drinks from this first fountain of all life. And as God is the fountain of life, so also is He the fountain of light: “In Thy light do we see light;” out of God, seeing we see only darkness, whereas immersed in God's sea of light we are illumined by divine knowledge, and lighted up with spiritual joy. The poet, after having taken a few glimpses into the chaos of evil, here moves in the blessed depths of holy mysticism [Mystik, i.e., mysticism in the good sense - true religion, vital godliness], and in proportion as in the former case his language is obscure. So here it is clear as crystal.
Verses 10-12
Psa 36:10-12 (Hebrew_Bible_36:11-13) Now for the first time, in the concluding hexastich, after complaint and commendation comes the language of prayer. The poet prays that God would lengthen out, i.e., henceforth preserve (משׁך, as in Psa 109:12), such mercy to His saints; that the foot of arrogance, which is conceived of as a tyrant, may not come suddenly upon him (בּוא, as in Psa 35:8), and that the hand of the wicked may not drive him from his home into exile (cf. Psa 10:18). With חסד alternates צדקה, which, on its merciful side, is turned towards them that now God, and bestows upon them the promised gracious reward. Whilst the Psalmist is thus praying, the future all at once becomes unveiled to him. Certain in his own mind that his prayer will be heard, he sees the adversaries of God and of His saints for ever overthrown. שׁם, as in Psa 14:5, points to the place where the judgment is executed. The preterites are prophetic, as in Psa 14:5; Psa 64:8-10. The poet, like Isaiah (Isa 26:14), beholds the whole tribe of the oppressors of Jahve's Church changed into a field of corpses, without hope of any rising again.
Psalm 37
The Seeming Prosperity of the Wicked, and the Real Prosperity of the Godly
1 « BE not incensed at the evil-doers,
Be not envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For like grass they are soon cut down, And like a green herb they wither away.
3 1 Trust in Jahve and do good,
