Psalms 36-38 (Week 13)

1. Man’s Wickedness and God’s Perfections

A year in the Psalms, Psalm thirty-six, man’s wickedness and God’s perfections. An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked. There is no fear of God before his eyes, for he flatters himself in his own eyes, when he finds out his iniquity and when he hates. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good. He devises wickedness on his bed.

Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains. Your judgments are a great deep, O Lord. You preserve man and beast. How precious is your loving kindness, O God. Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your pleasures. For with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light. O continue your loving kindness to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away. There the workers of iniquity have fallen to rise.

Heavens and clouds are used to indicate the extent of God’s mercy and faithfulness. There is no limit to the mercy of God on his part. Man limits it by his refusal to meet the terms in which divine mercy is offered.

2. The Heritage of the Righteous and Calamity of the Wicked

A year in the Psalms, Psalm thirty-seven. The heritage of the righteousness and the calamity of the wicked. Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity, for they sh shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Do not fret, it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait on the Lord they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more. Indeed you will look carefully for his place, and it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plots against the just and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for he sees that this his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sworn and have bent their bow to cast down the poor and needy to slay those who are of upright conduct. Their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked, for the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord, like the splendor of the meadow shall vanish, into smoke they shall vanish away. The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous shows mercy and gives, for those blessed by him shall inherit the earth. But those cursed by him shall be cut off. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way.

Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful and lends, and his descendants are blessed. Depart from evil and do good, and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loves justice and does not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart, none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to slay him.

The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. Wait on the Lord and keep his way, and he shall exalt you to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more. Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the blameless man and observe the upright, for the future of that man is peace, but the transgressors shall be destroyed together, the future of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord. He is the strength in the time of trouble, and the Lord shall help them and deliver them.

3. Prayer in Time of Chastening

He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them, because they trust him. The success of evildoers will be brought to an end in God’s own way. To wait upon the Lord means to trust and obey him. Those who do so shall inherit the earth, as the New Testament also teaches in Matthew five and second Peter three. A year in the Psalms, Psalms thirty eight, prayer in time of chastening. A psalm of David to bring to remembrance. O Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure, for your arrows pierce me deeply, and your hand presses me down. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness. I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly. I go mourning all the day long, for my loins are full of inflammation, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and severely broken. I groan because of the turmoil of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before you, and my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart pants, my strength fails me, as for the light of my eyes it has also gone from me. My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my relatives stand afar off. Those also who seek my life lay snares for me. Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction and plan deception all the day long.

But I like a deaf man do not hear, and I am like a mute who does not open his mouth. Thus I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no response. For in you, O Lord I hope. You will hear, O Lord my God, for I said, Hear me lest they rejoice over me, lest when my foot slips they exalt themselves against me. For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me, for I will declare my iniquity, I will be in anguish over my sin, but my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong, and those who hate me wrongfully have multiplied, and those who render evil for good, they are my adversaries because I follow what is good.

Do not forsake me, O Lord. O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me. O Lord, my salvation. David had always considered himself human and subject to the same weaknesses as other men. He believed that one’s faithfulness to God needed to be tested in order to fortify him against his natural tendency to sin. That test at times was so severe that he described it in figuratively by its effect on his body.