Psalm 69:4
They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
They that hate me without a cause,.... As the Jews did; see
John 15:18; for he did no injury to the persons or properties of men; but went about continually doing good, both to their souls and bodies; so that he merited their highest esteem and love, and not their hatred; and yet they were his implacable enemies; see Luke 19:14;
are more than the hairs of mine head; they were a multitude that came to take him in the garden; and it was the multitude that the priests and Pharisees instigated to ask for the release of Barabbas, and the crucifixion of Jesus; and a vast number of people followed him to the cross, and insulted him on it; the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together against him;
They that would destroy me; as the Jews sought to do often before his time was come;
being mine enemies wrongfully; without cause, as before; or through lies and falsehoods told of him, and spread about concerning him:
are mighty; lively and strong, as David's enemies were, Psalms 38:19. The great men of the earth, kings and princes, as Herod and Pontius Pilate, and also the infernal principalities and powers, who were concerned in contriving those lies, and putting them into the minds of men; for Satan is the father of lies and falsehood;
then I restored that which I took not away; by rapine, force, and violence, as the word {w} signifies; and which was done by others. Thus, for instance, Christ restored the glory of God, of which he was robbed, and which was taken away by the sin of man; by veiling his own glory, not seeking that, but his Father's; and by working out the salvation of his people, in such a manner as that all the divine perfections were glorified by it; hence, "glory to God in the highest", Luke 2:14. He satisfied justice he had never injured, though others had; he fulfilled a law, and bore the penalty of it, which he never broke; and made satisfaction for sins he never committed; and brought in a righteousness he had not taken away; and provided a better inheritance than what was lost by Adam: and all this was done at the time of his sufferings and death, and by the means of them.
{w} ytlzg "rapui", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.