Psalm 36 Devotion Part II The Cry of Our Heart

We continue with David’s comparison of the wicked and the righteous character of God. God always has a plan and will always reveal Himself even when we cannot see Him. He’s real and is present in your circumstance.

Verse 6  Your righteousness is like the great mountains: Your judgements are a great deep: O Lord, You preserve man and beast. NKJV

Perhaps The Passion Translation will help us to interpret this verse and give clarity to the authors intent.

Psalm  36:6  Your righteousness is unmovable, just like the mighty mountains. Your judgments are as full of wisdom as the oceans are full of water. Your tender care and kindness leave no one forgotten, not a man nor even a mouse. TPT

Consider that while David is putting this revelation into words and making sure that the narrative is framed correctly, the Sovereign of the universe and the grand designer was beside him watching and revealing Himself to the Psalmist.  This picture brings joy to my heart. No matter where we are or what we are heading toward, He is there in presence and in power. The assurance and comfort that only He grants brings me above the clouds of distress and allows me to float in His presence while seeking His face. All the while I hear the whisper from heaven “I got this”.

Verse 7 How precious is your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. NKJV

Psalm  36:7  O God, how extravagant is your cherishing love! All mankind can find a hiding place under the shadow of your wings. TPT

“How precious is Thy lovingkindness!” expresses not only its intrinsic value, but the devout soul’s appreciation of it. The secret of blessedness and test of true wisdom lie in a sane estimate of the worth of God’s lovingkindness as compared with all other treasures. Such an estimate leads to trust in Him. The “wings” of God suggests tenderness and security.

Psalm  103:4  Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 

Psalm  103:5  Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

 Psalm 36:8  They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.

Consider “abundantly satisfied” in your house. There is fatness in the land of our God. Oh what joy it brings our Lord when we drink from the river of “Your pleasures”.

Here we have a wonderful picture of the blessedness of the Godly, the elements of which consist in four things: satisfaction, represented under the emblem of a feast; joy, represented under the imagery of a great catch from a flowing river of delight; life, pouring from God as a fountain; light, streaming from Him as a source. God’s abundance means more than enough for His children after all that is what His name tells us,  El Shaddai says He is the all sufficient One and well able to satisfy.

Psa 36:9  For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.  NKJV

The calling was clear in I Peter 1:9. We have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light. His light now shines through us as a testimony of His saving grace and the availability of light to all who will receive Him. There is no fellowship with darkness. Picture a large arena in complete darkness. Then light a small match and the room is lit as the light dispels the darkness instantly. That’s what His light does for us.

Psa 36:10  Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, And Your righteousness to the upright in heart. NKJV

David is praying for continuance of the lovingkindness and righteousness. I am in great need of this bountiful blessing all the days of my life.

Psalm  36:11  Let not the foot of pride come against me, And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.  NJKV

Here David appeals to God for help in making sure that pride does not make its way into His life. He understands the devastation and fall that this presents. Help me Oh God by making me aware of the hand of the wicked to never drive a wedge between you and me.  David knew the vulnerability of his own character and the need of divine assistance to stay the course.

Psa 36:12  There the workers of iniquity have fallen; They have been cast down and are not able to rise. NKJV

There the workers of iniquity have fallen: David considered the end of the wicked men that he thought of at the beginning of this psalm. They are fallen, and so much so that they are not able to rise. Unlike the righteous who may fall seven times yet rise up again (Pro 24:16), the workers of iniquity remain in the dust as God protects His servants.

The choice is not really all that difficult.  We choose life in Christ where there is abundance and rivers of pleasure or we choose death and never able to recover.