Psalm 36 commentary

PSALM 36 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
I TRODUCTIO
SPURGEO , "Title. To the Chief Musician, He who had the leadership of the
Temple service was charged with the use of this song in public worship. What is
everybody's business is never done. It was well to have one person specially to
attend to the service of song in the house of the Lord. Of David the servant of the
Lord. This would seem to indicate that the Psalm peculiarly befits one who esteems
it an honour to be called Jehovah's servant. It is THE SO G OF HAPPY
SERVICE; such a one as all may join in who bear the easy yoke of Jesus. The
wicked are contrasted with the righteous, and the great Lord of devout men is
heartily extolled; thus obedience to so good a Master is indirectly insisted on, and
rebellion against him is plainly condemned.
Divisions. From Psalms 36:1-4 David describes the rebellious: in Psalms 36:5-9 he
extols the various attributes of the Lord; in Psalms 36:10-11 he addresses the Lord
in prayer, and in the last verse his faith sees in vision the overthrow of all the
workers of iniquity.
ELLICOTT, "This psalm consists of three distinctly defined stanzas of nearly equal
length. The first portrays the wicked man who has reached the lowest grade of
impiety. The second exalts the goodness and justice of God. The third, which is, in a
sort, a practical application of the others, expresses, under the form of a prayer, the
right choice to make between the two tendencies, the pious and the impious. The
sudden transition at the end of the first stanza has led some critics to pronounce the
psalm composite. But what else can the heart, which would not sink beneath the
oppressive sense of the accumulated sin and misery of earth, do, but turn suddenly
and confidently to the thought of an infinite and abiding goodness and truth. The
only resource of faith that would not fail is to appeal from earth to heaven, and see,
high over all the fickleness and falsehood of men, the faithfulness of God: strong
above all the insolence and tyranny of the wicked His eternal justice: large, deep,
and sure, when all other supports seem to fail, His vast and unchanging love.
Those who understand by “God’s house,” in Psalms 36:8, the Temple, reject the
Davidic authorship. But understood of the world generally, or, better, of the
heavenly abode of the Divine, it does not serve as an indication of date, and there is
nothing else in the poem to decide when it was written. The parallelism is varied.
Title.—For “servant of the Lord,” as applied to David, see Psalms 18 (title).

For the director of music. Of David the servant of
the Lord.
1 I have a message from God in my heart
concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:[b]
There is no fear of God
before their eyes.
BAR ES, "The transgression of the wicked - There is considerable difficulty in
respect to the grammatical construction of the Hebrew in this verse, though the general
sense is plain. The main idea undoubtedly is, that the fair explanation of the conduct of
the wicked, or the fair inference to be derived from that conduct was, that they had no
fear of God before them; that they did in no proper way regard or fear God. The psalmist
introduces himself as looking at the conduct or the acts of the wicked, and he says that
their conduct can be explained, in his judgment, or “in his heart,” in no other way than
on this supposition. The word “transgression” here refers to some open and public act.
What the particular act was the psalmist does not state, though probably it had reference
to something which had been done to himself. What is here said, however, with
particular reference to his enemies, may be regarded as a general truth in regard to the
wicked, to wit, that their conduct is such that the fair interpretation of what they do is,
that there is no “fear of God before their eyes,” or that they have no regard for his will.
Saith - This word - ‫נאם‬ ne
'ûm - is a participle from a verb, ‫נאם‬ nâ'am, meaning to
mutter; to murmur; to speak in a low voice; and is employed especially with reference to
the divine voice in which the oracles of God were revealed to the prophets. Compare
1Ki_19:12. It is found most commonly in connection with the word “Lord” or “Yahweh,”
expressed by the phrase “Saith the Lord,” as if the oracle were the voice of Yahweh. Gen_
22:16; Num_14:28; Isa_1:24; Isa_3:15, “et saepe.” It is correctly rendered here “saith;”
or, the “saying” of the transgression of the wicked is, etc. That is, this is what their
conduct “says;” or, this is the fair interpretation of their conduct.
Within my heart - Hebrew: “in the midst of my heart.” Evidently this means in my
judgment; in my apprehension; or, as we should say, “So it seems or appears to me.” My
heart, or my judgment, puts this construction on their conduct, and can put no other on
it.
That there is “no fear of God - No reverence for God; no regard for his will. The
sinner acts without any restraint derived from the law or the will of God.
Before his eyes - He does not see or apprehend God; he acts as if there were no God.
This is the fair interpretation to be put upon the conduct of the wicked “everywhere” -
that they have no regard for God or his law.

CLARKE, "The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart - It is
difficult to make any sense of this line as it now stands. How can the transgression of the
wicked speak with in my heart? But instead of ‫לבי‬ libbi, My heart, four of Kennicott’s and
De Rossi’s MSS. have ‫לבו‬ libbo, His heart. “The speech of transgression to the wicked is
in the midst of his heart.” “There is no fear of God before his eyes.” It is not by example
that such a person sins; the fountain that sends forth the impure streams is in his own
heart. There the spirit of transgression lives and reigns; and, as he has no knowledge of
God, so he has no fear of God; therefore, there is no check to his wicked propensities: all
come to full effect. Lust is conceived, sin is brought forth vigorously, and transgression is
multiplied. The reading above proposed, and which should be adopted, is supported by
the Vulgate, Septuagint, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon. This latter reads the
sentence thus: which I shall give as nearly as possible in the order of the original. “Quoth
the unrightwise, that he do guilt in himself: is not fear God’s at fore eyes his.” That is,
The unrighteous man saith in himself that he will sin: God’s fear is not before his eyes.
The old Psalter, in language as well as meaning, comes very near to the Anglo-Saxon:
The unrightwis saide that he trespas in hym self: the drede of God es noght before his
een. And thus it paraphrases the passage: The unryghtwis, that es the kynde [the whole
generation] of wyked men; said in hym self, qwar man sees noght; that he trespas, that
es, he synne at his wil, als [as if] God roght noght [did not care] qwat he did; and so it es
sene, that the drede of God es noght by forehis een; for if he dred God, he durst noght so
say.”
I believe these versions give the true sense of the passage. The psalmist here paints the
true state of the Babylonians: they were idolaters of the grossest kind, and worked
iniquity with greediness. The account we have in the book of Daniel of this people,
exhibits them in the worst light; and profane history confirms the account. Bishop
Horsley thinks that the word ‫פשע‬ pesha, which we render transgression, signifies the
apostate or devil. The devil says to the wicked, within his heart, There is no fear; i.e., no
cause of fear: “God is not before his eyes.” Placing the colon after fear takes away all
ambiguity in connection with the reading His heart, already contended for. The principle
of transgression, sin in the heart, says, or suggests to every sinner, there is no cause for
fear: go on, do not fear, for there is no danger. He obeys this suggestion, goes on, and
acts wickedly, as “God is not before his eyes.”
GILL, "The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart,.... Which is
represented as a person speaking within him; not that the transgression of the wicked
was really in him; sin was in him, and sin of the same kind and nature with the wicked
man's; but he taking notice of and considering the wicked man's sinful course of life, and
his daring impieties, conceived in his own mind, and concluded from hence,
that there is no fear of God before his eyes; no reverential affection for him, but
enmity to him; no godly filial fear, but at most only a slavish fear, a fear of punishment;
no holy and humble fear of him, but pride and wickedness; no fiducial and obediential
fear, but all the reverse; true worship of him, either internally or externally: there can be
no fear of God in any unregenerate man's, heart, because it is not of nature, but of grace,
and is, what is implanted at first conversion; there is in some an appearance of it, where
it is not really, whose fear is taught by the precept of men; and in others there may be

some awe of the divine Being, and trembling at the thought of a future judgment, arising
from the dictates of nature, the light of revelation, and the enjoyment of a religious
education; but in some there is no fear of God at all, and they are bold and daring
enough to assert it themselves, as the unjust judge did, Luk_18:4. Such as the atheist,
the common swearer, the debauchee and epicure, who give up themselves to all manner
of wickedness, contemn revelation, despise the word of God, and regard no day nor
manner of worship; and this notwithstanding the majesty of God, at whose presence
they tremble not, and notwithstanding the goodness of God, which should induce them
to fear him, and notwithstanding the judgment of God on others, and even on
themselves; see Jer_3:8; and notwithstanding the future awful judgment, which they
put far away or disbelieve. The Targum is, "transgression saith to the wicked within my
heart"; and Jarchi's note upon the text is this,
"this text is to be transposed thus, it is in my heart, that transgression, which is the evil
imagination, says to the wicked man, that there should be no fear of God before his eyes;
and the phrase, "in the midst of my heart", is as if a man should say, so it seems to me.''
The Septuagint version, and those that follow it, render the words thus, "the
transgressor said, that he might sin in himself, there is no fear of God before his eyes".
Gussetius (b) interprets "before his eyes", before the eyes of God himself, who is so good
a Being, that the sinner fears no punishment from him, but will pardon all his sins.
HE RY 1-2, "David, in the title of this psalm, is styled the servant of the Lord; why
in this, and not in any other, except in Ps. 18 (title), no reason can be given; but so he
was, not only as every good man is God's servant, but as a king, as a prophet, as one
employed in serving the interests of God's kingdom among men more immediately and
more eminently than any other in his day. He glories in it, Psa_116:16. It is no
disparagement, but an honour, to the greatest of men, to be the servants of the great
God; it is the highest preferment a man is capable of in this world.
David, in these verses, describes the wickedness of the wicked; whether he means his
persecutors in particular, or all notorious gross sinners in general, is not certain. But we
have here sin in its causes and sin in its colours, in its root and in its branches.
I. Here is the root of bitterness, from which all the wickedness of the wicked comes. It
takes rise, 1. From their contempt of God and the want of a due regard to him (Psa_
36:1): “The transgression of the wicked (as it is described afterwards, Psa_36:3, Psa_
36:4) saith within my heart (makes me to conclude within myself) that there is no fear
of God before his eyes; for, if there were, he would not talk and act so extravagantly as he
does; he would not, he durst not, break the laws of God, and violate his covenants with
him, if he had any awe of his majesty or dread of his wrath.” Fitly therefore is it brought
into the form of indictments by our law that the criminal, not having the fear of God
before his eyes, did so and so. The wicked did not openly renounce the fear of God, but
their transgression whispered it secretly into the minds of all those that knew any thing
of the nature of piety and impiety. David concluded concerning those who lived at large
that they lived without God in the world. 2. From their conceit of themselves and a cheat
they wilfully put upon their own souls (Psa_36:2): He flattereth himself in his own eyes;
that is, while he goes on in sin, he thinks he does wisely and well for himself, and either
does not see or will not own the evil and danger of his wicked practices; he calls evil good
and good evil; his licentiousness he pretends to be but his just liberty, his fraud passes
for his prudence and policy, and his persecuting the people of God, he suggests to
himself, is a piece of necessary justice. If his own conscience threaten him for what he

