The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before hill eyes. Psalm 36 A sharp contrast of sin and holiness T. W. Chambers, D. D. I. THE CHARACTER OF THE WICKED (Vers. 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 (vers. 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 ( Ephesians 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!" ( Romans 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 ( Psalm 104 ; Psalm 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 ( Ruth 2:12 ). God is represented as a gracious Host who provides for all who come to His house and His table ( Psalm 23:5 ; Psalm 34:9 ). They are sated with the richest food, and drink of the stream of God's pleasures or "Edens" ( Genesis 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 ( Daniel 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 (vers. 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 J. H. Jowett, M.A. 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 Homilist I. THE CHARACTER OF THE WICKED. 1. Practical atheism. 2. Self-flattery. 3. Perverse speech. 4. Mischievous devices. II. THE GLORY OF GOD. Here the Eternal is adored — 1. For what He is in Himself. (1) His mercy is not a mere sentiment or passion, subject to change, but a principle settled as truth itself. (2) His rectitude is as settled as the everlasting hills, and the dispensations of His providence are as a trackless, boundless ocean. 2. For what He is to His creatures. (1) The Preserver of all. (2) Their loving Guardian. (3) Their Soul-satisfier. Man's happiness is participation in God's own happiness. III. THE PRAYER OF THE GOOD. 1. The subject of the prayer. (1) The continuance of Divine favour. (2) Protection from evil. 2. The answer (ver. 12). ( Homilist ) The remedy for the world's wickedness Hugh M'Neils, M. A. Consider the estimate here made of man's character and its cause. The language of the text is not that of David only, but of Christ, concerning the world around us. Man's transgression possessed a language which spoke to his heart, and what it said was this, "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Christ knew what the fear of God was, for "He was heard in that he feared"; not, indeed, with the selfish, slavish fear of punishment, which is incompatible with love, and impotent to secure obedience; but that holy, filial fear which is inseparable from love, and which is a comprehensive term for all that constitutes real religion in man. We know the power of this in man's character, its practical power in giving man victory over the world, and therefore when he saw the transgressions of men he knew that the cause was — "There is no fear of God." Then he goes to the root of the disease; he puts forward none of the plausible excuses which men make for themselves on the ground of temperament, circumstances, and the like: but he goes to the root, for he knows also the real and only remedy. All others are vain: whether they be secular attempts to improve man's condition or to enlarge his knowledge, or to improve the institutions of civil government. Men believe in these things, and despise that vital religion which can alone help. What man calls wisdom, and wealth, and science, can do but little good, for they all terminate with creatures; they do not rise up to God. There is nothing in them to alter the real character of man. The reason is, that man, practically considered, is under the dominion, not of his intellect, but of his affections. There is no truth, connected with our composition, that requires and demands from wise men a more accurate and painstaking examination than this; because there is a theory of right in men's minds, and they deceive themselves into self-complacency by the admiration of the theory, at the moment that practically they are transgressing it. However strengthened the intellect by natural learning, it is still too weak for the conflict. The attracting object, soliciting the affections, gains the man; and he exhibits another specimen of the acknowledgment of the celebrated heathen, who "Knew the best, and yet the worst pursued." What is to be done for him? "His transgression saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes." There is fear of man; there is a desire to obtain the good opinion of man; but all these are too weak for the conflict. He is still a transgressor, because he is devoid of "the fear of God." The next verses of the psalm give a remarkable description of his transgression, and show that it is mainly characterized by self-deception. "He flattereth himself in his own eyes until his iniquity be found to be hateful." It is not perceived to be hateful now, because he does as the world does. There are transgressions in which no man can flatter himself that he is right, but there are others for which he does not condemn himself, because society does not. It is concerning these, particularly, that he goes on flattering himself. And where is the remedy? The language of the psalmist, immediately after this, points out the remedy. "Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; Thy judgments are a great deep; O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is Thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings." Observe the transition. From this