Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; don’t let my head refuse it; Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds.
Parallel Translations
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Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; don’t let my head refuse it; Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds.
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Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.
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Let the righteous smite me in kindness, and correct me; oil so choice let not my head refuse; for still is my prayer because of their wickedness.
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Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Psalms 141:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ecclesiastes 7:5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.
- Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.
- Galatians 6:1 Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted.
- Proverbs 27:5-6 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. The wounds of a friend are faithful, although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
- Proverbs 25:12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear.
- Proverbs 19:25 Flog a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain knowledge.
- Proverbs 9:8-9 Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise person, and he will love you. Instruct a wise person, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous person, and he will increase in learning.
- Proverbs 15:5 A fool despises his father’s correction, but he who heeds reproof shows prudence.
- Galatians 2:11-14 But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they didn’t walk uprightly according to the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live as the Gentiles do, and not as the Jews do, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews do?
- 1 Samuel 25:31-34 that this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When Yahweh has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” David said to Abigail, “Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me! Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, who have kept me today from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand. For indeed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from harming you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn’t have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.”
- 2 Chronicles 25:16 As he talked with him, the king said to him, “Have we made you one of the king’s counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” Then the prophet stopped, and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel.”
- 2 Samuel 12:7-13 Nathan said to David, “You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things. Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’ “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ ” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has put away your sin. You will not die.
- 2 Chronicles 16:7-10 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on Yahweh your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped out of your hand. Weren’t the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge army, with chariots and exceedingly many horsemen? Yet, because you relied on Yahweh, he delivered them into your hand. For Yahweh’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.” Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the prison; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.
- Psalms 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
- Psalms 51:18 Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.
- Psalms 125:4 Do good, Yahweh, to those who are good, to those who are upright in their hearts.
- Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
- James 5:14-16 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.
- Matthew 5:44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,
- 2 Timothy 1:16-18 May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently and found me (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.
- Proverbs 15:22 Where there is no counsel, plans fail; but in a multitude of counselors they are established.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 5. Let the righteous smite me, etc. While Satan…
5. Let the righteous smite me, etc. While Satan tempts the wicked by his allurements, they, at the same time, deceive one another by flattery, which leads David to declare, that he would much rather be awakened to his duty by the severe rod of reproof, than be seduced through pleasing falsehoods. Among those who hold religion in contempt no reproof is administered to one who has contracted any sin, and, therefore, if we have any concern for our spiritual safety we will connect ourselves with good men, who restore such as have fallen by upright admonition, and bring back those who have erred to the right way. It is not agreeable to corrupt nature to be reproved when we sin, but, David had brought himself to that degree of docility and self-denial which led him to consider no reproof distasteful which he knew to proceed from the spirit of kindness. As there is some ambiguity in the words, we may see to ascertain the proper meaning of them. The noun חסד, chesed, can very well be resolved into the adverb — the righteous shall smite me mercifully, or in mercy, supplying the preposition. And this is the meaning adopted by most interpreters, that David reckoned as the best ointment such reproofs as breathed charity and kindness, or proceeded from a kind and dispassionate spirit. Should this reading be preferred it is to be remembered, that David refers, not so much to the outward manner in which the reproof is to be administered, as to the frame of the heart. However how good men may be, and whatever severity of language they may employ in admonishing those who have erred, they are still actuated by the force of brotherly affection. My, the very severity is, in fact, occasioned by their holy anxiety and fear of their brother’s safety. The righteous act mercifully under all this apparent sharpness and severity — as the wicked, on the other hand, act cruelly who censure only in a very gentle manner. By noticing this feature in reproof, David besides would distinguish that kind of it which takes its rise in sincere affection, from invectives which proceed from hatred or private animosity, as Solomon says. (Proverbs 10:12.) The other rendering of the words, however, which I have adopted, is equally suitable —
Let the righteous censure me, it shall be mercy, or, I will reckon it a benefit, let him reprove me, this shall be precious ointment that will not hurt my head.
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The last clause some interpret in another way — the oil of the head let it not break my head, that is, let not the wicked seduce me to destruction by their pleasing flatteries. “Que l’huile de la teste ne rompe point ma teste, c’est a dire, que les meschans ne m’amadouent point par leurs flatteries a ma perdition et ruine.” — Fr.
For yet my prayer, etc. Three explanations of this clause have been suggested. According to some the meaning of it is, that, as we are ever ready to be corrupted by bad example, David here prays, that he might not decline to their evils, or the evils which they practiced. The second sense assigned is, that David, recognizing their mischievous devices, prays that he may be kept by the Lord from their wickedness. The third sense, that recognizing them as reduced to desperate calamities, he prays that the just vengeance of God might be executed upon them according to their deserts. The very opposite meaning might seem the more suitable, that David was not prevented by their obstinacy in wickedness from praying for their welfare. For there is the adverb yet emphatically inserted. Or, what if David is to be considered as predicting their unfortunate end, intimating, that though the ungodly now riot in excess, they shall shortly be arrested, and that before long his compassion would be exercised towards them? The way in which the words stand connected favors this view; for he does not say — yet my prayer shall be in their calamities, but rather separately, “yet, or, yet a little while, and then my power shall be in their calamities.” As David was in danger of being tempted to yield to similarly vain courses with them, he very properly suggests a sustaining motive to his soul, why he should retain his integrity, that erelong they would be overtaken with so awful a destruction as to entreat compassion from him and others of the people of God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain By patience I shall see the wicked so sharply…
By patience I shall see the wicked so sharply handled, that I shall for pity pray for them.
He could abide all corrections, that came of a loving heart.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 141:5 Let the righteous smite me; [it shall…
Psa 141:5 Let the righteous smite me; [it shall be] a kindness: and let him reprove me; [it shall be] an excellent oil, [which] shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also [shall be] in their calamities.
Ver. 5. Let the righteous smite me, &c.] In case I do offend in word or deed, let me never want a faithful reprover, who may smite me as with a hammer (so the word signifieth), reprove me sharply, Pro 23:35 Zec 13:5 Tit 1:13, cuttingly, as the apostle’s word importeth, yet mildly and lovingly, Gal 6:1 Pro 9:8; Pro 19:25; Pro 25:12, with soft words, but hard arguments, αποτομως.
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It shall be a kindness] David thought the better of Nathan for so roundly reproving him, 2Sa 12:7-12, and made him of his counsel, 1Ki 1:32 Peter thought the better of Paul for dealing so plainly with him at Antioch, Gal 2:11-16, and maketh honourable mention of him, and his writings, 2Pe 3:15-16 It is said of Gerson, that great chancellor of Paris, that nulla re alia tantopere laetaretur, quam si ab aliquo fraterne et charitative redargueretur, he rejoiced in nothing so much as in a friendly reprehension; great pity it was that none bestowed a chiding on him for being so active against John Huss and Jerome of Prague, at the council of Constance (Mr Clark’s Martyrology). Of Queen Anne Bullen it is reported, that she was not only willing to be admonished, but required her chaplains freely and plainly to tell her of whatsoever was amiss. Her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, was well pleased with Mr Deering’s plain dealing, who told her in a sermon that once she was tanqnam ovis, but now tanquam indomita iuvenca, as an untamed heifer; and speaking of the disorder of the times, These things are so, said he, and you sit still and do nothing, &c.
