Psalms 36:6-10

36:6 Your justice is like the highest mountains, ¹ 

your fairness like the deepest sea;

you preserve ²  mankind and the animal kingdom. ³ 

36:7 How precious ⁴  is your loyal love, O God!

The human race finds shelter under your wings. ⁵ 

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. ⁶ 

36:10 Extend ⁷  your loyal love to your faithful followers, ⁸ 

and vindicate ⁹  the morally upright! ¹⁰ 

[36:6]  ¹ tn Heb “mountains of God.” The divine name אֵל (’el, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.

[36:6]  ² tn Or “deliver.”

[36:6]  ³ sn 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]  ⁴ tn Or “valuable.”

[36:7]  ⁵ tn 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]  ⁷ tn 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “draw out to full length.”

[36:10]  ¹¹ tn 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]  ¹² tn Heb “and your justice to.” The verb “extend” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the previous line).

[36:10]  ¹³ tn 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).