Psalm 36 comments

 

Psalm 36:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD.» The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. 2  For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. 3  The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good. 4  He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.

 

Paul quotes part of what David says here in verse 1 in Romans 3:18, the very end of the verse;

 

Romans 3:18  There is no fear of God before their eyes.

 

David is describing many people we know or know of. Some of them even claim to be Christians. This type of condemnation of these attitudes is given throughout the Bible. A reading of the book of Job will be most helpful remembering that most of what Job’s friends said was true but that they misapplied it to a man that was innocent of wrongdoing.

 

David has had to face Saul, will face his rebellious son Absalom, and all of the people they influence, command, and who follow after them seeking some advantage. As a shepherd boy and a king he has seen the worst in men and in positions of power sees what kind of person inhabits that layer of society.

 

This can also remind us of the Beast of Revelation, popularly called the Antichrist.

 

Psalm 36:5 ¶  Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. 6  Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast. 7  How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. 8  They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. 9  For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. 10  O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart. 11  Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me. 12  There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

 

Here, David, praises God’s mercy, His faithfulness, His righteousness, His judgments, and His lovingkindness. This sentiment in verse 5 is expressed elsewhere in the Psalms;

 

Psalm 57:10  For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.

 

Psalm 103:11  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

 

Psalm 108:4  For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.

 

From verse 6 flows other verses uplighting God’s righteousness;

 

Psalm 71:19  Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!

 

Psalm 97:2  Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

 

Psalm 145:17  The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

 

Notice what Paul says about God’s judgments;

 

Romans 11:33 ¶  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

 

Verse 7 extolls his lovingkindness using symbolic language of the shadow of his wings. Notice how God’s deliverance is likened to being carried on eagle’s wings elsewhere;

 

Exodus 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

 

Isaiah 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

 

Revelation 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

 

Pleasures, linked to abundance, are also spoken of as being a consequence of obedience to God and His providence. His people are promised not only abundance but joy as a consequence of obedience.

 

Psalm 16:11  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

 

Isaiah 25:6 ¶  And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

 

For verse 9 we can look ahead to Christ as the fountain of life and the light of mankind.

 

John 4:10  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water…14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

 

John 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

 

As the passage ends see the condemnation and fate of the wicked.

 

Psalm 73:18  Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.