contemplation of man's wickedness, he does not pass to a better class of men, because he was not contemplating that peculiar character of wickedness, in which man differs from man, but he was contemplating the root of man's malady, in which "there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." In immediate contrast, therefore, he refers to the character of God. Here is the only remedy — the character of God as manifested in Jesus Christ. "Mercy, .... faithfulness," "righteousness," "judgment, .... loving-kindness" — how are these glorious perfections harmonized, but in the Cross of Christ? Here, then, we find the urgency for preaching the Gospel among men. Here we find our stronghold of demand for every effort to promulgate the Gospel amongst our fellow-creatures. They who know the human character best, who have watched most minutely the turning point of man's feelings and his consequent conduct, know full well that it is the manifestation of God's love that wins the alienated heart and changes the alienated conduct. ( Hugh M'Neils, M. A. ) For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity he found to he hateful. The deceitfulness of sin W. Craig, D.D. The deceits by which the sinner thus imposes on himself may be very different and various, according to the circumstances and the dispositions of the persons by whom they are admitted, and it is not very easy to discover every one of them. There are, however, some capital and leading ones, pointed out in Scripture, or suggested by history and experience. I. A STUDIED INFIDELITY, AND AN AFFECTED ENDEAVOUR TO DESPISE THE EVIDENCE ON WHICH THE BELIEF OF THE GREAT AND FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES OF RELIGION STANDS; such as the existence and perfections of Almighty God, His moral government of this world, and a future judgment. 1. It is the height of folly, either to reject these doctrines of religion, or to treat them with contempt, until we can say we have examined the evidence on which they have been received, with the utmost exactness and candour in our power. 2. Without determining the degree of evidence, which is offered in support of the doctrines of religion, we may venture, nevertheless, to affirm, with strong assurance, that it is at least equal to the evidence upon which men constantly proceed, without the smallest hesitation, in all their other interests. II. A FOND IMAGINATION OF THEIR OWN INNOCENCE, EVEN IN THE COURSE OF AN IRREGULAR AND SINFUL LIFE. They artfully persuade themselves that there cannot be such malignity or guilt in what they do as that it should expose them to the displeasure of their Maker, or draw after it any great or lasting punishment: they presume, therefore, God will overlook the irregularities and errors of their lives, or find out some merciful expedient whereby they may escape with safety and success. 1. Notwithstanding the ignorance and corruption of our present state, so much of our original rectitude remains, that without any laboured cultivation, the consciences of men do still perceive a very odious deformity in some instances of wickedness; and lead, not only to a strong indignation against the criminal, but to a strong persuasion that Providence will some time or other interpose, and exert its justice, in his punishment. 2. The marks which God has already given, in the administration of His providence, of His displeasure with the sins of men. What extreme distress have some brought upon themselves by their intemperance; some by their dishonesty, and others by their immoderate ambition. It adds greatly to the weight of this consideration, that these expressions of Divine displeasure are made against such iniquities as are usually disguised in the thoughts of men, under the appearance of innocence, or weakness; as being only a compliance with the appetites implanted in our nature, and with the custom of the world, in which a man has no deliberate impiety and malice in his heart, no intention either to affront his Maker, or to hurt his fellow-men. III. A GROUNDLESS AND PRESUMPTUOUS DEPENDENCE ON THE MERCY OF ALMIGHTY GOD. 1. Although the mercy of Almighty God be infinite, as all His other perfections are, yet it can extend only to those persons who are the proper objects of compassion, and to those cases to which it would be worthy of Him to extend mercy. 2. Let it be observed, that abstracting from the displeasure of Almighty God, and supposing that there was to be no positive exertion of His justice in the case, yet the future punishment of sinners will very probably proceed from the nature and influence of wickedness itself ( Galatians 6:7 ; Proverbs 1:31 ; Isaiah 3:10 ). IV. THE SINNER'S HOPING, AT THE END OF A GUILTY LIFE, TO BE SAVED, BY THE MERIT OF THE SON OF GOD, AND THE VIRTUE OF THAT GREAT ATONEMENT WHICH HE MADE FOR THE SINS OF MEN. If the sinner is not able to convince himself that the mercy of his Maker is sufficient, by itself, to ensure his future safety, he trusts, at least, to the all-sufficient sacrifice and merit of his well-beloved Son. But, according to Scripture, they only can be saved by the sacrifice and intercession of the Son of God, who are persuaded by Him to repent of their iniquities, to believe and obey the Gospel ( Acts 5:31 ; Acts 3:19 ; Hebrews 5:9 ; Romans 