It shall be an excellent oil] Heb. a head oil, such as they poured on their friends’ heads; and that was of the best.
Which shall not break my head] My heart it may. Or, let him not make it fail my head, let him not cease to do me this good office daily; I shall count it a courtesy, and requite it with my best prayers for him, in his greatest necessity.
For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamity] I will not curse them for their good counsel, rail at them for reproving me, or insult over them in misery as justly met withal; but pray for them, and prize them as my best friends.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Smite me, to wit, with his tongue by reproofs,…
Smite me, to wit, with his tongue by reproofs, as the next clause explains it, which are called wounds, Pro 27:6. As I pray unto thee that thou wouldst keep me from sinful practices, so I beg it of all just men, that if I do transgress, or if by the arts and slanders of mine enemies any of them are made to believe that I am guilty of evil designs against Saul, or of any other wickedness, that they would freely admonish and reprove me for it. And their reproofs shall please me better than the dainties of the wicked last mentioned, Psa 114:4.
It shall be a kindness; I shall be so far from being offended with it as an act of entity or ill will, as they may suspect, that I shall esteem it an act and sign of true friendship.
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It shall be an excellent oil; or, it shall be as the oil of the head, as it is in the Hebrew, i.e. which is poured upon the head, as the manner was in great feasts and solemnities.
Not break my head; not Inert or disturb it, but, on the contrary, shall heal and greatly refresh and delight it; which is here understood by a known figure called meiosis, whereby more is intended than is expressed, as Pro 17:21, and oft elsewhere.
In their calamities; either,
1. In the calamities of those righteous persons who reproved and censured him. So this is an evidence of what he last said, that he should take their reproofs for a kindness, because when they came into such calamities as those wherein he was involved, as all righteous men must expect sufferings at one time or other, he would not insult over them, nor censure them, but pity them, and pray for them. Or,
2. In the calamities of his enemies, of which he speaks in the next words. And so this may be added as a reason why he did so freely offer himself to the righteous to be reproved by them, if he or his cause were so bad as his enemies made them, because he was well assured that he was sincere and his cause good, and that God would bring him out of all his calamities, and bring his enemies into such calamities that they should need and desire his prayers, which also he would willingly grant to them; and then all good men would be fully satisfied of the justice of his person and cause.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here, I. David desires to be told of his…
Here, I. David desires to be told of his faults. His enemies reproached him with that which was false, which he could not but complain of; yet, at the same time, he desired his friends would reprove him for that which was really amiss in him, particularly if there was any thing that gave the least colour to those reproaches (Psa 141:5): let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness. The righteous God (so some); "I will welcome the rebukes of his providence, and be so far from quarrelling with them that I will receive them as tokens of love and improve them as means of grace, and will pray for those that are the instruments of my trouble." But it is commonly taken for the reproofs given by righteous men; and it best becomes those that are themselves righteous to reprove the unrighteousness of others, and from them reproof will be best taken. But if the reproof be just, though the reprover be not so, we must make a good use of it and learn obedience by it. We are here taught how to receive the reproofs of the righteous and wise. 1. We must desire to be reproved for whatever is amiss in us, or is done amiss by us: "Lord, put it into the heart of the righteous to smite me and reprove me. If my own heart does not smite me, as it ought, let my friend do it; let me never fall under that dreadful judgment of being let alone in sin." 2. We must account it a piece of friendship. We must not only bear it patiently, but take it as a kindness; for reproofs of instruction are the way of life (Pro 6:23), are means of good to us, to bring us to repentance for the sins we have committed, and to prevent relapses into sin. Though reproofs cut, it is in order to a cure, and therefore they are much more desirable than the kisses of an enemy (Pro 27:6) or the song of fools, Ecc 7:5. David blessed God for Abigail's seasonable admonition, Sa1 25:32. 3. We must reckon ourselves helped and healed by it: It shall be as an excellent oil to a wound, to mollify it and close it up; it shall not break my head, as some reckon it to do, who could as well bear to have their heads broken as to be told of their faults; but, says David, "I am not of that mind; it is my sin that has broken my head, that has broken my bones, Psa 51:8. The reproof is an excellent oil, to cure the bruises sin has given me. It shall not break my head, if it may but help to break my heart." 4. We must requite the kindness of those that deal thus faithfully, thus friendly with us, at least by our prayers for them in their calamities, and hereby we must show that we take it kindly. Dr. Hammond gives quite another reading of this verse: "Reproach will bruise me that am righteous, and rebuke me; but that poisonous oil shall not break my head (shall not destroy me, shall not do me the mischief intended), for yet my prayer shall be in their mischiefs, that God would preserve me from them, and my prayer shall not be in vain."
II. David hopes his persecutors will, some time or other, bear to be told of their faults, as he was willing to be told of his (Psa 141:6): "When their judges" (Saul and his officers who judged and condemned David, and would themselves be sole judges) "are overthrown in stony places, among the rocks in the wilderness, then they shall hear my words, for they are sweet." Some think this refers to the relentings that were in Saul's breast when he said, with tears, Is this thy voice, my son David? Sa1 24:16; Sa1 26:21. Or we may take it more generally: even judges, great as they are, may come to be overthrown. Those that make the greatest figure in this world do not always meet with level smooth ways through it. And those that slighted the word of God before will relish it, and be glad of it, when they are in affliction, for that opens the ear to instruction. When the world is bitter the word is sweet. Oppressed innocency cannot gain a hearing with those that live in pomp and pleasure, but when they come to be overthrown themselves they will have more compassionate thoughts of the afflicted.
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III. David complains of the great extremity to which he and his friends were reduced (Psa 141:7): Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, out of which they are thrown up, so long have we been dead, or into which they are ready to be thrown, so near are we to the pit; and they are as little regarded as chips among the hewers of wood, which are thrown in neglected heaps: As one that cuts and cleaves the earth (so some read it), alluding to the ploughman who tears the earth in pieces with his plough-share, Psa 129:3. Can these dry bones live?
IV. David casts himself upon God, and depends upon him for deliverance: "But my eyes are unto thee (Psa 141:8); for, when the case is ever so deplorable, thou canst redress all the grievances. From thee I expect relief, bad as things are, and in thee is my trust." Those that have their eye towards God may have their hopes in him.
