Psalm 36 – My Wicked Heart

Several passages and phrases in Psalm 36 are very difficult, so most translations reflect an interpretation. The following translation is fairly literal and is designed to allow for study based on repetitions. It seeks to preserve unclear passages as such. It is certainly less esthetically pleasing and less mellifluous than many published translations, and also less appropriate for worship or inspiration. It can, however, serve well for the following study.

TEXT (Hebrew text at the end)

1. For the choirmaster. Of the servant of the LORD. Of David.

2. 1-The oracle of Sin to the evildoer, "Within my heart there is no dread of God," is before his eyes.-1

3. 2-For he makes smooth for himself-2 with his eyes to achieve iniquity, to hate.

4. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely, to do good.

5. Wickedness he plots in his bed; he takes his stand on a path of no good; immorality he does not reject.

6. O LORD, Your kindness is in the heavens; Your faithfulness to the sky;

7. Your justice is like the highest mountains; Your judgment like the great deep.

Man and beast you deliver O LORD.

8. How precious is your kindness, O God! The children of man shelter in the shadow of your wings.

9. They feast on the rich fare of your house; You give them drink [from] Your stream of delights.

10. Indeed with You is the source of life; by Your light do we see light.

11. Bestow Your kindness upon those who know You, and Your justice on those of straight heart.

12. Let not the arrogant foot overtake me, nor the hand of the evildoers push me away.

13. There did the wicked ones fall; they were thrust down and could not rise.

Notea

1. Alternatively, "The oracle of Sin to the evildoer is within my heart. There is no dread of God before his eyes." Second alternative, "The oracle of Sin to the evildoer, 'Within my heart there is no dread of God.' There is no dread of God before his eye." (The second alternative reads three Hebrew words, "there is no dread of God," as Janus parallelism, being read both with what precedes and with what follows.)

2. The sense of verse 3 is much debated, but does not affect the following interpretation.

COMMENTARY

First Overview and Initial Questions

By subject, Psalm 36 divides into a description of the evil person (verses 2–5), a counter-description of God and His care (verses 6–10), a prayer, first for adherents and then for the speaker (verses 11–12), and a final note about the past (verse 13). The first reading immediately leads to a number of questions. I note a few of these by way of introduction.

What is the implication of the “oracle?” Why is Sin personified? If we accept the first alternative translation (see note, verse 2), what does “within my heart” (verse 2) imply, in view of the fact that the speaker is clearly describing other people, not himself? What is the source of the speaker’s knowledge of the psyche of the evildoer? In comparing two stances, why are the evildoers set against God, as opposed to the righteous? Why does the speaker switch to “we” in verse 10, and in light of that, why are there subsequent separate prayers for the righteous people and for himself? What is the connection of the last verse to what precedes it?

I suggest that the following responds to these questions. I proceed in the order of the sections as described above.

The Evildoer (Verses 2–5)

Psalm 36 comes closer to describing a tempter who is nearly independent of God (in later traditions, the “devil,” the “evil inclination,” etc.) than any other psalm. The status is semi-divine, as reflected in the term “oracle,” which is used elsewhere in the Bible only for prophetic or other prominent communications (even if false―cf. Jer. 23:31). Sin is personified as the speaker (though it is not clear whether we hear the content of the oracle directly, as translated and as in the second alternative translation, or indirectly, as in the first alternative).

The subsequent emphasis is on the evil person’s psyche—his words, thoughts, and affect. The double use of “his eyes” focuses on how he sees himself. Testifying to his character are the total absence of good (a term that is repeated) and an encompassing evil attitude (as he lies down and then when he gets up, in verse 5). Sin is successful in eliminating the influence of conscience.

The LORD and His Effect on the Righteous (Verses 6–10)

The second section ostensibly balances the description of the first with a concentration on God, His qualities and their effects on man. The repeated term is “kindness,” one of God’s principal attributes in relating to humankind.

Befitting the earlier, encompassing description of the evildoer’s attitude, God’s attributes are expansive in the extreme, stretching from greatest heights to the ultimate depths, covering man and beast, and applying to all humanity, not just Israel.

A further possible counter-reflection to the first section appears in verse 10, “By Your light do we see light.” Twice the evildoer’s eyes are cited in the earlier verses in connection with his inability to sense the presence of God. “We,” on the other hand, do “see.”

It is this end of the section, however, that elucidates much of what came before. Through the use of the first-person plural (“by Your light do we see light”), the speaker clarifies that he has not only described the Lord’s attributes, but also human attributes in imitation of God, and that he is among those adopting them. He, among others, sees the light. Through this statement, the speaker effectively reframes the second section, restoring the balance. The comparison in the poem up to this point is not between the evildoer and God, but rather between the speaker himself, who “sees,” and the evildoer, who is blind to all this.

The comparison is more extreme. Even what the evildoer cannot see, that which is beyond him, is, according to the text, only the “dread of God” (verse 2). That is a minimum, and he does not even reach it. The observers of the second half see God in all his glory.

The speaker hints that God’s outstanding qualities also devolve to His devotees. The magnificent phrase, “By Your light do we see light” implies joint values, and thus completes the balance with the first section: the evildoers, guided by the oracle of Sin, arrive at a world devoid of good, in which there is only the individual, no “we”; the devotee of God, bathed in divine light of inspiration, shares the ongoing values that make for a caring and righteous society.

