A Commentary on the Book of Psalms: Psalm 37 — A Prayer of a Penitent for the Remission of His Sins. the Third Penitential Psalm
6 From the corruption and putrefaction of his sores he became “miserable and bowed down,” which can be understood in two senses, as regards the sin, or as regards the punishment. For he who sins grievously, especially against the sixth commandment, by the very fact becomes miserable, because he thereby abandons God, our supreme good; “bows himself down” to the earth, becomes like the beasts, and, therefore, miserable, very miserable, which is conveyed in the phrase, “even to the end;” namely, he is so miserable that he could not possibly be more so, or more “bowed down;” having given up the delights of the angels for the sensuality of the beasts. The expression, “to the end,” does not mean the end of life, or the world, or forever; but it means that he was so bowed down, that he could not be bowed down farther, as appears from the Hebrew. As regards the punishment, the passage may apply to that also; for the man guilty of sins of this class becomes “miserable, and is bowed down” very much, by remorse of conscience, by fear of God’s anger, and by the shame that so humbles and confounds him, that he has not the courage to raise his eyes to heaven. Both constructions of it can be united in this way. I am become miserable by reason of my sin, and the punishment consequent on it, and very much bowed down, because I have turned to carnal and groveling pleasure the face of that soul I should have fixed upon God; through shame, I dare not look up to heaven, and, thus humble and abject, I am forced to look upon the ground, and for all these reasons “I walked sorrowful all the day long,” my conscience always reproving and accusing one; for what pleasure can the wretch feel once he becomes cognizant of his own wretchedness?
7–8 He passes now from his own sins to the general corruption consequent on the sin of our first parents, which was the original source of his sin in particular; and from such corruption he says that he is afflicted and humbled, is continually roaring and groaning. “For my loins,” the seat of sensuality, having shaken off the yoke of original justice, are constantly bringing forth sinful and dangerous desires, and are thus “filled with illusions” of the evil spirits, “and there is no health in my flesh,” because nothing good is to be found therein, but, on the contrary, a nest of evil passions that weaken it; therefore, “I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly,” because I am ashamed to have to say that I, a rational being, should not keep myself beyond the reach of such low concupiscence; and, therefore, “I roared,” through grief, “with the groaning of my heart,” which provoked me so to cry out and bemoan.
9 Having said that the groanings of his heart caused him to roar; he now tells us to whom those groans were directed, viz., to him who “searcheth the heart,” and knows “what the spirit desireth.” “Lord, all my desire is before thee;” you, O Lord alone, see the whole extent of my desires, which turn entirely on the being delivered from my evil concupiscence, that I may, at length, arrive at the sabbath of perfect rest; and, on this subject “my groaning is not hidden from thee,” similar to what the Apostle writes, Rom. 8, “Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body.”
10 He goes on describing the corruption of human nature, and says, “My heart is troubled,” meaning, the intestinal war between his inferior and superior parts; and adds, “my strength hath left me;” for such is the weakness caused by the rebellion, that man must, whether he will or not, be subject to evil desires, and exclaim with the Apostle, Rom. 7, “For, to will good is present with me, but to accomplish that which is good I find not.” Finally, he adds, “and the light of my eyes itself is not with me.” The same rebellion has not only caused infirmity of purpose, but also blindness of intellect. We often judge of things not as they are, but as they appear to us; however badly disposed we may be, as those laboring under fever think what is sweet is bitter, and what is bitter is sweet; and, therefore, he does not say, the light of my eyes is extinct, but, “is not with me;” for the light of prayer and of understanding is in the soul, but being oppressed by our corruptible body and our carnal desires, we cannot make use of it; and, therefore he says, the “light of my eyes,” meaning interior light, “is not with me,” to guide me though it is really within me. It is there in reality, but not practically.
11 Having described the internal war, that is constantly going on within man, he now speaks of the external war, the persecutions and sufferings that are consequent on sin. He first complains of his friends and neighbors rising up against him; particularly in Absalom’s rebellion; in which he was joined by a great number of David’s friends and neighbors. “And they that were near me stood afar off,” while some of his friends, such as Absalom and his companions, pressed in upon him to put him to death; his own servants and soldiers “who were near him,” stood aloof and did not protect him.
12–14 All these are true to the letter, as may be seen in the Second Book of Kings, where, when Semei railed at David, called him the son of Belial, the invader of the kingdom, he bore it with the most incredible patience, and would not allow one of his followers to harm or even reprove him; and thus, it was literally true of him that “he became as a deaf man, that heareth not; and as a dumb man, that hath no reproofs in his mouth.”
15 He assigns three reasons for having been so deaf and so silent; the first is, because he considered it would be of more service to him to put his trust in God, than in any defense he could set up for himself. I was silent, “for in thee, O Lord, have I hoped.” I paid no attention to all the false and idle abuse so heaped upon me; because I was conscious that you, who are the just judge, giving to everyone according to their works, and in whom I have always hoped, was looking at, and hearing everything; and as I did put my trust in thee, “thou wilt hear me, O Lord, my God,” and deliver me from their “unjust lips, and deceitful tongue.”
16 Another reason why he chose to be silent and deaf. It is better for me to have patience, and trust in God’s assistance, for fear, by getting into impatience, and returning malediction for malediction, God may desert me, and thus, “my enemies may rejoice over me;” may glory in my fall: “and whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me;” that is, I have much reason to fear my enemies would greatly rejoice at my downfall; for, “whilst my feet are moved,” when they begin to totter, and I appear inclined to fall, (as was the case in his son’s rebellion,) my “enemies spoke great things against me,” threatening me, and predicting the speedy loss of my kingdom.
17 A third reason for being silent and deaf before his enemies. My sins make me “ready for scourges,” not only of the tongue, but also of the lash; because “my sorrow,” which I richly deserved, “is continually before me.” Or, if you will, because “my sorrow,” that is, my sin, which is the cause of continual sorrow to me, never left my heart.