the lxx τὰ κατώτατα τῆς γῆς: the interior of the earth equals the under world, just as it is understood by all the Greek fathers (so far as my knowledge extends); the comparative κατώτερος is used just like ἐνέρτερος.)

The phrase הגּיר על־ידי חרב here and in Jeremiah 18:21; Ezekiel 35:5 (Hiph., not of גּרר, to drag, tear away, but נגר, to draw towards, flow), signifies properly to pour upon equals into the hands (Job 16:11), i.e., to give over (הסגּיר) into the power of the sword; effundent eum is (much the same as in Job 4:19; Job 18:18, and frequently) equivalent to effundetur. The enallage is like Psalm 5:10; Psalm 7:2., and frequently: the singular refers to each individual of the homogeneous multitude, or to this multitude itself as a concrete persona moralis. The king, however, who is now banished from Jerusalem to the habitation of jackals, will, whilst they become a portion (מנת equals מנות), i.e., prey, of the jackals (vid., the fulfilment in 2 Samuel 18:7.), rejoice in Elohim. Every one who sweareth by Him shall boast himself. Theodoret understands this of swearing κατὰ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως σωτηρίαν. Hengstenberg compares the oath חי פרעה, Genesis 42:15. Ewald also (217, f) assumes this explanation to be unquestionable. But the Israelite is to swear by the name of Jahve and by no other, Deuteronomy 6:13; Isaiah 65:16, cf. Amos 8:14. If the king were meant, why was it not rather expressed by הנשׁבּע לו, he who swears allegiance to him? The syntax does not help us to decide to what the בּו refers. Neinrich Moeller (1573) says of the בו as referred to the king: peregrinum est et coactum; and A. H. Franke in his Introductio in Psalterium says of it as referred to Elohim: coactum est. So far as the language is concerned, both references are admissible; but as regards the subject-matter, only the latter. The meaning, as everywhere else, is a searing by God. He who, without allowing himself to turn from it, swore by Elohim, the God of Israel, the God of David His anointed, and therefore acknowledged Him as the Being exalted above all things, shall boast himself or "glory," inasmuch as it shall be practically seen how well-founded and wise was this recognition. He shall glory, for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped, forcibly closed, viz., those who, together with confidence in the Christ of God, have by falsehood also undermined the reverence which is due to God Himself. Psalm 64:1-10 closes very similarly, and hence is placed next in order.