|
Psalm 36 reads as follows from the New Oxford Annotated Bible: Transgression speaks to the wicked, deep in their heart, There is no fear of God before their eyes, For they flatter themselves in their own eyes, That their iniquity cannot be found out and hated, The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit, They have ceased to act wisely and do good, They plot mischief while on their beds; They are set on a way that is not good, They do not reject evil, Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds, Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your judgments are like the great deep, You save humans and animals alike, O Lord, How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may 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 we see light, O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, And your salvation to the upright of heart, Do no let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, Or the hand of the wicked drive me away, There the evildoers lie prostrate; They are thrust down, unable to rise. There are a number of views to be taken on this psalm. Thematically, the psalm is speaking to those deep in their hearts. It starts off addressing the wicked but every verse throughout is attended to the deep in their hearts. The wicked have transgressed, they have crossed some line, some fence to where they are now identified as wicked. Some characteristics of what is involved with the wicked is that they are plotting mischief, legally this would be a premeditation say of a crime. They are still comfortable enough to do this on their beds, and it wasn’t that lack of shelter and other good means that caused or precipitated a turn to evil. What they are doing is also deceiving others, with words and possible smooth words. This group may include some who have turned away as the psalm says they have ceased to act wisely and do the good. Stay wise is not what they did. This serves as warnings to those who are doing good, as it says in Paul’s epistles, do not become weary in doing good. See Galatians chapter 6 verse 9 and 2 and Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 13. Also, don’t get tired of praying either. Isaiah Chapter 43 verse 22 says," Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob, but you have been weary of me, O Israel." They are setting on a course and evil needed to be rejected, and they didn’t do this. They flatter themselves in their own eyes; they have drummed up meaning and purpose to their evil ways and sourced it into a pride. In the meantime, there is no fear of God before their eyes, they have not sought the Lord nor kept themselves before him. Their own ways have taken over to the detriment of all concerned as other possibly innocent people are in their paths. This psalm seems to be the antithesis of the flood story. But the story starts out the same, in the time right before the flood, just about everyone was identified as having turned to wickedness. Then the psalm moves into verse 5 and 6 where it says, “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds, Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your judgments are like the great deep, You save humans and animals alike, O Lord. These two verses seem to relate to the great flood. Judgment did come from the great deep in the form of the great flood, and animals and humans alike were saved in the ark. The Lord’s presence in the flood extended to the heavens and in the clouds. The ark landed on a mighty mountain as the waters of judgment began to recede and a new revealing of the Lord’s steadfast love extended to the heavens in the presence of the rainbow. Verse 7 thru 10 say; “ How precious is your steadfast love, O God, All people may 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 we see light. O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright in heart. These verses are exceedingly powerful. The call is to all people. In the Gospel Jesus says, “he that comes to me I will in no wise cast out." See the gospel of John chapter 6 verse 37. The “shadow of wings" is so vast and powerful; it can protect every living creature, man and animal alike. Under this shadow there is light. In the Lord’s house there is abundance to where it is likened to a festival in human terms. The idea of a festival indicates that there is participation, an exchange. Their river of delights is sourced from the Lord and is simply given to those who have gathered under the shadow of his wings. The giving of drink means a part of this great river of delights is shared and immersed in by those who have come to the Lord and the image of the drink is both practical and something that can be seen, that is before your eyes. This is a gift that is precious as it is from the steadfast love of the Lord. While the drink is immensely satisfying, the preciousness is from the steadfast love of the Lord for the soul. The delights could even be without number, and aren’t limited. The locusts that came against the Egyptians were without number and good things from the Lord can also come from every direction without number in the form of a flow from the river of delights. The locusts certainly came close to the Egyptians, but the good things can also come close as well. Verse 9 says, “For with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light." This is what the transgressors should have been doing, keeping their eyes on the Lord and then they could see the light. The light of the Lord is like a fountain, that source from the precious love of the Lord. While in the case of the wicked, where transgression speaks deep in their hearts, what could replace this is the light spoken of here, which would speak deep in their hearts. This light is not a superficial light but a light that speaks to the depths of the hearts of those that are within this light. It is a light that does not just settle of the surface on an individual but sees to the depths of their being. Because of this, there is a greater confidence in the efficacy of this light and what it encompasses. For example, in praying for healing, there is a call to this light, which can see to the inner man in all dimensions including physically. This is the way to go rather than setting on the way that is not good. This light is life giving, in fact it is the very fountain of life. There is no other fountain and no other place to go. Verses 10 thru 12 say, “O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright in heart! Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, Or the hand of the wicked drive me away, There the evildoers lie prostrate, They are thrust down, unable to rise. Here the precious love of the Lord is something that is known. The psalmist David asks that this love continue to those who know him. Those who are in will bask in the Lord’s love and knowledge. A big part of prayer is coming to the Lord as someone who" knows him" Jesus said to those he considered evildoers, “depart from me, I never knew you." See Matthew Chapter 7 verse 23. That is something you don’t want to hear. In these later verses, where it says do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me or the hand of the wicked drive me away, indicated that the wicked are moving out of freedom and their freedom can encroach even on believers or those who know that Lord. They are choosing evil courses and trying to extend its reach. Despite the wicked moving in freedom initially into the wickedness, later the whole of the wickedness forms into a trap they can’t be released from, and the wickedness itself becomes a prison. David realizes this and doesn’t want to be swept away himself and caught in such an inescapable prison. Those who didn’t get on the ark, or under the shadow of wings, were indeed swept away. Evil can become a type of encroachment and is dangerous. David’s seeks and asks for a continuance of the Lord’s protection from evil and its devices. In the later verses he prays for himself and also for others as he prays for those who know Lord, that his goodness and steadfast love would be continued for them. Here David finishes this powerful psalm in praying first for others and then for himself for protection, a major theme of this psalm as he continues to seek the “shadow of wings" personally. This psalm is also cautionary not to brush asides proper light, proper delights and proper sources from the fountain of light. It can seem self serving to seek the river of delights and bask in the glory of the light,but it may be important as a place secure from the wicked ways that are out there. That this palms contrasts so directly with the wicked, and speaks of the light and the river of delights, means that we are actually called to these places of light. You might be trying to be good and not too self seeking as a matter of being humble and not too selfish. But there is a direct call to places of light, as otherwise there are the dark ways of the wicked that are actually there. This river of delights is not really something that is maybe optional and you don’t want to be too ingratiated towards. There is a direct call to the light, to the fountain of life and to the rivers of delight. It is only logical that someone would not say they would want to forgo salvation, which is in the realm of light, in the realm of the fountain of life eternal. But also in the here and now, there is a direct call to the places of light. If you are not there, you are in waters which may be troublesome and opposing to the direct call of the Lord. Just because these places of light are so delightful, doesn’t mean they are also evil in that evil is associated with pleasantness and delight but this is a delight that is separate from the devices of evil that is a proper place for those that know him according to this psalm. It is a lie to buy into the idea that just because something is an easy road or pleasant, that it isn’t a place of lights from the Lord and a place you should be finding and going into. There is a call to salvation and the light of salvation and there is a call to the light and the rivers of delight in this present time.
Related Articles -
psalms, prayer,
| 
