As smoke is driven away, [so] drive [them] away: as wax melteth before the fire, [so] let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Ver. 2. As smoke is driven away, &c.] Smoke at first sight seemeth formidable, but soon vanisheth; and the higher it ascendeth the sooner it is dissipated: so here. Guicciardine saith of Charles VIII of France, that he came into the field like thunder and lightning, but went out like a snuff; more than a man at first, and less than a woman at last. A semblably of God's enemies.
As wax melteth before the fire, &c.] Wax is a more solid substance than smoke, but, held to the fire, it quickly dissolveth. The psalmist both prayeth and prophesieth here, that the downfall of the Church's enemies may be praeceps et praesentissimum, sad and sudden, as is elegantly set forth by these two similitudes.