V. He prays that God would succour and relieve him as his necessity required. 1. That he would comfort him: "Leave not my soul desolate and destitute; still let me see where my help is." 2. That he would prevent the designs of his enemies against him (Psa 141:9): "Keep me from being taken in the snare they have laid for me; give me to discover it and to evade it." Be the gin placed with ever so much subtlety, God can and will secure his people from being taken in it. 3. That God would, in justice, turn the designs of his enemies upon themselves, and, in mercy, deliver him from being ruined by them (Psa 141:10): let the wicked fall into their own net, the net which, intentionally, they procured for me, but which, meritoriously, they prepared for themselves. Nec lex est justioir ulla quam necis artifices arte perire sua - No law can be more just than that the architects of destruction should perish by their own contrivances. All that are bound over to God's justice are held in the cords of their own iniquity. But let me at the same time obtain a discharge. The entangling and ensnaring of the wicked sometimes prove the escape and enlargement of the righteous.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a…
Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness,.... Or, "smite me in kindness" (a). In love; in a loving and friendly manner, which makes reproofs the more agreeable and effectual. Not the righteous God, as Arama; though he does sometimes smite his people for their sins, Isa 57:17; that is, reproves, corrects, and chastises them, and that in love and for their good; and therefore such smitings and corrections should be taken in good part by them, and received as fatherly chastisements, and as instances of his paternal care of them, and love to them; but rather righteous and good men; who, when there is occasion for it, should reprove and rebuke one another; but then it should be in a kind and tender manner, and with the spirit of meekness; and such reproofs should be as kindly received: "for faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful", Pro 27:6. Or, "let the righteous beat me with kindness" or "goodness" (b); with precepts of goodness, by inculcating good things into him; which he should take, as if he overwhelmed and loaded him with benefits; even though it was like striking with a hammer, as the word signifies;
and let him, reprove me; which explains what is meant by smiting;
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it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head; give no pain nor uneasiness to his head or his heart, but rather supple and heal the wounds sin reproved for has made. The Targum is,
"the oil of the anointing of the sanctuary shall not cease from my head;''
with which he was anointed king; and signifies that he should enjoy the dignity, and continue in it. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "the oil of the ungodly", or "sinners": meaning their flattering words, which, though smooth as oil, were deceitful; and therefore he deprecates them, "let not the oil of the wicked", &c. as being hurtful and pernicious;
for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities; that is, when the righteous, that smote and reproved him for his good, should be in any distress; such a grateful sense should he retain of their favour in reproving him, that he would pray for them, that they might be delivered out of it; which would show that he took it kindly at their hand. Or, "in their evils", or "against them" (c); which some understand of the evil practices of wicked men; which the psalmist prayed against, and that he might be kept and delivered from.
(a) , Sept. "in misericordia", V. L. "benigne ac clementer", Michaelis. (b) "benignitate", Tigurine version; "bonitate", Gejerus; "seu praeceptis bonitatis", Gussetius, p. 212. (c) "in malis eorum", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; "adversus mala eorum", Musculus, Michaelis; so some in Vatablus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Smite - By reproofs. Break - Not hurt, but…
Smite - By reproofs. Break - Not hurt, but heal and greatly refresh me. Calamities - In the calamities of those righteous persons who reproved him. When they came into such calamities as those wherein he was involved he would pity them and pray for them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me] This verse…
Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me] This verse is extremely difficult in the original. The following translation, in which the Syriac, Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic nearly agree, appears to me to be the best: "Let the righteous chastise me in mercy, and instruct me: but let not the oil of the wicked anoint my head. It shall not adorn (יני yani, from נוה navah) my head; for still my prayer shall be against their wicked works."
The oil of the wicked may here mean his smooth flattering speeches; and the psalmist intimates that he would rather suffer the cutting reproof of the righteous than the oily talk of the flatterer. If this were the case, how few are there now-a-days of his mind! On referring to Bishop Horsley, I find his translation is something similar to my own: -
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Let the just one smite me, let the pious remove me.
Let not the ointment of the impious anoint my head.
But still I will intrude in their calamities.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 141:5. Let the righteous smite me — Namely,…
Psa 141:5. Let the righteous smite me — Namely, by reproofs. If at any time, through the frailty of nature, I should be inclined to yield to temptation, let me find, among my attendants or friends, some righteous and faithful person, who, with kind severity, will check and reprove me. It shall be a kindness — I shall be so far from being offended with it, as an act of enmity or ill will, that I shall esteem it an act and mark of true friendship. It shall be an excellent oil — Hebrews שׁמן ראשׁ, the oil of the head, that is, as the oil which is poured upon the head as the manner was in great feasts and solemnities, which shall not break my head — Nor hurt, but heal, and greatly refresh me. For yet my prayer shall be in their calamities — Either, 1st, In the calamities of those persons who reproved and censured him. When they came into such calamities as those wherein he had been involved, he would pity them, and pray for them. Or, he may mean the calamities of his enemies, of which he speaks in the next words. He foresaw that his enemies would be in calamities, and that they would need, and desire his prayers; and he here declares he would willingly grant them: but the Hebrew of this clause may be properly rendered, My prayer shall be against their wickedness.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Let the righteous smite me - This verse is…
Let the righteous smite me - This verse is exceedingly difficult and obscure (compare the margin); and there have been almost as many different opinions in regard to its meaning as there have been commentators on the psalm. A large number of these opinions may be seen in Rosenmuller in loc. DeWette explains it, “I gladly suffer anything that is unpleasant from my friends, that may be for my good; but the wickedness of my enemies I cannot endure.” The Septuagint and Latin Vulgate render it, “Let a righteous man correct me with mercy, and he will work convictions in me; but let not the oil of a sinner (for this shall still be my prayer) anoint my head at their pleasure.” “Thompson’s translation.” According to this, the sense would be, “If the righteous smite me with severity of words I shall take it as an act of kindness and benevolence; on the other hand, the bland words of a sinner, smooth as oil, which wound more than sharp arrows, may God avert from me.”
Or, in other words, “I had rather be slain by the severe words of the righteous than anointed by the oily and impious words of the wicked.” The sense proposed by Hengstenberg (Com. in loc.) is, “Even as I through the cloud of wrath can see the sunshine of divine goodness, I will not give myself over to doubt and despair, according to the course of the world, when the hand of the Almighty rests upon me; but I will, and can, and should, in the midst of trouble, be joyful, and that is the high privilege of which I will never be deprived.” According to this, the idea is, that the sufferings endured by good people, even at the hand of the wicked, are chastisements inflicted by a gracious God in justice and mercy, and as such may be likened to a festive ointment, which the head of the sufferer should not refuse, as he will still have occasion for consolation to invoke God in the midst of trials yet to be experienced.
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The word “righteous” is evidently employed in the usual sense of the term. It refers to those who love and serve God. The word translated “smite” - חלם châlam - is rendered broken in Jdg 5:22; Isa 16:8; Isa 28:1 (“margin,” but rendered by our translators “overcome,” sc. with wine); “smote,” Jdg 5:26; Isa 41:7; “beaten,” Pro 23:35; “beating down,” 1Sa 14:16; “break down,” Psa 74:6. It does not elsewhere occur, except in the verse before us. It would apply to any beating or smiting, with the fist, with a hammer, with a weapon of war, and then with “words” - words of reproof, or expressions of disapprobation. According to the view above taken (Introduction), it is used here with reference to an apprehended rebuke on the part of good people, for not following their advice.
It shall be a kindness - literally, “A kindness;” that is, an act of kindness. The idea is, that it would be so intended on their part; it should be so received by him. Whatever might be the wisdom of the advice, or the propriety of yielding to it, or whatever they might say if it were not followed, yet he could regard it as on their part only well-intended. If a certain course which they had advised should be rejected, and if by refusing or declining to follow it one should incur their displeasure, yet that ought to be interpreted only as an act well-intended and meant in kindness.
And let him reprove me - As I may anticipate that he will, if his advice is not taken. I must expect to meet this consequence.
It shall be an excellent oil - literally, “Oil of the head.” That is - like oil which is poured on the head on festive occasions, or when one is crowned, as a priest, or a prophet, or a king. See the notes at Mar 6:13; notes at Luk 4:18-19. Oil thus used for the head, the face, etc., was an indispensable article for the toilet among Orientals. The idea is here that the reproof of the righteous should be received as readily as that which contributed most to comely adorning and comfort; or that which diffused brightness, cheerfulness, joy.
