“Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are. Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do good. They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots. Their actions are never good. They make no attempt to turn from evil. Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. Pour out your unfailing love on those who love you; give justice to those with honest hearts. Don’t let the proud trample me or the wicked push me around. Look! Those who do evil have fallen! They are thrown down, never to rise again.”
Psalms 36:1-12 NLT
Psalm 36 is a juxtaposition of the mindset of the wicked and the divine. Before David begins to speak on God’s character and characteristics, he notes that the wicked are a persistent group. They sleep with their machinations and designs on doing evil things. In their rest they plot out ways to destroy others. This is in direct contrast to God who is also unfailing. But here, it is his unfailing desire and character to love. It is his design to protect the weak and the innocent. Here we learn that this desire is both nuanced, but also non discriminatory. Even between phylums of his creation, he makes no distinction. His care extends to all. This is both one of the easiest of traits to understand about God, and one of the hardest to emulate in totality. We are a relational creature by nature, but instead of making friends and family, we tend to make enemies. Our pursuit of love ought to be a pursuit of loving character over loving action. Even the wicked have those they love. But only the godly even love their enemies. While the wicked lay awake scheming how to destroy them, the godly lay awake praying for reconciliation. This is a beautiful truth of why God’s love is unfailing. Whether here or later, all will recognize it, bow down before it and praise it. We may not get all the results, but we can surely emulate this quality and receive some of the blessings.
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