Psalm 36 is addressed to people who follow their evil inclination (yetser hara) that tells them “Do not put the fear of God before you” and then causes them to sin by embellishing evil deeds. The evil tendency descends to earth and corrupts and then rises again (the Court of Heaven) and persecutes the sinner.
- Text Psalm 36
- Hebrew text Psalm 36 – תהילים לו
- Listen to Psalm 36
- Explanation of Psalm 36 by Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin
- Commentary by Rashi on Psalm 36
- Further explanation of the above Jewish comments
- Psalm 1 to 92
Text Psalm 36
Sin speaks to the wicked, deep in his heart, he knows no fear of God. Sin lulls his conscience to sleep, no sense of guilt, no abhorrence of evil. He speaks words of evil and deceit and stays far from what is wise and good, on his bed he devises destructive plans, he treads a wrong path and he does not reject evil.
….Show to Your faithful ones always Your love, to the upright in heart Your righteousness. Let not the foot of the proud trample me down, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. There lie those who sowed destruction, fallen, shot, without strength to rise.
Hebrew text Psalm 36 – תהילים לו
A for the victor for the servant of Jehovah for David. B speech-crime to the wicked in the midst of my heart, there is no fear of God before his eyes. 3 Because he slipped to him in his eyes to find his iniquity to hate. D. Debry-fiu Owen and deceit ceased to be learned for good. The sinner will think about his bed, he will set himself on the path, not good, bad will not be understood. And Jehovah, in the heavens, your mercy and your faith reach to the heavens. 7 Your righteousness is like the mountains of your judgments, the abyss of many people and animals, Jehovah will save you. How precious is your mercy, O God, and the children of men in the shadow of your secret wings. 9 Yeruyon Medeshen of your house and the valley of your Eden shall be established. Because with you is the source of life, in your length is visible light. Oh, your lovingkindness is known to you and your righteousness is to the heart’s content. 12. Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and the hand of the wicked, let me not be condemned. 13 There the workers of Owen fell and were rejected and could not rise.
Listen to Psalm 36
Listen to Psalm 36 in Hebrew.
Explanation of Psalm 36 by Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin
different voices
Evil comes to us through different voices from without and within. Even a devout Jew who prays every day and tries to avoid evil can be blinded like the worst sinner so that he puts aside his fear of HaShem. Evil can become a partner in his thoughts. Only G-d still sees the evil. The person lies first to himself and then to others. He can no longer concentrate on the good. One who does not follow the right path allows evil to enter by itself.
Is there still hope? Can we do nothing against evil? G-d’s love goes beyond our understanding. We cannot measure G-d’s goodness. Heaven is just the beginning. However, we must beg for the floodgates of the sea of G-d’s goodness to be opened. HaSh em offers us protection. He offers us light; evil offers us darkness. Only the light of HaShem gives us insight. And with this truth G-d tries to surprise us. We must openly state that this is what we are looking for.
Commentary by Rashi on Psalm 36
Per verse the commentary of Rashi, the Jewish Bible commentator who lived from 1040-1105. Rashi is considered the teacher of teachers. All traditional Jews regard Rashi as an authority on the Jewish Bible and Talmud. Hence it is important to record his commentary on the Psalms. Rashi uses new Hebrew supplemented with Old French words. His language is sometimes somewhat oracularly short. For further explanation it is wise to consult an orthodox Jewish rabbi.
Verse 2
The word of the wicked man’s transgression in the midst of my heart is that there is no fear of God in his sight.
The word of the wicked man’s transgression, in the midst of my heart, etc .: This is a transliterated verse. I feel in my heart that the transgression, the evil inclinations of the wicked man says that the fear of G-d should not be before his eyes.
in the center of my heart : Like a person saying, ,It seems to me.,
Verse 3
For it prepared the way for him in his sight, to find his iniquity to hate [him].
For it smoothed : The transgression caused smooth spots to appear in his eyes, so that the Holy One, blessed be He, finds his iniquity to hate him.
Verse 4
The words of his mouth are unrighteousness and deceit; he refrained from learning to improve.
he abstained from learning to improve : He abstained from improving his actions.
Verse 5
He thinks iniquity in his bank; he stands in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.
he stands on a path that is not good : The Holy One, blessed be He, placed before him the right path and the path of death, yet he chooses for himself a path that is not good.
Verse 6
O Lord, Your goodness is in the heavens; Your faith reaches heaven.
O Lord, Your goodness is in the heavens : Because of these evil men, You remove [Your] goodness from the earthly creatures and lift Your faith up to the heavens to remove it from the sons of men.
Verse 7
Your charity is like the mighty mountains; Your judgments are [like] the great deep. You save both man and beast, O Lord.
Your charity is as scarce to the creatures as the mighty mountains because of the deeds of the wicked, and Your judgments come upon the world to the great depths. Another explanation:
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains : Whoever You want to deal with in charity, arise and strengthen Yourself like the mighty mountains. אל is an expression of power, as (in Ezekiel 17:13): ,and he hath taken away the mighty of (אילי) the land.,
Your judgments are [like] the great deep : Whoever You judge and take vengeance on, You humble him into the great deep.
Your judgments : Hebrew משפטיך, joustiza in Old French, justice.
You save both man and beast : People who are as shrewd as Adam, but who humble themselves like beasts, You save, O Lord.
Verse 8
How precious is Your goodness, O G-d, and the children of men will take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
How precious is Your goodness : It is not meet that it should be extended to these wicked ones, but the sons of men who take refuge in the shadow of Your wings will be filled with the fat of Your house, etc.
Verse 12
Let not the foot of pride come with me, neither let the hand of the wicked lead me astray.
Let not the foot of pride come with me : Let not the foot of these wicked men come with me at the time of receiving reward, [because] their lot [would not be] with the righteous.
neither shall the hand of the wicked cause me to err : from my place when I return to inherit a double [portion]: my portion and the portion of the wicked, in goodness, according to the thing declared (in Isaiah 61:7 ):Therefore, in their land, shall inherit twofold. And then …
Verse 13
There the workers of iniquity fell; they were pushed away and could not get up.
There the workers of iniquity fell : There they will understand their destruction, and there they were cast out and could not rise.
Further explanation of the above Jewish comments
Although evil can overwhelm us, the best tactic is to ignore evil. We should not try to analyze evil. In that case we even try to justify the evil. Evil must be overcome by flooding it with good. That is possible with G-d’s help. So we are not powerless and not doomed to sin. That is why we must constantly focus on the good. For a Jew, this means observance of the Torah; for a non-Jew this means observance of the Noahide commandments.
If we consistently do good, evil will have no chance. If we fight for peace, war has no chance. We must not sit back and pretend that this world is Satan’s world. G-d created this world to make it His ‘dwelling place’. Ultimately we will achieve this. In the Messianic age everyone will realize that this is G-d’s world and that only He exists. However, we can hasten the coming of the Messiah by doing good deeds. The more we try, the sooner the Messiah will come.
Psalm 1 to 92
Would you like to read more Psalms with a Jewish interpretation? Go to: Psalms 1 through 92.