Psalm 37:35 Komentář

This psalm is a sermon, and an excellent useful sermon it is, calculated not (as most of the psalms) for our devotion, but for our conversation; there is nothing in it of prayer or praise, but it is all instruction; it is "Maschil - a teaching psalm;" it is an exposition of some of the hardest chapters in the book of Providence, the advancement of the wicked and the disgrace of the righteous, a solution of the difficulties that arise thereupon, and an exhortation to conduct ourselves as becomes us under such dark dispensations. The work of the prophets (and David was one) was to explain the law. Now the law of Moses had promised temporal blessings to the obedient, and denounced temporal miseries against the disobedient, which principally referred to the body of the people, the nation as a nation; for, when they came to be applied to particular persons, many instances occurred of sinners in prosperity and saints in adversity; to reconcile those instances with the word that God had spoken is the scope of the prophet in this psalm, in which, I. He forbids us to fret at the prosperity of the wicked in their wicked ways (Psa 37:1, Psa 37:7, Psa 37:8). II. He gives very good reasons why we should not fret at it. 1. Because of the scandalous character of the wicked (Psa 37:12, Psa 37:14, Psa 37:21, Psa 37:32) notwithstanding their prosperity, and the honourable character of the righteous (Psa 37:21, Psa 37:26, Psa 37:30, Psa 37:31). 2. Because of the destruction and ruin which the wicked are nigh to (Psa 37:2, Psa 37:9, Psa 37:10, Psa 37:20, Psa 37:35, Psa 37:36, Psa 37:38) and the salvation and protection which the righteous are sure of from all the malicious designs of the wicked (Psa 37:13, Psa 37:15, Psa 37:17, Psa 37:28, Psa 37:33, Psa 37:39, Psa 37:40). 3. Because of the particular mercy God has in store for all good people and the favour he shows them (Psa 37:11, Psa 37:16, Psa 37:18, Psa 37:19, Psa 37:22-25, Psa 37:28, Psa 37:29, Psa 37:37). III. He prescribes very good remedies against this sin of envying the prosperity of the wicked, and great encouragement to use those remedies (Psa 37:3-6, Psa 37:27, Psa 37:34). In singing this psalm we must teach and admonish one another rightly to understand the providence of God and to accommodate ourselves to it, at all times carefully to do our duty and then patiently to leave the event with God and to believe that, how black soever things may look for the present, it shall be "well with those that fear God, that fear before him." A psalm of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 37 A Psalm of David. This psalm, it is very probable, was written at the same time, and upon the same occasion, with the former; and describes the different states of good and bad men; and is full of exhortations, instructions, and advice to the people of God; intermixed with various encouraging promises. A late learned writer (h) thinks it was written for Mephibosheth's consolation under Ziba's calumny. (h) Delaney's Life of King David, vol. 2. p. 219.

Yet he passed away,.... At once, on a sudden; either his riches and honour, which, in one hour, came to nought, by one providence or another; or he himself by death; in the midst of all his prosperity, and while blessing himself in it, his soul was required of him; and so the Targum is, "he ceased from the world"; he went out of it unawares: the laurel, or bay tree, very quickly grows old (d); and, lo, he was not; he was not reduced to nothing; he did not become a nonentity, though he might wish himself to be so; it being better for him if he had never been born; but he was not in the land of the living, in hell he lifted up his eyes; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found; in the place where he formerly was, that knowing him no more; he could not be found on earth, from whence he was gone; nor in heaven, where no place is found for such wicked men; he was gone to his own place, as is said of Judas, and of whom Jerom interprets the whole of this passage. (d) "Senescit velociter", Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 16. c. 44.