Which shall not break my head - Or rather, Which my head shall not (or, should not) refuse; which it should welcome. The word rendered break should not have been so translated. The Hebrew word - הניא hāniy', is from נוא nû' - in Hiphil, to negative; to make naught; then to refuse, to decline, to deny. It is rendered “discourage” in Num 32:7, Num 32:9 (Margin, “break”); “disallow,” Num 30:5 (“twice”), Num 30:8, Num 30:11; “make of none effect,” Psa 33:10; “break,” in the passage before us. It does not elsewhere occur. The idea is, “If such reproof comes on me for the faithful doing of what I regard as wise and best, I ought no more to reject it than the head would refuse the oil poured on it, to make the person healthful and comely.”
For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities - I will not be sullen, displeased, angry, revengeful. I will not refuse to pray for them when trials come upon them, because they have not approved of my course, because they have reproved me for not following their counsel, because they have used words that were like heavy blows. I will cherish no malice; I will not be angry; I will not seek to be revenged. I will not turn away from them when trouble comes on them. I will love them, cherish with gratitude the memory of the kindness they meant, and pray for them in the time when they especially need prayer. Should they now rebuke me rather than pray for me, yet I will not in turn “rebuke” them in similar trials, but “will pray for them,” as though nothing of this had happened. Noble spirit - indicative of what should always be the spirit of a good man. Our friends - even our pious friends - may not be always “wise” in their advice, and they may be severe in their reproofs if we do not follow their counsel; yet let us receive all as well-intended, and let us not in anger, in sullenness, or in revenge, refuse to aid them, and to pray for them in trouble, though they were “not” wise, and though they used words of severity toward us.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. Let the righteous smite me—This is preferred to…
5. Let the righteous smite me—This is preferred to the “dainties” of the wicked, Psa_141:4. Smiting, here, literally means beating as with a hammer, as Jdg_5:26, Psa_74:6; sharp reproof, as it is called in the next line.
Kindness—Or, taking the word adverbially, Let the righteous smite me kindly. See the maxim Pro_27:6.
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Excellent oil—Literally, Oil of the head, and hence refined—of excellent quality.
Not break my head—Better, My head shall not refuse it. In Hebrew idiom equal to, “it shall cheer and refresh my head”—diffuse joy and gladness, which answers to the figurative idea of anointing the head with oil. Psa_23:5; Psa_45:7; Luk_7:46. Or, taking נוא(noh) in the sense of discourage, depress, as Num_32:7; Num_32:9, we may render: “It [the smiting reproof] shall not depress my head”—not bow it down as if in sorrow or shame.
For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities—An ambiguous sentence. The word translated “calamities” may signify either affliction or wickedness. It is best to understand the psalmist as referring to his enemies, and render: “For yet my prayer also shall be against their wickedness;” that is, I return only prayer for their malice.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. Let the righteous smite me, it shall be…
5. Let the righteous smite me, it shall be kindness:
And let him reprove me, it shall be as oil for the head;
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Let not my head refuse it:
But still let my prayer be against their evil doings.
From the prayer of Psa_141:4 it is clear that the Psalmist had felt the seductiveness of worldly luxury, and apparently (cp. Psa_141:9) godless men had been endeavouring to entice him to cast in his lot with them. On the other hand it would seem that he had been tempted to resent the correction and reproof of the godly, possibly not always offered in the most conciliatory way. He therefore prays that he may welcome correction as kindness, and reproof as the “ointment and perfume” which “rejoice the heart” (Pro_27:9), alluding no doubt to the oil with which his head would have been anointed at the banquets of the wicked (Amo_6:6). Smite is of course a metaphor for severe correction. Cp. Pro_27:6, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” The Book of Proverbs insists constantly on the value of reproof, which the wise man welcomes and the fool resents (Pro_3:11 f.; Pro_13:18; Pro_15:5; Pro_15:31-32; Pro_28:23), and the duty of neighbourly reproof is enjoined in the Law (Lev_19:17). Cp. Ecc_7:5.
The last line is obscure, and the text is possibly corrupt, but the general sense may be, ‘Let me not resent reproof, and associate with the wicked, but let me continue to pray against (or, in the midst of) their evil deeds.’ Neglecting the Heb. accents we might render, Let not my head refuse it, but again! (i.e. let him repeat his reproofs), and let my prayer be against their evil deeds.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) The difficulties of the psalm thicken here. Render,…
(5) The difficulties of the psalm thicken here. Render, Let a righteous man smite me, it is a kindness; and let him reprove me, it is oil for the head: my head shall not refuse it though it continue; yet my prayer is against their wickedness.
The word rendered “smite” is that used of Jael’s “hammer strokes “(Jdg_5:26). (Comp. Isa_41:7.) The Hebrew for “reprove” is probably used in a judicial sense, as in Gen_31:37; Isa_2:4; Pro_24:25, &c. The greatest obscurity attaches to the word rendered above “refuse,” but in the Authorised Version “break,” probably because in Psa_33:10 (“ bring to none effect”) it is in parallelism with “break.” The LXX. and Vulg. take it as meaning “anoint,” rendering (from a different text to ours) “let not oil of a wicked man anoint my head.” If we might adopt this reading it would remove the difficulty of this part of the verse, and give an excellent parallelism: “A righteous man may smite me in mercy and reprove me, but let not a wicked man’s oil anoint my head;” i.e., I would welcome reproof from the righteous, but reject even the festive oil offered by the wicked. For the rendering “wickednesses,” instead of “calamities,” comp. Job_20:12; Psa_94:23. For the sense of “although” given to the conjunction, see Exo_13:17. The suffix “their” refers back, of course, to the ungodly in Psa_141:4. The “oil for the head” (comp. Psa_45:7) is a natural emblem of festivity, and the whole sentiment of the passage is tolerably clear. Rather than join in the wicked mirth of a profane banquet, the poet would be the object of continued rebuke and chastisement from one of the godly—his prayer meanwhile still rising for protection against the allurements held out to tempt him. We probably have sketched here the actual condition of many a Levite between the apostate and the loyal part of the nation.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a…
Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness; rather, let the righteous smite me kindly, as in the margin. And let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head; rather, which my head shall not refuse. The psalmist will prefer the reproof of the righteous to the dainty allurements of the wicked. He will regard their words as an oil of welcome, such as was poured upon the head of favored guests, (Luk_7:36) and his head will not refuse it. For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities; rather, their wickednesses. This healing oil will strengthen him to continue to pray for his enemies, even though they still continue in their "wickednesses.
The excellent oil of reproof; or, kindness smiting.
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Much may be learned from this verse concerning the very difficult and delicate task of reproving others. We learn
I THAT REPROOF MAY BE SO ADMINISTERED AS TO BE EVEN WELCOMED. "Let the righteous smite me," etc.; and further down in the verse, "Let not my head refuse it;" such is the truer rendering of the Revised Version in the clause which our Authorized Version reads, "which shall not break my head." It is evident, therefore, that the reproving told of here was not hated and resented, as reproof commonly is, but even gratefully accepted. Generally, as we know, reproof is amongst the most unpalatable of things (see an admirable sermon by C.H. Spurgeon on Job_6:6). And we know this, and therefore needed rebuke and admonition are not given as they should be. We too often see our brother go wrong, and out of craven fear we hold back the warning and the reproof.
