John Calvin Commentary Psalms 37:35

"I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil." — Psalms 37:35 (ASV)

Psalms 37:36: I have seen the wicked terrible, etc. David here confirms from his own experience what I have just said: namely, that although the wicked are intoxicated with their prosperity, and held in admiration by all on account of it, yet their happiness is transitory and evanescent, and, therefore, nothing else than a mere illusion.

In Psalm 37:35, he tells us that it is no strange or unusual thing for the ungodly, puffed up with their prosperity, to spread themselves far and wide, and to cause terror to the innocent. Then he adds that their greatness, which had been regarded with so much wonder, disappears in a moment.

Regarding the meaning of the words, עריף, arits, which we have rendered terrible, might also be translated strong, because the word from which it is derived sometimes signifies to terrify and sometimes to strengthen. The word מתערה, mithareh, is taken by some to mean green, but it rather means discovering or spreading himself out, as high and broad trees spread out their branches.

David, I have no doubt, here rebukes the insolence of those who vaunt themselves immoderately. To pass away, in Psalm 37:36, is used for to vanish away; and thus he admonishes us to be still for a time, so that it may become apparent, after it has passed away, that all that the world admires in the prosperity of the wicked has been only a mist.