Psalms Chapter 36

“The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, etc.] Which is represented as a person speaking within him; not that the transgression of the wicked was really in him; sin was in him, and sin of the same kind and nature with the wicked man’s; but he taking notice of and considering the wicked man’s sinful course of life, and his daring impieties, conceived in his own mind, and concluded from hence, [that there is] no fear of God before his eyes; no reverential affection for him, but enmity to him; no godly filial fear, but at most only a slavish fear, a fear of punishment; no holy and humble fear of him,…”

“On servant of the Lord, see on Psa 18:1, title. The wickedness of man contrasted with the excellency of God's perfections and dispensations; and the benefit of the latter sought, and the evils of the former deprecated. (Psa 36:1-12) The general sense of this difficult verse is, "that the wicked have no fear of God." The first clause may be rendered, "Saith transgression in my heart, in respect to the wicked, there is no fear," &c., that is, such is my reflection on men's transgressions.”

“The transgression of the wicked - There is considerable difficulty in respect to the grammatical construction of the Hebrew in this verse, though the general sense is plain. The main idea undoubtedly is, that the fair explanation of the conduct of the wicked, or the fair inference to be derived from that conduct was, that they had no fear of God before them; that they did in no proper way regard or fear God. The psalmist introduces himself as looking at the conduct or the acts of the wicked, and he says that their conduct can be explained, in his judgment, or “in his heart,” in no other way than on this…”

“No fear - When I consider the manifold transgressions of ungodly men, I conclude within myself, that they have cast off all fear of the Divine majesty. Psalms 36:2”

“Ps 36 This lament contrasts the world of folly devised by the wicked with the world of wisdom created and sustained by the Lord. The wicked care only about themselves, whereas the Lord cares for all of creation. He will intervene to bring about justice in his world. The righteous will enjoy his protection, but the wicked will perish. 36:1-4 Fools despise what is wise and good as they pursue evil. 36:1 no fear of God: Paul includes this phrase in his description of the depravity of all people (Rom 3:18).”

“servant: Psa 18:1, Psa 90:1 \*titles Psa 143:12; Deu 34:5; Ti2 2:24; Tit 1:1; Jam 1:1; Pe2 1:1; Jde 1:1; Rev 1:1 The transgression: Or, rather, "The speech of transgression to the wicked is within his heart. there is no fear of God before his eyes;" for instead of libbi, "my heart," four manuscripts, have libbo, "his heart," which is also the reading of the LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Anglo-Saxon. Sa1 15:13, Sa1 15:14; Pro 20:11; Mat 7:16-20, Mat 12:33, Mat 12:34; Tit 1:16 no: Psa 112:1; Gen 20:11; Pro 8:13, Pro 16:6; Ecc 12:13; Rom 3:18 Psalms 36:2”

“(Heb.: 36:1-4) At the outset the poet discovers to us the wickedness of the children of the world, which has its roots in alienation from God. Supposing it were admissible to render Psa 36:2 : "A divine word concerning the evil-doing of the ungodly is in the inward parts of my heart" (נאם with a genitive of the object, like משּׂא, which is compared by Hofmann), then the difficulty of this word, so much complained of, might find the desired relief in some much more easy way than by means of the conjecture proposed by Diestel, נעם (נעם), "Pleasant is transgression to the evil-doer," etc. But the genitive after נאם…”