a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
men
אִ֡ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
long
עַד'ad-
H5704
as far (or long · preposition
glory
כְבוֹדִ֣יkhe.vo.Di
H3519
properly · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 1st person masculine singular
shame
לִ֭כְלִמָּהLikh.li.mah
H3639
disgrace · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
love
תֶּאֱהָב֣וּןte.'e.ha.Vun
H157
to have affection for (sexually or otherwise) · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural + paragogic nun
vanity
רִ֑יקRik
H7385
emptiness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
seek
תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּte.vak.Shu
H1245
to search out (by any method · verb, piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
leasing
כָזָ֣בkha.Zav
H3577
falsehood · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Selah
סֶֽלָהSe.lah
H5542
suspension (of music) · interjection
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Hosea 4:7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
Psalms 3:3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
Psalms 5:6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
Psalms 106:20 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
Jeremiah 2:11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
1 Samuel 12:21 And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 4:1-5
The title of the psalm acquaints us that David, having penned it by divine inspiration for the use of the church, delivered it to the chief musician, or master of the song, who (according to the divine appointment of psalmody made in his time, which he was chiefly instrumental in the establishment of) presided in that service. We have a particular account of the constitution, the modelling of the several classes of singers, each with a chief, and the share each bore in the work, 1 Chr. 25. Some prophesied according to the order of the king, Psa 4:2. Others prophesied with a harp, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, Psa 4:3. Of others it is said that they were to lift up the horn, Psa 4:5…
sons of men--men of note or prominence (compare Ch2 21:9).
turn my glory--or, "royal dignity."
into shame--or, "reproach."
vanity--a foolish and hopeless enterprise (Psa 2:1).
leasing--a lie.
John Gill on Psalms 4:2
O ye sons of men,.... Meaning great men, the nobles of Israel; and so the Jewish interpreters (k) generally explain it; such as Ahithophel, and others, who were in the conspiracy with Absalom, 2 Samuel 15:12, and so they were the kings and princes of the earth, and the rulers of the Jewish sanhedrim, the chief priests and elders, who were the enemies of Christ; and such, generally speaking, have been the persecutors of the saints; these men of power and authority, of dignity and honour, and who were in high places, and boasted of their titles and grandeur, the psalmist addresses by way of expostulation in the following words;
how long will ye turn my glory into shame? Meaning either God, wh…
Psalm 4:2-3
2. O ye sons of men, how long will ye try to turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seeking after lying? Selah 3. But know that Jehovah hath chosen for himself one who is merciful: Jehovah will hear when I call upon him.
2. O ye sons of men. The happy result of the prayer of David was, that resuming courage, he was able not only to repel the fury of his enemies, but also to challenge them on his part, and fearlessly to despise all their machinations. That our confidence, therefore, may remain unshaken, we ought not, when assailed by the wicked, to enter into conflict without being furnished like David with the same armor. The sum is, that since God was dete…
The Church Fathers
Their deceit, in fact, was in claiming God does not exercise providence, and their futile thinking was the conviction that the judge does not exercise surveillance. This thought constantly overtakes sinners: they think they will not pay the penalty, rejecting the judge's role along with his providence. This is not so, however, he is saying, not so!
David seems to be speaking here of those who, when being tested and put through various trials, would rather do anything than find refuge in God. Why is it necessary, he asks, to be disturbed and upset at the conditions of the times? What makes you hand yourselves over to vanity, you heavy-hearted people? Why do you seek lies and leave the truth behind? Rather than being informed by these things, know that the Lord God is the one who watches and controls everything, the one who never ever deserts his own righteous ones but always does miraculous things for them. You yourselves, as the upright, know that the Lord is going to be near to you and me whenever you will call out to him.
"O you sons of men, how long heavy in heart" [Psalm 4:2]. Let your error, says he, have lasted at least up to the coming of the Son of God; why then any longer are you heavy in heart? When will you make an end of crafty wiles, if now when the truth is present ye make it not? "Why do ye love vanity, and seek a lie?" Why would ye be blessed by the lowest things? Truth alone, from which all things are true, makes blessed. For, "vanity is of deceivers, and all is vanity." [Ecclesiastes 1:2] "What profit has a man of all his labour, wherewith he labours under the sun?" Why then are you held back by the love of things temporal? Why follow ye after the last things, as though the first, which is vanity and a lie? For you would have them abide with you, which all pass away, as does a shadow.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Leasing — (Ps. 4:2; 5:6) an Old English word meaning lies, or lying, as the Hebrew word kazabh is generally rendered.
Neginoth — I.e., songs with instrumental accompaniment, found in the titles of Ps. 4; 6; 54; 55; 67; 76; rendered “stringed instruments,” Hab. 3:19, A.V. It denotes all kinds of stringed instruments, as the…
Leasing · Falsifying — Falsifying
Lying · The wicked: Seek after — The wicked: Seek after
Malice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Vanity · The wicked: Love — The wicked: Love
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
(Heb.: 4:3-4) Righteous in his relation to God he turns rebukingly towards those who contemn his whose honour is God's honour, viz., to the partisans of Absolom. In contrast with בּני אדם, men who are lost in the multitude, בּני אישׁ denotes such as stand prominently forward out of the multitude; passages like Psa 49:3; Psa 62:10; Pro 8:4; Isa 2:9; Isa 5:15, show this distinction. In this and the preceding Psalm David makes as little mention of his degenerate son as he does of the deluded king in the Psalms belonging to the period of his persecution by Saul. The address is directed to the aristocratic party, whose tool Absolom has become. To these he days: till when (עד־מה beside the non-gut…
The opponents of the godly place their hope in delusions, treachery, and idolatry. • my reputation (or my glory): The honor of the psalmist, or possibly of the Lord, is at stake.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 4:2
O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.
In this second division of the Psalm, we are led from the closet of prayer into the field of conflict. Remark the undaunted courage of the man of God. He allows that his enemies are great men (for such is the import of the Hebrew words translated— sons of men), but still he believes them to be foolish men, and therefore chides them, as though they were but children. He tells them that they love vanity, and seek after leasing, that is, lying, empty fancies, vain conceits, wicked fabrications. He asks them how long they mean to make his honour a jest, and his fame a mocker…
