Psalm 36

The Song of the Servant's Light

[5] Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.

Introduction

The Psalms are unashamed to be songs of love to God, even amidst troubling circumstances. If God’s love is truly steadfast, then it remains the one constant in our lives no matter what else we encounter. His love is our refuge, our constant, our home.

Psalm 36

To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the LORD.

[1] Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God
before his eyes.
[2] For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
[3] The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
[4] He plots trouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in a way that is not good;
he does not reject evil.

[5] Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
[6] Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O LORD.

[7] How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
[8] They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
[9] For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.

[10] Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
[11] Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
[12] There the evildoers lie fallen;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Commentary

Only in Psalms 18 and 36 is David called “the servant of the LORD,” which, you might remember, is a title reserved for only three leaders of God’s people in different historical eras: Moses, Joshua, and David. Like Psalm 18, 36 features a mix of genres, from lament to wisdom to praise. It tells a short story (much shorter than Psalm 18) of David contrasting human evil with divine goodness, but don’t let the simplicity fool you: this is a rich, multi-faceted composition with brief, powerful images. Derek Kidner writes, “Few psalms cover so great a range in so short a space.” The first verses paint a haunting image of the wicked: “Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.” The phrasing here is interesting: it’s the Hebrew words most commonly used for an oracle from a deity or a prophet, but ironically, here “transgression” personified is giving the oracle that must be obeyed. It’s like the wicked’s own heart is an evil god whispering that we don’t have to fear the real God. Not only that, the word used for “fear” isn’t the usual one that means reverence or awe. It’s the word for terror, so as one commentator observes, “It is not simply that [the wicked] have not learned reverence but that they have not learned (in conviction of sin) to be properly frightened of God in his majesty and holiness.” What’s more, the bold sinner “flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.” The Hebrew here is difficult, but it likely means that the wicked deceive themselves so much that they can’t recognize their own flaws or hate them. Their pride blinds them, searing the conscience and distorting their self-awareness. As a result, the wicked’s words, actions, and thoughts are completely twisted away from God’s goodness. Their whole way of life is bent in this downward spiral. They even plot trouble when they’re supposed to be sleeping! The portrait ends with this damning declaration: “he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.” The progression is similar to Psalm 1: the wicked person who rejects God and his ways then lives a sinful life that harms others, ending in a mocking existence where right is wrong and wrong is right. What a terrible way to live!

Commentary

All of a sudden, David’s gaze turns from the inhuman life of the wicked to the divine character of God: “Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD.” There are four key nouns matched with four nature-based similes, and it’s all summed up by one decisive verb. God’s loyal, covenant love (hesed) can be measured (paradoxically) by the limitless altitude of the heavens, and so can his trustworthy faithfulness that reaches above the clouds. In the place where heaven and earth meet, there we see the holiness and mercy of God on display. His righteousness and justice are as vast as the solid mountain and the endless seas. David strains for language. Creation is the closest comparison to the incomparable God. He is unsearchable, impregnable, inexhaustible… and yet he is merciful enough to save his creatures, from human beings to hummingbirds. The language here echoes the story of Noah, how God created the world, judged evil, and graciously saved his creation from the flood. Human beings are foolish and wicked, fickle and shallow; God is all height and depth, supremely powerful and profoundly loving. David can’t help but burst into praise: “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” It’s image after wonderful image of a life with God. God’s love is a precious stone of impossible value. His protection is as intimate as a mother bird draping her wings over newborn chicks. His hospitality gives us rich food and fresh spring water that refreshes our souls. He is our sunlight, the blazing holy warmth that illuminates all that is good and true. This is Eden vocabulary, especially because David’s word “delight” is related to the Hebrew word for Eden. The conclusion we’re meant to draw is that there is no better existence than to be near to God, because he is the source of life. What more could we want than this God, the maker of heaven and earth?

