Psalms 36:1-11

1 To victory, to David, the servant of the Lord. The unjust man said, that he trespass in himself; the dread of God is not before his eyes. (To the victory of David, the servant of the Lord. The wicked man said, My sin, or my trespass, is my concern alone; and so the fear of God is not in his heart/and so reverence for God is not in his heart.)
2 For he did guilefully in the sight of God; that his wickedness be found to (be) hatred. (But he did deceitfully before God; until his wickedness was found to be hateful.)
3 The words of his mouth be wickedness and guile; he would not understand to do well. (The words of his mouth be wicked and deceitful; he desireth not to understand, or to do good.)
4 He thought wickedness in his bed; he stood nigh (to) all way(s) (that be) not good; forsooth he hated not malice.
5 Lord, thy mercy is in heaven; and thy truth is unto [the] clouds. (Lord, thy love reacheth up to the heavens; and thy faithfulness up to the clouds.)
6 Thy rightfulness is as the hills of God; thy dooms be (as) much depth of waters. Lord, thou shalt save men and beasts; (Thy righteousness is as high as the mountains; thy judgements, or thy just acts, be as deep as the water. Lord, thou shalt save people and beasts;)
7 as thou, God, hast multiplied thy mercy. But the sons of men shall hope in the covering of thy wings. (for thou, God, hast multiplied thy love. And so the sons and daughters of men shall hope for/shall trust in the covering of thy wings.)
8 They shall be (ful)filled greatly of the plenty of thine house; and thou shalt give drink to them of the stiff stream of thy liking. (They shall be filled from the rich plenty of thy House; and thou shalt give drink to them out of the flowing stream of thy delights, or of thy goodness.)
9 For the well of life is with thee; and in thy light we shall see light.
10 Lord, set forth thy mercy to them that know thee; and thy rightfulness to them that be of rightful heart. (Lord, continue to show thy love to those who know thee; and thy righteousness to those who have an upright heart.)
11 The foot of pride come not to me; and the hand of the sinner move me not. (Let not the foot of pride come against me; nor let the hand of the sinner upset me.)

Psalms 36:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, [a Psalm] of David, the servant of the Lord. This title, which the psalmist takes to himself, regards him not only as a creature, every man being the servant of the Lord as such, of right, though not in fact; but as a king, he being a minister of God for good to good men, and for evil to evil men; and also may respect him as a renewed man; and it is here used in opposition to and distinction from the wicked, who are the servants of sin and Satan, of whom he speaks in this psalm. The Syriac and Arabic versions in their titles suggest that this psalm was written when David was persecuted by Saul, and which is the sense of some interpreters; but R. Obadiah thinks Ahithophel is designed by the wicked man in it; and so it was penned on account of Absalom's rebellion.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.