Why does David call Doeg a liar in Psalm 52?
Doeg the Edomite reported to Saul what he had seen at Nob — that David had come to Ahimelech the priest — and on the face of it his report was accurate. Yet David, writing this psalm about that very event, charges him with loving falsehood more than speaking what is right, which raises the question of how a true report can be a lie.
The Facts Were Right, the Story Was False
Commentators locate the lie not in Doeg's data but in the shape he gave it. His account contained correct details, yet those details were arranged to plant a conspiracy that never existed.
Samuel RidoutDoeg, intentionally or otherwise, misrepresents David's interview with Ahimelech. From David's characterization of it in Psalm 52, there can be little doubt that his own enmity led him deliberately to lie. According to his representation, Ahimelech was in the conspiracy to enthrone David. He had inquired of the Lord for him, had given him food and the sword of Goliath — but even the statements which were correct were given a wrong interpretation by Doeg, and so his whole narrative was false witness, which had a most disastrous result for the priestly house.
The Half-Truth as a Method
The psalm traces the words back to the heart behind them. One writer draws out why a liar keeps some truth in his mouth at all.
Numerical Bible NotesAnd out of the heart the mouth speaks: "you have loved evil rather than good; lying instead of speaking right." How the great enemy of man is seen in all this! For "he is a liar, and the father of it." Truth will not serve his purpose — that is, the whole, full truth. He is fond of using it, so far as it will give colour and attractiveness to his lie: a film of varnish over a rotten interior, or like a film of ice over his cavernous wickedness — itself only a deception, a lure, a deeper lie.
Nothing Forced Him to Speak
David does not describe a man cornered into an awkward answer. He describes a man who preferred falsehood when truth was available, and who was paid for the preference.
A. PridhamDoeg is a fitting example of the subtle activity of the spirit of wickedness as it works under the seared conscience of apostate profession. Lying and malice were his choice, not his necessity. He is willingly against the truth. He lies against men's lives, and freely dips his hand in their blood, in ready obedience to the command of unrighteousness. He follows Saul for vineyards and olive-yards, betraying the innocent for the wages of wickedness.
Words That Kill
The psalm calls Doeg a mighty man, and he was a herdsman. His strength lay in what came out of his mouth: eighty-five priests died because of a sentence.
The Bible TreasuryDoeg is a treacherous foe: one who has learned that there is no more powerful weapon for the destruction of the innocent than the tongue. To learn the Holy Spirit's estimate of him, and David's by the Spirit, we must turn to Psalm 52. He was a proud boaster, magnifying himself because of his position and resources, and "he made not God his strength." He was a lover of evil and of falsehood. In the tabernacle and before the Lord he was planning the work of destruction, preparing his tongue, like a sharp razor, to kill the guiltless — a savage wolf, not sparing the flock.
Deceit Is an Admission of Weakness
Lying looks like power, but the psalm turns it around. A man who could simply act would have no need to misrepresent.
Numerical Bible NotesYet this deceit is itself the confession of weakness: power that is equal to its purpose has at least no need of it. Thus it carries with it the witness of its own frailty and changeableness; the seed of death is in it, the witness of the judgment of God upon it — and so it is foreseen. "The Mighty One shall likewise strike you down forever: He shall seize you, and pluck you out of the tent, and root you out of the land of the living."
The Opposite Character
Several writers read Doeg as a picture of a coming enemy, and set his profile directly against the character of faith.
J. N. DarbyViolence, self-confidence and deceit make up the character of the man of the earth — the contrast is dependence. This is always the character of Christ in the Psalms.
The psalm does not end in the indictment. Judgment on the informer only makes the psalmist's own security more visible.
H. L. RossierAnd so he announces judgment without mercy on the Edomite, Israel's sworn enemy. But that does not at all destroy the confidence and assurance of the man of God. Quite the opposite — against the dark background of this wickedness the believer's blessed portion stands out in all its splendour.
Summary
- Facts. Doeg's report about Ahimelech was accurate in its details; the details were given a wrong interpretation, and the whole account became false witness.
- Framing. Truth serves the liar only as varnish; he uses as much of it as will make the lie attractive, which makes it a deeper lie.
- Choice. Lying and malice were Doeg's choice, not his necessity — he was willingly against the truth, and paid for it in vineyards and olive-yards.
- Weapon. He learned that no weapon destroys the innocent more effectively than the tongue, and eighty-five priests proved it.
- End. Deceit confesses its own weakness and is uprooted; the man who trusts God's mercy is a green olive tree in the house of God.