Summary
The Bible teaches that fear of God is the true source of wisdom. In Psalm 36, King David picks up this theme and merges it with a description of God’s unchangeable lovingkindness for his people. By describing the character of the wicked and the character of God, he encourages us to seek the love and fellowship of God instead of wicked ways.
Our passage explained
v1-4
In the first section of this psalm, we read a description of the character of the wicked. For the wicked, “transgression speaks … deep in his heart” because the wicked do not reverently depend on God (v.1).
Instead, the wicked man believes he can get away with his sins, “for he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated” (v.2). The wicked are foolishly motivated by the sins deep in their hearts, and fool themselves that they will not be uncovered.
The foolishness of their hearts comes out in their acts. “The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good” (v.3). Sinfulness affects true wisdom and ability to do good; instead what replaces goodness and wisdom is the sin of his heart, expressed in words and deeds.
The sin of the wicked extends to all their life, not just a part. Even in bed at night, the wicked “plots trouble” and “sets himself in a way that is not good” (v.4) instead of dwelling on what is good and holy (Phil. 4:8). “He does not reject evil” (v.4) but embraces it as a way of life, a way of being.
v5-7
Compared to the wicked and their ways, the precious character of God is the topic of the second section of the psalm. The wicked bind themselves to sin, but God binds himself to his people with his unchanging, steadfast lovingkindness.
God’s covenant love, his “steadfast love … extends to the heavens, [his] faithfulness to the clouds” (v.5). God’s covenant love is beyond our ability to grasp because it is greater than we can take in, like a mountain soaring skyward into high clouds.
His righteousness is “like the mountains of God” and his justice “like the great deep” (v.6), visually describing the unchangeable nature of his covenant love as like unchanging parts of our world. We see it expressed in his preservation of Creation, as “man and beast you save, O LORD” (v.6).
These words lead David to proclaim in verse seven “how precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” God’s covenant love for his people is precious, a place we can take shelter in from the storms of life.
v8-12
The grace of God expressed to us through his covenant love is described as being like feasting and drinking. Like a rich and generous host, we “feast on the abundance of your house” (v.8) and we drink of the blessings of a restored Garden of Eden (“the river of your delights”).
We feast and drink, restoring and revitalising our lives, because God “is the fountain of life” and the source of light (v.9) who leads us in righteousness.
With this description of God’s character expressed in his covenant love for his people, the psalm finishes with a prayer for the experience of God’s love. David asks God to “continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!” (v.10). Knowing the wonder of God’s love leads him to desire it forever, continually, and for all God’s people too.
David also prays that God’s covenant love would show expression in protection from the wicked. He asks that God would protect him from the foot or hand of the wicked who would “drive me away” from God’s presence (v.11).
He extends this prayer to a declaration of trust in ultimate deliverance from the wicked. He believes the sinners, who lie in bed plotting, will in the end perish. “There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise” (v.12) because they sought evil ways, not the covenant love of God.
Our passage applied
This psalm encourages us to seek the love and fellowship of God that we have through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the true source of life (John 4:10-14; John 6:35-51) and the true light among us (John 1:4-5; 1 John 1:5-9). It is through Jesus that we have life and walk in the light which the Holy Spirit reveals to us.
The precious love of God – unchanging, long-suffering, righteous and just and so great we cannot grasp its breadth – is so much more appealing than the evil thoughts and acts of the heart. In God’s covenant love, we find shelter and protection from the evils of today and our many sins, and the promise of feasting and drinking of the delights of the New Heaven and New Earth. The wicked, outside God’s covenant love, face ultimate destruction.
May we all find refuge within God’s unchanging covenant love.
You may recognise verses five to nine of this psalm, as we occasionally sing an arrangement by Stephen J. Pearson
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