II AND THIS, NOTWITHSTANDING IT MAY BE SEVERE. The psalmist calls it a smiting: "Let the righteous smite me." And on the head also; for he says (Revised Version), "Let not my head refuse it." A blow on the body would be far less injurious, painful, and ignominious than one on the head, such as is contemplated here. But still it is welcomed. This is difficult when "the righteous one" is God, who, as some expositors affirm, is here meant. (see 2Sa_7:14, 2Sa_7:15) To humble ourselves under even his mighty hand, (Heb_12:5-11) to whom we should "much rather be in subjection," is often found far from easy by our rebellions hearts; but if "the righteous" spoken of be our fellow-men, then it is more difficult still. But here such smiting is not only submitted to, but welcomed. This is a very unusual thing indeed.
III FURTHERMORE, IT SHALL BE DEEMED "KINDNESS," AND GRATEFUL AS "THE OIL OF JOY." For this is what is here referred to. (cf. Psa_23:5 Psa_45:7 Mat_6:17) His soul is glad because of it; he counts himself happy and fortunate to have received it. How is all this to be understood? Therefore note
IV THE EXPLANATION OF SUCH RARE RECEPTION OF REPROOF.
1. Certainly it is not because the man is mean-spirited and lies down like a slave or a stricken dog to be beaten. It is no "Uriah Heep" kind of humility. If we thought that such language as we have here would be nauseating, we should, as we ought, despise it.
2. But the evident explanation of it is that the man"s whole soul longed after holiness and purity, and loathed sin with a great loathing. He so dreaded being betrayed into sin, that he welcomed with joy any rebuke, no matter how severe and shameful, that restrained him from it. Thus is this strong, strange speech explained.
3. And what a revelation of the grace of God in a man"s soul it is! Oh to so hate sin that we shall be glad of any suffering, yea, death itself, rather than come under its power! Happy the heart that can say "Amen" to the psalmist"s prayer!
V THE REPROVER AND THE REPROOF.
1. The reprover. He must be righteous and felt to be so by him whom he reproves. It is not, "Let anybody reprove me," but "the righteous." Reproof from others would be of no avail. But the righteous reprover is one who knows that what he says is true, that reproof ought to be given, because a brother"s soul is in peril. Also he is one who feels deeply the dread evil of sin; it is no trifle to him, whether in himself or others; the honor of God is dear to him, and so is his brother"s soul. For he not only feels, but loves. That is the motive which urges him, apart from which he would have said nothing. Such are the characteristics of the righteous reprover.
2. And then, the reproof. The similitude here employed the fragrant, refreshing, healthful anointing oil suggests much. As to the gentleness of the reproof. Though the psalmist says he would welcome it though it were as a smiting on the head, it need not, should not, will not, be like that. (see our Savior"s reproofs of his disciples, Mat_26:41) And as to its insinuating, penetrating power, not by its harshness, but the very reverse. And as to its being much mingled with love and evident kindness of heart. Reprove so; for such reproof will not repel, but rather bind yet more closely to you the heart of him whom you reprove. See what he says, "For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities." We prefer this rendering; it tells how the psalmist loved the righteous ones who had reproved him, and would still pray for them amid their sorrow: they might say anything to him, it would not sever his soul from theirs. S.C.
Praying for others.
The psalmist here says he will do this. We need not trouble about the right rendering of this difficult verse, but may take it as it stands. It says that the calamities of the righteous shall stir the psalmist"s soul to pray for them. He loved them much, even though they severely rebuked him, indeed, because they did so.
I IT IS A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE. We pray for ourselves, and it is right we should, for unless we ourselves are right with God we shall care but little for the highest good of others, and we shall be disqualified for interceding for them. How ungodly parents who, nevertheless, love their children very dearly, should remember this! They cannot render their children the highest service of all until they themselves are reconciled to God. But we ought not to pray only for ourselves. We can be selfish even in prayer; it is to be feared we very often are. But selfishness is as wrong there as elsewhere.
II IT HAS THE HIGHEST SANCTION. Our Lord Jesus Christ now at the right hand of God "ever liveth to make intercession for us." Moreover, he has taught us to pray, "Our Father, which art," etc. It is not "my:" our Lord would have us be intercessors for others when we pray for ourselves.
III THERE ARE INNUMERABLE REASONS FOR IT.
1. It is part of our obedience to Christ. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Surely this includes prayer for him.
2. It unites us with Christ. We cannot "redeem our brother or give to God a ransom for him;" but we can pray for him.
3. It does such good.
(1) To those we pray for. We may be sure that God never draws forth our hearts in fervent prayer for others, and then disappoints that prayer. See Abraham"s intercession for Sodom. How much do not we ourselves owe to those that have prayed for us! Saintly fathers and mothers, holy men and ministers of God, asked for our salvation, and it has been given. What a motive this for like prayer on our own part! What faithful preacher does not know that his congregation"s preparedness to receive the Word is largely in proportion to the fervency of his prayers!
(2) And to ourselves who pray, such prayer is blessed. It clears our minds of ill will; it prompts us to kindly, helpful thought, word, and deed; it wins the smile of God on our own souls.
4. It is a work we can all engage in, though we may not be able to do much else. What do not the ministers of God owe to poor bed-ridden people who pray for them as they minister! S.C.
Reproof and kindness.
"Let the righteous man treat me with any amount of ignominious reproach for my sins, yet I will prefer him to the ungodly, however prosperous, my prayer being ever that I may be saved from the evil deeds of the latter." Read, "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: let him reprove me; such oil for my head let not my head refuse." Roberts tells us that in the East "certain oils are said to have a most salutary effect on the head; hence, in fevers, or any other complaints which affect the head, Eastern medical men always recommend oil. I have known people who were deranged cured in a very short time by nothing more than the application of a peculiar oil to the head. Thus the reproofs of the righteous were compared to excellent oil, which produced a most salutary effect on the head." What seems plain, and what gives the best key to the allusions of this difficult psalm, is that the psalmist had done something which was very doubtfully right, perhaps even manifestly wrong. He was not, however, disposed to admit this to himself, though at times he felt painfully uncertain. Other people were in no doubt at all as to the impropriety of his action, and his enemies made it the occasion of bitter scorn, while his friends, in their grave anxiety for him, sought to reprove him, and liberate his conscience so that it might render its free testimony. The psalm may very well be illustrated by the moods of David when he had sinned in the matter of Uriah.
I SCORN OF A MAN IN SIN DOES BUT HARDEN HIM. Many a man has gone into greater lengths of sin simply because he failed to get sympathy and help in his first stumbling.