does, he says, God will not require it; I shall have peace though I go on. Note, Sinners
are self-destroyers by being self-flatterers. Satan could not deceive them if they did not
deceive themselves. Buy will the cheat last always? No; the day is coming when the
sinner will be undeceived, when his iniquity shall be found to be hateful. Iniquity is a
hateful thing; it is that abominable thing which the Lord hates, and which his pure and
jealous eye cannot endure to look upon. It is hurtful to the sinner himself, and therefore
ought to be hateful to him; but it is not so; he rolls it under his tongue as a sweet morsel,
because of the secular profit and sensual pleasure which may attend it; yet the meat in
his bowels will be turned, it will be the gall of asps, Job_20:13, Job_20:14. When their
consciences are convinced, and sin appears in its true colours and makes them a terror
to themselves - when the cup of trembling is put into their hands and they are made to
drink the dregs of it - then their iniquity will be found hateful, and their self-flattery their
unspeakable folly, and an aggravation of their condemnation
JAMISO , "Psa_36:1-12. On servant of the Lord, see on Psa_18:1, title. The
wickedness of man contrasted with the excellency of God’s perfections and
dispensations; and the benefit of the latter sought, and the evils of the former
deprecated.
The general sense of this difficult verse is, “that the wicked have no fear of God.” The
first clause may be rendered, “Saith transgression in my heart, in respect to the wicked,
there is no fear,” etc., that is, such is my reflection on men’s transgressions.
K&D 1-4, "(Heb.: 36:1-4) At the outset the poet discovers to us the wickedness of
the children of the world, which has its roots in alienation from God. Supposing it were
admissible to render Psa_36:2 : “A divine word concerning the evil-doing of the ungodly
is in the inward parts of my heart” (‫ם‬ ֻ‫א‬ְ‫נ‬ with a genitive of the object, like ‫א‬ ָ ַ‫,מ‬ which is
compared by Hofmann), then the difficulty of this word, so much complained of, might
find the desired relief in some much more easy way than by means of the conjecture
proposed by Diestel, ‫ם‬ ֵ‫ע‬ָ‫נ‬ (‫ם‬ ַ‫ּע‬‫נ‬), “Pleasant is transgression to the evil-doer,” etc. But the
genitive after ‫ם‬ ֻ‫א‬ְ‫נ‬ (which in Psa_110:1; Num_24:3., 15f., 2Sa_23:1; Pro_30:1, just as
here, stands at the head of the clause) always denotes the speaker, not the thing spoken.
Even in Isa_5:1 ‫לכרמו‬ ‫דודי‬ ‫שׁירת‬ is not a song concerning my beloved in relation to His
vineyard, but a song of my beloved (such a song as my beloved has to sing) touching His
vineyard. Thus, therefore, ‫ע‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ ֶ must denote the speaker, and ‫ע‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫,ל‬ as in Psa_110:1 ‫,לאדני‬
the person or thing addressed; transgression is personified, and an oracular utterance is
attributed to it. But the predicate ‫י‬ ִ ִ‫ל‬ ‫ב‬ ֶ‫ר‬ ֶ‫ק‬ ֶ , which is intelligible enough in connection
with the first rendering of ‫פשׁע‬ as genit. obj., is difficulty and harsh with the latter
rendering of ‫פשׁע‬ as gen. subj., whatever way it may be understood: whether, that it is
intended to say that the utterance of transgression to the evil-doer is inwardly known to
him (the poet), or it occupies and affects him in his inmost parts. It is very natural to
read ‫ּו‬ ִ‫,ל‬ as the lxx, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and Jerome do. In accordance therewith,
while with Von Lengerke he takes ‫ם‬ ֻ‫א‬ְ‫נ‬ as part of the inscription, Thenius renders it: “Sin
is to the ungodly in the midst of his heart,” i.e., it is the inmost motive or impulse of all
that he thinks and does. But this isolation of ‫ם‬ ֻ‫א‬ְ‫נ‬ is altogether at variance with the usage
of the language and custom. The rendering given by Hupfeld, Hitzig, and at last also by

Böttcher, is better: “The suggestion of sin dwells in the ungodly in the inward part of his
heart;” or rather, since the idea of ‫בקרב‬ is not central, but circumferential, in the realm of
(within) his heart, altogether filling up and absorbing it. And in connection with this
explanation, it must be observed that this combination ‫לבו‬ ‫בקרב‬ (instead of ‫,בקרבו‬ or ‫,בלבו‬
‫)בלבבו‬ occurs only here, where, together with a personification of sin, an incident
belonging to the province of the soul's life, which is the outgrowth of sin, is intended to
be described. It is true this application of ‫ם‬ ֻ‫א‬ְ‫נ‬ does not admit of being further
substantiated; but ‫ם‬ፍָ‫נ‬ (cognate ‫ם‬ ַ‫ה‬ָ‫,נ‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ָ‫,)ה‬ as an onomatopoetic designation of a dull,
hollow sound, is a suitable word for secret communication (cf. Arabic nemmâm, a tale-
bearer), or even - since the genius of the language does not combine with it the idea of
that which is significantly secretly, and solemnly silently communicated, but spoken out
- a suitable word for that which transgression says to the ungodly with all the solemn
mien of the prophet or the philosopher, inasmuch as it has set itself within his heart in
the place of God and of the voice of his conscience. ‫ע‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫ל‬ does not, however, denote the
person addressed, but, as in Psa_32:10, the possessor. He possesses this inspiration of
iniquity as the contents of his heart, so that the fear of God has no place therein, and to
him God has no existence (objectivity), that He should command his adoration.
Since after this ‫ע‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ ֶ ‫ם‬ ֻ‫א‬ְ‫נ‬ we expect to hear further what and how transgression speaks
to him, so before all else the most probable thing is, that transgression is the subject to
‫.החליק‬ We do not interpret: He flatters God in His eyes (with eye-service), for this
rendering is contrary both to what precedes and to what follows; nor with Hupfeld (who
follows Hofmann): “God deals smoothly (gently) with him according to his delusions,”
for the assumption that ‫יק‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֱ‫ֽח‬ ֶ‫ה‬ must, on account of ‫יו‬ָ‫ינ‬ ֵ‫ע‬ ְ , have some other subject that the
evil-doer himself, is indeed correct. It does not, however, necessarily point to God as the
subject, but, after the solemn opening of Psa_36:2, to transgression, which is
personified. This addresses flattering words to him (‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ like ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ in Pro_29:5) in his eyes,
i.e., such as are pleasing to him; and to what end? For the finding out, i.e., establishing
(‫וֹן‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫צ‬ ָ‫,מ‬ as in Gen_44:16; Hos_12:9), or, - since this is not exactly suited to ‫פשׁע‬ as the
subject, and where it is a purpose that is spoken of, the meaning assequi, originally
proper to the verb ‫,מצא‬ is still more natural - to the attainment of his culpability, i.e., in
order that he may inculpate himself, to hating, i.e., that he may hate God and man
instead of loving them. ‫ּא‬‫נ‬ ְ‫שׂ‬ ִ‫ל‬ is designedly used without an object just as in Ecc_3:8, in
order to imply that the flattering words of ‫פשׁע‬ incite him to turn into an object of hatred
everything that he ought to love, and to live and move in hatred as in his own proper
element. Thenius endeavours to get rid of the harshness of the expression by the
following easy alteration of the text: ‫ּא‬‫נ‬ ְ‫שׂ‬ ִ‫ל‬ְ‫ו‬ ‫וֹן‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫ּא‬‫צ‬ ְ‫מ‬ ִ‫;ל‬ and interprets it: Yea, it flatters him in
his own eyes (it tickles his pride) to discover faults in others and to make them suffer for
them. But there is no support in the general usage of the language for the impersonal
rendering of the ‫ּיק‬‫ל‬ ֱ‫ֽח‬ ֶ‫;ה‬ and the ‫יו‬ָ‫ינ‬ ֵ‫ע‬ ְ , which in this case is not only pleonastic, but out of
place, demands a distinction between the flatterer and the person who feels himself
flattered. The expression in Psa_36:3, in whatever way it may be explained, is harsh; but
David's language, whenever he describes the corruption of sin with deep-seated

indignation, is wont to envelope itself in such clouds, which, to our difficult
comprehension, look like corruptions of the text. In the second strophe the whole
language is more easy. ‫יב‬ ִ‫יט‬ ֵ‫ה‬ ְ‫ל‬ ‫יל‬ ִⅴ ְ‫שׂ‬ ַ‫ה‬ ְ‫ל‬ is just such another asyndeton as ‫לשׂנא‬ ‫עונו‬ ‫.למצא‬ A
man who has thus fallen a prey to the dominion of sin, and is alienated from God, has
ceased ( ְ‫ל‬ ‫ל‬ ַ‫ד‬ ָ‫,ח‬ as in 1Sa_23:13) to act wisely and well (things which essentially
accompany one another). His words when awake, and even his thoughts in the night-
time, run upon ‫ן‬ֶ‫ו‬ፎ (Isa_59:7), evil, wickedness, the absolute opposite of that which alone
is truly good. Most diligently does he take up his position in the way which leads in the
opposite direction to that which is good (Pro_16:29; Isa_65:2); and his conscience is
deadened against evil: there is not a trace of aversion to it to be found in him, he loves it
with all his soul.
CALVI ,1.Ungodliness saith to the wicked in the midst of my heart Commentators
are not agreed as to the interpretation of the first verse. Literally it is, The saying
[or speech ]of transgression, or rather, Transgression saith to the wicked As,
however, the letter ‫ל‬ , lamed, is in Hebrew sometimes used for ‫מן‬ , min, some
translate it thus, Ungodliness or transgression speaketh of the wicked in my heart;
as if the prophet had said, I clearly perceive from the wickedness which the ungodly
commit, that they are not influenced by the fear of God. But as there is no need to
depart from the proper signification of the words, I rather agree with others in
supposing that the language of the prophet is to this effect: The malice of the
wicked, though seemingly hidden and unknown, speaks aloud in my heart, and I am
a sure witness of what it says or suggests.
And, first, it is to be observed, that the prophet speaks not of outward faults, but
penetrates even to the very source; as if he had said, Although the wicked cloak
their malice with wily dissimulation, yet I know it so well that I seem to hear it
speaking. It is indeed true, that as the ungodly and profane rush headlong into every
kind of wickedness, as if they were never to be called to render up an account of it,
the judgment which David here expresses may be formed even from their life; but
his language is much more emphatic when he says, that the servants of God openly
perceive the depravity of such persons hidden within the heart. ow David does not
speak of the wicked generally, but of the abandoned despisers of God. There are
many who indulge in their vices, who, notwithstanding, are not intoxicated by the
wretched infatuation which David here censures. But when a man becomes
hardened in committing sin, ungodliness at length reduces him to such a state of
insensibility, that, despising the judgment of God, he indulges without fear in the
practice of every sin to which his depraved appetite impels him. A reckless
assurance, therefore, in the commission of sin, and especially where it is associated
with a contempt and scorn of every holy admonition, is, as it were, an enchantment
of Satan, which indicates that the condition of such a person is indeed hopeless. And
although true religion has the effect of keeping the hearts of the godly in the fear of
God, and drives wicked thoughts far from their minds, yet this does not prevent
them from perceiving and understanding in their hearts how the ungodly are
agitated with horrible fury when they neither regard God nor are afraid of his