2:6 ). Were the matter otherwise, were sinners, continuing in their wickedness, permitted to expect salvation through the merits of our Saviour, Jesus would become the minister of sin, an establisher rather than a destroyer of the works of Satan; than which, a more blasphemous reproach could not be thrown upon His character. V. A PRECIPITANT CONTEMPT OF RELIGION, ON ACCOUNT OF THE WEAK AND WRONG REPRESENTATIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE OF IT BY SOME OF ITS MISTAKEN FRIENDS. This instance of deceit unhappily prevails, even among those who pretend to superior discernment. But the weakness of it may appear upon a very small attention. Does a wise man conduct himself in this manner in any corer action of his life? Does he despise the truth and usefulness of real science, because of the impertinence and pedantry of mere pretenders to it? Does he despise the useful schemes of commerce, accompanied with the solidest effects, because of the chimerical and idle schemes of mere projectors. VI. THEIR HOPING AND RESOLVING TO REPENT, AND TURN TO GOD, AT SOME FUTURE AND MORE CONVENIENT OPPORTUNITY; at the farthest, in the last period of their lives, or at the approach of death. It is not proposed, at present, to show the extreme absurdity and folly of this conduct, by arguments drawn from the shortness and uncertainty of human life; the hardening influence of a sinful course, which gradually destroys the sensibility of the human conscience. I would only desire ,your attention to the prodigious presumption of the sinner who defers his repentance and return to God to the last period of his life, hoping then to obtain forgiveness from God by his penitence and prayers. What the Creator can do, or what He may have done, independent of the established laws of providence, no man reckons it of importance to inquire; and any person would be deemed a madman or a fool, who directed the measures of his conduct by a regard to such unusual departures from these laws, as the history of the world may possibly furnish some few examples of. That man seems equally foolish and absurd who seeks admission to eternal life otherwise than according to the measures of His mercy, declared and established by the Gospel. ( W. Craig, D.D. ) On the deceitfulness of the heart John Jamieson, D. D. I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 1. That all the proofs of the deceitfulness of the heart, which we mean to offer with regard to sin, may not be found in every person, especially in those who are under its power. 2. Many of those things, which are evidences of the deceitfulness of the heart, may be used as temptations by Satan. The wind of Satan's temptation commonly blows along with the tide of corruption within, whether by deceit, or by violence. Were not this the case, Satan would be divided against himself, and opposing the interests of his own kingdom. II. How THE DECEITFULNESS OF THE HEART APPEARS. 1. In raising doubts in the mind, with respect to what One is inclined to, whether it really be sin. 2. In trying to persuade him that it is a little sin. If the understanding will not be betrayed into a belief that the matter proposed is no sin at all, the heart will strenuously plead that it scarcely deserves the name. 3. By representing the mortification of sin as affording far less pleasure than the gratification of it. Nay, it will presume to urge, not only the difficulty, but the unreasonableness, the cruelty of attempting totally to subdue sin. 4. Sin is exhibited as far more pleasant than it is really found in the commission. The enjoyments of sin are like the apples of Sodom, which, how fair soever they appear to the eye, when grasped by the hand are said to fall to ashes ( Proverbs 22:8 ; Romans 6:21 ). 5. It represents a renewed opportunity of sin, as promising far greater satisfaction than was ever found before. 6. It pleads that one may indulge sin a little, without altogether yielding to the sin particularly in view. 7. It throws a veil of forgetfulness over the whole soul, with respect to all the painful consequences of sin, formerly felt. That loathsomeness of sin, hatred of self on account of it, or fear of Wrath, which the person experienced after a former indulgence, are entirely vanished; and he now appears to himself as one who feared where no fear was. 8. It entices the imagination into its service. This is not only Satan's workhouse in the soul; but it may be viewed as a purveyor, which the heart engages in making provision for its lusts. 9. It engages the senses on its side. These are volunteers to the corrupt heart, which it arms in its service, and by which it accomplishes its wicked purposes, when enticing to outward acts of sin. For the voice. of the senses will always overpower that of the understanding; if they be not brought into subjection, or presently restrained by grace. 10. In representing sin as properly one's own, as something belonging to one's self. 11. By insinuating that committing such a sin once more cannot greatly increase our guilt. 12. By urging the vanity of attempting to resist the temptation. It will plead for yielding to the present assault, from former instances of insufficiency In opposing one of the came nature. 