Psalms 52:7
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
See, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
American King James Version (AKJV)
See, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
American Standard Version (ASV)
Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, But trusted in the abundance of his riches, And strengthened himself in his wickedness.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
See, this is the man who did not make God his strength, but had faith in his goods and his property, and made himself strong in his wealth.
Webster's Revision
Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
World English Bible
"Behold, this is the man who didn't make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness."
English Revised Version (ERV)
Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
Clarke's Psalms 52:7 Bible Commentary
Made not God his strength - Did not make God his portion.
In the abundance of his riches - Literally, in the multiplication of his riches. He had got much, he hoped to get more, and expected that his happiness would multiply as his riches multiplied. And this is the case with most rich men.
Strengthened himself in his wickedness - Loved money instead of God; and thus his depravity, being increased, was strengthened.
Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit.
"In proportion to the increase of wealth, so is the love of it."
Where is the religious man, in whose hands money has multiplied, who has not lost the spirit of piety in the same ratio? To prevent this, and the perdition to which it leads, there is no way but opening both hands to the poor.
Barnes's Psalms 52:7 Bible Commentary
Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength - That is, the righteous Psalm 52:6 would say this. They would designate him as a man who had not made God his refuge, but who had trusted in his own resources. The result would be that he would he abandoned by God, and that those things on which he had relied would fail him in the day of calamity. He would be pointed out as an instance of what must occur when a man does not act with a wise reference to the will of God, but, confiding in his own strength and resources, pursues his own plans of iniquity.
But trusted in the abundance of his riches - See the notes at Psalm 49:6. From this it would seem that Doeg was a rich man, and that, as a general thing, in his life, and in his plans of evil, he felt confident in his wealth. He had that spirit of arrogance and self-confidence which springs from the conscious possession of property where there is no fear of God; and into all that he did he carried the sense of his own importance as derived from his riches. In the particular matter referred to in the psalm the meaning is, that he would perform the iniquitous work of giving "information" with the proud and haughty feeling springing from wealth and from self-importance - the feeling that he was a man of consequence, and that whatever such a man might do would be entitled to special attention.
And strengthened himself in his wickedness - Margin, "substance." This is the same word which in Psalm 52:1 is rendered "mischief." The idea is, that he had a malicious pleasure in doing wrong, or in injuring others, and that by every art, and against all the convictions and remonstrances of his own conscience, he endeavored to confirm himself "in" this unholy purpose and employment.