Psalms 36

Psalms 36:1

Psalm 36: Great Sin, Greater God36:1-4 An oracle in the heart of David gives a vivid picture of the transgression of the wicked. The sinner abandons any fear of God that he might have had. He flatters himself that his crimes cannot be proved against him and punished. His speech is saturated with wickedness and deceit. He scorns a respectable, law-abiding life. When he ought to be sleeping, he devises new misdeeds, then deliberately embarks on an evil course, gladly saying “yes” to sinful solicitations. 36:5 In stark contrast to the depravity of such a sinner are the perfections of the LORD. His mercy, for instance, extends to the heavens. Barnes writes: It is very exalted: to the very heavens, as high as the highest object of which man can conceive. The idea is not that the mercy of God is manifested in heaven . . . nor that it has its origin in heaven (though that is true) but that it is of the most exalted nature, it is as high as men can conceive. God’s faithfulness reaches to the clouds, that is, it is limitless in its dimensions. A. W. Pink says: What a word is this! “Thy faithfulness extends to the clouds.” Far above all finite comprehension is the unchanging faithfulness of God. Everything about God is great, vast, incomparable. He never forgets, never fails, never falters, never forfeits His word. To every declaration of promise or prophecy the Lord has exactly adhered, every engagement of covenant or threatening He will make good, for “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” (Num_23:19, AV). Therefore does the believer exclaim, “His compassions fail not, they are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness” (Lam_3:22-23, AV). 36:6 God’s righteousness is like the great mountains He has madestable, steadfast, immovable, thoroughly dependable. He can always be depended on to do the thing that is right. This was perfectly manifested at the cross. God’s righteousness demands that sin be punished. If we were to be punished for our sins we would perish eternally. This is why God’s blessed Son took our sins upon Himself. So unbending is God’s righteousness that when He saw our sins on His sinless Son, He poured out the torrents of His judgment upon Him. Now God has a righteous basis upon which He can save ungodly sinnersthe penalty has been paid by a worthy Substitute. The perfect righteousness of God Is witnessed in the Savior’s blood. ‘Tis in the cross of Christ we trace His righteousness, yet wondrous grace. Albert Midlane God’s judgments are like the great deep. This means that His decrees, decisions, thoughts and plans are wonderfully profound, complex, and wise. When contemplating this attribute of God, Paul exclaimed: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Rom_11:33). “O LORD, You preserve man and beast.” Here it is a matter of temporal salvationof the providence of God preserving His creatures. And what a great mercy this is. Think of all that is involved in caring for so many human beings and so many animals, birds, and fish. As for man, God numbers the very hairs of his head; as for the insignificant sparrow, not a single one falls to the ground without your heavenly Father! 36:7 Nothing that enters human life is more precious than the lovingkindness of God. It is eternal, sovereign, infinite, causeless, and unchanging. And nothing can ever separate the child of God from it. In 1743 John Brine wrote: No tongue can fully express the infinitude of God’s love, or any mind comprehend it: it “passeth knowledge” (Eph_3:19). The most extensive ideas that a finite mind can frame about Divine love are infinitely below its true nature. The heaven is not so far above the earth as the goodness of God is beyond the most raised conceptions which we are able to form of it. It is an ocean which swells higher than all the mountains of opposition in such as are the object of it. It is a fountain from which flows all necessary good to all those who are interested in it. This is why the children of men find refuge under the shadow of His wings. Unfortunately, not all men choose to enjoy God’s loving protection. But the privilege is available to all, and people from every nation, class, and culture have found rest, refreshment, and safety under those incomparable wings. 36:8 Not only is there protection, but abundant provision as well. “They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.” What food can match that of the house of the Lord for quality and for quantity? And what pleasures also? As F. B. Meyer pointed out, God gives sorrows by cupfuls but pleasure by riverfuls! 36:9 In Christ is the fountain or source of life. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (Joh_1:4). In that light we see light. Just as natural light reveals things in their true form, so the light of God enables us to see things as He does. It enables us to form correct estimates of spiritual realities, of the world, of others, and of ourselves. Corot, the great landscape painter once said, “When I find myself in one of Nature’s beautiful places, I grow angry with my pictures.” Pleased with them in his studio, the artist was humbled in sight of Nature’s glory. Judging ourselves in the light of the world, we may easily find grounds for personal satisfaction; but to judge ourselves in the light of the Lord, to measure ourselves by the Divine standard, is to put our pride to shame (Choice Gleanings). 36:10, 11 After scaling the Himalayan peaks of the perfections of God, the son of Jesse returns to the valley of human need and prays for continued protection from the wicked. Verse 11 explains verse 10. The way in which David asks God to continue His lovingkindness and deliverance is by restraining the foot of arrogant men from trampling him down and the hand of the wicked from driving him far away. 36:12 His prayer is answered. Faith enables the psalmist to see the wicked fallen down and powerless to rise again.