13. It may sometimes endeavour to persuade a man that the present commission of sin will be an antidote for the future, because he will see more of its hatefulness. 14. The heart sometimes urges the commission of sin, as immediately clearing the way to the performance of some necessary duty ( Romans 3:8 ; Genesis 20:11 ; Genesis 27:19 ; 1 Samuel 13:11 ; 1 Samuel 15:22 ). 15. By persuading a person to lay the commission of sin to the charge of the flesh, and solacing him with the idea that, although he fall into it, he does not really love it. 16. It dissuades him from prayer. Perhaps it reminds him that he has often tried this exercise before, in like circumstances, when he found an inclination to sin, or was assaulted by a temptation; and that it was attended with no success. Or, it may reason that if God hath determined to permit his fall at this time, prayer will not prevent it. 17. It strives to banish a sense of the presence and omniscience of God. 18. The deceitfulness of the heart about sin eminently appears in its self-hardening influence. Sin is the instrument which it uses in this work ( Hebrews 13:8 ). The strength of every lust is commensurate with the power of deceit. 19. The heart will even urge God's readiness to pardon as an excitement to the commission of sin. This is indeed a dreadful abuse of pardoning mercy. 20. By endeavouring to drive one to despair, after the commission of sin, as being beyond the reach of mercy. III. MEANS FOR OBTAINING VICTORY OVER THE DECEITS OF THE HEART WITH RESPECT TO SIN. 1. In a dependence on the Spirit, resist the first motions of sin within you. 2. Beware of entertaining doubts with regard to what Scripture and conscience declare to be sin. To doubt is to begin to fall, for it implies unbelief of God's testimony. 3. Carefully avoid light notions of any sin. To think lightly of sin is to think lightly of God. 4. Guard against the solicitations of your hearts. If these promise you honour, profit, or pleasure in the service of sin, believe them not. 5. Beware of tampering or dallying with sin. Temptation is, to the corrupt heart, sharper than a two-edged sword, and if the point once enter, you may be pierced through with many sorrows. 6. Try to get all your senses armed against sin, or rather barred against it; for this is the best mode of defence. Like Job, make a covenant with your eyes. Endeavour to stop your ears against it. Strive for the mastery over your taste. Put a knife to thy throat, lest thou be given to appetite. 7. Seek a constant sense of the Majesty and Omniscience of God. 8. Pray without ceasing against the deceitfulness of the heart. 9. Improve the strength of Christ, and the grace of His Spirit, for the mortification of sin. ( John Jamieson, D. D. ) He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good. Psalm 36:4 The state and condition of an habitual sinner N. Marshall, D. D. I. THE CHARACTER OF AN HABITUAL SINNER. He is one who "deviseth mischief upon his bed," his hours of leisure are employed upon it. 1. The time of retirement is the fittest and most likely season for religious influences to take place, and to have a due effect ( Psalm 119:55 ). If ever our reason re-asserts its authority, it should be when there is nothing from without to interrupt its pretensions, or to oppose its claim. If ever religion can raise up our souls to God, it should be when our souls are free from all external impediments. 2. When this time of solitude and leisure is misapplied to contrivances for vice, it must needs improve those ill dispositions which it finds in the mind, and overspread it more and more with the contagion of sin. II. To GIVE SOME ACCOUNTS, AND TO SHOW SOME CAUSE OF HIS THUS PROCEEDING; OF THE ABUSE HE PUTS UPON HIS HOURS OF LEISURE. "He setteth himself in a way that is not good." 1. The abuse of a trust reposed in us all by a gracious Providence. We have a work to do, and a time assigned us for it. The work is improving our souls, and disposing all our faculties to a ripeness and capacity for eternal bliss. But how great will be the guilt which is contracted when the time allotted us to do the work of Him who sent us into this world for His glory, is employed to His dishonour, and in disobedience to His laws! To somewhat to forget, but more to betray a trust. 2. He who makes no advances forwards will certainly go backwards; he who has not laid in a fit provision for a good use of his time will certainly put it to a bad one. The ground we might gain in virtue will be gained to vice. III. A FURTHER AGGRAVATION, AND INDEED A FURTHER REASON OF HIS SIN. "He abhorreth not evil." His affections are all wrong turned; and, being so, it is no great wonder that they should run riot upon wickedness. 1. That he abhorreth not evil is an aggravation of his sin, for it implies that his reason is subdued to it, and grace extinguishe

