Commentaries

Mizmor 017, Verse 004

לִפְעֻלּ֣וֹת אָ֭דָם בִּדְבַ֣ר שְׂפָתֶ֑יךָ אֲנִ֥י שָׁ֝מַ֗רְתִּי אׇרְח֥וֹת פָּרִֽיץ

lifʿullos ʾodom bidvar sefoseycho ʾaniy shomartiy ʾorchos poriytz

As for man’s deeds, by the word of Your lips, I have kept in view the paths of the lawbreakers.

Rabbi HIRSCH

1.
“I have observed how even the ways of the lawbreakers serve to bring the deeds of men under the sovereignty of Thy Law. Those crimes which the wicked man commits against his neighbors become instruments of God. The Lord employs them to make those who love His Law and are capable of improvement and needful of discipline, ever more perfect in their loyalty to the law and in their obedience to His will. Thus even evil serves the purposes of righteousness, and the criminal unwittingly advances the cause of God; kingdom on earth."

WORDS