1 To the choirmaster. Of the servant of the LORD, of David. An utterance of transgression to the wicked is in the midst of my heart; there is no dread of God before his eyes.
Romans · AD 56 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Arnobius the Younger · AD 460 There is no fear of God in the sight of one who sins against himself that he may find his own iniquity and hate it. He praises injustice as the unjust one is praised. He does not wish to understand good actions by which he will be made worthy in the recesses of his own heart. He meditates on evil as he draws near to the way that is not good, and he does not abhor evil.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 In the preceding Psalm the Psalmist implored the help of God against the persecutions of sinners; here he describes the wickedness of sinners.
The Transgression of the Wicked 2 For it flatters him in his own eyes, so as to find out his iniquity and hate it.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 For it is written: There is no fear of God before his eyes: because he hath dealt deceitfully before him, that he might find his iniquity unto hatred. For what did he find? For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "For he has wrought deceitfully in His sight" [Psalm 36:2]. In whose sight? In His, whose fear was not before the eyes of him that did work deceitfully. "To find out his iniquity, and hate it." He wrought so as not to find it.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 But the cause is, "because he has acted deceitfully." When someone in the sight of a king does something hateful to the king, it is a sign that he does not fear him; so the sinner, when he commits sin in the presence of God, who sees all things, it is a sign that he does not fear God, because "in his sight," namely of God, "he has acted deceitfully," that is, he has committed d…
3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely, to do good.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 What shall I say about Judas the traitor, who sought after greed and found sacrilege, saying: What will you give me, and I will hand him over to you (Matt. XXVI, 15)?
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he would not understand, that he might do good" (ver. 3). Ye see that he attributeth that to the will: for there are men who would understand and cannot, and there are men who would not understand, and therefore understand not. "He would not understand, that he might do good."
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Next he sets forth the progress from the root. And first he sets forth the sins of the mouth. Second, of the heart and of action.
4 Iniquity he plots on his bed; he takes his stand on a way that is not good; evil he does not reject.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 Moreover, he meditated wickedness in his bed, where he should have sought the truth. For in our beds, we should remorse our sins, not commit them by our very actions, as the Prophet says: "What you utter in your hearts, and in your beds you are remorseful" (Psalm IV, 5). He stood, he said, on a path that was not good: but he did not have hatred for wickedness.
Cassiodorus · AD 585 He did not pass through this world's life like those who are confident that they have left it behind but have still remained in it and have become stuck in it.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Likewise, sometimes a man commits sin from a pursuit of malice; hence he says, "He has meditated iniquity on his bed," that is, in his heart. Or "on his bed," that is, when he is in secret: Prov. 24: "The thought of a fool is sin and abomination." "He has set himself." Here he sets forth what is committed in action. And first he sets forth the cooperation in evil.
5 LORD, in the heavens is your loyal love; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 Therefore, mercy must be sought from heaven, and the truth of God must be gathered from the oracles of the prophets, who, like clouds, cover the mysteries of divine knowledge.
Caesarius of Arles · AD 542 Mercy abides in heaven, but it is reached by the exercise of it on earth.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "O Lord." Here he shows what he has received from God. And first he enumerates the goods themselves. Second he asks that they be given to him, at "Extend." Concerning the first he does two things. First he proposes the cause of the goods he has received from God.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are a great deep. Man and beast you save, LORD.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 And men ignorant of the judgments of God, which are "a great abyss," are wont to complain against God and to say, why do wicked and unjust men, plunderers, impious, criminal, in this life suffer nothing adverse, but all things yield to them with prosperous successes—honors, riches, power, health too itself and the constitution of the body serve them; on the contrary, upon the i…
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 While those people turn their hand to such things as though no one were watching, you, Lord, possess immeasurable mercy, incalculable truth and righteousness comparable to the highest mountains. Now, your truth comes to human beings through the inspired authors as though through some clouds, regaling them with saving rain.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "Men." Above the Psalmist commended the justice, truth, and mercy of God, and his judgments, from which goods come to us; here he enumerates those goods: and concerning this he does two things. First he commemorates the goods that he commonly bestows upon every creature.
