Psalms 36:4

He deviseth mischief upon his bed,.... He casts about in his mind on his pillow, when at leisure from all employment; and consults and contrives schemes how to compass his lusts, and to do injury to

He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil. He deviseth ... his bed - even there, where one lies down for sleep, he cannot be quiet from restless plans of evil.

He deviseth mischief upon his bed; which notes that he doth it, 1. Constantly and unweariedly, preferring it before his own rest. 2. Earnestly and seriously, when his mind is freed from all outward distractions, and wholly at leisure to attend that business about which it is employed: compare . 3. Freely, from his own inclination, when none are present to provoke him to it. He setteth himself; he doth not repent of his wicked devices, but resolutely proceeds to execute them, and persists therein. That is not good, i.e. which is very bad, as this phrase is used, 24:23, and elsewhere. He abhorreth not evil: though he sometimes pretends remorse, and desists from his violent practices against me, as Saul did; yet he doth not truly repent of nor abhor his sin, and therefore is ready to return to it, when any occasion offers itself.

Psalms 36:4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way [that is] not good; he abhorreth not evil.Ver. 4. He deviseth mischief upon his bed] He bendeth his wits and beateth his brains, perdius et pernox, breaking his sleep to plot and plough, to contrive and effect mischief. Vanity or villany is his whole study. He is always either weaving spiders’ webs or hatching cockatrices’ eggs. He setteth himself in a way that is not good] And there meaneth to keep him, as the word importeth; set he is, and he will not be removed, being every whit as good as ever he meaneth to be. Statuit se; there you left him, and there you may find him, for he is no changeling; and that is a piece of his silly glory. He abhorreth not evil] Sed studiosissime amplectitur, but doeth wickedly with hands earnestly, and taketh long strides towards hell, which is but a little before him, as if he feared it would be full ere he came thither (Jun.). If he do abstain from any wickedness, yet he abhorreth it not. It is for the evil consequents of sin (viz. shame, loss, punishment) that he forbeareth it; and not because it is offensivum Dei, et aversivum a Dei, an offence against God, and a turning away from God; that is no argument at all to him, sed fertur laxis habenis in quaevis flagitia, but he is hurried headlong into all wickedncsses, as vultures fly swiftly to the most stinking carcases.

(3, 4) From the secret promptings of sin, the description of the ungodly passes on to its issues in words and deeds. It is an awful picture of wickedness of a man abandoning himself without check or remorse to the inspiration of his own evil heart. He goes from bad to worse. In a great English tragedy, the murderer, though he has determined to wade farther in blood, yet prays against the horror of nightly temptations: “Merciful powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature Gives way to in repose. But this man “deviseth mischief upon his bed.” When even the worst criminals shudder at their own deeds, whispering to their “deaf pillows” the agonies that creep over them with darkness and silence, this ungodly man of the Hebrew poet’s picture is occupied rather in scheming fresh villainies; even then he abhorreth not evil, or better, rejecteth not, catches rather at every fresh suggestion, and shapes it to his end.

Verse 4. He deviseth mischief upon his bed] He seeks the silent and undisturbed watches of the night, in order to fix his plans of wickedness. He setteth himself] Having laid his plans, he fixes his purpose to do what is bad; and he does it without any checks of conscience or abhorrence of evil. He is bent only on mischief, and lost to all sense of God and goodness. A finished character of a perfect sinner.

4. mischief] Iniquity, as in Psalms 36:3; Psalms 36:12. upon his bed] In the stillness of the night, the time for repentance (Psalms 4:4), and recollection of God (Psalms 63:6), he is restlessly planning his crimes. For illustration see Micah 2:1 ff. he setteth himself &c.] Evil courses are his deliberate choice; conscience is blunted, and wrong excites no abhorrence. Cp. Psalms 1:1; Proverbs 16:29; Isaiah 65:2.

He deviseth mischief upon his bed - Margin, as in Hebrew: “vanity.” That is, when he lies down; when he is wakeful at night; he plots some scheme of iniquity - some vain, wicked enterprise.

3, 4. The words of his mouth—From the silent oracle of sin in the midst of his heart, (Psalms 36:1,) and the self-flattery of Psa 36:2, the growth of sin has now put on the form of words, which, like