It is hard at first to see what the writer of Psalm 36 is doing. Initially he bemoans the ways of evil doers in typical wisdom-literature fashion. But then the psalmist moves into an expression of praise in which he celebrates the love, justice, faithfulness and care of God for his people. Only at the end does it become apparent what all this is about. The writer of the psalm (it is traditionally ascribed to David) is appealing to God for protection against a threat from evil-doers. This makes the first part instructive. What bothers the psalmist most about these evil-doers is not that they are bothering him, but that they are in enmity with God. He is seeing a bigger picture here. But, in this bigger picture, he also sees something about God, and he appeals to the character of God. The desired end here is not just that he gets what he wants but that God shows himself to be consistently loving, faithful and just. These subtle differences matter. In times of need, when we pray to God, we must lift our heads and recognise a bigger picture, and we must pray in accordance with that bigger picture. The faith-confidence that the psalmist has here comes from seeing the bigger picture about the fallen state of humanity and God’s commitment to his people and his purpose. We should not be surprised by evil. We should expect it. But so too should we expect God to show his love, faithfulness, justice and care to those who seek him.
Ask God to show his love and care to you in your most challenging issue.
Read Psalm 36