Commentary

The first two stanzas of Psalm 36 stand opposed by their stark contrasts: the wicked as despicable, but the love of the Lord as beautiful. How will David bring these ideas together? The answer is a short prayer that lives in the tension between these things. Verse 10: “Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!” It’s a request for God to stay steadfast and be the solid rock on which his people can stand. There’s a wonderful paradox in David asking for God to continue a love that is unending. God must do so, because we don’t live in Eden anymore but in a fallen, dangerous world. The final two verses, 11-12: “Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.” Notice how David follows the topics he introduced earlier in reverse order: Psalm 36 started with a description of the wicked, then a description of God’s character, but it ends with a prayer for God’s character to continue, and finally a prayer for the wicked to end. The first section used images of the wicked’s eyes and mouth, and the anatomy sketch is complete here with the foot and the hand, body parts used for arrogant action. This is a prayer that the evil person would not harm God’s people, and like the last psalm, it’s a lament asking for God to bring about the downfall of the wicked. It’s also a subtle warning for those of us who sing this song: we can very easily become seduced by arrogance, assuming that we could never be the wicked one who turns from God (and forgetting that we are saved by God’s grace and grace alone.) Derek Kidner is worth quoting here again: “The evil which David portrayed in the first stanza he was ready to fight; the grace which he praised in the second he was ready to invoke; and, once invoked, to accept as given and as settling the matter.” We are still waiting for the day when Eden will be restored and heaven will meet earth once more, and so in this fallen world rely on God’s protection and light day by day.

Gospel

Throughout church history, ancient fathers, medieval theologians, and Protestant Reformers connected the language in this psalm to the story of redemption told in the Bible. God is light, and he first spoke light into being. All of creation came from his abundant love and justice, yet his creation had no fear of God when we turned away from him. Everyone does what is right in our own eyes, and so our fallen world spirals into darkness. Yet God promised a deliverer who would crush the head of the snake and bring his people back to Eden, uniting heaven and earth again. The light of the world came offering waters of life, full of loyal love and faithfulness, wanting to shelter his people like a mother hen with her chicks. Yet evil people crushed him underfoot; with wicked hearts they plotted, with deceitful mouths they lied, and with violent hands they crucified. Yet God’s hesed continues! Jesus is alive, and he offers his eternal, resurrection life freely to all who would come to him. Psalm 36 is a prayer against all the forces of sin, the enemy, and the world that wage war against our souls, and therefore we can have hope that God’s towering holiness will topple the wicked. Until that day, when we are in the dark, we look to the light. I’m convinced that the apostle Paul had this psalm in mind when he composed this beautiful prayer in Ephesians 3. I’ll read it all so you can hear the echoes: “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith — that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Praying This Psalm

How can we, servants of Jesus, use Psalm 36 in our prayer life? Here’s a few ideas for getting started:

When you notice transgression speaking in your heart, whispering like the serpent in the garden.
When you are not afraid of God or worried about judgment (but you should be).
When you see someone who is woefully unaware of their own flaws.
When it seems as though you’re surrounded by deceitful words and evil deeds.
When you lie down in your bed and want to meditate on God rather than let your mind wander into trouble.
When you look at the stars or watch the clouds, mere glimpses of the extent to which God loves you.
When you see a mountain or stand by the sea and are reminded that God’s goodness is just as vast.
When you delight in the delightful pleasures of God’s love.
When you need a shelter because you’re as fragile as a baby bird.
When food and drink remind you that man does not live by bread alone but by every word from the mouth of God.
When you want to know more and more and more of the love of God.
When you are threatened by oppressors who just want to cause suffering.
When you need light to see and know that God is good.

Psalm 36

To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the LORD.

Credits

Thank you for listening to the Woven Psalms. This podcast is a ministry of Rock Hill Community Church in Duluth, MN.

I’m Mike Solis. I’m a pastor at Rock Hill and the writer of this podcast. Ethan Gibbs is our producer, editor, and composer of the theme music. Our logo was designed by Beau Walsh. This podcast uses the English Standard Version, published by Crossway.

We want to give a special thanks to Poor Bishop Hooper for allowing us to use the music from their EveryPsalm project.

If you’ve enjoyed the podcast, please share it with others. You can learn more about our work at wovenpsalms.com.