Psalm 36

An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
² For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
³ The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
⁴ He devises wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself in a way that is not good;
He does not abhor evil.

⁵ Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
⁶ Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

⁷ How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
⁸ They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
⁹ For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.

¹⁰ Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
¹¹ Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹² There the workers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been cast down and are not able to rise.

There is an interesting structure to this psalm. The first four verses focus on what wicked people do then it immediately switches to God’s goodness in verses 5 and 6, God’s interaction with those who trust in Him, and a prayer that the psalmist might never slip from God’s favor. At first it seemed off to me, but looking back over it, I think I understand. The wicked man is completely consumed by his wickedness. He hates, he is no longer wise, and he only does evil things. When God is absent from us, this is what we have to potential to become. None of our choices are based on what God would have us do, and we get none of the blessings that He would give us if we had been with Him. We flatter ourselves in our own eyes, we think we don’t need God, that there is nothing that we can’t handle. We doesn’t care when he sees himself doing bad, because we thinks it is just part of human nature, and humans don’t need God.

But, the psalm dispels that myth pretty quickly. God preserves man and beast. He’s got the whole world in His hands, if you will. The four traits of God—His mercy, faithfulness, righteousness, and judgments—are set in direct opposition to what these wicked people try to do on their own. God has mercy, but the wicked man “devises wickedness.” God has faithfulness, but the wicked man “flatters himself.” God has righteousness, but the wicked man “does not abhor evil.” God has judgments, but the wicked man “has ceased to be wise.”

Then, we see how God’s goodness is translated onto those who are not wicked but trust in Him. They are completely satisfied with Him. There is no continual cycle of strife and hatred. There is even a river of pleasures because God has “the fountain of life” (John 4:14 “But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”) and “in Your light we see light” (John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life”). Therefore, we should take care not to fall into that cycle of wickedness, but to always remain with God under the shadow of His wings.