judgments.
There is no fear of God before his eyes David shows in these few words the end of all
evil suggestions; and it is this, that the sense both of good and evil being destroyed
or suppressed, men shrink from nothing, as if there were not seated in heaven a
God, the Judge of all. The meaning therefore is, Ungodliness speaks in my heart to
the wicked man, urging him to the extremity of madness, so that, laying aside all
fear of God, he abandons himself to the practice of sin; that is to say, I know as well
what the ungodly imagine in their hearts, as if God had set me as a witness or judge
to unveil their hypocrisy, under the mask of which they think their detestable malice
is hidden and deeply buried. When the wicked, therefore, are not restrained by the
fear of God from committing sin, this proceeds from that secret discourse with
themselves, to which we have referred, and by which their understanding is so
depraved and blinded, that, like brute beasts, they run to every excess in rioting.
Since the eyes are, as it were, the guides and conductors of man in this life, and by
their influence move the other senses hither and thither, it is therefore said that men
have the fear of God before their eyes when it regulates their lives, and by
presenting itself to them on every side to which they may turn, serves like a bridle to
restrain their appetites and passions. David, by using here a contrary form of
expression, means that the ungodly run to every excess in licentiousness, without
having any regard to God, because the depravity of their own hearts has completely
blinded them.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 1. The transgression of the wicked. His daring and wanton sin;
his breaking the bounds of law and justice. Saith within my heart, that there is no
fear of God before his eyes. Men's sins have a voice to godly ears. They are the outer
index of an inner evil. It is clear that men who dare to sin constantly and
presumptuously cannot respect the great Judge of all. Despite the professions of
unrighteous men, when we see their unhallowed actions our heart is driven to the
conclusion that they have no religion whatever. Unholiness is clear evidence of
ungodliness. Wickedness is the fruit of an atheistic root. This may be made clear to
the candid head by cogent reasoning, but it is clear already and intuitively to the
pious heart. If God be everywhere, and I fear him, how can I dare to break his laws
in his very presence? He must be a desperate traitor who will rebel in the monarch's
own halls. Whatever theoretical opinions bad men may avow, they can only be
classed with atheists, since they are such practically. Those eyes which have no fear
of God before them now, shall have the terrors of hell before them for ever.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Title. To the Chief Musician, has given rise to many conjectures. In the Septuagint
the Hebrew word is translated, eiz to telos, to the end; a meaning so utterly vague as
to defy all reasonable conjecture. ...The meaning of the term appears to be this: the
Psalms in which it occurs were given in charge by their inspired authors to the Chief
Musician overseeing some specific band of music, whether harps, psalteries, or wind
instruments. John Jebb, A.M., in "A Literal Translation of the Book of Psalms, "
1846.
Title. The servant of the Lord. David only uses this title here and in Psalm eighteen.
In both he describes the dealings of God both with the righteous and the wicked,

and it is most fit that at the very outset he should take his place with the servants of
the Lord. C. H. S.
Whole Psalm. First Part. A character of a wicked man Ps 36:1. 1. He calls evil good
Ps 36:2. 2. He continues in it. 3. He is an hypocrite Ps 36:3. 4. He is obstinate. 5. He
is studious in wickedness Psalms 36:4. Second part. God's patience and mercy Ps
36:5-6. 1. To all, even all creatures.
2. But particularly to his people, which he admires. Upon which the faithful (1)
trust, (2) are satisfied Psalms 36:7-8. The Third part. He prays that this effect may
light, 1. On God's people Ps 36:10. 2. On himself Ps 36:11. 3. His acclimation upon it
Psalms 36:12. William icholson (Bishop), 1662.
Ver. 1. In this Psalm we have a description of sin, especially as it appears in those
who have openly broken God's bands. The introduction is very striking; The
transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God
before his eyes. How could the transgression of the wicked speak within the heart of
him who in the inscription of the Psalm declares himself to be the servant of
JEHOVAH? These words are generally understood as signifying that the outward
conduct of the sinner, as often as he thought of it, naturally suggested this
conclusion to his mind, that he was destitute of all fear of God. But they may
perhaps admit of another meaning, equally agreeable to the literal reading;
wickedness, saith of the wicked, within my heart, etc. According to this view, the
psalmist meant that notwithstanding the external pretences of the wicked, and all
their attempts to cover their iniquity, he was certain that they had no real sense of
the presence of God, that they secretly renounced his authority. How was he assured
of this? By a comparison of their conduct with the dictates of the heart. He could not
indeed look into their hearts, but he could look into his own, and there he found
corruption so strong, that were it not for the fear of God that was implanted within
him, he would be as bad as they. John Jamieson.
Ver. 1. It is not the imperfection or shortcoming in the fear of God, but the being
destitute of it altogether, that proveth a wicked man: There is no fear of God before
his eyes. David Dickson.
Ver. 1. (last clause). ot having the fear of God before his eyes, has become inwoven
into proceedings in criminal courts. When a man has no fear of God, he is prepared
for any crime.
Total depravity is not too strong a term to describe human wickedness. The sinner
has no fear of God. Where that is wanting, how can there be any piety? And if there
is no piety, there must be total want of right affections, and that is the very essence
of depravity. William S. Plumer.
Ver. 1. Durst any mock God with flourishes and formalities in religion, if they
feared him? Durst any provoke God to his face by real and open wickedness, if they
feared him? Durst any sin with the judgments of God fresh bleeding before their
eyes, if they feared the Lord and his wrath? Durst they sin with heaps of precious
mercy before their eyes, if they feared the Lord and his goodness? Durst any flatter
either others or themselves with hopes of impunity in their sin, if they feared the
Lord and his truth? Durst any slight their own promises, professions, protestations,
oaths, or design the entangling of others by them, rather than the binding of
themselves, did they fear the Lord and his faithfulness, even the Lord who keepeth
covenant and promise for ever? All these and many more transgressions of the

wicked (all these ways of transgression are found among the wicked, it were well if
none of them were found among those who have a name of godliness; I say, all these
transgressions of the wicked) say, There is no fear of God before their eyes. Joseph
Caryl.
Ver. 1. The wicked man has no regard to the oracles of God: he had one in his own
heart, which dictates nothing but rebellion. Zachary Mudge.
SCOTT, "V:1. David was as much convinced by the conduct of wicked men, that
they were not habitually possessed by the fear of God, as if it had been immediately
spoken to his heart : and his knowledge of the deceitfulness and evil of his own heart
aided him in discovering the source of other men"s wickedness. If the terrors of God
for a moment affrighted them, they soon cast them behind their backs, or they could
not have gone on in their daring crimes. ( otes, Psalm 112:1-7. ehemiah 5:14-18.
Proverbs 16:6. Ecclesiastes 12:11-14. Romans 3:9-18.) It is probable, that Saul was
especially meant, as the wicked man who persecuted " David, the servant of the
LORD," with persevering enmity: yet he frequently cloked his malice with
professions of friendship, and still kept up an outward regard to religion. The psalm
seems to have been written, soon after Saul began to shew his hatred to David.
BE SO , "Psalms 36:1-2. The transgression of the wicked saith, &c. — When I
consider the great and manifold transgressions of ungodly men, I conclude, within
myself, that they have cast off all fear and serious belief of the Divine Majesty. For
he flattereth himself in his own eyes — He deceiveth himself with vain and false
persuasions, that God does not notice or mind his sins, or that he will not punish
them. Until his iniquity be found to be hateful — That is, until God, by some
dreadful judgment, undeceive him, and find, or make him and others to find by
experience, that his iniquity is abominable and hateful, and therefore cannot, and
does not, escape a severe punishment. “The last day,” says Dr. Horne, “will show
strange instances of this folly.”
COFFMA , "MA 'S WICKED ESS A D GOD'S LOVI GKI D ESS
CO TRASTED
There are three divisions in this psalm. "(1) Psalms 36:1-4 give the portrait of the
wicked man; (2) Psalms 36:5-9 paint the Divine goodness; and (3) Psalms 36:10-12
have the prayer and an expression of confidence."[1]
There are representatives of some three types of Hebrew poetry in these few verses.
"Each of the three parts of this psalm corresponds to a different psalm-type; but
there is no need to doubt its unity."[2] "The psalmist uses rough poetic form and
language to describe evil, and smooth form and beautiful language for the
description of God."[3] However, as Ash pointed out, "Despite the diversity, Psalms
36:10-12 tie it together by the inclusion of concepts from both preceding sections;
and the unity of the psalm can be argued on this basis."[4]
owhere else in the Psalms, "Only here is transgression (or rebellion) personified as

