Psalms 37 · The Lantern

A Psalm of David, in commemoration of the Sabbath.

"In many portions and in many ways God spoke to the fathers in the prophets". Sometimes indeed he teaches us ineffable mysteries in the things he speaks; but sometimes he instructs us concerning the Savior and his coming; and at other times he corrects and amends our conduct.

(Verse 1) He says, 'Do not envy among the envious, nor have you imitated those who do evil.' First, let us learn what it means to imitate; the power of this word is less in Latin than in Greek. For we read both good imitation and bad imitation. Finally, the Apostle says, 'It is good to imitate good always' (Galatians 4:18).

Above, the Psalmist sought divine help against sinners and showed their malice; here, however, he teaches that their prosperity is to be despised. The title is not new. The intention of this Psalm is to show that the prosperities of the wicked should not be esteemed. Regarding this, the Psalmist does three things. First, he sets forth the intention of the Psalm.

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your fury, nor chastise me in your wrath.

For your arrows have been driven into me, and your hand has been confirmed over me.

After he said that those who work iniquity fall away quickly like the green herbs, and forbade being jealous among the malignant, and imitating those who work iniquity: then he says what we ought to do. "Hope", he says, "in the Lord, and do goodness".

What should you do then? "Trust in the Lord" [Psalm 37:3]. For they too trust, but not "in the Lord." Their hope is perishable. Their hope is short-lived, frail, fleeting, transitory, baseless. "Trust thou in the Lord." "Behold," you say, "I do trust; what am I to do?" "And do good." Do not do that evil which you behold in those men, who are prosperous in wickedness.

"Hope in the Lord." And because temporal prosperity consists in three things -- namely, in riches, pleasures, and honors (1 Jn. 2: "All that is in the world," etc.) -- therefore, inasmuch as spiritual prosperity also consists in three things, he does three things.

There is no health in my flesh before the face of your wrath. There is no peace for my bones before the face of my sins.

The expression "we have need" is applied to those things that are necessary for life. Consequently, applied to material things, it means that one does not need most things but only those of which Paul says, "but having food and clothing, we shall be satisfied with these things." Those things, [by contrast], that are accumulated in wealth and luxury are the result of abundance a…

In everything he taught the benefit of hope in God: the person hoping in God, he says, and fed by him will enjoy the goods supplied by him while those who find delightful constant converse with him will most of all attain them.

"Delight." And regarding this he does two things, inasmuch as the joy of this delight consists in two things: namely, in attaining one's desire and in fulfilling one's purpose; the second is at "Reveal." He says therefore of the first, "Delight," etc. Prov. 13: "A desire fulfilled delights the soul." If you cling to God, your desire is fulfilled.

For my iniquities have walked over my head, and they have been like a heavy burden weighing upon me.

After these things he says: "Reveal your way to the Lord, and hope in him, and he himself will act". — "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light lest his works be reproved. But he who does the truth comes to the light".

"Behold" (you say), "I do long after it, I do ask for it, I do desire it. Shall I then accomplish it?" No. Who shall then? "Reveal your way unto the Lord: trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass" [Psalm 37:5]. Mention to Him what you suffer, mention to Him what thou dost desire. For what is it that you suffer?

However much knowledge a man may have of the New and Old Testament, it is still necessary that he consult the Lord. The Psalm says: 'Reveal your way to the Lord, and he himself will give you the petitions of your heart.

My sores have putrefied and been corrupted before the face of my foolishness.

What he will do, learn from what follows: "He will bring forth your righteousness like the light, and your judgment like noonday".

"And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light" (ver. 6). For now, "thy righteousness" is hid. Now it is a thing of faith; not yet of sight. You believe something that you may do it. You do not yet see that in which you believe.

"And." Where first he promises glory; second, he shows how one arrives at it, at "Be subject to the Lord." Regarding the first he does two things. First, he promises the glory that one obtains. Second, he shows the manner of obtaining it, at "And your judgment." He says therefore, "And he will bring forth," etc. The saints conceal their righteousness. Mt.

I have become miserable, and I have been bent down, even to the end. I have walked with contrition all day long.

For my loins have been filled with illusions, and there is no health in my flesh.

After these things he admonishes concerning a vice by which almost all of us are troubled, and I know not whether anywhere anyone rare is found so perfect as to be without this disease. "Cease", he says, "from anger, and forsake indignation". There are many vices which are easily avoided by many. For example, the evil of unchastity.

(Vers. 8). If you have overcome the previous passions, anger follows; and therefore Scripture says to you: Cease from anger, and forsake indignation. There are many vices that creep in upon the foolish. Anger is a heavy passion: it often ignites the unwilling; and it drags the willing into madness, so that he may destroy whom he thought to restrain.

