Psalm 36 Devotional

A Love Higher Than the Clouds

“For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.”Psalm 36:9 (BSB)

Psalm 36 sets two portraits side by side. The first is of the wicked person, who has no dread of God at all (36:1). His self-flattery keeps him from noticing or hating his own sin, and even lying in bed he plots what is not good (36:2-4).

Then, without transition, David lifts his eyes. The LORD's loving devotion reaches to the heavens and his faithfulness to the clouds; his righteousness towers like the mountains and his judgments run as deep as the ocean (36:5-6). Against that vastness, people shelter in the shadow of his wings, feast in his house, and drink from his river of delights (36:7-8). Life flows from him, and only in his light does anyone truly see (36:9). The contrast is the point. Sin shrinks a person's world down to his own reflection. God's love opens it to something far larger. John says the Word was the source of life and light for all people (John 1:4). Turning from self toward God is how anyone begins to see clearly.

To think about: Where has your world shrunk down to your own concerns, and how might you lift your eyes to God's vast love today?