an evil spirit who speaks in oracular fashion to the heart of wicked man, thereby
filling him with evil."[5]
This is a most interesting picture of a man's sins speaking to the sinner and
deceiving and corrupting him to the destruction of his soul.
The psalm stands, as stated in the superscription, as having been written by David;
and there is no basis whatever in the psalm itself for formulating any kind of
argument against the Davidic authorship. The exact time or era in which it might
have been composed is unknown.
PORTRAIT OF THE WICKED MA
Psalms 36:1-4
"The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart,
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
For he flattereth himself in his own eyes,
That his iniquity will not be found out and be hated.
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit:
He hath ceased to be wise and to do good.
He deviseth iniquity upon his bed;
He setteth himself in a way that is not good;
He abhorreth not evil."
This paragraph was understood by Delitzsch as, "The complaint of David regarding
the moral corruption of his generation. These are reflections of the character of the
times, and not of particular circumstances."[6]
The Hebrew text of these four verses is said by many scholars to be damaged and
rather ambiguous. Many efforts have been made to solve the translation; but it is
probably still doubtful, as indicated by the several marginal alternatives that are
suggested in most versions.
The general idea here, however, is certainly clear enough. Sin is personified, and
whispers in the heart of the sinner all kinds of inducements for continuation in his
evil way. "There is no use to fear God." "There is no danger in disobeying him."
"Your sins are not going to be discovered and hated." Such evil counsel is indeed
the message of all sin. As DeHoff wrote, "The devil always suggests that there is no

danger in disobeying the commandments of God."[7]
"Saith within my heart" (Psalms 36:1). The use of the word `my' here has led some
scholars to suppose that David himself was sorely tempted by sin; but this is another
one of the difficult problems in the psalm. Paul evidently applied the passage to
wicked men generally.
The result of this description of Sin's (Personified) assault upon the human heart
invariably produces in the sinner who allows himself thus to be deceived, a status
described by the last half of Psalms 36:1, "There is no fear of God before his eyes."
The apostle Paul quoted these words in Romans 3:18, applying them to the
judicially hardened generations, both of Jews and Gentiles, who inhabited the earth
at the First Advent of our Lord.
Kidner also thought that Paul's quotation of this passage in the Romans context
teaches us that, "We should see this portrait as that of Mankind, but for the Grace
of God."[8]
"He flattereth himself in his own eyes" (Psalms 36:2). "The sinfulness of the wicked
man deludes him into the belief that his wickedness is known to no one but
himself."[9] "This self-deception of the wicked is due to his deliberate blindness
toward God: he shuts himself up within himself, and, by listening to the smooth
words of his own oracle (Sin), persuades himself that he is immune from ultimate
disgrace."[10]
"He hath ceased to be wise and to do good" (Psalms 36:3). The wicked man
described here is not one who never knew the truth, but he is one who has departed
from it; and this corresponds exactly with what Paul taught concerning the whole
race of wicked men in Romans 1:28ff.
Psalms 36:3-4 describe the evil character of the deceived sinner: he is a liar; his
words are evil; he is a deceiver; he is no longer wise; he no longer does good; even
on his bed at night, he is scheming up more wickedness; and he no longer hates evil.
Indeed, he loves evil.
"He setteth himself in a position that is not good" (Psalms 36:4). "Most diligently he
takes up his position in the way that leads in the opposite direction from that which
is good; his conscience is deadened against evil; there is not a trace of aversion to it
to be found in him; he loves it with all of his soul."[11]
COKE, "Verse 1
Psalms 36.
The grievous estate of the wicked. The excellency of God's mercy. David prayeth for
favour to God's children.
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord.

Title. ‫למנצח‬ lamnatseach— This Psalm is supposed to have been written by David at
the beginning of Saul's persecution; whilst he outwardly professed kindness towards
him, but yet he could not help discovering that he desired and intended his ruin.
David here opposes the faithfulness and goodness of God, to the malice and
treachery of Saul; though without mentioning him by name: and, as Theodoret well
observes, David's delicacy in this respect is very remarkable; for, although the chief
of his most bitter complaints were levelled against Saul, yet throughout his Psalms,
he never once mentions him by name. This Psalm, Mudge observes, has three states:
the first, in which the author describes the treacherous and false contrivances of
wicked men; the second is the address of the good man to God; in which he
acknowledges all those attributes, that are the support of righteous men, to be
infinite and boundless; and from thence draws his assurance of being supported.
The last, as the consequence of this, represents the downfall of the wicked.
Psalms 36:1. The transgression of the wicked saith, &c.— The wicked man hath an
oracle of rebellion within his heart. "The wicked man has no regard to the oracles of
God: he has one of his own heart, which dictates nothing but rebellion." Mudge.
CO STABLE, "The IV translation, "An oracle is within my heart concerning the
sinfulness of the wicked," is preferable. That of Leupold is even clearer: "A divine
oracle about transgression has been heard in my heart with reference to the
wicked." [ ote: Leupold, p293.] An oracle is a message from God. The Lord had
given His prophet special revelation concerning how the wicked look at life and how
they live. They do not dread (Heb. pahad, rather than yirah, the usual word for
"fear") the Lord. That Isaiah , they feel no uneasiness as they should since God will
judge them for their sins. This is the climactic characteristic of sin in Romans 3:18.
ELLICOTT, "(1) The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart . . .—The
literal rendering of the present Hebrew text is, An utterance of sin to the wicked
within my heart. The common phrase rendered in our version, “Thus saith
Jehovah,” is here imitated, “Thus saith sin.” “To the wicked” cannot, as some
explain, mean “concerning the wicked.” The only possible meaning of the text as it
stands is therefore, “Thus saith sin to (me) the wicked man in my heart.” But there
can be no question that the psalmist wrote “in his heart,” since ail the ancient
versions, with the exception of the Chaldee Paraphrase, followed this reading, and
some MSS. still show it. This gives us a very fine sense. Sin is personified as the evil
counsellor or prompter sitting in the heart of the wicked to suggest evil thoughts:
Sin in the wicked man’s heart is his oracle. Conscience is on the wrong side.
There is no fear . . .—This is not the suggestion of sin just mentioned, but an
explanation of the condition into which the wicked man has sunk. Impiety and
irreverence have so corrupted his nature, that sin has become his oracle.

SIMEO , "AWFUL STATE OF U GODLY ME
Psalms 36:1. The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no
fear of God before his eyes.
WHE we speak of the wickedness of mankind, that command of our Lord is
frequently cast in our teeth, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” But this command
refers to an uncharitable ascribing of good actions to a bad principle; which, as we
cannot see the heart, we are by no means authorized to do. But, if it do not authorize
us to “call good evil,” it assuredly does not require us to “call evil good.” If we see
sin, it is no uncharitableness to pronounce it sin: and, if the sin be habitual, it is no
uncharitableness to say, that the heart from which it proceeds is bad and depraved.
We are told by our Lord, that “the tree is to be judged of by its fruit; and that as a
corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, so neither can a good tree habitually
bring forth evil fruit [ ote: Matthew 7:16-18.].” An error, and even a fault may be
committed, without detracting from a person’s general character: but a sinful
course of life involves in it, of necessity, a corruption of heart, and carries with it, to
any dispassionate mind, a conviction that the person who pursues that course has
not within him the fear of God. This was the impression made on David’s mind,
when he said, “The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is
no fear of God before his eyes.”
In confirmation of this sentiment, I will shew,
I. How God interprets sin—
God views sin not merely as contained in overt acts, but as existing in the soul: and
he judges of its malignity, not according to its aspect upon social happiness, but as it
bears on himself, and affects his honour. Throughout the whole Sacred Volume,
God speaks of it in this view. He represents sin as striking at the relation which
subsists between him and his creatures:
1. As adultery—
[He is the Husband of his Church [ ote: Isaiah 54:5.], and claims our entire and
exclusive regards [ ote: Hosea 3:3.]. When these are alienated from him, and fixed
on the creature, he calls it adultery [ ote: Ezekiel 16:37.]: and hence St. James,
speaking of those who sought the friendship of the world, addresses them as
“adulterers and adulteresses [ ote: James 4:4.];” because, as the Spouse of Christ,
they have placed on another the affections due to him alone.]
2. As rebellion—
[God, as the Governor of the universe, requires us to obey his laws. But sin is an
opposition to his will, and a violation of his laws: and therefore God says respecting
it, “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be [ ote: Romans 8:7.].” Here, let it be observed, it is not the

overt act, but the disposition only, that is so characterised: and, consequently, if the
very disposition as existing in the soul is an equivocal proof of the wickedness of the
heart, much more must the outward act, and especially the constant habit of the life,
be considered as a decisive evidence that the soul itself is corrupt.]
3. As idolatry—
[God alone is to be worshipped: and to put any thing in competition with him is to
make it an idol. Hence the love of money is called idolatry [ ote: Colossians 3:5.]:
and the indulgence of a sensual appetite is to “make our belly our god [ ote:
Philippians 3:19.].” And hence St. John, having set forth “the Lord Jesus as the true
God and eternal life,” guards us against any alienation of our hearts from him, in
these memorable words: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols [ ote: 1 John
5:20-21.].” And here let me again observe, it is the disposition, and not any outward
act, that has this construction put upon it.]
4. As downright atheism—
[It is represented as a denial of all God’s attributes and perfections. It denies his
omnipresence and omniscience; since men, in committing it, say, “How doth God
know? Can he judge through the dark cloud? Thick clouds are a covering to him,
that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of the heaven [ ote: Job 22:13-14.
See also Psalms 73:11; Psalms 94:7.],” and is at no leisure to attend to what is done
on earth. It denies his justice and his holiness: it says, “I shall have peace, though I
walk after the imaginations of my heart [ ote: Deuteronomy 29:19.].” “God will
never require at my hands what I do [ ote: Psalms 10:13.].” “He will not do good;
neither will he do evil [ ote: Zephaniah 1:12.].” So far from having any thing to
fear from God, “Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he
delighteth in them [ ote: Malachi 2:17.].” Sin denies yet further the right of God to
control us: “We are Lords; we will come no more to thee [ ote: Jeremiah 2:31.]:”
“Our lips are our own; who is Lord over us [ ote: Psalms 12:4.]?” “What is the
Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit is there, that we should pray
unto him [ ote: Job 21:14-15.]?” It even denies the very existence of God: “The fool
hath said in his heart, There is no God [ ote: Psalms 14:1.].” Hence St. Paul calls us
“Atheists in the world [ ote: Ephesians 2:12. ἄθεοι.].” Men will not say all this with
their lips; but it is the language of their lives, and therefore of their hearts.]
Having seen how God interprets sin, and what construction he puts upon it, we are
prepared to see,
II. What interpretation we also should put upon it—
o inference was ever more legitimately drawn from the plainest premises, than
that which forced itself upon David’s mind, from a view of the ungodly world. And
the same conclusion must we also arrive at, from all that we see around us: “The
transgression of the wicked saith within our hearts that there is no fear of God
before their eyes.”