II REPROOF OF A MAN IN SIN MAY BRING HIM TO REPENTANCE. A man in sin must not be left alone. But reproof, to be effective, must have love, as well as righteousness, for inspiration. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
III RESPONSE TO THE REPROOF OF THE GOOD REVEALS A MAN. There is hope if he is receptive to the personal persuasions of those whom he can esteem, and counts reproof a kindness. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 5. Let the righteous smite me; it shall…
Ver. 5. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness. He prefers the bitters of gracious company to the dainties of the ungodly. He would rather be smitten by the righteous than feasted by the wicked. He gives a permit to faithful admonition, he even invites it"let the righteous smite me." When the ungodly smile upon us their flattery is cruel; when the righteous smite us their faithfulness is kind. Sometimes godly men rap hard; they do not merely hint at evil, but hammer at it; and even then we are to receive the blows in love, and be thankful to the hand which smites so heavily. Fools resent reproof; wise men endeavour to profit by it. And let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break ray head. Oil breaks no heads, and rebuke does no man any harm; rather, as oil refreshes and perfumes, so does reproof when fitly taken sweeten and renew the heart. My friend must love me well if he will tell me of my faults: there is an unction about him if he is honest enough to point out my errors. Many a man has had his head broken at the feasts of the wicked, but none at the table of a true hearted reprover. The oil of flattery is not excellent; the oil so lavishly used at the banquet of the reveller is not excellent; head breaking and heart breaking attend the anointings of the riotous; but it is otherwise with the severest censures of the godly: they are not always sweet, but they are always excellent; they may for the moment bruise the heart, but they never break either it or the head. For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. Gracious men never grow wrathful with candid friends so as to harbour an ill feeling against them; if so, when they saw them in affliction, they would turn round upon them and taunt them with their rebukes. Far from it; these wisely grateful souls are greatly concerned to see their instructors in trouble, and they bring forth their best prayers for their assistance. They do not merely pray for them, but they so closely and heartily sympathize that their prayers are "in their calamities, "down in the dungeon with them. So true is Christian brotherhood that we are with our friends in sickness or persecution, suffering their griefs; so that our heart's prayer is in their sorrows. When we can give good men nothing more, let us give them our prayers, and let us do this doubly to those who have given us their rebukes.
Ver. 5. Let the righteous smite me, etc. This verse is so obscure as to be almost unintelligible. According to the English versions, it expresses his willingness to be rebuked by good men for his benefit. But this sense is not only hard to be extracted from the words, but foreign from the context. Of the many contradictory interpretations which have been proposed the most probable is that which makes the sentence mean, that the sufferings endured by the good man, even at the hand of the wicked, are chastisements inflicted by a righteous God in justice and with mercy, and as such may be likened to a festive ointment, which the head of the sufferer should not refuse, as he will still have need of consolation and occasion to invoke God, in the midst of trials and of mischiefs yet to be experienced. Joseph Addison Alexander.
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Ver. 5. Let the righteous smite me, The word olh is seldom used in Scripture but to signify a severe stroke which shakes the subject smitten, and causeth it to tremble; see Pr 23:35 1Sa 14:16 Ps 74:6; and it is used for the stroke of the hammer on the anvil in fashioning of the iron (Isa 41:7). Wherefore the word dox following may be taken adverbially, as a lenitive of that severity which this word imports: "Let him smite me, but" leniter, benigne, misericorditer, "gently, kindly, friendly, mercifully": and so some translations read the words, "Let the righteous smite me friendly, or kindly." John Owen.
Ver. 5. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness, etc. Grace will teach a Christian to take those potions which are wholesome, though they be not toothsome. Faithful reproof is a token of love, and therefore may well be esteemed a kindness. Such wounding of a friend is healing, and so David might well call it an excellent oil. And he did not only say so, which is easy and ordinary, but acted accordingly. He did not as the papists, who highly commend holy water, but turn away their faces when it comes to be sprinkled on them. When he had by sin, and continuance in it, so gangrened his flesh, and corrupted himself, that he was in danger of death, he suffered his sores to be thoroughly searched without regret. Nathan was the chirurgeon whom God employed to search that wound which had divers mouths for festering in his soul; and truly he did not dally with his patient, though he were a prince, but thrust his instrument to the bottom; yet whatever pain it put him to, he took it patiently, and was so far from being angry with the prophet, that he made him one of his privy council. It is a sign of a polluted nature for a man, like a serpent, if he be but touched, to gather poison, and vomit it up at the party. "Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee": Pr 9:8. George Swinnock.
Ver. 5. Let the righteous smite me, etc. If the righteous smite us by reproofs, it must be taken as a kindness, and as a precious balsam, which doth not break our head, but heal us. Not that we are bound to belie ourselves in compliance with every man's censorious humour that will accuse us; but we must be readier to censure ourselves than others, and readier to confess a fault than to expect a confession from others whom we reprove. Sincerity and serious repentance will be honourable in that person who is most careful to avoid sin, and most ready penitently to confess it when he hath been overcome, and truly thankful to those that call him to repentance; as being more desirous that God and his laws and religion should have the glory of their holiness, than that he himself should have the undue glory of innocency; and escape the deserved shame of his sin.
It is one of the most dangerous diseases of professors, and one of the greatest scandals of this age, that persons taken for eminently religious arc more impatient of plain, though just, reproof than many a drunkard, swearer, or fornicator; and when they have spent hours or days in the seeming earnest confession of their sin, and lament before God and man that they cannot do it with more grief and tears, yet they take it for a heinous injury in another that will say half so much against them, and take him for a malignant enemy of the godly who will call them as they call themselves. Richard Baxter (1615-1691), in "The Morning Exercises."
Ver. 5. Let the righteous smite me. If a righteous or a right wise man smite and reprove, he will do it, 1. Sine felle, without gall, without bitterness. 2. Sine publicatione, without publishing, divulging, or telling it to the world. 3. Sine contumelia, without disgraceto reform his friend, not to disgrace him. 4. Sine adulatione, without flattery. 5. Nonn sine Deo, not without God. John Gore, in a Sermon entitled "Unknowne Kindnesse", 1635.
Ver. 5. The righteous, etc. The minister cannot be always preaching; two or three hours, may be, in a week, he spends among his people in the pulpit, holding the glass of the gospel before their faces; but the lives of professors, these preach all the week long: if they were but holy and exemplary, they would be as a repetition of the preacher's sermon to their families and neighbours among whom they converse, and keep the sound of his doctrine continually ringing in their ears. This would give Christians an amiable advantage in doing good to their carnal neighbours by counsel and reproof, which now is seldom done, and when done it proves to little purpose, because not backed with their own exemplary walking. "It behooves him", saith Tertullian, "that would counsel or reprove another, to guard his speech with the authority of his own conversation, lest, wanting that, what he says puts himself to the blush." We do not love one that hath a stinking breath to come very near us; such, therefore, had need have a sweet scented life.
Reproofs are a good physic, but they have an unpleasant reception; it is hard for men not to throw them back on the face of him that gives them. Now nothing is more powerful to keep a reproof from thus coming back than the holiness of the person that reproves. "Let the righteous smite me", saith David, "it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head." See how well it is taken from such a hand, from the authority that holiness carries with it. None but a vile wretch will smite a righteous man with reproach for smiting him with a reproof, if softly laid on, and like oil fermented, and wrought into him, as it should, with compassion and love to his soul! Thus we see how influential the power of holiness would be unto the wicked, neither would it be less upon our brethren and fellow Christians. Holy David professed he would take it as a kindness for the righteous man to smite him; yea, as kindly as if he broke a box of precious oil upon his head, which was amongst the Jews a high expression of love. William Gurnall.
