Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 16:4

"Their sorrows shall be multiplied that give gifts for another [god]: Their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, Nor take their names upon my lips." — Psalms 16:4 (ASV)

Their sorrows shall be multiplied - The word here translated “sorrows”—Hebrew עצבוּת (‛atstsebôth)—may mean either idols or sorrows. (Psalms 139:24; Job 9:28; Psalms 147:3). Some propose to translate it, “Their idols are multiplied;” that is, many are the gods whom others worship, while I worship one God only. Gesenius understands it this way, and the Aramaic Paraphrase also translates it thus. But the common interpretation is probably the correct one. This view means that sorrow, pain, and anguish must always accompany the worship of any gods other than the true God. Therefore, the psalmist would not be found among their number or united with them in their devotions.

That hasten after another god - Professor Alexander translates this, “Another they have purchased.” Dr. Horsley translates it, “Who betroth themselves to another.” The Septuagint, “After these things they are in haste.” The Latin Vulgate, “Afterward they make haste.” The Hebrew word—מהר (mâhar)—properly means to hasten; to be quick, prompt, inclined. It is used twice (Exodus 22:16) in the sense of “buying or endowing”—that is, procuring a wife by a price paid to her parents—but the common meaning of the word is to hasten, and this is clearly the sense here. The idea is that the persons referred to show a readiness or willingness to forsake the true God and to serve other gods.

Their conduct shows that they do not hesitate to do this when it is proposed to them; they embrace the first opportunity to do it. Men hesitate and delay when it is proposed to them to serve the true God; they readily embrace an opposite course—following the world and sin.

Their drink-offerings of blood - It was usual to pour out a drink-offering of wine or water in the worship of idol gods, and even of the true God. Thus Jacob (Genesis 35:14) is said to have set up a pillar in Padan-aram and to have poured a drink-offering thereon. (Exodus 30:9; Leviticus 23:13; Numbers 15:5).

The phrase “drink-offerings of blood” would seem to imply that the blood of the animals slain in sacrifice was often mixed with the wine or water that was poured out in the services of the pagan gods. Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Michaelis suppose this. It would also seem that the worshippers themselves drank this mixed cup. According to DeWette, they did this when they bound themselves by a solemn oath to perform any dangerous service. The eating, and consequently the drinking, of blood was solemnly forbidden to the Israelites (Leviticus 3:17; Leviticus 7:26; Leviticus 17:10). The idea here is that the psalmist had solemnly resolved that he would not partake of the abominations of the pagans or be united with them in any way in their worship.

Nor take up their names into my lips - As objects of worship. That is, I will not in any way acknowledge them as gods or render to them the homage that is due to God. The very mention of the name of any other god than the true God was solemnly forbidden by the law of Moses (Exodus 23:13): And make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of your mouth. So the apostle Paul says (Ephesians 5:3): But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not once be named among you, as becometh saints. The idea in these passages seems to be that the mere mention of these things would tend to produce a dangerous familiarity with them, and through such familiarity, something of the repugnance and horror with which they should be regarded would be diminished. They were, in other words, to be utterly avoided; they were never to be thought of or named; they were to be treated as though they were not.

No one can safely familiarize himself with vice so much as to make it a frequent subject of conversation. Pollution will flow into the heart from words that describe pollution, even when there is no intention that the use of such words should produce contamination. No one can be familiar with stories or songs of a polluted nature and still retain a pure heart. “The very passage of a polluted thought through the mind leaves pollution behind it.” How much more is the mind polluted when the thought is dwelled upon, and when it is given utterance in language!