1. There is no sense of God’s presence—
[A thief would not steal, if he knew that the eyes of the proprietor were fastened on
him: yea, even the presence of a child would be sufficient to keep the adulterer from
the perpetration of his intended crimes. But he regards not the presence of Almighty
God. If he be out of the sight of any fellow-creature, he saith in his heart, “ o eye
seeth me [ ote: Job 24:15.]:” never reflecting, that “the darkness is no darkness
with God, but the night is as clear as the day; the darkness and light to him are both
alike [ ote: Psalms 139:11-12.].”]
2. There is no regard to his authority—
[Men will stand in awe of the civil magistrate, who he knows to be “an avenger of
evil, and that he does not bear the sword in vain.” To see to what an extent men
stand in awe of earthly governors, conceive in what a state of confusion even this
Christian land would be, if only for one single week the laws were suspended, and
no restraint were imposed on men beyond that which they feel from a regard to the
authority of God: we should not dare to venture out of our houses, or scarcely be
safe in our houses, by reason of the flood of iniquity which would deluge the land.
And though it is true that every one would not avail himself of the licence to commit
all manner of abominations, it is equally true, that it is not God’s authority that
would restrain them: for the same authority that says, “Do not kill or commit
adultery,” says, Thou shalt “live not unto thyself, but unto Him that died for thee
and rose again.” And if we be not influenced by it in every thing, we regard it truly
in nothing [ ote: James 2:10-11.].]
3. There is no concern about his approbation—
[If we be lowered in the estimation of our fellow-creatures, how mortified are we,
insomuch that we can scarcely bear to abide in the place where we are so degraded.
An exile to the remotest solitude would be preferable to the presence or those whose
good opinion we have forfeited, But who inquires whether God be pleased or
displeased? Who lays to heart the disapprobation which he has excited in his mind,
or the record that is kept concerning him in the book of his remembrance? If we
preserve our outward conduct correct, so as to secure the approbation of our fellow-
creatures, we are satisfied, and care little what God sees within, or what estimate he
forms of our character.]
4. There is no fear of his displeasure—
[One would think it impossible that men should believe in a future state of
retribution, and yet be altogether careless about the doom that shall be awarded to
them. They think that God is merciful, too merciful to punish any one, unless it be,
perhaps, some extraordinarily flagrant transgressor. Hence, though they know they
are sinners, they never think of repenting, or of changing that course of life which, if
the Scriptures be true, must lead them to perdition. Only see the state of the first

converts, or of any who have felt their danger of God’s wrath; and then tell me
whether that be the experience of the world at large? Where do we see the weeping
penitents smiting on their breast, and crying for mercy? Where do we see persons
flying to Christ for refuge, as the manslayer fled from the sword of the avenger, that
was pursuing him? In the world at large we see nothing of this; nothing, in fact, but
supineness and security: so true is the judgment of the Psalmist respecting them,
that “there is no fear of God before their eyes.” The same testimony St. Paul also
bears [ ote: Romans 3:18.]: and we know that his record is true.]
If, then, David’s views be indeed correct, see,
1. How marvellous is the forbearance of our God!
[He sees the state of every living man: he sees, not our actions only, but our very
thoughts: for “he trieth the heart and reins.” What evils, then, does he behold in
every quarter of the globe! ot a country, a town, a village, a family, no, nor a single
soul, exempt from the common malady! all fallen; all “enemies in their hearts to
God by wicked works!” Take but a single city, our own metropolis for instance, and
what a mass of iniquity does God behold in it, even in the short space of twenty-four
hours! Is it not astonishing that God’s wrath does not break forth against us, even
as against Sodom and Gomorrha, to consume us by fire; or that another deluge does
not come, to sweep us away from the face of the earth? Dear Brethren, “account this
long-suffering of our God to be salvation [ ote: 2 Peter 3:15.],” and “let it lead
every one of you to repentance [ ote: Romans 2:4.].”]
2. How unbounded is the love of God, that has provided a Saviour for us!—
[Behold, instead of destroying the world by one stroke of his indignation, he has sent
us his co-equal and co-eternal Son to effect a reconciliation between him and us, by
the sacrifice of himself! Yes, “he has so loved the world, as to have given his only-
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life [ ote: John 3:16.].” “He sent not his Son into the world to condemn
the world,” as we might rather have expected; “but that the world through him
might be saved [ ote: John 3:17.].” What, then, my beloved Brethren, “shall your
transgressions say to you?” Shall they not say, “Avail yourselves of the proffered
mercy? Delay not an hour to seek an interest in that Saviour, that so your sins may
be blotted out, and your souls be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus?” Let this love
of God constrain you to surrender up yourselves to him as his redeemed people; and
so to walk before him in newness of heart and life, that “Christ may be magnified in
you, whether by life or death [ ote: Philippians 1:20.].”]
LA GE, "Its Contents and Title. Respecting the designation of David as servant of
Jehovah vid. Psalm 18. By this reference to the position of the speaker as well
towards God as the congregation, the reader’s attention is directly called to the
meaning of this song as one to be well pondered. It is certainly not a Psalm of
lamentation (De Wette), but a didactic Psalm (Luther). First there is a striking
description of the wicked Prayer of Manasseh, in which all moral relations and

regulations have been perverted into their opposites ( Psalm 36:1-4): then follows in
the tone of a hymn ( Psalm 36:5-9) the praise of the immeasurable grace,
faithfulness and righteousness of God; and the Psalm concludes with a prayer (
Psalm 36:10-11), for further exhibitions of these attributes towards all upright
servants of God and towards the Psalmist with a reference to the ruin of the wicked
( Psalm 36:12). It is uncertain whether the preterites in this closing clause refer to
historical facts which have recently transpired (Hitzig), or are to be taken as
prophetical (most interpreters). In favor of the latter view is the absence of any
other historical references. The house of God ( Psalm 36:8) certainly is not used
figuratively in order to designate God as a father of a family (De Wette), but refers
to the places of worship, yet without giving any reason to suppose that the author
was a priest (Paulus). It is moreover entirely unnecessary to think of the temple of
Solomon and descend to the period immediately before the exile (Ewald, Olsh,
Hitzig). The conjecture of those who put the origin of this Psalm in the period in
which Saul still pretended to be the friend of David (Amyrald, et al.), is likewise
groundless. We have before us in this and similar Psalm, “reflections from the
circumstances of the time and not from particular events” (Delitzsch). This Psalm
has its present position in the order of Psalm from the use of “servant of Jehovah”
comp. Psalm 35:27, the rare word dachah Psalm 36:12, comp. Psalm 35:5, and many
correspondences with Psalm 37.
Str. I. Psalm 36:1. The wicked (hath) a prompting of ungodliness within his heart.—
All attempts to retain the tex. recept.‫ִי‬‫בּ‬ִ‫ל‬ (my heart) have hitherto failed. For the turn
which has been given to the clause by Gesen, De Wette, Stier, Von Hofm, after
Symmach, and Luther, in taking the first line as a kind of title as an announcement
of the contents, although only of the next verse (=A saying concerning the
wickedness of the wicked is in my heart), is inadmissible, because on the one side
there follows, not a saying respecting wickedness, but a description of it, on the
other side usage does not admit of connecting ‫ם‬ֻ‫ְא‬‫נ‬ (stat. const. of the part. pass. of
‫ָאוּם‬‫נ‬ = inspiratum, oraculum) with a gen. obj. The following genitive always
designates the person which either imparts the prompting, or utters it as a prophet (
umbers 24:3), or as an inspired poet ( 2 Samuel 23:1; Proverbs 30:1). That it is
entirely different with ‫א‬ ָ‫שּׂ‬ַ‫מ‬ makes no difference. If this is admitted, then the attempt
might be made to regard the wicked man himself as speaking, as he in ironical
imitation of the well-known tone of the prophet, sounds forth the “Divine word of
wickedness to the wicked man.” If then, in order to get the contents of this word, the
words “in the interior of my heart” are connected with the following line (Venema),
there arises a clause, whose absurdity can be removed only by inadmissible
explanations. If this is not done (Hengst.), the following details do not agree with the
expectations awakened by such an announcement; and the thought, very proper in
itself, that the wicked listen to the promptings of sin as Divine utterances, would be
clothed in such an obscure and misleading form, that it could not be understood at
all without explanation, as then even Hengst. can not but insert for this purpose the
personal pronoun in his translation, “to me the wicked man.” All these difficulties
however are set aside by the simple change of ‫ִי‬‫בּ‬ִ‫ל‬ into ‫ִבּוֹ‬‫ל‬, which is likewise in the
ancient versions, and even in some manuscripts. The personification of sin is not
strange either to the Old Testament or the ew Testament ( Genesis 4:7; Romans

7.); and the unusual idea of an inspiring power is meditated by the wicked spirit
which takes the place of the Spirit of God, 1 Kings 22:21 sq. and by the lying spirit
which inspired the false prophets, Isaiah 9:14; Jeremiah 23; Micah 2:11 (Hupfeld.
Hitzig. Delitzsch, now likewise Böttcher). There is therefore no occasion for the
conjecture ‫ֵם‬‫ע‬ָ‫נ‬ in order to get the sense: Vice is pleasant (Diestel). And the
proposition to transpose the ‫נאם‬ to the proper title after, “by David” (Maurer,
formerly likewise Böttcher in part, Tholuck, G. Baur, Thenius), does not agree with
the grammatical construction and the place of the word in the syntax, which
elsewhere prevail. The Vulgate has literally after the Sept. dixit injustus ut
delinquat in semet ipso, which is explained by Schegg: The ungodly speaks to
himself, persuades himself to sin.
EXPOSITORS BIBLE COMME TARY, "Verses 1-12
Psalms 36:1-12
THE supposition that the sombre picture of "the wicked" in Psalms 36:1-4 was
originally unconnected with the glorious hymn in Psalms 36:5-9 fails to give weight
to the difference between the sober pace of pedestrian prose and the swift flight of
winged poetry. It fails also in apprehending the instinctive turning of a devout
meditative spectator from the darkness of earth and its sins to the light above. The
one refuge from the sad vision of evil here is in the faith that God is above it all, and
that His name is Mercy. or can the blackness of the one picture be anywhere so
plainly seen as when it is set in front of the brightness of the other. A religious man,
who has laid to heart the miserable sights of which earth is full, will scarcely think
that the psalmist’s quick averting of his eyes from these to steep them in the light of
God is unnatural, or that the original connection of the two parts of this psalm is an
artificial supposition. Besides this, the closing section of prayer is tinged with
references to the first part, and derives its raison d’etre from it. The three parts
form an organic whole.
The gnarled obscurity of the language in which the "wicked" is described
corresponds to the theme, and contrasts strikingly with the limpid flow of the
second part. "The line, too, labours" as it tries to tell the dark thoughts that move to
dark deeds. Psalms 36:1-2 unveil the secret beliefs of the sinner, Psalms 36:3-4 his
consequent acts. As the text stands, it needs much torturing to get a tolerable
meaning out of Psalms 36:1, and the slight alteration, found in the LXX and in some
old versions, of "his heart" instead of "my heart" smooths the difficulty. We have
then a bold personification of "Transgression" as speaking in the secret heart of the
wicked, as in some dark cave, such as heathen oracle-mongers haunted. There is
bitter irony in using the sacred word which stamped the prophets’ utterances, and
which we may translate oracle, for the godless lies muttered in the sinner’s heart.
This is the account of how men come to do evil: that there is a voice within
whispering falsehood. And the reason why that bitter voice has the shrine to itself is
that "there is no fear of God before" the man’s "eyes." The two clauses of Psalms
36:1 are simply set side by side, leaving the reader to spell out their logical relation.
Possibly the absence of the fear of God may be regarded as both the occasion and

