Psalms 36:1-4
An oracle is within my heart
concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:
There is no fear of God
before his eyes.
2 For in his own eyes he flatters himself
too much to detect or hate his sin.
3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;
he has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4 Even on his bed he plots evil;
he commits himself to a sinful course
and does not reject what is wrong.
There comes a time in a Christian’s life where he notices the life of the “wicked”, just like the psalmist in Psalm 36. All of a sudden he noticed how sinful the wicked were. And if you study in detail how he described the sinful you will notice that “sinners” have not changed!
There is no fear of God before his eyes. In other words, the fear of God does not guard and guide his steps. He just does what he wants.
He flatters himself so much, he loves and exalts himself so much, that he does not detect or hate sin in his life.
His words are wicked and deceitful. He is not wise and does not do good.
Even on his bed he is plotting evil. Evil does not catch him by surprise. He plans it, plots it, carefully. And he commits himself to it, and does not reject what is wrong.
And as a Christian continues in his walk with God all of these wicked ways are magnified! We see them all around us…we deal with them in our work, see them on television, in senate investigations…hey, we even live with them sometimes. And we notice their life, how they can disobey God and live lives as they please. The only thing that probably holds us back from judging them is that we were just like them before, if not for the grace of God touching our lives.
But the psalmist has an answer to this. As he observed all the wicked acts surrounding him, his heart was already “singing” the answer. By the way, an oracle is – “an authoritative or wise expression or answer”, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. David had an answer to all the sinfulness of man surrounding him.
So what was his oracle, or his answer to all the wickedness around him? You will notice that he did not say “As for Me…”. He did not say – “that’s the life of the wicked, but if you look at my life…”. The psalmist did not compare the life of sinners with himself, or even with other believers in God. He compared them to God.
Psalms 36:5-9
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.
7 How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
In the midst of a sinful and wicked generation, what should a Christian be dwelling on, be meditating upon? Upon God Himself.
His love. His righteousness, especially the righteousness imputed upon us through Jesus Christ. His justice. His preservation. His unfailing love. His abundance. His light.
If we counter the sinful life that we see around us with our own lives, or our own righteousness, we will end up either being frustrated, angry or even tempted to do what the world does. We will be filled with envy, with bitterness, even towards God, and might even end up questioning why the Lord allows the wicked to prosper and we don’t.
But if we counter the sinful life of the world with the beauty, majesty and goodness of our God, then we will be filled with the joy and peace that only He can give. He is the One we boast of in our life, He is the source of life, and He is the inspiration we have to continue in life. Not what we have, not in our position or accomplishments. Only in Him.
Psalms 36:10-12
10 Continue your love to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 May the foot of the proud not come against me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 See how the evildoers lie fallen —
thrown down, not able to rise!
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