Benson Commentary Psalm 36:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. Psalm 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.” Psalm 36:2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. Psalm 36:3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good. Psalm 36:3-4 . The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit — Are wicked and deceitful. He hath left off to be wise and to do good — Once he had some degrees of wisdom, and did things that were apparently good, and seemed to be under the government of religion: but now he is an open apostate from that which he once professed. He deviseth mischief upon his bed — Freely from his own inclination, when none are present to provoke him to it. He setteth himself in a way that is not good — He doth not repent of his wicked devices, but resolutely proceeds to execute them, and persists therein. He abhorreth not evil — Though he sometimes professes to feel remorse for his conduct, and desists for a time from his evil practices, yet he does not truly repent of, nor abhor them, and therefore is ready to return to them when any occasion offers itself. Psalm 36:4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil. Psalm 36:5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Psalm 36:5-6 . Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens — Where it reigns in perfection and to eternity; and from whence it is extended to the sinful and miserable children of men, who peculiarly need it And thy faithfulness — The truth, both of thy threatenings against thine enemies, and of thy promises made to good men; reacheth unto the clouds — Is far above our reach, greater and higher than we can apprehend it. As if he had said, Mine enemies are cruel and perfidious, but thou art infinite in mercy and faithfulness, and in righteousness and lovingkindness, as it here follows: and, therefore, though I despair of them, yet I trust in thee, as other men do for these reasons. Thy righteousness — In all thy counsels and ways in the government of the world; is like the great mountains — Steadfast and immoveable: eminent and conspicuous to all men. Thy judgments — The executions of thy counsels, or the administration of the affairs of the world, and of thy church; are a great deep — Unsearchable as the ocean. O Lord, thou preservest man and beast — The worst of men, yea, even the brute beasts have experience of thy care and kindness, and therefore I have no reason to doubt of it. Psalm 36:6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast. Psalm 36:7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. Psalm 36:7-8 . How excellent is thy loving-kindness — Or thy mercy: for it is the same word which is so rendered, Psalm 36:5 . The sense is, though all thine attributes be excellent and glorious, yet, above all, thy mercy is most excellent, or precious and amiable, as being most necessary and beneficial unto us, poor sinful miserable men. Therefore the children of men put their trust, &c. — Cheerfully commit themselves to thy care and kindness, notwithstanding their own sinfulness, and the rage and power of their adversaries; against all which thy mercy is a sufficient security. They shall be abundantly satisfied — That is, those children of men who trust in thee, as he now said, though they are straitened, oppressed, and persecuted; yet they shall not only be protected and supported for the present; but in due time shall have all their wants and desires fully satisfied. Hebrew, ????? , jirvejun, shall be watered, or made drunk, that is, shall be, as it were, overwhelmed with the abundance of its blessings. With the fatness of thy house — With those rich and delightful provisions which thou hast prepared for them in the place of thy worship on earth, thy tabernacle, where thou displayest thy glory, communicatest thy blessings, and acceptest the prayers and praises of thy people. The benefit of holy ordinances is the fatness of God’s house here below, sweet to a sanctified soul, and strengthening to the spiritual and divine life; with this God’s people are abundantly satisfied; they desire nothing more in this world than to live a life of communion with God; and to have the comfort of the promises. But the full, the complete satisfaction is reserved for the future state, and the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Every vessel will be perfectly full there. Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures — Pleasures that are truly divine; which not only come from thee, as the author of them, but which terminate in thee as the matter and centre of them; which, being purely spiritual, are of the same nature with those of the glorious inhabitants of the heavenly world, and bear some analogy even to the delights of the Eternal Mind. There is a river of these pleasures always full, always fresh, always flowing. There is enough for all, enough for each, enough for evermore, Psalm 46:4 . God has not only provided this river for his people, but he makes them to drink of it; works in them a gracious appetite for these spiritual enjoyments, and, by his Spirit, refreshes their souls with them. In heaven they shall for ever drink of them, and shall be satiated with a fulness of joy. Psalm 36:8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. Psalm 36:9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. Psalm 36:9 . With thee is the fountain of life — From which those rivers of pleasure flow. Life is in God as in a fountain, and from him is derived to us. As the God of nature, he is the fountain of natural life; in him we live, and move, and have our being. As the God of grace, he is the fountain of spiritual life: all the strength and comfort of sanctified souls; all their gracious principles, powers, and performances, are