EXPOSITION OF PSALM 36

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This is "A psalm of David the servant for the LORD" (superscription). How blessed is the man whom Jehovah acknowledges as "My servant" (Isaiah 41:8-10; 42:1; 43:10; 44:1-3, 21f; 45:4f; 49:3). This psalm was delivered "To the Chief Musician" (superscription), probably so he could teach it to Jehovah's servants. Let our own musicians lead us in singing it. This psalm is divided into three sections: 1. description of the wicked man (vv.1-4); 2. description of Jehovah's goodness (vv.5-9); 3. prayer of the saint (vv.10f).

I. Description of the wicked man (vv.1-4): 1. he does not fear God (v.1b); 2. he flatters himself (v.2); 3. he speaks in an ungodly manner (v.3a); 4. he refuses to do what is right (v.3b); 5. he plots evil even when he should be sleeping (v.4a); 6. he sets himself to do wickedly (v.4b); 7. he refuses to hate wickedness (v.4c).

36:1 "An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: ..." Translators are greatly divided regarding the proper translation of this line. The King James Version reads, "The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, ..." Other manuscripts read "his heart" instead of "my heart". The Septuagint reads, "The transgressor, that he may sin, says with himself, ..." Whichever translation is correct, the description of the wicked man is the same:

"... There is no fear of God before his eyes." He possesses neither the reverential fear of God with which one "stands in awe" of Him (Psalm 119:161 - same Hebrew word here translated "fear"), nor the dread fear of God with which one finds "terror" in His wrath (Job 31:23 – same Hebrew word here translated "fear"). But if he will never reverentially fear God in this life, he will dreadfully fear Him at the last day, when Christ reveals himself in all His wrath to the eyes of the wicked (Revelation 6:15-17).

36:2 "For he flatters himself in his own eyes, ..." He who will not have the fear of God before his eyes (v.1) will have self-flattery in them (here). He will commend himself to himself and self-deceivingly overestimate himself.

"... When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates" – or "until his iniquity be found to be hateful" (KJV). If the first translation (NKJV) be correct, the wicked man flatters himself when he estimates how iniquitous and hateful he can be. If the second translation (KJV) be correct, the wicked man flatters himself until God finds out his iniquity and hates him for it. Both translations are theologically correct. The wicked is proud of his sin, "and be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23).

36:3 "The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; ..." "Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness" (Romans 3:13f).

"... He has ceased to be wise and to do good." Here evidently is one who formerly was a professor of religion, who then thought it wise to do good. But now "They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge" (Jeremiah 4:22).

36:4 "He devises wickedness on his bed; ..." "For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall" (Proverbs 4:16).

"... He sets himself in a way that is not good; ..." He is deliberate in rejecting Christ the "good way" leading to rest for the soul (Jeremiah 6:16), and deliberate in choosing instead the "way of the ungodly" that leads to destruction (Psalm 1:6).

"... He does not abhor evil." Rather, to the contrary, "those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness" will "rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked" (Proverbs 2:13f).

II. Description of Jehovah's goodness (vv.5-9). The contrast here is not between the wicked and righteous (as in Psalm 1), but between the wicked and Jehovah. Here is a description of Jehovah's 1. mercy (v.5a), 2. faithfulness (v.5b), 3. righteousness (v.6a), 4. judgments (v.6b), 5. preservation (v.6c), 6. preciousness (v.7a), 7. trustworthiness (v.7b), 8. ability to satisfy and please (v.8), 9. life (v.9a), 10. light (v.9b).

"... Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds." Jehovah's "faithfulness" is His immutable fidelity in fulfilling every promise He ever made - and "There has not failed one word of all His good promise" (1 Kings 8:56). And as "the clouds ... are higher than you" (Job 35:5), so is His faithfulness higher than all your needs.

36:6 "Your righteousness is like the great mountains; ..." Jehovah's "righteousness" is His justice – which He demonstrates most gloriously in justifying believers in Christ (Romans 3:26). And as "the great mountains" are the most stable of all earthly objects, so is His righteousness like "the ancient mountains" and "the everlasting hills" (Deuteronomy 33:15).

"... Your judgments are a great deep; ..." Jehovah's "judgments" are His legal adjudications regarding His holy law, whether in blessing that which is right or in condemning that which is wrong – for "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25). And as the oceanic "great deep" is unfathomable, so are His judgments.

"... O LORD, You preserve man and beast." The providential care Jehovah gives to all His creatures evidences that "The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9, 15f)

36:7 "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! ..." The Hebrew word translated "lovingkindness" here and in verse 10 is the same translated "mercy" in verse 5. We speak of it as "how precious" because its value surpasses all earthly wealth and riches.

"... Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings." The only refuge for a sinner is Jehovah's "lovingkindness" and "mercy" - which is Christ (Psalm 26:3; Luke 1:72). All who flee to Him for refuge find certain salvation under His wings (Matthew 23:37).

36:8 "They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, ..." Jehovah's "house" is Christ's church (1 Timothy 3:15). The "fullness" or "fatness" (KJV) with which the occupants of this house are "abundantly satisfied" is also Christ, for He is their bread for life (John 6:32ff), their honey for sweetness (Psalm 81:16), their milk for growth (1 Peter 2:1-3), their lamb for Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7), their wine for remission of sins (Matthew 26:28) and happiness (Psalm 104:15; Solomon 1:2).

"... And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures." This "river of Your pleasures" is the "pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1), "a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God" (Psalm 46:4) – the river of Jehovah's "pleasures", His everlasting love and sovereign grace.

36:9 "For with You is the fountain of life; ..." All life springs from Jehovah, "the fountain of living waters" (Jeremiah 2:13; 17:13; cp. John 5:26). This is true of both natural life (as in v.6c) and spiritual life (John 5:21). If God does not quicken a dead sinner, he will die in his sins.

"... In Your light we see light." Christ is the divine "Light" by which one is enlightened to behold his own wickedness (as in vv.1-4) and the goodness of Jehovah (as in vv.5-9). "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

III. Prayer of the saint (vv.10-12): 1. for God's continuing lovingkindness and righteousness to saints (v.10); 2. for God's everlasting protection from pride and the wicked (v.11); 3. an acknowledgement that this prayer is already answered (v.12).

36:10 "Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, / And Your righteousness to the upright in heart." Christ is Jehovah's "lovingkindness" or "mercy" to those who know Him (Psalm 26:3; Luke 1:72), and His "righteousness" to those who have been by Him made upright in heart or justified (1 Corinthians 1:30). And He will never be taken away from them.

36:11 "Let not the foot of pride come against me, / And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away." "Pride" is the devil's sin (1 Timothy 3:6; 1 John 2:16), and "the wicked" are his instruments of persecution. O Lord, deliver me from both!

36:12 "There the workers of iniquity have fallen; / They have been cast down and are not able to rise." The eye of faith sees Jesus Christ as already victorious over all His foes. Amen!

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