Then when he says, "Cease," he assigns the reason for the aforementioned admonition, and this is twofold. One on the part of the one to whom the admonition is given; another on the part of sinners, at "Yet a little while." Regarding the first, he does two things.

I have been afflicted and greatly humbled. I bellowed from the groaning of my heart.

O Lord, all my desire is before you, and my groaning before you has not been hidden.

But after these things he added a certain mystical saying, which is beyond my hearing, and above my tongue, which exceeds my understanding. For he says, whether concerning all sinners, or concerning some one sinner — for he speaks in the singular: "Yet a little while, and the sinner shall not be".

(Verse 10.) But because he did not want to be redeemed through these means, and he believes he should persist in sin, of him the Prophet says: 'And yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: and thou shalt seek his place, and shalt not find it.' For how can he exist in the future, when the place of sin cannot endure?

Then when he says "And," he assigns the reason on the part of the wicked; and regarding this he does two things. For he had said, "Do not be envious of the one who prospers in his way, of the man who commits injustices." First, therefore, he assigns the reason that their prosperity is not to be envied.

My heart has been disturbed. My strength has abandoned me, and the light of my eyes has abandoned me, and it is not with me.

But be thou meek, since the meek shall inherit the earth. Be long-suffering and pitiful and guileless and gentle and good and always trembling at the words which thou hast heard. Thou shalt not exalt thyself, nor give over-confidence to thy soul. Thy soul shall not be joined with lofty ones, but with just and lowly ones shall it have its intercourse.

"But the meek shall inherit the land" (ver. 11). That land is the one of which we have often spoken, the holy Jerusalem, which is to be released from these her pilgrimages, and to live for ever with God, and on God. Therefore, "They shall inherit the land." What shall be their delight?

Then when he says, "The meek," he sets forth the fruit of the just. This is twofold. Hence first he sets forth the fruit of riches. Second, of pleasures, at "And they will delight." For this is what people desire in this world, and both are promised to the just. He says therefore, "The meek," etc.

My friends and my neighbors have drawn near and stood against me. And those who were next to me stood far apart. And those who sought my soul used violence.

"The sinner shall watch the righteous, and shall gnash upon him with his teeth". For just as by nature light and darkness are contrary, so contrary to one another are the sinner and the righteous. And if you see the righteous man at any time held in hatred, do not hesitate to say of him who hates the righteous, that he is a sinner.

Be careful, for daily the devil considers you and gnashes his teeth over you; but [as it says in the next verse] the Lord mocks him because he knows his day will come.

"He will watch." Above he set forth one reason why the men of God ought not be indignant over the sinner, namely because his prosperity is not stable; here he sets forth another, namely that sinners cannot harm the just. And regarding this he does two things. First, he proposes the malice that they devise in their heart against the just.

And those who sought evil accusations against me were speaking emptiness. And they practiced deceitfulness all day long.

But, like someone deaf, I did not hear. And I was like someone mute, not opening his mouth.

"The sinners have unsheathed the sword, they have bent their bow, that they may cast down the needy and the poor". Not that in every kind sinners have a bodily sword, but let us see whether perchance, just as there are certain arms of God, among which is said to be the breastplate of righteousness, and the sword of the spirit, and the shield of faith, so also there are arms of…

"The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright heart" (ver. 14). "Their weapon shall enter into their own heart" (ver. 15).

Next, when he says, "The sword," he adds about the outward effort of the wicked; and regarding this he does three things. First, he shows their effort. Second, their intended goal, at "To deceive." Third, the outcome of this effort, at "Their sword." Regarding the first, he does two things, inasmuch as their effort against the good is twofold.

And I became like a man who does not hear, and who has no reproofs in his mouth.

But now let us see what happens to those sinners who do these things, that is, who use the sword of the devil and the darts of the malignant one, what the divine word says again about them: "Their framea", it says, "let it enter into their own heart, and let their bow be broken". Framea is a kind of dart, called by this name.

When one of the enemies approaches to wound you and you want to "turn his own sword back against his heart," according to the Scripture text, then do as we tell you.

Even if the sinner tries to plot against the righteous person and is bent on carrying it through in every way, do not then grind your teeth at his going unpunished. God will spit on his plot, knowing that he will suffer sometime and that it is he who will sustain harm from his plot against the righteous.

For in you, Lord, I have hoped. You will listen to me, O Lord my God.

"Better is a little to the righteous than the many riches of sinners". According to the letter, this is straightway a useful admonition even for any of the simpler sort, of which it must be spoken first, although it has also something deeper, which, if anyone is able to grasp it, let him grasp it. What, then, the letter teaches us, let us see.

