Week 6 - Psalm 36
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“ I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes…The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good…Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep…How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!” (v1-2, 5-7)
This is a very timely psalm. Our lives may be different if we could notice the posture of the psalmist. He sees and has perspective. Notice that he takes in the big picture but in a very particular way - with God in his heart.
What does he see?
He sees a complex world with two very different realities. First, he sees the reality of sin. This is the world of the mischief-maker, where the confining reality of sin is in view. (1) Those in sin deceive themselves. They fail to act wisely or do good. (v2-4)
Next, he sees the reality of God and God’s love. This is the world of the salvation-maker where the spaciousness of God’s love is in view. (1) Those in God’s love feast on the abundance of the goodness of God. They find security and provision in God’s presence. (v 6-9) They find themselves in the wide world of God’s love and care, where their perspective can be renewed with hope. The salvation-maker will make a way.
What does he ask for?
Seeing the reality of evil and the reality of God and his love, the psalmist asks God to be present and for his love to continue. (v.10) He sees God's expansive love and asks that it spread. The love of God is not theoretical for him. Love was not just a grand idea. He sees it and experiences it.
Jesus revealed the reality of God’s love. Jesus showed us what God is really like in the way that he came to us, lived with us, and died for us. As Paul explains, “God proves his love for us in that while we were still rebelling against him, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8, PAR)
On the evening before his death, Jesus prayed for us and asked that God would not take us out of the world but protect us from the evil in the world. He prayed that the love of God would be real to us - that we would know the love of God as he does. (Jn 17) Jesus wanted us to experience the unfailing love of God.
When you look out on the world, what do you see?
How do you see?
Reflect….
Read Psalm 36. What do you notice?
What message do you have in your heart?
Where does your mind tend to settle - on the reality of evil or the reality of God’s love?
How might today be different if you lived with God in your heart?
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1. Mischief-maker and salvation-maker are terms Eugene Peterson used in Praying the Psalms.