Ver. 5. It shall be a kindness. 1. It is a kindness reducere errarvin, to bring back the wandering. 2. Senate cegrotum, to recover the sick. 3. Suscitare letbargum, to awake, to stir up the lethargic, the sleepy. 4. Ligure insanum, to bind a madman. 5. Liberare perditum, to save a lost man, one in imminent danger. John Gore.
Ver. 5. It shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head. Some persons pride themselves on being blunt, or, as they call it, "honest"; but very blunt people do little good to others, and get little love to themselves. The Scriptures recommend gentleness and kindness. Reproof should fall like the dew, and not like the rushing hailstorm. The "oil" insinuates itself; the stone wounds and then rebounds. Christians should take heed of getting fond of the work of "rebuking." Such "spiritual constables" do a great deal of mischief without intending it. They are in a church what a very witty and sarcastic person is in society, or what a tell tale is in a school; and approximate very closely to that class which the apostle terms "busy bodies in other men's matters." Our manner must be tender and winning. The nail of reproof, says an old writer, must be well oiled in kindness before it is driven home. Meddling with the faults of others is like attempting to move a person afflicted with the rheumatic gout: it must be done slowly and tenderly, nor must we be frightened by an out cry or two. The great thing is to show the person that you really love him; and if you manifest this in the sight of God, he will bless your efforts, and give you favour in the sight of an erring brother. Christian Treasury.
Ver. 5. It shall be an excellent oil. Certain oils are said to have a most salutary effect on the head; hence in fevers, or any other complaints which affect the head, the medical men always recommend oil. I have known people who were deranged, cured in a very short time by nothing more than the application of a peculiar kind of oil to the head. There are, however, other kinds which are believed, when thus applied, to produce delirium. Thus the reproofs of the righteous were compared to "excellent oil", which produced a most salutary effect on the head. So common is this practice of anointing the head, that all who can afford it do it every week.
But, strange as it may appear, the crown of their heads is the place selected for chastisement; thus owners of slaves, or husbands, or school masters, beat the heads of the offenders with their knuckles. Should all urchin come late to school, or forget his lesson, the pedagogue says to some of the other boys, "Go beat his head!" "Begone, fellow! or I will beat thy head." Should a man be thus chastised by an inferior, he quotes the old proverb: "If my head is to be beaten, let it be done with the fingers that have rings on"; meaning a man of rank. "Yes, yes; let a holy man smite my head! and what of that? it is an excellent oil." "My master has been beating my head, but it has been good oil for me." Joseph Roberts.
Ver. 5. Oil, which shall not break my head. When I first took this text in hand, this seemed unto me a very strange and uncouth expression. If the Psalmist had said, It shall be a stone that shall not break my head, etc., we had easily understood him; but to speak of an oil, or a balm, which we know to be so soft, so supple, so lithe and gentle an ointment, that he should speak of breaking his head with oil, it is strange. I confess it troubled me a while, till at length I conceived it might be spoken by contraries; as when a physician gives a patient some pectoral, or cordial, and saith, Take this, it will not hurt you; his meaning is, it will help and do him good. So this oil shall not break my head;that is, it shall heal it, being broken by my own corruption, by Satan's temptations, and by the evil influence of such as flatter me in my sins. John Gore.
Ver. 5. If David could say of his enemy that cursed him, "Let him alone, for God hath bidden him to curse"; much more safely mayest thou say of thy friend that reproves thee, "Let him alone, for God hath bidden him to smite." And as the apostle saith of ministers, that God "doth entreat you by us"; so persuade yourselves that God doth reprove you by them. John Gore.
Ver. 5. It was the saying of a heat hell, though no heathenish saying, "That he who would be good, must either have a faithful friend to instruct him, or a watchful enemy to correct him." Should we murder a physician because he comes to cure us; or like him worse, because he would make us better? The flaming sword of reprehension is but to keep us from the forbidden fruit of transgression. "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head." Let him smite me as with a hammer, for so the word signifies. A Boanerges is as necessary as a Barnabas. William Seeker.
Ver. 5. Yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. That is, if ever they who are my reprovers fall into calamity, though they may think they provoked me so by reproving me, that they have lost my love, and have cast themselves out of my prayers, or that I will never speak well of them or for them again; yet I will pray for them with all my heart, as their matter shall require. I will pray for them when they have most need of prayer, even "in their calamities." Some heighten the sense thus, The more they sharpen their reproof, the more I think myself bound to pray for them. It shows an excellent spirit, not to be hindered from doing good to others by anything they do or speak against us, nor by their sharpest (though perhaps mistaken) reproofs of us. Thus it was that that good man Job "prayed for his friends", who had spoken much against him, and not only reproved him without cause, but reproached him without charity. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 5. Rebukes of good men.
1. Invited.
2. Appreciated: "it shall be a kindness."
3. Utilized: "an excellent oil."
4. Cheerfully endured: "not break my head."
5. Repaid, by our prayers for them in time of trouble.
Ver. 5. (last clause.) "Intercessory Prayer." See" Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1,049.
Psalms 141:6*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Let the righteous . . . reprove me.
Psa_141:5
Let the righteous . . . reprove me.
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The reproof of the righteous
I. The character of one who is qualified to give reproof.
1. One whose life is habitually consistent with his profession.
2. One who is influenced by proper motives.
(1) Aversion to sin.
(2) Love to those whom he reproves.
(3) Concern for the happiness and honour of a Christian brother.
(4) Love to God and zeal for His glory.
II. The manner in which reproof should be received, and the effect it should produce.
1. The manner.
(1) It must be esteemed a kindness.
(2) We must be willing to part with every sin.
(3) We must be truly humble.
2. The effect.
(1) It brings to repentance.
(2) It raises the reputation.
III. The manner in which we should requite those who reprove us. As sanctified reproof constrains us to pray for ourselves it will dispose us to pray for reprovers. A spirit of prayer is never a selfish spirit; it embraces all mankind, and enables us to offer fervent supplications in behalf of our enemies; much more will it dispose us to pray for those whom we love, and to whom we are indebted for acts of kindness. (Essex Remembrancer.)
Advantages of Christian reproof
I. The obligation to this duty (Lev_19:17; Pro_9:8; Pro_24:15; Luk_17:3; 1Ti_5:20; 2Ti_4:2).
III. The character of those who are to administer reproof to others. Let the righteous smite me. Let the sincere, humble, constant Christian, who is blameless and harmless, the child of God, without rebuke, let him administer reproof. Let the conscientious man, who endeavours to keep himself always in the love of God, who is a pattern of righteousness and peace, reprove and rebuke others. This is Christian reproof, and has the weight which God designed it to have.
III. The spirit is which it is to be administered.
1. It must be in the spirit of true Christian meekness.
(1) Mingled with a sincere and tender compassion for the offender there must be a humbling conviction of our own frailty and liability to sin, and while we reprove him we must cherish a holy fear of falling ourselves.
(2) All harshness, abruptness, overbearing and censoriousness are utterly opposed to the spirit in which Christian rebuke is to be administered.
2. It must be administered in a spirit of real kindness and brotherly love for the individual reproved, and with a sincere desire to do him good.
3. It is to be administered in a spirit of firmness and fidelity. This is not inconsistent with Christian meekness and gentleness, nor with fraternal kindness and tender benevolent desire to do our offending brother goad.
