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There are still the Goliaths that David had to slay so many years ago. New giants rise to slay God's people, or
enslave them, and curse God. The God who judged Goliath still judges today. He will show Himself mighty for the
"upright in heart". This is the theme we find in Psalm 36:
Psalm 36
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. The transgression of the wicked saith within my
heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit:he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy
wings.
8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy
pleasures.
9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
10 O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.
Part 1 - The Wicked
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. The transgression of the wicked saith within
my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
It should be noted this Psalm's credit begins with a slight difference. The entire phrase: "1 To the chief Musician,
A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD." is only found in one other Psalm. Psalm 18:1. David is dealing with God's
protection and enemies in both Psalms. He begins both taking the position of a servant to God. It was a common
practice to specifically address a king as "one of your servants". It was a sign of humility and subjection, as
seen in this message from a defeated king to his conqueror:
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said,
Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. 1 Kings 20:32
From the position of a servant of God, we find David pondering the transgression of the wicked. We can perceive his
shock, disgust and grief. He makes a clear, judgmental, logical observation.
In Hebrew thought, there is not a class of people who fear God, who are servants of God, and others who are servants
who do not fear Him. Such a concept would be seen as utterly ludicrous. It was clearly understood that those who feared
God were God's servants, and those who didn't fear God were "the wicked". Likewise, one was either righteous or a sinner.
You did not have both. There was not a cross breed. You may have once been a sinner, who repented and got right with
God. Then you were righteous, not a sinner, as long as you continued as God's servant.
Now David's observation was of the wicked "transgressing". Transgressing is to violate laws. It isn't just being rude.
The term means to break some restriction. There can be many types of restrictions, such as "don't walk on the grass"
up to "do not kill". What was David referring to? The next three verses describe what he is talking about.
Verse 2 takes us to one of the core characteristics of the kind of person David was observing and evaluating. Such a
person looks at himself and concludes he is so great and wonderful. "Who but me deserves such recognition for knowing
all the answers?" Such a personal view eventually becomes obvious to those around.
An example from my part of the country really pops out among horse people. There are good horseman and there are BAD
horseman. The BAD horseman talks, and convinces some, that they know everything there is to know about horses. The
greenhorn can easily fall prey to his boasting and put stock in what he is saying. Unfortunately, this is to the
eventual suffering of both the greenhorn and the horse. To the experienced horseman, they see such as hateful
arrogance. The vet and doctor to end up profiting from the BAD horseman's boasting. This is only one example. These
flatterings of the wicked go into every area of life.
This wicked, self-flatterer progresses to verse 3. Starting with the inner heart condition of verse 2, he openly
manifests that inner corruption in his speech. His words speak evil and deception, though not recognized as such by
the simple. His words will prosper in "deceit" of some. That BAD horseman will rope some into his corral. To go in
this path, he must let go of wisdom and good. You cannot have that righteous sinner! Don't believe that particular
lie of the deceitful flatterer! It was a choice that wicked person made at some point. He thought himself to become
wiser and wiser, as he flattered himself, but he ended up deceiving himself.
Verse 4 takes us back to his inward thoughts. These again will manifest themselves outwardly, but this time in evil
deeds, not just words. He considers, during his time of rest, how to take rest from others. He thinks out ways to
increase his comfort and glory. These will inevitably rob others to provide for himself. He thinks of things, such
as how to increase a burden on others, if it will result in lifting the burden from himself. Whether one is a
politician who puts in a fancy park to be remembered by, though it increase the already burdening taxes on the
public; or whether it is the public who eagerly seeks to get what he/she can for free from the government, thereby
taking from his/her neighbor who is already over-taxed. The crime is really the same.
The final part of this verse rounds up the essence of his/her wicked character. This wicked person does not "abhor"
evil. The Hebrew word for "abhorreth" means "to reject, despise, refuse". The wicked person does not take a firm
stand in opposition of evil. It is that observation David started with and concluded such did not fear God.
This ends the first portion on the wicked, but not on the end of the wicked. The Psalmist saves that for the
concluding two verses. Next we turn to look at something pleasant:
Part 2 - God & His Relationship With The Upright In Heart
5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow
of thy wings.
8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river
of thy pleasures.
9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
10 O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
Verse 5 switches us to a breath of fresh air. We turn from beholding the grievous wicked, to looking heavenward.
The first thing in sight in this change of view is God's "mercy". In New Testament thinking, we will be first
beholding God's "grace". We look and grieve over the wicked, but we cannot turn to behold God without
realizing we are in need of God's merciful grace. There is no "self-righteousness" in turning to God, though
we fear God and do not meditate evil upon our beds. We know the heart of corruption is ever lurking near.
In a closer look at verse 5, I came to see the word translated "clouds" may not be the best translation. In
its reading above, our concept will naturally envision God's mercy and faithfulness as being so abundant that
it is pictured to being way over our heads. This is indeed a truth, but seeing the word used in the Hebrew,
I believe there is another possible meaning. The word is sometimes translated clouds, but is not the usual
word for such. The word used relates to small dust. If my perception is correct, I believe we see the picture
of God's mercy, from heaven reaching down to us in faithfulness who walk the dust and are but dust ourselves.
His grace is to something as insignificant as dust. What care and mercy and faithfulness.
Faithfulness, oh how glorious a comfort. Though the wicked temporarily are exalted, God is faithful to those
who fear Him. Praise be to Yahweh on High!