It is right and holy therefore, men and brethren, rather to obey God than to follow those who, through pride and sedition, have become the leaders of a detestable emulation. For we shall incur no slight injury, but rather great danger, if we rashly yield ourselves to the inclinations of men who aim at exciting strife and tumults, so as to draw us away from what is good. Let us be kind one to another after the pattern of the tender mercy and benignity of our Creator. For it is written, "The kind-hearted shall inhabit the land, and the guiltless shall be left upon it, but transgressors shall be destroyed from off the face of it." [Proverbs 2:21-22] And again [the Scripture] says, "I saw the ungodly highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon: I passed by, and, behold, he was not; and I diligently sought his place, and could not find it. Preserve innocence, and look on equity: for there shall be a remnant to the peaceable man." [Psalm 37:35-37]

You see a cedar raised to a great height on the loftiest peak, yet it can be shattered by the wind; it can be burned down by fire; it can grow old and decay. Such are the rich in this world. They make a grand display and shine, with a worldly sort of splendor, like Mount Lebanon. They are propped up by the powers of this world and positively exult in their money and their riches. To you the rich person seems to be something, that is, until you are able to say, “Passing over, I shall see.” For just as Moses passed over, in mind and soul, material things and saw God; you, too, if you will only pass over from this place and lift up the footsteps of your mind to God’s grace, will see that the rich person is nothing. Yes, nothing, even though in this world he appeared so high and mighty.

(Verse 35.) Finally, listen to him saying: I saw the wicked one exalted and raised above the cedars of Lebanon. And I passed by, and behold, he was not. I saw him in this age, I saw with the eyes of the body; I also saw him boasting and exalting himself with his words, considering himself to be something, who is nothing. How does he exalt himself? I will set my throne above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:14). He exalts himself so that you may see him exalted like the towering cedars of Lebanon: and they themselves are tall, and they are on the highest mountain. Therefore, those who are exalted are deservedly exalted, and the wicked, who establishes himself on that mountain about which it is written: If you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain: Be lifted up and thrown into the sea (Matt. XVII, 19). To whom? To the devil, he says, from whom this man was possessed and oppressed, whom you marvel at being healed. Therefore, he has more love in Christ than power in the devil. You see the cedar on the highest mountain exalted; but it is broken by the wind, it is burned by fire, it is dissolved by age: so it is with the rich person in the world. It shines indeed with a certain brilliance of secular grace, like Mount Lebanon. It leans on the power of the world, rejoicing in wealth and riches. Something seems to be to you, before you say: \"I will go over and see\" (Exodus 3:3). For just as Moses passed over material things with his soul and mind, and saw God, so too, if you pass from here, lifting the footprint of your mind to the grace of God, you will see that He is nothing who seemed most powerful to himself in this land. Therefore, God, the Word, says to your soul, says to your mind: Come here from Lebanon, my bride, come here from Lebanon: you will pass over and go through. If you pass over worldly things, you will go through to paradise. Listen to the one passing by, Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom. Listen again to the one passing through: Truly, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. What is: Behold, it was not. In the beginning, indeed, the Word was. And whoever sees the Word, who is a partaker of the Word, indeed he himself is; because the Word of God always is, and the speech which is from Him is not: It is and it is not; but: It is; and it remains in the one who follows God. But whoever does not know the Word, he is not, because he does not adhere to Him who said: I am who I am (Exod. III, 14). But whoever adheres to Him, is one spirit. Wherever the spirit is, there is also life. Therefore Scripture says of God: 'Who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist' (Rom. 4:17); this means, he calls the nations that did not exist as his own people; for our ancestors were chosen by God. And elsewhere it is said: 'The Lord knows those who are his' (2 Tim. 2:19); he does not know those who are not his. And Esther says: 'Do not give your scepter to those who do not exist' (Esther 14:11). Therefore, the righteous man says rightly: And I passed by, and behold he was not; that is, I saw him exalted in the world before I considered that the world is nothing. But when I passed above the world in my mind, I saw that he who was before exalted in this world was no longer. And you, if you are just, pass from present things to those things which are to come, and present things will pass away from you. Heaven and earth will pass away; but my words will not pass away (Matt. XXIV, 35). Therefore, all things pass away for the just. The wicked passes away, similar to vanity, and his days pass like a shadow. Not only do present things pass away from the just; but also when they intend to reach those things which are to come, those present things already pass away. See how present things have passed away from the just. Indeed, in the time of the prophet David, there was the Synagogue, but there was not yet the Church from the Gentiles. And he speaks of the future as if it were present, saying: Bless our God, O nations (Psalm 65:8). Furthermore, he says: God has ascended in jubilation (Psalm 47:6). The times of deceit will pass, not by age, but by mindset. And he celebrated the resurrection of the Lord, which would come many centuries later, with devout faith, saying: Sing to our God, sing; sing to our King, sing (ibid., 7). As though it were of interest to Christ himself and the sacraments of the wedding union of the Church, it leaps and rejoices. It also expressed the reason for the celebration, saying: The Lord has reigned over all the earth (Ibid., 8). Therefore, if we pass by, and those things which are to come seem to have passed by us; just as if you pass by land while sailing, you also see it pass by, and as if it were departing from you. Often sailors, especially in a storm, flee from land; and yet when they flee from it, it seems rather to flee from the sailors. And if you flee from this world, it too will flee from you; if you pass by this earth, it too will pass by you. And you sail in this sea, and in this age you fluctuate; flee the earth, it has rocks, it has stones; as it is written: Cast stones from the path (Isaiah 62:10). If you hasten through this airy abyss to the port of divine will, you will see that all these things have passed by you. For what difference does it make whether they have passed by, or whether you judge that you have passed them by? There is another wicked one who appears exalted and elevated above the cedars of Lebanon; but if you pass by, he will not be, nor will you find his place. See to me a Jewish scribe returning the series of the old Scriptures, but not following; you hear that he gives it back with his lips, you wonder how learned he is. You ask what he believes: he answers according to the letter, he goes through the history. He seems to you to be exalted and elevated, if you consider the letter. Pass on to spiritual understanding, because the Law is spiritual; you see that he is nothing, then you say: I saw the wicked one exalted. ...and I passed by, and behold, he was not there; and I searched for him, and the place of him was not found. I searched for him where he should have been, where life is: I did not find him. He was not there, where life was; for he was dead, and therefore the place of him was not found. For what is the place of the dead, who was not, nor ever was? For he was not, who was in the letter; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Therefore, I sought him, that I might find him: he did not present himself, that he might be found; that is, I wanted to convert him: he did not want to present himself to me, that he might be converted. I did what a seeker would do: he fled from that which should have returned. Finally, the soul that desires to be converted, seeks the Word; and when it finds it, it says: I have taken hold of him, and I will not let him go (Song of Solomon 3:4). That is, the Son of God, the Word of God. But the unjust person who refused to be healed, I sought him, and I did not find him; and therefore, do not imitate him.

