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, ( Psalms 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 Psalms 3:2).