IV. The happy effects to be realized.
1. It will free the Christian who performs this duty from being partaker of other mens sins, and will give him a peace of conscience which he cannot otherwise enjoy.
2. It is often the means of breaking the spell and delusions of sin on a brothers mind which have withstood all other influences.
3. It will prevent the evil of talebearing and backbiting.
4. It will promote amongst Christians a spirit of brotherly love and prayerfulness for each other. (D. L. Carroll, D. D.)
How we may bring our hearts to bear reproofs
I. How reproofs may be duly received.
1. It is desirable on many accounts that he who reproves us be himself a righteous person, and be of us esteemed so to be; for as such an one alone will or can have a due sense of the evil reproved, with a right principle and end in the discharge of his own duty, so the minds of them that are reproved are, by their sense of his integrity, excluded from those insinuations of evasions which prejudices and suggestions of just causes of reflections on their reprover will offer unto them. Especially, without the exercise of singular wisdom and humility, will all the advantages of a just reproof be lost where the allowed practice of greater sins and evils than that reproved is daily chargeable on the reprover.
2. The nature of a reproof is either--
(1) Authoritative.
(a) Ministerial.
(b) Parental.
(c) Despotical.
(2) Or fraternal.
(3) Or friendly.
3. The matter of a reproof is duly to be weighed by him who designs any benefit thereby.
II. Why we ought to receive reproofs orderly or regularly given unto us, esteeming them a singular privilege.
1. Mutual reproofs for the curing of evil and preventing of danger in one another are prime dictates of the law of nature and that obligation which our participation in the same being, offspring, original, and end, to seek the good of each other, doth lay upon us.
2. Whereas the light of nature is variously obscured and its directive power debilitated in us, God hath renewed on us an obligation unto this duty by particular institutions, both under the Old Testament and the New.
3. A due consideration of the use, benefit, and advantage of them will give them a ready admission into our minds and affections. Who knows how many souls that are now at rest with God have been prevented by reproofs, as the outward means, from going down into the pit? Unto how many have they been an occasion of conversion and sincere turning unto God!
III. What considerations may further us in their due improvement.
1. If there be not open evidence onto the contrary, it is our duty to judge that every reproof is given us in a way of duty. This will take off offence with respect unto the reprover, which, unjustly taken, is an assured entrance into a way of losing all benefit and advantage by the reproof.
2. Take heed of cherishing habitually such disorders, vices, and distempers of mind as are contrary unto this duty and will frustrate the design of it. Such are--
(1) Hastiness of spirit.
(2) Pride and haughtiness of mind.
3. Reckon assuredly that a fault, a miscarriage which any one is duly reproved for, if the reproof be not received and improved as it ought, is not only aggravated, but accumulated with a new crime, and marked with a dangerous token of an incurable evil (Pro_29:1).
4. It is useful unto the same end immediately to compare the reproof with the word of truth. This is the measure, standard, and directory of all duties, whereunto in all dubious cases we should immediately retreat for advice and counsel.
5. The best way to keep our souls in a readiness rightly to receive, and duly to reprove such reproofs, as may regularly be given us by any, is to keep and preserve our souls and spirits in a constant awe and reverence of the reproofs of God, which are recorded in His Word.
6. We shall fail in this duty unless we are always accompanied with a deep sense of our frailty, weakness, readiness to halt, or miscarry, and thereon a necessity of all the ordinances and visitations of God, which are designed to preserve our souls. (J. Owen, D. D.)
A wise reprover
Mr. John Wesley, having to travel some distance in a stage coach, fell in with a pleasant-tempered, well-informed officer. His conversation was sprightly and entertaining, but frequently mingled with oaths. When they were about to take the next stage, Mr. Wesley took the officer aside, and, after expressing the pleasure he had enjoyed in his company, told him he was thereby encouraged to ask of him a very great favour. I would take a pleasure in obliging you, said the officer, and I am sure you will not make an unreasonable request. Then, said Mr. Wesley, as we have to travel together some time, I beg that, if I should so far forget myself as to swear, you will kindly reprove me. The officer immediately saw the motive, and felt the force of the request, and, with a smile, said, None but Mr. Wesley could have conceived a reproof in such a manner. (Weekly Pulpit.)
For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.--
Intercessory prayer
Passage difficult, but we take the meaning of our Authorized Version, and would speak--
I. Of the duty of intercession for the people of God.
1. Take as our first key-note the word obligation. The new nature in us teaches us this as does the law of the elect household. And our membership of the body of Christ, and our obligation to the intercession of others, urge this.
2. Honour. It is this to be permitted to pray for the saints, for so we are brought into close fellowship with Christ. Especially when we think what we once were--beggars for ourselves at mercys door. Avail yourselves of this honour.
3. Excellence. Such intercession benefits those who use it, for it will suggest go you to know your brethren, and will bring love with it; and will lead you to kinder judgments, and to self-watchfulness. Have we not cause to be ashamed on account of our neglect of this duty?
4. Extent. He would pray for those who had displeased him; who had said, perhaps, severe things to him. And especially when they were in trouble. Men of the world leave their companions when they get into trouble as the herd leave the wounded deer. But we should stand by such.
II. For sinners also we should intercede. It is the most essential thing we can do. We cannot change their hearts. Such prayer will fit you to become Gods instrument, and will make you go to work hopefully. It is a very horrible thing to think of persons being buried alive, put underground by their friends in their coffins while yet there was breath in their bodies. Let us mind that we never bury a soul alive; I am afraid we are in the habit of doing it. We judge of such an one that he will never be converted, all effort would be useless. But we have no right thus to seal a souls death-warrant or to limit the grace of God. In this prayer all can aid. Some things many of you cannot do, but this all can. And especially when sinners come into calamities. We may win them then. Let us all intercede more. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 hit me
hit me
The psalmist speaks as if giving a rebuke were physically hitting someone. AT: "rebuke me" or "hit me so I will listen when he corrects me" (See: Metaphor)
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it will be a kindness to me
The abstract noun "kindness" can be translated with an adverb. AT: "he will be acting kindly to me" (See: Abstract Nouns)
it will be like oil on my head
Possible meanings are that the psalmist speaks as if a person correcting him were putting oil on his head 1) to honor him. AT: "when he corrects me, I will know that the one who corrects me is doing a good deed to me" or 2) to make his head feel better. (See: Simile and Metaphor)
may my head not refuse to accept it
The head is a synecdoche for the person. The litotes can be translated as a positive statement. AT: "may I accept it gladly" (See: Synecdoche and Litotes)
my prayer is always against their wicked deeds
The words "wicked deeds" are a metonym for the people who do the wicked deeds. AT: "I always pray that Yahweh will stop wicked people from doing evil deeds" (See: Metonymy)
Their leaders will be thrown down
Possible meanings are 1) "Someone will throw their leaders down" or 2) "Their leaders will throw them down." (See: Active or Passive)
cliffs
ground that goes straight down a long way
our bones have been scattered
Possible meanings are 1) "people have thrown our bones around in different directions" or 2) as a result of the fall from the cliffs (Psa 141:6) "our bodies are broken and our bones lie in disorder."
translationWords
righteous
oil
pray
works
evil
word
plow
Hades
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.