Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.

when they are consumed: when they are consumed by thy wrath, and they shall be no more. And they shall know that God will rule Jacob, and all the ends of the earth.

Make an end in wrath, make an end, that they may be no more; that they may know that God ruleth in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth. Selah.

Consume in fury, consume and they are not, And they know that God is ruling in Jacob, To the ends of the earth. Selah.

Put an end to them in your wrath, put an end to them, so that they may not be seen again; let them see that God is ruling in Jacob and to the ends of the earth. (Selah.)

For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them even be taken in their pride, and for cursing and lying which they speak.

Consume, consume them in wrath, that they may not be David may seem to contradict himself in praying for the utter destruction of his enemies, when immediately before he had expressed his desire that they might not be exterminated at once. [1] What else could he mean when he asks that God would consume them in wrath, but that he would cut them off suddenly, and not by a gradual and slower process of punishment? But he evidently refers in what he says here to a different point of time, and this removes any apparent inconsistency, for he prays that when they had been set up for a sufficient period as an example, they might eventually be devoted to destruction. It was customary with the victorious Roman generals, first to lead the captives which had been kept for the day of triumph through the city, and afterwards, upon reaching the capital, to give them over to the lictors for execution. Now David prays that when God had, in a similar manner, reserved his enemies for an interval sufficient to illustrate his triumph, he would upon this consign them to summary punishment. The two things are not at all inconsistent; first, that the divine judgments should be lengthened out through a considerable period, to secure their being remembered better, and that then, upon sufficient evidence being given to the world of the certainty with which the wicked are subjected in the displeasure of God to the slower process of destruction, he should in due time bring them forth to final execution, the better to awake, by such a demonstration of his power, the minds of those who may be more secure than others, or less affected by witnessing moderate inflictions of punishment. He adds, accordingly, that they may know, even to the ends of the earth, that God ruleth in Jacob Some would insert the copulative particle, reading, that they may know that God rules in Jacob, and in all the nations of the world, an interpretation which I do not approve, and which does violence to the sense. The allusion is to the condign nature of the judgment, which would be such that the report of it would reach the remotest regions, and strike salutary terror into the minds even of their benighted and godless inhabitants. He was more especially anxious that God should be recognised as ruling in the Church, it being preposterous that the place where his throne was erected should present such an aspect of confusion as converted his temple into a den of thieves.

Footnotes

1 - Williams observes, that the Hebrew rendered consume "literally means to finish, bring to an end; namely, the banditti. The Psalmist, verse 11, prays, Slay them not;' i.e., take not away their lives as individuals, but put an end to the conspiracy."

Consume them in wrath - Or, in thy justice. The idea in the word "consume" here is to finish; to complete; to bring to an end. It does not mean to "burn" them as our word might seem to imply, nor is there any reference to the "mode" or "manner" in which their power was to be brought to an end. It is merely a prayer that all their plans might be frustrated; that there might be an entire completion of their attempts; or that they might be in no sense successful.
Consume them - The expression is repeated for the sake of emphasis, implying a desire that the work might be "complete."
That they may not be - That things might be as if they were not in the land of the living.
And let them know - Those who are now plotting my death.
That God ruleth in Jacob - That God rules among his people, protecting them and guarding them from the attacks of their enemies; that he is their friend, and that he is the enemy of all those who seek to injure and destroy them.
Unto the ends of the earth - Everywhere. All over the world. Let it be shown that the same principles of government prevail wherever man abides or wanders - that God manifests himself everywhere as the friend of right, and the enemy of wrong. The phrase "the ends of the earth," is in accordance with the prevailing conception that the earth was an extended plane, and that it had limits or boundaries. Compare the notes at Isaiah 40:22, notes at Isaiah 40:28.

(l) Consume [them] in wrath, consume [them], that they [may] not [be]: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.
(l) When your time will come, and when they have sufficiently served for an example of your vengeance to others.

Consume them in wrath, consume them,.... The repetition of the request shows the ardour and vehemency of the mind of the petitioner, and the importunity in which he put up the petition; and suggests that the persons designed were guilty of very great sins, deserving of the wrath of God, and which came upon them to the uttermost, 1-Thessalonians 2:16;
that they may not be; either any more in the land of the living; be utterly extinct, having no being in this world, Jeremiah 31:15; or that they might not be in the glory and grandeur, in the honour, dignity, and felicity, they once were in; which best suits the present state of the Jews; and this sense better agrees with what follows;
and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth; this is to be understood of the Messiah, who is God over all, blessed for ever, and is the ruler in Israel, King of saints; reigns over the house of Jacob, in his church, and among his people, wherever they are; even to the ends of the earth, where he has had, or will have, some that are subject to him: for his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, Psalm 72:8; and this his government is known to men good and bad, by the judgments which he executeth; and particularly it is apparent that he is made Lord and Christ, and that he is come in his kingdom, and with power, by the vengeance taken on the Jewish nation.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2.

Though delayed for wise reasons, the utter destruction of the wicked must come at last, and God's presence and power in and for His Church will be known abroad (1-Samuel 17:46; Psalm 46:10-11).

Not be - In the land of the living any more.