Psalms 36:1

The Bible says in Psalms 36:1-4, “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.” These verses describe “The transgression of the wicked.” What are wicked people really like? David knew in his “heart.” David thought about wicked and unbelieving people because he wanted to know the world around him and what it was really like. Here is what makes them wicked: “no fear of God.” To fear God means that you understand that God sees and knows and therefore you must be careful of your behavior because you do not want to get anger the holy Judge of the universe. To fear God means that you respect God, and therefore you want to be the kind of human being that He wants. You respect God’s wishes and commandments. You respect God because you know that He sent Jesus to die for you, and you want to honor Jesus for His great sacrifice on the cross so that you could be forgiven.

Verse two says that the wicked “flattereth himself in his own eyes.” In other words the wicked one is proud, and pride is a terrible sin. Pride keeps people from seeing themselves as they really are: sinners; and pride keeps them from opening their heart to Christ. Pride leads to other sins, because human pride centers on the human and what the human can accomplish. Such an emphasis always leads a person away from God.

The words of the wicked are “are iniquity and deceit.” Their words are wicked. They say things that they ought not to say. Jesus is the Truth. Because they do not turn to Jesus, instead of truth the wicked have deceit and lying as a part of what they are all about. The devil is their father, and the devil is a liar.

Verse three says that the wicked has “left off to be wise, and to do good.” True wisdom comes from God. Therefore, those who turn away from Christ have turned away from wisdom to become foolish. “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.” You are foolish if you make the worst decision possible and choose to reject Christ, which means that you reject heaven, and which means that you choose hell. Of course, those who reject Christ are choosing evil, and they are choosing to reject that which is good. One of the motivations behind people who reject Jesus is that these are people who do not want to do the right thing. It says in John 3:18-20, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.[19] And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.[20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” That is why it says in Psalms 36:4, “He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.” They do not just sin because they are weak like the rest of us. The wicked plan to do evil. They plan to steal, they plan to lie, and they plan to hurt others. That is what criminals do.

The Bible says in Psalms 36:5-7, “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.” It is a lot better to think about God than to think about the wicked people of the world. These verses remind us that God is merciful, faithful, righteous, of good judgment, He preserves life, and He has excellent lovingkindness. Therefore, as it says in verse seven, “therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.” There is every reason in the world to trust in the Lord Jesus. He will welcome you with open arms, and then you will experience all of these benefits of the great God.

The Bible says in Psalms 36:8, “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.” Who will have these benefits? The last phrase of the previous verse tells us: those “put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.” Trust in the Lord Jesus and He will protect you. Nothing will happen to you until you finish the work that God has for you to do because you will be under the shadow of His wings. And until that day comes, you will be “abundantly satisfied,” and you will enjoy the “river” of God’s pleasures. It is not a minor thing to be “abundantly satisfied.” Without the satisfaction that the Lord Jesus can only give, you will be among those who seek and desire and lust but are never satisfied. Notice that the pleasures of God flow from a “river.” This means there is an abundant supply: an ever flowing supply. O the ironies of life. People seek pleasure, but they are looking in the wrong places. There are no pleasures like the joy of the Holy Spirit, the fellowship of the Savior, the love of God, and the sweet truth of the Word.

The Bible says in Psalm 36:9, “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” Two important words are used in this verse: “life” and “light.” You get both of them when you come to Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” If you know Jesus as your Savior, then you have eternal life, and you have the possibility of experiencing life as it was meant to be while you walk in fellowship with Him. Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.” What a marvelous light Jesus gives. His is a light that can shine in any darkness.

The Bible says in Psalms 36:10, “O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.” This is a prayer that God answers for every believer because of who Jesus is. God will always have lovingkindness towards us. Even when bad things happen to us, the Lord is guiding and the Lord is using what He allows and what He causes. Sometimes God must chastise His children, but even then, it is His great love for us that motivates Him. It says in Hebrews 12:6, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” It also says in Hebrews 12:10, “For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.”

God’s righteousness will also continue to the “upright in heart.” God’s very nature involves righteousness. God always does what is right. Jesus became a human in every way except for sin. Unlike the rest of us, Jesus did not sin. Jesus is pure, holy, and good. Jesus said, “There is none good but God.” The miracle is that God calls us “good” because of our faith in Jesus. The righteousness of Christ is credited to our account freely even though we do not deserve it. This is called imputed righteousness. But God also wants us to learn to put righteousness into practice. That is the reason for the chastisement mentioned in the previous paragraph. Do the right thing whenever and wherever you can. That is God’s will for you. Grow in Christ through His precious Word. That is how God’s righteousness will be manifested to you. You will have this increasing level of righteousness if you want it and seek it. It all depends upon your heart. His righteousness will be revealed to the “upright in heart.”

The Bible says in Psalms 36:11-12, “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.” As we see in many of these Psalms, David was under attack. Because he was king, and because he was a child of God, David had enemies. This symbolizes the fact that we will have spiritual enemies. The Christian life is in many ways a war within the mind and soul. David knew that he needed God’s help in this war. David did not rely upon himself to face this battle. David relied upon the Lord. Verse twelve also reminds us of the final destiny of the wicked. They will be “cast down” to hell. They need to turn to Jesus while there is still time.