the result of the oracle of Transgression, since, in fact, it is both. Still more obscure
is Psalms 36:2 Who is the "flatterer"? The answers are conflicting. The "wicked,"
say some, but if so, "in his own eyes" is superfluous; God, say others, but that
requires a doubtful meaning for "flatters"-namely, "treats gently"-and is open to
the same objection as the preceding in regard to "in his own eyes." The most
natural supposition is that transgression, which was represented in Psalms 36:1 as
speaking, is here also meant. Clearly the person in whose eyes the flattery is real is
the wicked, and therefore its speaker must be another. "Sin beguiled me," says
Paul, and therein echoes this psalmist. Transgression in its oracle is one of "those
juggling fiends that palter with us in a double sense," promising delights and
impunity. But the closing words of Psalms 36:2 are a crux. Conjectural emendations
have been suggested, but do not afford much help. Probably the best way is to take
the text as it stands, and make the best of it. The meaning it yields is harsh, but
tolerable: "to find out his sin, to hate" (it?). Who finds out sin? God. If He is the
finder, it is He who also hates; and if it is sin that is the object of the one verb, it is
most natural to suppose it that of the other also. The two verbs are infinitives, with
the preposition of purpose or of reference prefixed. Either meaning is allowable. If
the preposition is taken as implying reference, the sense will be that the glossing
whispers of sin deceive a man in regard to the discovery of his wrong doing and
God’s displeasure at it. Impunity is promised, and God’s holiness is smoothed down.
If, on the other hand, the idea of purpose is adopted, the solemn thought emerges
that the oracle is spoken with intent to ruin the deluded listener and set his secret
sins in the condemning light of God’s face. Sin is cruel, and a traitor. This profound
glimpse into the depths of a soul without the fear of God is followed by the picture
of the consequences of such practical atheism, as seen in conduct. It is deeply
charged with blackness and unrelieved by any gleam of light. Falsehood,
abandonment of all attempts to do right, insensibility to the hallowing influences of
nightly solitude, when men are wont to see their evil more clearly in the dark, like
phosphorous streaks on the wall, obstinate planting the feet in ways not good, a
silenced conscience which has no movement of aversion to evil-these are the fruits of
that oracle of Transgression when it has its perfect work. We may call such a
picture the idealisation of the character described, but there have been men who
realised it, and the warning is weighty that such a uniform and all-enwrapping
darkness is the terrible goal towards which all listening to that bitter voice tends. o
wonder that the psalmist wrenches himself swiftly away from such a sight!
The two strophes of the second division (Psalms 36:5-6 and Psalms 36:7-9) present
the glorious realities of the Divine name in contrast with the false oracle of Psalms
36:1-2, and the blessedness of God’s guests in contrast with the gloomy picture of
the "wicked" in Psalms 36:3-4. It is noteworthy that the first and last-named
"attributes" are the same. "Lovingkindness" begins and ends the glowing series.
That stooping, active love encloses, like a golden circlet, all else that men can know
or say of the perfection whose name is God. It is the white beam into which all
colours melt, and from which all are evolved. As science feels after the reduction of
all forms of physical energy to one, for which there is no name but energy, all the
adorable glories of God pass into one, which He has bidden us call love. "Thy
lovingkindness is in the heavens," towering on high. It is like some Divine aether,

filling all space. The heavens are the home of light. They arch above every head;
they rim every horizon; they are filled with nightly stars; they open into abysses as
the eye gazes; they bend unchanged and untroubled above a weary earth; from
them fall benedictions of rain and sunshine. All these subordinate allusions may lie
in the psalmist’s thought, while its main intention is to magnify the greatness of that
mercy as heaven high.
But mercy standing alone might seem to lack a guarantee of its duration, and
therefore the strength of "faithfulness," unalterable continuance in a course begun,
and adherence to every promise either spoken in words or implied in creation or
providence, is added to the tenderness of mercy. The boundlessness of that
faithfulness is the main thought, but the contrast of the whirling, shifting clouds
with it is striking. The realm of eternal purpose and enduring act reaches to and
stretches above the lower region where change rules.
But a third glory has yet to be flashed before glad eyes, God’s "righteousness,"
which here is not merely nor mainly punitive, but delivering, or, perhaps in a still
wider view, the perfect conformity of His nature with the ideal of ethical
completeness. Right is the same for heaven as for earth, and "whatsoever things are
just" have their home in the bosom of God. The point of comparison with "the
mountains of God" is, as in the previous clauses, their loftiness, which expresses
greatness and elevation above our reach; but the subsidiary ideas of permanence
and sublimity are not to be overlooked. "The mountains shall depart, and the hills
be removed, but His righteousness endures forever." There is safe hiding there, in
the fastnesses of that everlasting hill. From character the psalmist passes to acts. and
sets all the Divine dealings forth under the one category of "judgments," the
utterances in act of His judicial estimate of men. Mountains seem highest and ocean
broadest when the former rise sheer from the water’s edge, as Carmel does. The
immobility of the silent hills is wonderfully contrasted with the ever-moving sea,
which to the Hebrew was the very home of mystery. The obscurity of the Divine
judgments is a subject of praise, if we hold fast by faith in God’s lovingkindness,
faithfulness, and righteousness. They are obscure by reason of their vast scale,
which permits the vision of only a fragment. How little of the ocean is seen from any
shore! But there is no arbitrary obscurity. The sea is "of glass mingled with fire";
and if the eye cannot pierce its depths, it is not because of any darkening impurity in
the crystal clearness, but simply because not even light can travel to the bottom. The
higher up on the mountains men go, the deeper down can they see into that ocean. It
is a hymn, not an indictment, which says, "Thy judgments are a great deep." But
however the heights tower and the abysses open, there is a strip of green, solid earth
on which "man and beast" live in safe plenty. The plain blessings of an all-
embracing providence should make it easier to believe in the unmingled goodness of
acts which are too vast for men to judge and of that mighty name which towers
above their conceptions. What they see is goodness; what they cannot see must be of
a piece. The psalmist is in "that serene and blessed mood" when the terrible
mysteries of creation and providence do not interfere with his "steadfast faith that
all which he beholds is full of blessings." There are times when these mysteries press
with agonising force on devout souls, but there should also be moments when the

pure love of the perfectly good God is seen to fill all space and outstretch all
dimensions of height and depth and breadth. The awful problems of pain and death
will be best dealt with by those who can echo the rapture of this psalm.
If God is such, what is man’s natural attitude to so great and sweet a name? Glad
wonder, accepting His gift as the one precious thing, and faith sheltering beneath
the great shadow of His outstretched wing. The exclamation in Psalms 36:8, "How
precious is Thy lovingkindness!" expresses not only. its intrinsic value, but the
devout soul’s appreciation of it. The secret of blessedness and test of true wisdom lie
in a sane estimate of the worth of God’s lovingkindness as compared with all other
treasures. Such an estimate leads to trust in Him, as the psalmist implies by his
juxtaposition of the two clauses of Psalms 36:7, though he connects them, not by an
expressed "therefore," but by the simple copula. The representation of trust as
taking refuge reappears here, with its usual suggestions of haste and peril. The
"wing" of God suggests tenderness and security. And the reason for trust is
enforced in the designation "sons of men," partakers of weakness and mortality,
and therefore needing the refuge which, in the wonderfulness of His lovingkindness,
they find under the pinions of so great a God.
The psalm follows the refugees into their hiding place, and shows how much more
than bare shelter they find there. They are God’s guests. and royally entertained as
such. The joyful priestly feasts in the Temple colour the metaphor, but the idea of
hospitable reception of guests is the more prominent. The psalmist speaks the
language of that true and wholesome mysticism without which religion is feeble and
formal. The root ideas of his delineation of the blessedness of the fugitives to God
are their union with God and possession of Him. Such is the magical might of lowly
trust that by it weak dying "sons of men" are so knit to the God whose glories the
singer has been celebrating that they partake of Himself and are saturated with His
sufficiency, drink of His delights in some deep sense, bathe in the fountain of life,
and have His light for their organ and medium and object of sight. These great
sentences beggar all exposition. They touch on the rim of infinite things, whereof
only the nearer fringe comes within our ken in this life. The soul that lives in God is
satisfied, having real possession of the only adequate object. The variety of desires,
appetites, and needs requires manifoldness in their food, but the unity of our nature
demands that all that manifoldness should be in One. Multiplicity in objects, aims,
loves, is misery; oneness is blessedness. We need a lasting good and an ever-growing
one to meet and unfold the capacity of indefinite growth. othing but God can
satisfy the narrowest human capacity.
Union with Him is the source of all delight, as of all true fruition of desires. Possibly
a reference to Eden may be intended in the selection of the word for "pleasures,"
which is a cognate with that name. So there may be allusion to the river which
watered that garden, and the thought may be that the present life of the guest of
God is not all unlike the delights of that vanished paradise. We may perhaps
scarcely venture on supposing that "Thy pleasures" means those which the blessed
God Himself possesses; but even if we take the lower and safer meaning of those
which God gives, we may bring into connection Christ’s own gift to His disciples of

