Context No. 3955 of 4322 · Psalms

Psalms 36:1-12: in context

1A revelation is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. 2For he flatters himself in his own eyes, too much to detect and hate his sin. 3The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good. 4He plots iniquity on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He doesn’t abhor evil. 5Your loving kindness, LORD, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 6Your righteousness is like the mountains of God. Your judgments are like a great deep. LORD, you preserve man and animal. 7How precious is your loving kindness, God! The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings. 8They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house. You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures. 9For with you is the spring of life. In your light we will see light. 10Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. 11Don’t let the foot of pride come against me. Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12There the workers of iniquity are fallen. They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.

This psalm sets two things starkly side by side. First, the wickedness of those who have no fear of God, who flatter themselves, deceive, and do not even hate their own sin. But then, as if lifting his eyes from that dark portrait, the psalmist bursts into praise of God's overflowing goodness: your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

God's love and faithfulness are vast beyond measure. And then some of the beautiful lines in all the Psalms: with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. Two images capture what God is to us. He is the fountain of life, the source from which all true life flows; and he is the light by which we see everything else rightly, for in his light we see light. Apart from him is the self-deception of the wicked, who cannot even see their own sin; in his light, we see truly. There is an invitation here to take refuge under the shadow of his wings and to drink from the river of his delights.

Am I drinking from God as the fountain of life and seeing by his light, taking refuge in a steadfast love that reaches to the heavens, rather than living in the self-deception of those who do not seek him?

Sources

Psalm 36:9: "For with you is the spring of life. In your light we will see light."
Psalm 36:5: "Your loving kindness, LORD, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies."
Psalm 36:7: "How precious is your loving kindness, God! The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings."