Psalms — Chapter 57

SI VERE UTIQUE IUSTITIAM LOQUIMINI. Lapide: Psalm 57 — "If in very deed you speak justice, judge uprightly, O ye sons of men." The indictment of corrupt judges and rulers. Lapide: the "sons of men" in positions of authority are called to justice. "In corde iniquitatem operamini" (v.3: "In your hearts you work iniquity") — corruption begins in the heart, not in the outward act. Lapide gives this psalm a political reading: the perversion of justice by those in authority is a grave sin that cries to heaven.