His own peace, and His assurance that faithful servants will "enter into the joy of
their Lord." Shepherd and sheep drink of the same brook by the way and of the
same living fountains above. The psalmist’s conception of religion is essentially
joyful. o doubt there are sources of sadness peculiar to a religious man, and he is
necessarily shut out from much of the effervescent poison of earthly joys drugged
with sin. Much in his life is inevitably grave, stern, and sad. But the sources of joy
opened are far deeper than those that are closed. Surface wells (many of them little
better than open sewers) may be shut up, but an unfailing stream is found in the
desert. Satisfaction and joy flow from God because life and light are with Him; and
therefore he who is with Him has them for his. "With Thee is the fountain of life" is
true in every sense of the word "life." In regard to life natural, the saying embodies
a loftier conception of the Creator’s relation to the creature than the mechanical
notion of creation. The fountain pours its waters into stream or basin, which it
keeps full by continual flow. Stop the efflux, and these are dried up. So the great
mystery of life in all its forms is as a spark from a fire, a drop from a fountain, or, as
Scripture puts it in regard to man, a breath from God’s own lips. In a very real
sense, wherever life is, there God is, and only by some form of union with him or by
the presence of His power, which is Himself, do creatures live. But the psalm is
dealing with the blessings belonging to those who trust beneath the shadow of God’s
wing; therefore life here, in this verse, is no equivalent to mere existence, physical or
self-conscious, but it must be taken in its highest spiritual sense. Union with God is
its condition, and that union is brought to pass by taking refuge with Him. The deep
words anticipated the explicit teaching of the Gospel in so far as they proclaimed
these truths, but the greatest utterance still remained unspoken: that this life is "in
His Son."
Light and life are closely connected. Whether knowledge, purity, or joy is regarded
as the dominant idea in the symbol, or whether all are united in it, the profound
words of the psalm are true. In God’s light we see light. In the lowest region "the
seeing eye is from the Lord." "The inspiration of the Almighty giveth
understanding." Faculty and medium of vision are both of Him. But hearts in
communion with God are illumined, and they who are "in the light" cannot walk in
darkness. Practical wisdom is theirs. The light of God, like the star of the Magi,
stoops to guide pilgrims’ steps. Clear certitude as to sovereign realities is the
guerdon of the guests of God. Where other eyes see nothing but mists, they can
discern solid land and the gleaming towers of the city across the sea. or is that light
only the dry light by which we know, but it means purity and joy also; and to "see
light" is to possess these too by derivation from the purity and joy of God Himself.
He is the "master light of all our seeing." The fountain has become a stream, and
taken to itself movement towards men; for the psalmist’s glowing picture is more
than fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who has said, "I am the Light of the world; he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
The closing division is prayer based both upon the contemplation of God’s
attributes in Psalms 36:5-6, and of the wicked in the first part. This distinct
reference to both the preceding sections is in favour of the original unity of the
psalm. The belief in the immensity of Divine lovingkindness and righteousness

inspires the prayer for their long, drawn out (so "continue" means literally)
continuance to the psalmist and his fellows. He will not separate himself from these
in his petition, but thinks of them before himself. "Those who know Thee" are those
who take refuge under the shadow of the great wing. Their knowledge is intimate,
vital; it is acquaintanceship, not mere intellectual apprehension. It is such as to
purge the heart and make its possessors upright. Thus we have set forth in that
sequence of trust, knowledge, and uprightness stages of growing God-likeness
closely corresponding to the Gospel sequence of faith, love, and holiness. Such souls
are capaces Dei, fit to receive the manifestations of God’s lovingkindness and
righteousness; and from such these will never remove. They will stand stable as His
firm attributes, and the spurning foot of proud oppressors shall not trample on
them, nor violent hands be able to stir them from their steadfast, secure place. The
prayer of the psalm goes deeper than any mere deprecation of earthly removal, and
is but prosaically understood, if thought to refer to exile or the like. The dwelling
place from which it beseeches that the suppliant may never be removed is his safe
refuge beneath the wing, or in the house, of God. Christ answered it when He said,
" o man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand." The one desire of the
heart which has tasted the abundance, satisfaction, delights, fulness of life, and
clearness of light that attend the presence of God is that nothing may draw it thence.
Prayer wins prophetic certitude. From his serene shelter under the wing, the
suppliant looks out on the rout of baffled foes, and sees the end which gives the lie to
the oracle of transgression and its flatteries. "They are struck down," the same
word as in the picture of the pursuing angel of the Lord in Psalms 35:1-28. Here the
agent of their fall is unnamed, but one power only can inflict such irrevocable ruin.
God, who is the shelter of the upright in heart, has at last found out the sinner’s
iniquity, and His hatred of sin stands ready to "smite once, and smite no more."
ISBET, "GUILT!
‘My heart showeth me the wickdness of the ungodly: that there is no fear of God
before his eyes. For he flattereth himself in his own sight: until his abominable sin
be found out.’
Psalms 36:1-2 (Prayer Book Version)
The word ‘guilt,’ like the German ‘schuld,’ means a debt. It is derived from the
Anglo-Saxon verb ‘gildan,’ to pay. How natural the metaphor is we may see from
the fact that our Lord chose it in the parable of the unforgiven debtor; and in the
Lord’s Prayer He taught us to say, ‘Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.’
So, too, the metaphor for a man’s redemption is apodosis, the payment of a debt. A
guilty man is a man who, being justly chargeable with some crime, has a penalty to
pay, either to the laws of his country or to the eternal laws of God, or to both. All
have sinned. How does God awaken men from their trance and dream of security?
In various ways. I would ask you to mark them.
I. Sometimes by irretrievable failure in the one high wish or noble end of a man’s
wasted life.—When haply you shall desire to accomplish some worthy end, that your
life may not be wholly in vain, it may be that words of warning will come back

across your mind like a driving gloom, and your fate shall be like that of the young
knight seeking the Holy Grail to whom, as everything slipped into ashes before him
at a touch, then—
‘Every evil word I had spoken once,
And every evil thought I had thought of old,
And every evil deed I ever did,
Awoke and cried, ‘This Quest is not for thee.’
II. And sometimes God’s awakening punishment of guilt comes, not by irretrievable
failure from without, but by blighting misery from within.—Tiberius wrote to his
Senate in these words: ‘Fathers, may all the gods and goddesses destroy me more
utterly than I feel that they are daily destroying me if I know what to do or whither
to turn.’ Yes! if no outward punishment at all befall the guilty, they are still made
their own executioners, and they put into their own souls the fury and the scourge.
III. And, thirdly, God sometimes awakens guilt by detection.—I have no time to
dwell on its strange unexpectedness, on its inevitable certainty; but, O guilty soul
which hearest me and hast not repented, be sure thy sin will find thee out. In our
ational Gallery you may see a very popular picture, of which one incident is a
detective laying his hand on the shoulder of an escaped felon as he steps into a first-
class carriage. The man’s face is ghastly as ashes and distorted with terror. Critics
called the picture exaggerated, the incident melodramatic. The painter himself told
me that those who were familiar with such scenes had assured him that every detail
was true to the reality when, slow Justice having overtaken a man at last, he finds
that her hand is iron and that her blow is death.
IV. And, fourthly, God sometimes awakens men from the intoxication of guilt by
natural retributive consequences, all the brood of calamity fatally resembling their
parent sin.—The awakening may long be delayed. To-day may be like yesterday,
and to-morrow like to-day; yet one day will come for all sinners, and then woe, woe,
woe! and nothing but darkness.
V. And sometimes, again, God awakens men from guilt—and I know not whether
this be not the most terrible punishment of all—by simply leaving them to
themselves, and suffering their sins to swell into their own natural developments.—
God lets a man eat of the fruit of his own way, and be filled with his own devices.
The youth grows up into a man the very thought of whom he would once have
repudiated with abhorrence.
VI. And, sometimes, lastly, God awakens men from sin by death.—I believe that the
vast majority of suicides have their origin in this remorse for guilt, or horror of its
consequences.
Dean Farrar.
Illustration
‘The mind of man is a reflecting telescope. The heart is the mirror. The poet finds

there a representation of the transgressor. As common in Hebrew poetry, the
description is sevenfold—(1) practical atheism, (2) self-flattery, (3) false speech, (4)
the loss of power to know the right, (5) evil imagination, (6) a course of doing what is
not good, and (7) an acceptance of evil. There is possibly a gradation here. But
assuredly by these seven bold strokes there is outlined a terrible portrait of a sinner.
o special act is mentioned. It is for the most part the inner life of darkness that is
described. The light of the fear of God is gone, and with it the power to understand
what is right, and to see conduct in a true light. It is a portrait the lurid colours of
which become more evident when carefully studied. or is there any mention of
judgments or of punishment. The evil is hateful on its own account. It is no
superficial view. It reveals a profound knowledge of human nature, going deeper
than acts. It is a pre-libation of the morality of Jesus Christ, showing that the inner
life of thought and feeling, of darkness and light within, is the true man. This
“oracle of the transgression of wicked man” is not the work of an ordinary observer.
For real acquaintance with human nature as it is, broken and befouled by the fall, it
would be difficult to find a description that can surpass this.’
PETT, "‘For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of YHWH.’
This Psalm might be called ‘the Ode to the Covenant Love of YHWH’. For after its
initial grim beginning it expands into a threefold expression of YHWH’s covenant
love as it is revealed towards His own.
In it the Psalmist contrasts ‘the oracle of the transgression of the wicked’ (Psalms
36:1-4), which reveals the whole truth about man’s sinfulness spelled out in detail,
with the truth of the covenant love of YHWH, the latter being emphasised in a
threefold way. Thus he stresses first His attributes of love, faithfulness,
righteousness and justness (Psalms 36:5-6); then His wonderful benefits provided to
men (Psalms 36:7-9); and finally his own confidence that through YHWH’s love he
will be delivered from the kind of men described in the initial verses.
A number of Old Testament sections begin with ‘the oracle of so and so’. Here it is
‘the oracle of the transgression of the wicked’. Transgression ‘speaks’ the oracle
and gives warning to the Psalmist’s heart. The normal use in the Hebrew forbids
our taking it as meaning ‘concerning the transgression of the wicked’. Rather
Transgression is seen as personified and as the proclaimer of the oracle.
BI, "The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God
before hill eyes.
A sharp contrast of sin and holiness
I. the character of the wicked (Verses 1-4). Depravity is the sinner’s oracle. Its impulses
come to him like those responses from superhuman sources which command the
reverence and obedience of mankind. He yields to the seductive influence, and presses
forward in the delusion that he will Hover be found out. And so, the fear of punishment
being dispelled, he becomes thoroughly bad in heart, speech, and behaviour.
II. the divine excellence (Psa_36:5-9). The psalmist begins with Jehovah’s loving-