"And their bows shall be broken." What is meant by, "And their bows shall be broken"? Their plots shall be frustrated. For above He had said, "The wicked have drawn out the sword and bent their bows." By the "drawing out of the sword" he would have understood open hostility; but by the" bending of the bow," secret conspiracies. See!

"Better." Above, the Psalmist assigned the reason why we should not envy the wicked and their prosperity, drawn from their downfall; here, however, he assigns one drawn from the side of the just. And first he shows the dignity of the just. Second, he adds an admonition to pursue justice, at "Wait." Regarding the first, he does two things. First, he proposes his point.

For I said, “Lest at any time, my enemies might rejoice over me,” and, “While my feet are being shaken, they have spoken great things against me.”

"For the arms of sinners shall be broken". How can this stand according to the letter, even if someone try to do violence to it through inexperience?

..."For the arms of the wicked shall be broken" (ver. 17). Now by "their arms" is meant their power. What will he do in hell? Will it be what the rich man had to do, he who was wont "to fare sumptuously" in the upper world, and in hell "was tormented"? Therefore their arms shall be broken; "but the Lord upholdeth the righteous." How does He "uphold" them?

Then when he says, "For," he proves that it is better. The reason for this is threefold. First, from the perspective of durability. Second, of usefulness, at "He will borrow." Third, of virtue, at "The mouth of the just." Regarding the first, he does two things. First, he proposes the crushing of the wicked. Second, the stability of the good.

For I have been prepared for scourges, and my sorrow is ever before me.

"The Lord knows the days of the spotless, and their inheritance shall be forever". According to the Scriptures, as we have observed in many places, the Lord does not know all things, but only those that are good; but he is said to be ignorant of evils, not that there is truly anything that lies hidden from his knowledge, but those things which are unworthy of his notice, he is…

The Lord knows the days of the immaculate, for by the grace of His immaculate innocence and fullness, He has mercy, He does not have mercy on the erring. They do not have a day, for they flee from the light, of whom it is beautifully said: Their days pass like a shadow. Therefore, knowledge of God is a matter of worthiness, not of vision.

Next, when he says, "The Lord knows," he makes his proposition clear. And first he speaks of the stability of the just. Second, of the crushing of the unjust, at "For sinners." Now the just are strengthened by God in two ways: first, their goods are made stable; second, they are cured of evils, at "They will not be confounded." But there is a twofold good, namely the good of th…

For I will announce my iniquity, and I will think about my sin.

"And they shall not be confounded in the evil time". But the righteous shall not be confounded in the evil time. And the evil time here he names the time of judgment, because of the multitude of sinners, and of those whom savage torments shall receive.

Those choosing a blameless life enjoy providence completely; even if they encounter disasters, they will emerge superior to them; and when need becomes endemic, they will receive sufficiency from God, and in addition will enjoy everlasting goods.

Then when he says, "They will not be confounded," he shows how the just are protected against evils. And this in two ways: for there is one kind of evil that is contrary to the good, and another kind of evil through the lack of good, at "And in the days of famine." He says therefore, regarding the first, "They will not be confounded in the evil time," that is, in the time of ad…

But my enemies live, and they have been stronger than me. And those who have wrongfully hated me have been multiplied.

Those who render evil for good have dragged me down, because I followed goodness.

After these things there are added certain matters which need no small exposition, for he says: "The sinner shall borrow and shall not repay, but the righteous shows mercy and lends". Even this, if we take it according to the letter, will not seem true.

"The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again." He receiveth, and will not repay. What is it he will not repay? Thanksgiving. For what is it that God would have of thee, what doth He require of thee, except that He may do thee good? And how great are the benefits which the sinner hath received, and which he will not repay!

"The sinner will borrow." Above he showed that the few goods of the just outweigh the many goods of the wicked by reason of stability; here he shows the same by reason of usefulness. And first he shows that the goods of the just are fruitful, but those of the wicked are the opposite.

Do not forsake me, O Lord my God. Do not depart from me.

Be attentive to my help, O Lord, the God of my salvation.

"By the Lord", he says, "are the steps of a man directed". And elsewhere in this psalm he speaks of the steps of the righteous man in this way: "The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be supplanted". But also in the seventy-second psalm it is said: "My steps had almost been poured out".

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in His way." That man may himself "delight in the Lord's way," his steps are ordered by the Lord Himself. For if the Lord did not order the steps of man, so crooked are they naturally, that they would always be going through crooked paths, and by pursuing crooked ways, would be unable to return again.

Then when he says, "Before," he shows the fruitfulness of the good with regard to works. In works, two things are shown. First, their prosperity. Second, their recovery, at "When he falls." But because prosperity comes from God's election, first it is shown that it comes from God who loves.

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