A song of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, etc. Since the topic of this psalm deals with the troubles that befall Israel, he commences it in this manner. And this is the meaning: Although I cry out and am dismayed at Israel’s troubles, I knew that the Holy One, blessed be He, is good to them, and that He brings evil upon them for their own good, in order to give them merit in the life of the world to come.

But as for me before I laid this to my heart.

my feet had almost turned away and my steps swept away to turn away from following the Omnipresent.

For I envied the perverse Those who pervert their ways, whose tranquility I would see.

the perverse Heb. בהוללים, mixed, as (Isa. 1:22): “your wine is diluted (מהול) with water.”

For there are no fetters to their death Heb. חרצבות, an expression of tying, as (Isa. 58:6): “to undo the fetters (חרצבות) of wickedness,” meaning the locks of the fetters with which they bind the poor. Here, too, there are no pains to their death. Those who die among them die healthy, [strong as] a palace, without pains. But our Rabbis explained חַרְצֻבּוֹת as an abbreviation, meaning that they are not (שאין) frightened (חרדין) or saddened (עצבין) by the day of death (Shab. 31b). Another explanation: that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not delay (מאחר) their desire (צביונם).

Therefore, they wear pride as a necklace Because of this, pride adorns them as a necklace, insofar as it ascends upon his neck.

the robbery that they commit envelopes their hips The robbery they commit makes them fat, enveloping their buttocks and hips with thickness of fat and flesh.

Because of their fat, their eyes bulge Their eyes bulge because of the abundant fat, for in an emaciated person, the eyes are sunken.

they surpassed the imaginings of their heart More than what their heart hopes for and awaits, came to them. In the attainment of their hand, they surpassed the desire of their heart.

They consume their neighbors.

and speak wickedly about oppression To oppress the needy.

they speak about the Most High e.g. Pharaoh, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar. [Pharaoh said] (Exod. 5:2): “Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?” [Sennacherib said] (Isa. 36:20), “Who are they among all the gods of the lands...?” [Nebuchadnezzar said] (Isa. 14:14), “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.” That is the meaning of: “They have set their mouth against Heaven.”

Therefore, His people will return here Since His people sees that the way of the wicked prospers, they will return on the way of the wicked, to adopt their ways.

here Heb. הלם, as (Jud. 18: 3): “Who brought you here (הלום)?” [Equivalent to] פֹּה.

and the waters of the full are drain water to them And the waters of the full stream—they are words of Torah—are considered by them as water that drains out, and they despise them.

And they say, “How does God know” How can we say that there is knowledge in the Holy One, blessed be He, and that His Torah is true?

Behold these are wicked They [are wicked] and transgress His Torah; yet they are tranquil in the world and increase power and wealth.

they are tranquil in the world An expression of tranquility.

have increased Heb. השגו, have increased. Menachem (p. 72) explains: יָשוּב עַמוֹ הֲלוֹם, the wicked will return to crush (להלם) the people of the Holy One, blessed be He. The first interpretation I learned from the words of Rabbi Meir the son of Isaac, the cantor, may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing.

But for nought I cleansed my heart All this refers back to: “And they say, ‘How does God know?’” They also say, “But for nothing and in vain we keep the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He, for behold, we are plagued all the days.”

and my chastisement appears all day; constantly, from morning to morning, new troubles are renewed.

If I said, “I shall tell it as it is” Said Asaph, “If I said in my heart to tell everything as it is, all that His people say about this.”

behold I have made the generation of Your children into traitors That is to say that I would make them into traitors and wicked men.

And when I ponder in my heart.

to know this what the manner of the Holy One, blessed be He, is. So it is iniquity in my eyes. This manner appeared to me as iniquity and not justice.

Until I came to the sanctuaries of God, which are in Jerusalem, and saw what happened to Sennacherib. Then I understood the end of the wicked, that it is to destruction. Then I said, “All the good that comes to them is only slippery places; for the Holy One, blessed be He, makes their way slippery, that it should be easy and smooth, so that they should not put their heart to return to Him, and they should perish.”

Only in slippery places do You set them All the goodness that comes to them, for ultimately, You cast them down to ruin.

by terrors By demons.

As a dream without awakening As a sleep without end (without awakening), which is an eternal sleep, so did they have (Isa. 37:36): “And an angel of the Lord went forth and slew...of the camp of Assyria.”

O Lord, in the city You will despise their form In Jerusalem, with which they dealt evilly, there the form of their image was despised, and they were all burnt.

For my heart was in ferment Before I saw this downfall with the holy spirit, my heart was in ferment because the way of the wicked prospered, and my mind was on edge (אשתונן), an expression of a sharpened sword (שנון). When it is reflexive, the “tav” is placed in the middle of the radical, as is the case of every word whose radical commences with “shin.”

But I was brutish, and I did not know what this manner was, and I was as a beast with You.

Yet I Although I saw all this constantly, I was with You, and I did not move from fear of You.

You grasped my right hand to strengthen me in Your fear when my feet are about to turn from Your way, as it is stated above (verse 2): “my feet had almost turned away.”

You led me Heb. תנחני, [like] נחיתני, You led me.

and after[wards], You took me [for] glory If the cantillation sign were on כָּבוֹד, its interpretation would be: After You bestowed upon Sennacherib all the glory You had allotted to him, You will take me to You. You have performed wondrous miracles for Israel and have destroyed Sennacherib. Now that the cantillation sign is on ואחר, this is its interpretation: (and afterwards,) You took me to glory; You drew me to You for glory and beauty.

For whom do I have in heaven [Was there] any angel that I chose for me as a god? I chose only You.

My flesh...yearn My flesh and my heart yearn for You.

yearn Heb. כלה, an expression of desire, as (119:81): “My soul yearned (כלתה) for Your salvation.”

who strays from You Who separates himself from You.

Your mission Your message; the holy spirit that comes into my heart to say it.