Psalms 36:12

There are the workers, of iniquity fallen,.... Either in the pit they dug for others; or into hell, where they shall be turned at last; [See comments on Psalms 5:5] and [See comments on Psalms 6:8];

There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

There, where they come against me, and hope to ruin me. He seems as it were to point at the place with his finger, as if it were already done, and he could tell all the circumstances of it. Or, then, i.e. when they thought all sure, and me irrecoverably lost. Fallen, i.e. they shall certainly and suddenly fall; which the prophets use to express in the time past.

Psalms 36:12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.Ver. 12. There are the workers of iniquity fallen] There, where they plotted or practised the downfall of the righteous; as Henry III of France was stabbed in the same chamber where he and others had contrived the Parisian massacre. God taketh notice of the very place where sin is committed, to punish accordingly; as he did Abimelech, Ahab, the Jews, that cried, "Crucify him! crucify him!" &c. They are cast down] With a force; the angel of God chasing them, according to my prayer, which now methinks I see to be graciously answered. It must needs go ill with the wicked when the saints shall turn them over to God to be tamed, and taken an order with. And shall not be able to rise] Because laid for dead by an almighty hand. The righteous falleth seven times in a day, and riseth again; not so the workers of iniquity.

(12) There . . .—Of place. The poet has some definite incident in his mind, but has not told enough for us to identify it.

Verse 12. There are the workers of iniquity fallen] THERE, in Babylon, are the workers of iniquity fallen, and so cast down that they shall not be able to rise. A prophecy of the destruction of the Babylonish empire by Cyrus. That it was destroyed, is an historical fact; that they were never able to recover their liberty, is also a fact; and that Babylon itself is now blotted out of the map of the universe, so that the site of it is no longer known, is confirmed by every traveller who has passed over those regions. The word שם sham, THERE, has been applied by many of the fathers to the pride spoken of in the preceding verse. There, in or by pride, says Augustine, do all sinners perish. There, in heaven, have the evil angels fallen through pride, says St. Jerome. There, in paradise, have our first parents fallen, through pride and disobedience. There, in hell, have the proud and disobedient angels been precipitated. - Eusebius, c. THERE, by pride, have the persecutors brought God's judgments upon themselves. See Calmet. But the first interpretation is the best. ANALYSIS OF THE THIRTY-SIXTH PSALM The object of this Psalm is to implore God, out of his goodness, that he would deliver the upright from the pride and malice of the wicked. I. The psalmist sets down the character of a wicked man, and his fearful state, Psalms 36:1-5. II. He makes a narrative in commendation of God's mercy, Psalms 36:6-10. III. He prays for a continuance of God's goodness to his people, petitions against his proud enemy, and exults at his fall, Psalms 36:10-12. I. The character of a wicked man: - 1. "There is no fear of God before his eyes" and from this, as an evil root, all the other evils spring: and thus he enters on an induction of particulars. 2. "He flattereth himself in his own eyes." A great sin, in his eyes, is no sin: vice is virtue; falsehood, truth. 3. In this he continues, "until his iniquity be found to be hateful;" - till God, by some heavy judgment, has passed his sentence against it. 4. He is full of hypocrisy and deceit; "the words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit;" he gives goodly words, but evil is in his heart. 5. He has renounced all wisdom and goodness: "He hath left off to be wise, and to do good." 6. He enters deliberately and coolly into evil plans and designs: 1. "He deviseth mischief upon his bed." 2. "He sets himself (of firm purpose) in the way that is not good. 3. "He abhors not evil." He invents wickedness; he labours to perfect it; yea, though it be of the deepest stain, he abhors it not. II. How comes it that such wicked men are permitted to live? How is it that God can bear patiently with such workers of iniquity?

12. With the eye of faith he beholds the certain and irreparable ruin of the “workers of iniquity” (Psalms 36:3-4 : cp. Psalms 5:5; Psalms 6:8; Psalms 14:4). There points to the scene of their discomfiture. Cp. Psalms 14:5; Psalms 64:8. they are cast down] R.V. they are thrust down (Psalms 5:10; Psalms 35:5), and overthrown for ever. Cp. Isaiah 26:14. Such judgements are an earnest of the final triumph (Romans 16:20).

There are the workers of iniquity fallen - The meaning of this seems to be, that the psalmist saw his prayer answered already.

12. There are the workers of iniquity fallen—The adverb is emphatic. “There,” where they had laid all their plans and rested their hopes of success, even “there” have they fallen.