To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
Ver. 18. To judge the fatherless, &c] The Vulgate hath it, to judge for the fatherless and for the oppressed. It is one thing (saith Austin) to judge the fatherless and another thing to judge for him; this latter is to pass sentence on his side; which God, the righteous Judge, will be sure to do without writhing or warping; for he hath all that is required of a judge originally and eminently, viz. wisdom, justice, courage, constance, and power.
That the man of the earth may no more oppress] Or, terrify, daunt with terror, as Philippians 1:28. See Trapp on " Php 1:28 " Why should one man be terrible to another, since we are all mortales e terra, worms of the earth, clods of clay, and shall shortly return to the dust whence we were taken? unde superbit homo? "I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?" Isaiah 51:12,13. Some observe that the close of this psalm is much like that of the former. How they have been taken (by the Greek Fathers especially) for one entire psalm. See Trapp on " Psa 10:1 "