To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.
“An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes, when he finds out his iniquity and when he hates. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; he has ceased to be wise and to do good. He devises wickedness on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not abhor evil.
Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O Lord, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.
Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the workers of iniquity have fallen; they have been cast down and are not able to rise.”
“There is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes, when he finds out his iniquity and when he hates. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; he has ceased to be wise and to do good. He devises wickedness on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not abhor evil.”
Of all the psalms, this is one of the most inspiring. First, David describes the wicked in great detail. But David only describes the wicked so that he can contrast them with the utmost righteousness of God.
“Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O Lord, You preserve man and beast.” David struggles to describe the enormity of God’s faithfulness, comparing it to the biggest things he can think of, the heavens and the mountains. David also rejoices in the wisdom of God’s judgements that preserve all of creation.
“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” These words might be among the loveliest David has ever written. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all; therefore, He truly is the fountain of life and light.
“Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the workers of iniquity have fallen; they have been cast down and are not able to rise.” As David has done so many times, he now begs God to protect him from the wicked and to punish the wicked as they deserve.
APPLICATION: There is a popular saying that “When you’re up to your rear end in alligators, it’s difficult to remember that your original objective was to drain the swamp.” It’s easy to allow problems to overwhelm us to the point that we are unable to either pray or worship; yet, that is the very time when we need to do both. The psalms are useful for many reasons, and this is one of them. When we feel helpless and inundated by trouble, David’s prayers are there for us, and this psalm is one of the most useful.
“Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O Lord, You preserve man and beast.” We need to remind ourselves that no matter how bad things are for us personally, God is still on the throne. Even if we feel totally inadequate, God’s mercy, His faithfulness, His righteousness, His judgments, and His preservation never change.
Worship draws us out of ourselves and shifts our focus from our anxieties to God’s greatness. We are prone to behaving as if we think everything depends on us, when in fact, everything actually depends on God and His faithfulness, not ours.
Do you feel stuck in a horrible situation with no escape? Feeling lower than a ditch digger’s boots? Read Psalm 36 to yourself out loud slowly at least five times. You will find your spirits lightening and hope moving in your heart.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are down and discouraged. Help us to remember that it’s not all up to us and that we can piggyback on someone else’s faith when we read the psalms. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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