Verse 6 looks at righteousness now, whereas it was the wickedness of the transgressors in view before. God's
righteousness is likened to those great walls of rock that we simply cannot remove nor help but notice, unless
we are utterly blind. God's judgments encompass the other direction. They are His righteousness in action. They
are the application of the wisdom and goodness the wicked had forsaken. Whether we go high or low, there is no
escaping God's jurisdiction, His presence and His power. The working out of God's righteousness and judgments
results in His preservation of both man and beast. There may be suffering for a time, but God says thus far
and not an inch more! Where He allows suffering for His own, He provides grace to carry us through and above.
He is ever merciful! You talk about the environmentalist. It is truly God who takes ultimate responsibility for
preservation. Death, like Egypt suffered of its cattle under Moses was from God as well as life, like Israel
was preserved of its cattle simultaneously under Moses in Goshen.
In verse 7, we see that ever constant and popular theme of the Psalms: lovingkindness. In mercy and
lovingkindness we see our New Testament's grace fully comprehended and defined. The beginning sight of
verse 5 is repeated in thought, to begin the next two verses. His lovingkindness is deemed "excellent".
It is a treasure to rejoice in. It is because of this, that men can rest secure in peace. The imagery is
of a bird providing a sheltered, close covering for their own. Likewise God, (like the bird who traverses
the heavens), provides preservation in the closeness illustrated by a bird sheltering its young under its
wings. It interestingly uses the term "God" rather than the name "Yahweh". I believe this is significant
of God's world-wide care for all mankind who put their trust in His lovingkindness.
A word of thought for those who hold the words in the Old Testament in contempt. (Many "Christians" discredit
Old Testament promises as essentially worthless.) Do you really think God no longer preserves man and beast,
like He did before Christ came? Do you really think God's excellent lovingkindness has been stripped from
mankind so that man can no longer trust under the shadow of His wings? Do you think that He does not seek to
satisfy us and take pleasure in providing for us? No doubt some will excuse this scorn of His provisions
in trying to soften the accusations, but the reality is there. Seriously consider your charges against God
and bow before Him. Thank Him for His ongoing love, care and provision for His own.
The "they", of verse 8, continues in the appreciation of those who received God's lovingkindness. It says
they shall be "abundantly" satisfied. God is not stingy. (Please don't misunderstand me to be speaking of
the false "prosperity" gospel. That is a perversion.) Verse 8 provides a poetic view of the richness of what
God intends for His own. Fatness speaks of great abundance and high quality. River speaks of a continued
source that is expanded in the following verse.
Verse 9 begins with "for". That tells us we are about to read an explanation for some of what was previously
addressed. That "river of thy pleasures" refers to the life (remember the fountain of the water of life -
Revelation 21:6) that comes from God. He is the source. The second half of verse 9 switches types from water
to light. Abiding in that water of life, is like standing in God's own light. When we stand in that position,
we will see and understand other things. We cannot gain knowledge of God and truth by our own intellectual
reasonings. Only as we abide in Christ will we receive further enlightenment from the Holy Spirit. In this
we will find preservation, satisfaction and comfort.
Verse 10 begins a conclusion to this portion, while beginning the shift to the final concluding verses. It
is a prayer calling upon God's "lovingkindness". "Continue" he asks for. David would have been appalled at
the teaching of today, saying lovingkindness has been restricted. At least restricted in the sense of God's
care for us. David does place another kind of restriction, however. The lovingkindness is not for all. Look
at it. He limits it to those who know God. Not "know of God" or "know something about God". He also directly
hits the heart of the matter in requesting continuance of something as strange sounding as "righteousness".
This to be for the "upright in heart". The heart of the wicked was considered, but now we see heart of the
upright. God looks at the heart, and for the "upright" heart, He will continue to pour His righteousness
upon them. Man is not righteous, but God looks for the "upright in heart" and pours forth His righteousness
upon them. From there, they behold light and walk in the fear of God. In this position, one beholds the
great richness of God and His blessings of care and shelter. Sometimes it means physical prosperity,
sometimes not. Christ's own words fit best here:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore,
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not
much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or,
What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles
seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no
thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6:29-34
KEEP YOUR FOCUS ON THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. God will take care of the rest. Jesus said so.
Part 3 - Concluding Issues
11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.
These last verses pull this Psalm together, and provide comfort to one of our chief concerns. We might be able
to trust God to provide for our basic needs of food and clothing, but what about the issue of enemies seeking
to destroy us? David brings us back to the first part of this Psalm. He brought us into a viewing room of these
transgressors for a reason. He wanted us to see that God will carry us, and provide for us, in the midst of
these evildoers. Verse 11 pins these down as the proud. David was not afraid to "impose" upon God to save him
from these wicked "proud".
From the foot, David jumps to their hands. The desire of the wicked is to ultimately remove the righteous. That
is, kill them or at least have them as a door mat to display their pride upon. David prays for them to not be
able to grab hold upon him.
If this ended at verse 11, we might have question for hope, but God does not intend us to be without hope. Verse
12 is our verse of rejoicing. God answered the prayer of verse 11. God saw it as part of the fulfillment of the
provisions for the "righteous" David talked about. In direct action, on God's part to preserve the righteous,
the wicked will fall, be thrown down and be unable to recover. Their plans are otherwise, but God is still GOD!
Worship before His footstool (See Psalm 2) and honor His Son the Lord Jesus Christ!
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