7 How precious is your loyal love, God! And the sons of man take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 But the sons of men will hope in the protection of your wings; that is, not the generation of vipers, but the sons of men who live in the image and likeness of God.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 Scripture enlightens from above by means of divine promises, for its teaching is concerned with things above. Hence the Apostle writes: For we know that if the earthly house in which we dwell be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by human hands, eternal in the heavens. And: "In My Father's house there are many mansions," says the Lord.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "But the children." Here he sets forth the spiritual goods, which are three: confidence, spiritual nourishment, and intelligible knowledge: and these correspond to the grades of beings.
8 They are saturated from the fatness of your house, and from the torrent of your delights you make them drink.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 Therefore, the good drunkenness is that of a healing cup. But there is another drunkenness from an overflow of Scriptures. And there is another drunkenness through the infusion of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, those who spoke in different languages in the Acts of the Apostles, seemed to be full of new wine to those who were listening.
Cassiodorus · AD 585 "They will become inebriated," an expression that usually describes the corrupt habit of people who become inundated with too much wine and become sluggish by this affliction of their mind, is here directed to the situation of good people.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Likewise those who live here below are nourished with a special nourishment. And first he sets forth the nourishment itself. Second he sets forth its cause, at "With you." Spiritual nourishment consists in two things: namely, in the gifts of God and in his sweetness.
9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 What other light of God can we speak of, in which a person sees light, except God's spiritual power, which when it lightens a person causes him either to see clearly the truth of all things or to know God, who is called the truth?
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Christ … is man and God. He prays as man and gives what he prays for as God. Now what you have to grasp is that he assigns everything to the Father for the simple reason that the Father is not from him, but he is from the Father. He gives everything to the fount from which he is derived.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "And in your light." There are two privileges of the rational creature. One is that the rational creature sees in the light of God, and because other animals do not see in the light of God, he therefore says "in your light." This is not understood of light created by God, because in that sense it would be understood as that which is said in Gen.
10 Draw out your loyal love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart.
Theodore of Mopsuestia · AD 428 They were formed by you so as to be able, if they wished, both to know you and to hope in you, and to enjoy the good things stemming from this.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 He does not, indeed, extend His mercy to them because they know Him, but that they may know Him; nor is it because they are upright in heart, but that they may become so, that He extends to them His righteousness, whereby He justifies the ungodly.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "Extend your mercy." Here he turns to prayer, and asks for the mercy of God. And first he asks his petition regarding others. Second, regarding himself, at "Let not the foot of pride come to me." He asks two things, corresponding to two kinds of people who dwell in the house of the Lord: for some know God through faith; some who are also justified cling to him.
11 Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 And because he had spoken of pride, he added: And let not the hand of sinners move me. For just as the limbs are of Christ, so the limbs are of the devil. Let not the hand of sinners move me, that is, let not their actions, which sin, move me from the station of justice.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Let not the foot of pride come against me" [Psalm 36:11]. But now he said, The children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of Your wings: they shall be satiated with the fullness of Your House. When one has begun to be plentifully overflowed with that Fountain, let him take heed lest he grow proud.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 For himself he asks two things. First he asks to be preserved from sin, and this by removing two causes of sin. One is interior: and this is pride, which is the beginning of all sin; hence he says, "Let not the foot of pride come to me," that is, let the desire to be proud be removed from me: Sir.
12 There the workers of iniquity have fallen; they are thrust down and are not able to rise.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 But wherefore so greatly fearest thou this? Because it is said, "Thereby have fallen all that work iniquity" (ver. 12); so that they have come into that abyss of which it is said, "Thy judgments are like the great abyss:" so that they have come even to that deep wherein sinners who despise have fallen. "Have fallen." Whereby did they first fall? By the foot of pride.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "There they have fallen." Here the reason for the petition is set forth: and it is twofold. First, because from this foot there is a fall: just as when someone falls because of a bad foot: and therefore he says, "There," that is, in the foot of pride. "They have fallen." Behold, the beginning of all sin is pride, Sir. 10.