Psalms 36:4-12

Context

36:4 He plans ways to sin while he lies in bed;

he is committed to a sinful lifestyle;¹

he does not reject what is evil.²

36:5 O Lord, your loyal love reaches to the sky;³

your faithfulness to the clouds.⁴

36:6 Your justice is like the highest mountains,⁵

your fairness like the deepest sea;

you preserve⁶ mankind and the animal kingdom.⁷

36:7 How precious⁸ is your loyal love, O God!

The human race finds shelter under your wings.⁹

36:8 They are filled with food from your house,

and you allow them to drink from the river of your delicacies.

36:9 For you are the one who gives

and sustains life.¹⁰

36:10 Extend¹¹ your loyal love to your faithful followers,¹²

and vindicate¹³ the morally upright!¹⁴

36:11 Do not let arrogant men overtake me,

or let evil men make me homeless!¹⁵

36:12 I can see the evildoers! They have fallen!¹⁶

They have been knocked down and are unable to get up!¹⁷

[36:4] ¹tn Heb “he takes a stand in a way [that is] not good.” The word “way” here refers metaphorically to behavior or life style.

[36:4] ²tn The three imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 highlight the characteristic behavior of the typical evildoer.

[36:5] ³tn Heb “[is] in the heavens.”

[36:5] ⁴sn The Lord’s loyal love/faithfulness is almost limitless. He is loyal and faithful to his creation and blesses mankind and the animal kingdom with physical life and sustenance (vv. 6-9).

[36:6] ⁵tn Heb “mountains of God.” The divine name אֵל (’el, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.

[36:6] ⁶tn Or “deliver.”

[36:6] ⁷sn God’s justice/fairness is firm and reliable like the highest mountains and as abundant as the water in the deepest sea. The psalmist uses a legal metaphor to describe God’s preservation of his creation. Like a just judge who vindicates the innocent, God protects his creation from destructive forces.

[36:7] ⁸tn Or “valuable.”

[36:7] ⁹tn Heb “and the sons of man in the shadow of your wings find shelter.” The preservation of physical life is in view, as the next verse makes clear.

[36:9] ¹⁰tn Heb “for with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light.” Water (note “fountain”) and light are here metaphors for life.

[36:10] ¹¹tn Heb “draw out to full length.”

[36:10] ¹²tn Heb “to those who know you.” The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “know”) is used here of those who “know” the Lord in the sense that they recognize his royal authority and obey his will (see Jer 22:16).

[36:10] ¹³tn Heb “and your justice to.” The verb “extend” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the previous line).

[36:10] ¹⁴tn Heb “the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

[36:11] ¹⁵tn Heb “let not a foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of the evil ones cause me to wander as a fugitive.”

[36:12] ¹⁶tn Heb “there the workers of wickedness have fallen.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the evildoers lying fallen at a spot that is vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[36:12] ¹⁷tn The psalmist uses perfect verbal forms in v. 12 to describe the demise of the wicked as if it has already taken place.