kindness and His faithfulness, His fulfilment of promises, even to the undeserving.
These fill the earth and reach up to heaven. They transcend all human thought and
desire (Eph_3:18). Jehovah’s righteousness. His rectitude in general is compared to the
mountains of God, mountains which, being produced by Almighty power, are a natural
emblem of immensity. Judgments, on the other hand—that is, particular acts of
righteousness—are likened to the great deep in its vastness and mystery. “How
unsearchable are His judgments!” (Rom_11:33). The next clause shows one of the most
touching characteristics of Hebrew poetry in the instantaneous transition from the
consideration of God’s unapproachable excellence to that of His providential care, which
extends to every living thing, rational or irrational (Psa_104:1-35; Psa_145:13-16). The
thought of these things makes the singer burst forth in devout rapture: “How precious is
Thy loving-kindness!” It is valuable beyond all treasures, since it affords such a sure and
ample protection for all who take refuge beneath Jehovah’s outstretched wings (Rth_
2:12). God is represented as a gracious Host who provides for all who come to His house
and His table (Psa_23:5; Psa_34:9). They are sated with the richest food, and drink of
the stream of God’s pleasures or “Edens” (Gen_2:10). To believers, if they enjoy God’s
presence and favour, a crust of bread and a glass of water are incomparably better than a
royal banquet without such enjoyment. For with Him is the fountain of all life, animal
and spiritual. What matters it that all the streams are cut off when one stands near the
fountain-head, and has direct access to it? But just as God is the fountain of life, so is He
also the fountain of light (Dan_2:22), and apart from Him all is darkness. The believing
soul lives in an element of light which at once quickens and satisfies the spiritual faculty,
by which heaven and heavenly things are apprehended.
III. The concluding prayer (Psa_36:10-12). To his glowing description of the
blessedness resident in God and flowing forth to the objects of His favour, the psalmist
appends a prayer that it may be extended or prolonged to the class to which he claims to
belong. This class is described, first, as those who know God, “and, as a necessary
consequence, love Him, since genuine knowledge of the true God is inseparable from
right affections toward Him;” secondly, as the upright, not merely in appearance or
outward demeanour, but in heart. Great as God’s loving-kindness is, it is not
indiscriminate, nor lavished upon those who neither appreciate nor desire it. The last
verse is a mighty triumph of faith. It is as if David said, “There! they have fallen already.”
The wicked may be swollen with insolence, and the world applaud them, but he descries
their destruction from afar as if from a watch-tower, and pronounces it as confidently as
if it were an accomplished fact. The defeat is final and irretrievable. “What is the
carpenter’s son doing now?” was the scoffing question of a heathen in the days of Julian,
when the apostate emperor was off upon an expedition which seemed likely to end in
triumph. “He is making a coffin for the emperor,” was the calm reply. Faith that is
anchored upon the perfections of the Most High cannot waver, cannot be disappointed.
(T. W. Chambers, D. D.)
A diagnosis of sin
The earlier verses of the psalm are concerned with an analysis of the method and
destructiveness of sin. The first four verses describe the successful ravages which sin
makes in human life. They give us a diagnosis of evil, from its earliest appearance in the
germ to its complete and final triumph. Now how does sin begin? I must take some little
liberty with the wording of the psalm before me. I suppose it is one of the most difficult
of all the psalms to translate. You will find, if you will look at the marginal rendering in
the R.V., that for almost every clause the translators have given us an alternative reading

which greatly differs from the reading placed in the text. I choose the marginal reading
of the first clause, which, I think, gives us the germ, the first appearances, the beginnings
of sin in human life. “Transgression uttereth its oracle,” speaks within himself in tones of
imperious authority, lays down certain assurances, interpolates certain suggestions, and
clothes them with imperial authority. The devil begins his ministry by oracular
suggestions, by mysterious whispers, subtle enticements to sin. That is the germinal
work of the devil; a mystic, secret oracle seeking to entice the life into ways of sin. The
secret enticement is followed by equally subtle stratagem. “He” (that is, the oracle)
“flattereth him in his eyes that his iniquity shall not be found out and be hated.” Two
things the oracle says, and he says them with imperial authority. First, that sin shall not
be found out, and secondly, that therefore there is no fear of reprobation. It is only a
repetition of a word with which we are very familiar in the earlier portion of the old
Book. “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die? . . .
Ye shall not surely die!” Now pass to the third step in the great degeneracy. The man has
been listening to the secret oracle. He has been flattered by its suggestiveness. He is now
persuaded by the enticement, and the moral degradation begins apace. “The words”—the
first things to be smitten—“The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.” The first
thing that happens as soon as a man listens to the devil is that the bloom goes off the
truthfulness of his life. He now enters the realm of equivocation and deceit, his
seduction begins to show its fruit at the lips. “He hath left off to be wise”; then he loseth
sense; he does not now exercise common sense; he shuts one eye! His intelligence is
narrowed, contracted and curtailed. But still further: “He hath left off to do good.” The
loss of brotherhood! He may continue to give money; but he has ceased to give self. The
claims of philanthropic service no longer appeal to his spirit, they pass by unheeded and
ignored. Arid now see what further happens in the stages of moral decay. “He deviseth
iniquity”; his imagination becomes defiled. “He setteth himself in a way that is not good.
His will becomes enslaved. “He adhorreth not evil.” He has now reached the plain of
moral benumbment; his moral palate has been defiled; the distinction between sweet
and bitter is no longer apparent, sweet and bitter taste alike. He has no abhorrence of
evil, and he has no sweet pleasure in the good. He has lost his power of moral
discernment; he is morally indifferent, and almost morally dead. Such is the diagnosis of
sin, beginning in the whispered oracle and proceeding to absolute enslavement, passing
through the intermediate stages of deception and delight. That is the moral condition of
thousands. It is all round about us, and when we are confronted with its widespread
devastation, what can we do? The earlier verses of this psalm, which give what I have
called “a diagnosis” of sin, were never more confirmed than they are in the literature of
our own Lime. The literature of our time abounds in analysis of sin. If you turn to “Tess
of the D’Urbervilles,” or “Jude the Obscure,” you will find that Thomas Hardy is just
carefully elaborating the first four verses of this psalm. But, then, my trouble is this: that
when his mournful psalm comes to an end I close his book in limp and rayless
bewilderment. That is where so much of our modern literature leaves me. It gives me a
fine diagnosis, but no remedial power. But here is the psalmist contemplating a similar
spectacle—the ravages of sin, and he himself is temporarily bewildered; he himself is
bowed low in helpless and hopeless mood. What does he do? I am very glad that our
Revised Version helps by the very manner in which the psalm is printed. After verse four
there is a great space, as though the psalm must be almost cut in two, as though the
psalmist had gone away from the contemplation of that spectacle, as indeed he has. And
where has he gone? He has gone that he might quietly inquire whether the evil things he
has seen are the biggest things he can find. When the psalm opens again after the pause,
the psalmist is joyfully proclaiming the bigger things he has found. What are they?” Thy
loving-kindness, O Lord, is in the heavens.” Mark the vastness of the figures in which he

seeks to enshrine the vastness of his thought. “Thy loving-kindness, O Lord, is in the
heavens,” bending like a mother’s arms, the shining, cloudless sky! Most uncertain of all
uncertainties, and yet “Thy faithfulness reacheth even unto the clouds!’ Those apparent
children of caprice, coming and going no one knows how, are in God’s loving control,
and obey the behests of His most sovereign will. “Thy righteousness is like the great
mountains.” How majestic the figure! The mountains, the symbols of the Eternal,
abiding through the generations; looking down upon the habitations of men,
undisturbed, unchanged, unmoved. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains! Not
that everything becomes clear when a man talks like that; the mystery remains! “Thy
judgments,” Thy ways of doing things, “Thy judgments are a great deep,” as immense
and unfathomable as the incalculable sea. But then one may endure the mystery of the
deep when one is sure about the mountain. When you know that His faithfulness even
ruleth the clouds, you can trust the fickle sea, Where had he been to discover these
wonderful things? He is not recounting a bald catalogue of Divine attributes; he is
announcing a testimony born of a deep and real experience. Where has he been? He has
been the guest of God. “Under the shadow of Thy wings.” The security of it! The absolute
perfectness of the shelter! The warmth of it! The untroubled peace of it! He has been in
God’s house, sheltering there as a chick under its mother’s wings. And then he tells us
what he received in the house, what he had when he was a guest, when he was hiding
under the wings: “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house.”
“Fatness is the top, it is the cream of all spiritual delicacies.” It is the first, the prime
thing! “They shall be abundantly satisfied” with the delicacies of Thy table! “Thou shalt
make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures.” It is not only what there is upon the
table; it is the conversation and the fellowship at the board. Thy speech, Thy fellowship,
Thy whispers, Thy promises, they just flow out into their souls like a river, and their joy
shall be full. “With Thee is the fountain of life!” He was beginning to feel alive again; he
was beginning to feel vitalized and renewed. “I am getting inspired again.” And then he
added: “In Thy light,” my living God, “in Thy light shall we see light” to do our work
away yonder in the fields of sin I The very two things he wanted: life and light I
Inspiration and counsel! Encouragement and hope! As the psalmist turned from the
Presence Chamber to confront again the spectacle of depravity, he offered a prayer, and
this was his prayer: “O continue Thy loving-kindness unto them that know Thee, and
Thy righteousness to the upright in heart!” And then, as though he was afraid that when
he got back to the waste again, and to the sin again, he himself might be overcome,
caught up in the terrible drift and carried along, he added this prayer: “Let not the foot
of pride come against me.” Do not let me get into the general tendency of things, and by
the general tendency be carried away! He offered a prayer that these cardinal things, the
greatest things, might abide with him, and that when he went away into the world’s
waste field he might be able to stand. And so this man came out of the secret chamber a
knight of God! He goes back, like all men ought to go hack to their work when they have
been in the presence chamber of God. We ought to turn to our work singing, always
singing, and the songs ought to be, not songs of strife and warfare, but songs of victory.
(J. H. Jowett, M.A.)
The character of the wicked and the prayer of the good
I. The character of the wicked.
1. Practical atheism.
2. Self-flattery.

Psalm 36 commentary

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Psalm 36 commentary