Righteous [art] thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of [thy] judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? [wherefore] are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
Ver. 1. Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee.] Or, Though I should contend with thee. This the prophet fitly sets forth the ensuing disceptation, that he might not be mistaken. Thy judgments, saith he, are sometimes secret, always just; this I am well assured of, though I thus argue. a
Yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments.] Let me take the humble boldness so to do, that I may be further cleared and instructed by thee.
Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?] viz., While better men suffer; as now the wicked Anathothites do, while I go in danger of my life by them. This is that noble question which hath exercised the wits and molested the minds of many wise men, both within and without the Church. See Job 21:7-13 Psalms 37:1; Psa 73:1-12 Habakkuk 1:4,5; Plato, Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, Claudian against Ruffin, &c.
Wherefore are all they happy?] Heb., At ease. Not all either; for some wicked have their payment here, their hell aforehand. To this question the Lord, who knoweth our frame, Psa 103:14 being content to condescend where he might have judged, calmly maketh answer, Jer 12:5 like as Christ in like case did to Peter. Joh 21:21-22
a Est elegans, προθεραπεια .