Continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You

Psalm 36 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Wickedness of Men and Lovingkindness of God.

A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.

Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
² For it flatters him in his own eyes
Concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.
³ The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
⁴ He plans wickedness upon his bed;
He sets himself on a path that is not good;
He does not despise evil.

⁵ Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
⁶ Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Your judgments are like a great deep.
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
⁷ How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
⁸ They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
⁹ For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.

¹⁰ O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
¹¹ Let not the foot of pride come upon me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹² There the doers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been thrust down and cannot rise.

The Psalmist says:  Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;
There is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes
Concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; He has ceased to be wise and to do good. He plans wickedness upon his bed; He sets himself on a path that is not good; He does not despise evil.  Romans 1:18-23 says:  The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.  In John 16-21 Jesus Himself says:   “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”  So we see that in the Old testament, the New testament and in the words of Jesus Himself, the one who fulfilled the Old Covenant by establishing the New covenant, there is an acknowledgement that there is a choice made by the ones who are disobedient.  The Psalmist says: He has ceased to be wise and to do good. He plans wickedness upon his bed; He sets himself on a path that is not good; He does not despise evil.  Paul says: …since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools..  Jesus says: … Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ..

The psalmist says:  Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O Lord, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.  1 John 1:5-7 says:  This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.  In John 8:12 Jesus says:  “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  In Matthew 5:14-16 He says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Finally in Isaiah 5:20 God says:  Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!   So again we see that there is a continuity between the Old and the New, and also in Christ who is the fulfillment of the Old with the New.

The psalmist says:  O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.  Let not the foot of pride come upon me, And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away. There the doers of iniquity have fallen; They have been thrust down and cannot rise.   Romans 8:31-39 says: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus says:  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”   In Deuteronomy 31:6 God says:   “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

I say amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for Your unchanging word and Your never ending love.  Amen.