I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Ver. 21. When I would do good] Something lay at the fountain head, as it were, and stopped him when he would do his duty. But God valueth a man by his desires. a There often cometh a prohibition from Chancery to stay proceedings at common law, so here; when we would pray, meditate, confer, &c., we are hindered and interrupted. But God considereth it; and as the service of a sick child is doubly accepted, so here.
Evil is present] We can stay no more from sinning than the heart can from punting and the pulse from beating. Our lives are fuller of sins than the firmament of stars or the furnace of sparks. Erasmus was utterly out, that said with Origen, Paulum hoc sermone balbutire; quam ipse potius ineptiat, saith learned Beza. So Joannes Sylvius Aegranus, a learned but a profane person, reprehended Paul for want of learning, and said, Quod usus sit declamatoriis verbis, non congruentibus ad rem, &c. Nominabat sophisms, quod diceremus homines non posse implere legem. (Joh. Manl.)
a Tota vita boni Christiani sanctum desiderium est. Aug.