Psalms 52:3

Thou lovest evil - This was a finished character. Let us note the particulars:

1. He boasted in the power to do evil.

2. His tongue devised, studied, planned, and spoke mischiefs.

3. He was a deceitful worker.

4. He loved evil and not good.

5. He loved lying; his delight was in falsity.

6. Every word that tended to the destruction of others he loved.

7. His tongue was deceitful; he pretended friendship while his heart was full of enmity, Psalm 52:1-4. Now behold the punishment: -

Thou lovest evil more than good - Thou dost prefer to do injury to others, rather than to do them good. In the case referred to, instead of aiding the innocent, the persecuted, and the wronged, he had attempted to reveal the place where he might be found, and where an enraged enemy might have an opportunity of wreaking his vengeance upon him.

And lying rather than to speak righteousness - He preferred a lie to the truth; and, when he supposed that his own interest would be subserved by it, he preferred a falsehood that would promote that interest, rather than a simple statement of the truth. The "lying" in this case was that which was "implied" in his being desirous of giving up David, or betraying him to Saul - as if David was a bad man, and as if the suspicions of Saul were wellfounded. He preferred to give his countenance to a falsehood in regard to him, rather than to state the exact truth in reference to his character. His conduct in this was strongly in contrast with that of Ahimelech, who, when arraigned before Saul, declared his belief that David was innocent; his firm conviction that David was true and loyal. "For" that fidelity he lost his life, 1 Samuel 22:14. Doeg was willing to lend countenance to the suspicions of Saul, and practically to represent David as a traitor to the king. The word "Selah" here is doubtless a mere musical pause. See the notes at Psalm 3:2. It determines nothing in regard to the sense of the passage.