[Daniel 4:10] "'I saw, and behold there was a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was very great...'" It was not only of Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Chaldeans, but also of all impious men that the prophet says: "I beheld the impious man highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon" (Psalm 37:35). Such men are lifted up, not by the greatness of their virtues, but by their own pride; and for that reason they are cut down and fall into ruin. Therefore it is good to follow the teaching of our Lord in the Gospel: "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29). But as for the fact that, according to Theodotion, he mentions his kutos or height - or else his kureia, as he himself later renders it, that is to say, his dominion (a word we have translated as "his appearance") - those same detractors of the historicity of this passage slanderously assert that Nebuchadnezzar's dominion never possessed the entire world. He did not rule over the Greeks or barbarians, or over all of the nations in the north and west, but only over the provinces of the East; that is to say, over Asia, not over Europe or Libya. Consequently all these slanders require to be understood as attributable to the devil, for actually we ourselves should accept all this as spoken by way of hyperbole, having in view the arrogance of the impious king, who in Isaiah (chap. 14) makes as great a boast as this, claiming that he possesses the very heaven itself, and the whole earth besides, as if it were a nest full of birds' eggs.

"I have seen the ungodly lifted up on high, and rising above the cedars of Libanus" [Psalm 37:35]. And suppose him to be "lifted up on high;" suppose him to be towering above the "rest;" what follows?

