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Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God - Compare the notes at Isaiah 11:4. The literal translation of this would be, “If thou wilt slay the wicked.” It is not easy to account for the sudden and remarkable transition or diversion of the train of thought from the main subject of the psalm, in these verses Psalm 139:19-22, in which the psalmist gives vent to his feelings toward the wicked, and prays that they may depart from him. Perhaps the explanation of it may be, that as the psalmist was reflecting on the fact that God is everywhere present, that he searches the hearts of people, that he must know all their conduct, he was suddenly struck with the idea of the condition of wicked people in the presence, and under the eye, of such a Being. As God knows all things, he must know them; and this instantaneously suggested the idea of their guilt and danger. People of such characters could not deceive such a God. They could not but be known to him, and could not but be objects of his aversion. They could not, therefore, but be in danger.
Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men - See Psalm 119:115. The Hebrew is, “Men of bloods;” that is, men who shed blood. The language is used to denote wicked men in general. The idea here is not that the psalmist was in danger from them at that time, but that he desired to be separate from that class of people; he did not wish to be ranked with them, to partake of their conduct, or to share in their fate. He had no sympathy with them, and he desired to be separate from them altogether.