from him. He is the spring and author of all their sensations of divine things, and of all their motions toward them; and he invites all that thirst, nay, and whosoever will, to come and partake of these waters of life freely. As the God of glory, he is the fountain of eternal life: the happiness of glorified saints consists in the vision and fruition of him, and in the immediate communications of his love, without interruption, or fear, or cessation. This glorious, blessed, and endless life is alone worthy of the name of life: this present temporal life being only a passage to death, and a theatre of great and manifold calamities. In thy light — In the knowledge of thee in grace, and the vision of thee in glory; especially in the latter; in the light of thy countenance, or glorious presence, which then shall be fully manifested unto us, when we shall see thee clearly and face to face, and not through a glass and darkly, as we now see; shall we see light — The light of life, as it is called, John 8:12 ; light in this clause being the same thing with life in the former: pure light without any mixture of darkness; knowledge without ignorance, holiness without sin, happiness without misery. The word light is elegantly repeated in another signification; in the former clause it is light discovering, in this, light discovered or enjoyed. Psalm 36:10 O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart. Psalm 36:10 . O continue thy loving-kindness unto them, that know thee — That is, that know thee so as sincerely to love thee, for every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God: whereas he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love, 1 John 4:7 . As thou hast begun, so continue the manifestation and exhibition of thy loving-kindness to such, both in this life and the next. Hebrew, ????? ????? , meshok chasdecha, extend, or draw forth thy lovingkindness, or mercy: let it not be like a fountain sealed, but let it be drawn forth for their comfort. And thy righteousness to the upright in heart — By giving them that protection and assistance, which thou art by nature inclined, and by thy promise engaged to give them. Psalm 36:11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me. Psalm 36:11 . Let not the foot of pride — That is, of my proud and insolent enemies; come against me — Or upon me, namely, so as to overthrow or remove me, as it is in the next clause; either, 1st, From my trust in, and obedience to thee: or, 2d, From my place and station; from the land of my nativity, and the place of thy worship. Or as ????? , tenedeeni, may be rendered, shake me, or cast me down, that is, subdue and destroy me. Some translate the former clause; Let me not be trampled under the foot of pride. “There seems,” says Dr. Dodd, “to be a particular beauty in this expression, by which David elegantly intimates the supercilious haughtiness and disdainful insolence of his enemy; who, if he had been in his power, would spurn him under his foot, and trample on him.” Psalm 36:12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise. Psalm 36:12 . There are the workers of iniquity fallen — There, where they came against me, and hoped to ruin me. He seems, as it were, to point at the place with his finger, as if their downfall were already effected, and he could tell all the circumstances of it. Upon the very spot where they practise their treachery, they receive their downfall, which is the proper force of the word ??? , sham, as ?? , az, denotes the very instant of time. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 36:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. Psalm 36:1-12 THE supposition that the sombre picture of "the wicked" in Psalm 36:1-4 was originally unconnected with the glorious hymn in Psalm 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. Nor 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. Psalm 36:1-2 unveil the secret beliefs of the sinner, Psalm 36:3-4 his consequent acts. As the text stands, it needs much torturing to get a tolerable meaning out of Psalm 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 Psalm 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 Psalm 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 Psalm 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 Psalm 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. No wonder that the psalmist wrenches himself swiftly away from such a sight! The two strophes of the second division ( Psalm 36:5-6 and Psalm 36:7-9 ) present the glorious realities of the Divine name in contrast with the false oracle of Psalm 36:1-2 , and the blessedness of God’s guests in contrast with the gloomy picture of the "wicked" in Psalm 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 Psalm 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 Psalm 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. Nothing 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. No 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. Nor 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 Psalm 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, "No 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 Psalm 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." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.