Two Prayers and a Summary (Verses 11–13)

The two prayers that follow (verses 11 and 12) relate to the first two sections in reverse order: the first prayer to the second section, using its key words “kindness” and “justice” and the second to the first section using its key word “evildoer” (as well as returning to the first section’s use of body imagery). Appropriately, the first prayer is for continued care for the devotees, with an implied comparison again to the evildoers (who “took a stand” on a path devoid of good, as opposed to those who have a “straight” heart).

The second prayer is for the speaker himself. (It is possibly sparked by the last word of the previous prayer, “heart,” for according to one translation, he had cited his own heart at the beginning.) He prays that the evildoers’ feet not “overtake” him, and their hands not “push” him. (This has been mistranslated as “tread on me” and “drive” me away, assuming some direct conflict between this group and the speaker, but the Hebrew implies “catching up to,” and the present translation reflects that meaning.) The point is clear―he does not want them to overtake to him, not because they will harm him, but because they will attract him.

In fact, the speaker hinted at this from the beginning, for if (as I presume) the first alternative translation to verse 2 is inherent to the poem, then the speaker knew in his heart what that oracle communicated, implying that indeed he had been in their position! That is also the reason that the second section, as understood after study, compares the speaker to the evildoers (of the first section). He has literally seen the light, and from the position of his present affirmations he details the contrast to the blindness that he himself once shared. Most appropriately, at the end he prays that he will never be caught up in it again.

Thus the final verse, in the biblical "perfect" mode (which spans our past through present tenses), completes and celebrates the achievement. The wicked are fallen―they cannot rise. He is with the upright, firm in his recognition and determination.

The poet has provided a number of portraits: of one who has changed positions; of the blindness, ungodliness, and “ungoodliness” of the evildoer; and of an opposite enlightenment implying accepting certain divine values. It is less a psalm setting the speaker against others than a psalm of the speaker set against himself. The reader is therefore challenged to consider not only others in its light, but him or herself as well.

* * * * * * * *

Additional Notes

The personification of Sin, who speaks here as a negative motivator, is unique to this psalm (though somewhat similar to Genesis 4:7―”Transgression crouches at the door”). Some commentators jump to the use of the terms “devil” or “evil inclination” in their interpretations, but this is somewhat of an anachronism, reflecting later religious usage. If either idea is found here, it is only in a preliminary form, prior to any extensive elaboration. I have opted for use of “Sin” without further detail.

The Malbim cleverly suggests that the opening phrase “Of the Servant of the LORD” is not here a description of David, but rather a statement that the psalm provides guidance for one who wants to be a servant of the Lord. Even if not the original implication, the suggestion highlights the thrust of the poem.

I note two much later uses of parts of Psalm 36. Columbia University adopted "By Your light do we see light" (in Latin) as their motto. In some Jewish traditions, verses 8–11 are recited immediately after wrapping oneself in a prayer shawl (tallit) in the morning, often while covering the face (making the references to shelter and seeing the light particularly appropriate).

　

　

The author of these essays is Rabbi Benjamin Segal, former president of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem　and author of The Song of Songs: A Woman in Love (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2009). This material is copyright by the author, and may not be reproduced. If you are interested in using the texts for study groups, please be in direct contact with the author, at psalmblog@gmail.com. All comments may be sent to the same address.

HEBREW TEXT

א  לַמְנַצֵּחַ לְעֶבֶד-יְהוָה לְדָוִד
ב  נְאֻם-פֶּשַׁע לָרָשָׁע בְּקֶרֶב לִבִּי אֵין-פַּחַד אֱלֹהִים לְנֶגֶד עֵינָיו
ג  כִּי-הֶחֱלִיק אֵלָיו בְּעֵינָיו לִמְצֹא עֲו‍ֹנוֹ לִשְׂנֹא
ד  דִּבְרֵי-פִיו אָוֶן וּמִרְמָה חָדַל לְהַשְׂכִּיל לְהֵיטִיב
ה  אָוֶן יַחְשֹׁב עַל-מִשְׁכָּבוֹ יִתְיַצֵּב עַל-דֶּרֶךְ לֹא-טוֹב רָע לֹא יִמְאָס
ו  יְהוָה בְּהַשָּׁמַיִם חַסְדֶּךָ אֱמוּנָתְךָ עַד-שְׁחָקִים
ז  צִדְקָתְךָ כְּהַרְרֵי-אֵל מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ תְּהוֹם רַבָּה אָדָם וּבְהֵמָה תוֹשִׁיעַ יְהוָה
ח  מַה-יָּקָר חַסְדְּךָ אֱלֹהִים וּבְנֵי אָדָם בְּצֵל כְּנָפֶיךָ יֶחֱסָיוּן
ט  יִרְוְיֻן מִדֶּשֶׁן בֵּיתֶךָ וְנַחַל עֲדָנֶיךָ תַשְׁקֵם
י  כִּי-עִמְּךָ מְקוֹר חַיִּים בְּאוֹרְךָ נִרְאֶה-אוֹר
יא  מְשֹׁךְ חַסְדְּךָ לְיֹדְעֶיךָ וְצִדְקָתְךָ לְיִשְׁרֵי-לֵב
יב  אַל-תְּבוֹאֵנִי רֶגֶל גַּאֲוָה וְיַד-רְשָׁעִים אַל-תְּנִדֵנִי
יג  שָׁם נָפְלוּ פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן דֹּחוּ וְלֹא-יָכְלוּ קוּם