\*Ver. 8. \\Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness\\, &c.]
Not in mine, but thine; in the righteousness of God,
which is revealed in the Gospel, from faith to faith,
and is imputed by God, and received by faith; in this
righteousness the psalmist desired to be led into the
house of God, and appear before him; nor is there any
other righteousness in which man can stand before God
and worship. Or else the sense is, that God would
lead him in the way of righteousness, in his righteous
statutes, judgments, and ordinances; in which way
the Lord does lead his people, \\#Ps 23:3 Pr 8:20\\.
Or that he would lead him for his righteousness'
sake; because of his faithfulness to his promises, that
he would direct, uphold, and never leave nor forsake
him. David was very sensible that the way of man is
not in himself, and that he could not direct his own
steps; and therefore desired to be guided by the Lord,
and to be led by the right hand of his righteousness,
and to be upheld by it in his ways:
\*\\because of mine
enemies\\; or, %those that observe me% {l} that lie in wait
and watch for my halting, as Jeremiah's enemies did;
and would rejoice at my fall, and insult me, and blaspheme
thy name; therefore lead, guide, and uphold me;
\*\\make thy way straight before my face\\; thy way
of providence, thy way of grace, thy way of worship
and duty; let it appear plain and manifest, that I may
know in which way I should walk; and let all obstructions
be removed out of the way, that I may
walk straight on, without any difficulty or hinderance.
He seems to have respect to his enemies, who lay in
his way, that God would remove them; see \\#Ps 5:9, 10\\;

\*Ver. 9. \\For [there is] no faithfulness in their mouth\\,
&c.] In the mouth of the ungodly, as the Chaldee
paraphrase; in the mouth of every one of them, as
Aben Ezra interprets it: that is, in the mouth of every
wicked, bloody, and deceitful man; of every one of
David's enemies, as Saul, or the conspirators with
Absalom his son. There was no steadfastness in them;
nothing right, sure, or firm said by them; nothing that
could be depended upon; there was %no truth% in them,
as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic
versions render it. And as this was true of David's,
so of Christ's enemies; of Herod, and of the Herodians,
and of the Scribes and Pharisees; see \\#Mt 2:8
22:16\\; and of the enemies of Christ's Gospel; of all
false teachers, who speak not the word faithfully; tell
dreams, use the hidden things of dishonesty, walk in
craftiness, handle the word of God deceitfully, and
speak lies in hypocrisy: there is no certainty in them,
nor is any thing they say to be trusted to. And this
is the character of wicked men in common: they are
an assembly of treacherous men; there is none upright
among them; nor is any confidence to be placed in
them: the people of God are in danger of being imposed
upon and misled by them to their hurt; and
therefore the psalmist prays, that the Lord would
lead him in his righteousness;
\*\\their inward part [is]
very wickedness\\; their heart, which is desperately
wicked, exceeding sinful; not only wicked, and very
wicked, but wickedness itself. This is the root and
fountain of all wickedness, and the reason why there
is no faithfulness in their mouth: the word {m} is sometimes
rendered, %their inward thought%, \\#Ps 49:11 64:6\\;
which is the inmost of man, the nearest to
him; and which, and even the imagination of it, is
evil, and that continually: the word {n} translated
%wickedness% signifies woes, calamities, and mischiefs; and
such the wicked hearts of men are full of, and are continually
devising against the people of God, and his
righteous cause. And this is the just character of ungodly
men, even though they may profess to know
God, have a form of godliness, and be outwardly
righteous before men; as these were David was concerned with;
\*\\their throat [is] an open sepulchre\\; or as
one, as the Targum paraphrases it; to which the throat
of wicked men may be compared for its voracity and
insatiableness; the grave being one of those three or
four things, which never has enough or is satisfied.
And this is true of the throat, whether it be considered
as an instrument of speech, and throws out devouring
words to the prejudice of the characters and reputations
of others; or as an instrument of swallowing meat
and drink, and where the pleasure of appetite is; and
so may be expressive of the eager desire of the wicked
after sin, who drink up iniquity like water; and of
their delight in it, and their fulness of it, and yet still
greedy, insatiable, and not to be satisfied: and their
throat may be compared to an open grave for the nauseous
stench it emits; corrupt communication, filthiness,
and foolish talking, proceeding out of it; and
horrible oaths, curses, imprecations, and blasphemies,
being belched out through it; and for the danger which
is by it, since into it men may fall unawares; and so
the evil communications of wicked men corrupt good
manners, and do great mischief to those who fall into
company with them;
\*\\they flatter with their tongue\\;
or, %make it smooth% {o}; use oily expressions, soft language:
or, %part% or %divide% {p} their tongue; are double-tongued
and double-hearted; and so deceive persons,
as the apostle interprets it in \\#Ro 3:13\\. They flatter
God himself, drawing nigh to him in an hypocritical
way; they flatter men, their neighbours, and impose
upon them; they flatter princes, and such sycophants
were about David. And such are false teachers,
who prophesy smooth things, and with good words
and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple; or,
which account there is great reason to pray to be led
and directed by the Lord.

{l} \^yrrwv\^ %observatores meos%, Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius,
Michaelis; so Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Ben Melech, & Ainsworth.
{m} \^Mbrq\^ \~h kardia\~, Sept. %cor%, V. L. %i.e. cogitatio%, Muis.
{n} \^twwh\^ %aerumuae%, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus;
%calamitates%, Cocceius; so Ainsworth.
{o} \^Nwqylx\^ %levigant, seu emolliunt%, Piscator, Gejerus.
{p} %Divident vel dispertient%, Mariana.