On Neginoth; or, on stringed instruments, as this word is translated,
Habakkuk 3:19; for the Hebrew verb
niggen, whence this is derived, signifies
to play with the hand upon an instrument,
1 Samuel 16:23;
1 Samuel 18:10. This Psalm is, for the matter or substance of it, much like the former, and seems to have been made upon the same or some other like occasion, when he was distressed either by Absalom, or by Saul, or by some other great and powerful enemies.
David prayeth for audience,
Psalms 4:1. He reproves the wicked,
Psalms 4:2. The privilege of the godly, and his faith in God,
Psalms 4:3. An exhortation to duty,
Psalms 4:4,
Psalms 4:5. The ungodly satisfied with earthly blessings, but the godly cannot be at rest without the favour of God,
Psalms 4:6-8.
O God of my righteousness; either the witness and defender of my righteous cause; or from whom I expect that righteous judgment and decision of my cause which I cannot obtain from mine enemies, who load me and my cause with manifold injuries and calumnies. Or,
O my righteous God. Or,
O God of my mercy; which title is given to God elsewhere, as
Psalms 59:10,
Psalms 59:17; whereas this title,
O God of my righteousness, is not given to God in any other place of Scripture. O God, to whose mercy I owe all that I have or hope for: which was a very fit and powerful argument in prayer, and very agreeable to the following words, in which there is an acknowledgment of God’s former mercies, and a petition for mercy. And so this and other words in Hebrew and Greek, which properly signify
righteousness, are oft used for
mercy or
kindness, as
Isaiah 58:8;
Psalms 31:1;
Psalms 36:10;
2 Corinthians 9:9, and in many other places.