"I saw the wicked." Here he proves two things regarding the destruction of sinners. First, he sets forth their prosperity; second, their destruction. Hence he says, "I saw the wicked," that is, any sinner, "highly exalted," that is, above the condition of his status and above other people in worldly standing. Job 21: "Why do the wicked live, grow strong, and increase in riches?" etc. "And raised up like the cedars of Lebanon." Here there is a double reading. Either "above the cedars of Lebanon," which among all trees has the greatest height; as if to say: I saw him excellently above others. Eccl. 10: "The fool" -- that is, the sinner -- "placed in high dignity." Am. 2: "His height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong like the oaks." But why do the wicked live? There is a twofold reason. One, because sometimes the wicked are raised up on account of the sins of the people. Job 34: "He makes a hypocrite to reign on account of the sins of the people." And therefore the wicked are, as it were, scourges of God upon the people when they rule. Is. 10: "Woe to Assyria, the rod of my fury, and the staff itself." Another reason is that the wicked, when they rule, may perish more grievously. Job 30: "You lifted me up, and as if setting me upon the wind, you dashed me mightily." Hence sometimes in the very thing they most desire, they are most cast down. Another reason is for the instruction of the just, so that they may not greatly esteem these temporal things, which both the good and the wicked have, as Augustine says. Job 21: "Yet their goods are not in their hands," as are the goods of the soul. "I do not care about them." Likewise, so that they may be justly condemned who abuse the goods given to them. Is. 1: "I have nourished and raised up children," etc. Or this can be referred to the heretic, who is raised up in his own opinion. And finally he says, "And I passed by." Here first he shows the downfall of the sinner; second, he shows the destruction of his place. He says, moreover, "I passed by." He does not say, "He passed by," but as if to say, I myself passed by through contemplation. Ex. 3: "I will go over and see." As long as a person fixes his eye on the things of the world, it seems to him that the wicked are powerful; but when he passes in mind to spiritual things and the judgments of God, he counts them as nothing. Hence, "I passed by," through conversion, because as long as someone is worldly in affection and body, the things of the world please him; but when in affection he passes beyond them, he counts as nothing those who abound in worldly things. Ps. 14: "He is reduced to nothing," etc. And therefore holy men are considered proud, because they do not esteem or regard people on account of riches or dignities, if virtues do not accompany them. Hence it follows, "And behold, he was not," even in the present, because the just man counts as nothing the glory of sinners, which seems to be something. 1 Macc. 2: "The glory of a sinful man is dung and worms; today he is exalted and tomorrow he will not be found." Jer. 4: "I looked upon the earth," that is, upon earthly glory, "and behold, it was empty and nothing." Or according to Origen, "he was not," because when a person is elevated to divine things, he is conformed to the divine intellect, and things that are future are to him as though present. Hence he who sees that the time of this life is short sees the damnation of the wicked as though present. 1 Cor. 1: "God chose the things that are not, to destroy the things that are." Hence he says, "I sought him, and his place was not found," that is, his dignities, or his household and his home. As if to say: not only he himself, but everything that pertains to him, is destroyed. Job 20: "The eye that had seen him will see him no more, nor will his place behold him any longer." Or "his place," that is, the world in which he rests, because the world passes away and the desire of it. 1 Cor. 7: "For the form of this world is passing away."

A composed and uniform trust in God and a constant course of integrity are urged in view of the blessedness of the truly pious, contrasted in various aspects with the final ruin of the wicked. Thus the wisdom and justice of God's providence are vindicated, and its seeming inequalities, which excite the cavils of the wicked and the distrust of the pious, are explained. David's personal history abundantly illustrates the Psalm. (Psa. 37:1-40) The general sentiment of the whole Psalm is expressed. The righteous need not be vexed by the prosperity of the wicked; for it is transient, and their destiny undesirable.

of which a picture is given, under the figure of a flourishing tree (compare Margin), which soon withers.

עריץ (after the form צדּיק) is coupled with רשׁע, must as these two words alternate in Job 15:20 : a terror-inspiring, tyrannical evil-doer; cf. besides also Job 5:3. The participle in Psa 37:35 forms a clause by itself: et se diffundens, scil. erat. The lxx and Jerome translate as though it were כארז הלבנן, "like the cedars of Lebanon," instead of כאזרח רענן. But אזרח רענן is the expression for an oak, terebinth, or the like, that has brown from time immemorial in its native soil, and has in the course of centuries attained a gigantic size in the stem, and a wide-spreading overhanging head. ויּעבר does not mean: then he vanished away (Hupfeld and others); for עבר in this sense is not suitable to a tree. Luther correctly renders it: man ging vor׬ber, one (they) passed by, Ges. ֗137, 3. The lxx, Syriac, and others, by way of lightening the difficulty, render it: then I passed by.