PSALMS 37

     We will begin by giving the 36th psalm to metre, to show how
easily it could be sung.

                     THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                             Chapter 36

Verse 1  "The wicked's sin doth cause this within my heart to rise,
          thought Undoubtedly the fear of God is not before his eyes."
Verse 2  "Because in his deceitful eyes His ways are always right
          until the vileness of his sin shall all be brought to light.
Verse 3  "The words that from his mouth proceed are wickedness and
          lies; He has refrained from doing good, and ceased from
          being wise."
Verse 4  "He mischief, lying on his be, Most cunningly doth plot; He
          sets himself in ways not good, and ill abhorreth not."
Verse 5  "Thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens; Thy truth doth reach the
          clouds; Thy justice is like mountains great; Thy judgments
          deep as floods.
Verse 6  "Lord, thou preservest man and beast. How precious is thy
          grace! Therefore in shadow of thy wings Men's sons their
          trust shall place."
Verse 7  "They with the fatness of thy house Shall be well satisfied;
          From rivers of thy pleasures thou wilt drink to them
          provide."
Verse 8  "Because of life the fountain pure Remains alone with thee;
          And in that purest light of thine, We clearly light shall
          see."
Verse 9  "Thy loving-kindness unto them continue that thee know; And
          still on men upright in heart Thy righteousness bestow."
Verse 10 "Let not the foot of cruel pride Come, and against me stand;
          And let me never be removed, Lord, by the wicked's hand."
Verse 11 "They fallen have, they ruined are, That work iniquities:
          Cast down they are, and never shall Be able to arise.

     We will now begin the verse by Verse study of the 36th Psalm
Psalms 36:1 "{To the chief Musician, [A Psalm] of David the servant of
the LORD.} The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart,
[that there is] no fear of God before his eyes."

     We know from a previous lesson that, the fear of God is the
beginning of wisdom. The wicked are very foolish, because they do not
fear God. Notice, that it is to David's heart the sins of these wicked
are speaking. He knows in his heart that there is no fear of God
within them, or they would not be committing these sins
{transgressions}. Notice, also, that David says he is the servant of
the Lord. We should, also, realize our position with God. We are
servants of the most High God. Each one of us preach a sermon to the
world, each day of our lives, by the way we conduct our lives. These
transgressors have sent a very bad message out to those who look on.
Those who love and fear God try to live as near like Jesus as they
can. Just the way we conduct our lives should win others to Christ.
Psalms 36:2 "For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his
iniquity be found to be hateful."

     We see a man full of conceit. He is great in his own sight. the
world sees him with totally different eyes. His sin will find him out.
Those who he sinned against will hate him. All of the smooth talking
in the world will not fool God. Look at the fate of the proud man in
The next verse. Proverbs 16:5 "Every one [that is] proud in heart [is]
an abomination to the LORD: [though] hand [join] in hand, he shall not
be unpunished."

     Psalms 36:3 "The words of his mouth [are] iniquity and deceit: he
hath left off to be wise, [and] to do good."

     We saw in the verses above that, this man was conceited and proud
in his heart. the words that come from our mouth will match the
thoughts we have in our heart. this man uses his evil tongue to cheat
and deceive. His every thought is how to get the best of someone else.
It really doesn't matter to him, what is right to do. He does only the
things that will benefit him. He will lie or cheat to get the best of
all the deals he is in.

     Psalms 36:4 "He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth
himself in a way [that is] not good; he abhorreth not evil."

     Even when he is supposedly resting in bed, his evil mind and
heart are plotting his moves for the next day. This man does not hate
evil, in fact, nothing is too bad for him to do, if he thinks it will
benefit him. this reminds me of the man who had the leprosy down under
the skin of his head in Leviticus. The evil had penetrated his mind.
This man certainly has an evil mind, stayed upon evil constantly.

     Psalms 36:5 "Thy mercy, O LORD, [is] in the heavens; [and] thy
faithfulness [reacheth] unto the clouds."

     Thank goodness, this verse is a drastic change from the evil man.
We, now, see David expressing the mercy and faithfulness of the LORD.
The true mercy seat, that the one in the tabernacle was patterned
from, is in heaven where God dwells. We have no mercy to bestow on
God. Mercy belongs to God. As you will see in the next few Scriptures,
He can bestow mercy on whomever He chooses to.  Romans 9:15 "For he
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Romans 9:16 "So
then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of
God that sheweth mercy." Romans 9:18 "Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will [have mercy], and whom he will he hardeneth." Let us look at
one Scripture on the faithfulness of God. Isaiah 25:1 "O LORD, thou
[art] my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast
done wonderful [things; thy] counsels of old [are] faithfulness [and]
truth." God is faithful, and He is absolute Truth. He will do
everything He has promised to do.

     Psalms 36:6 "Thy righteousness [is] like the great mountains; thy
judgments [are] a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast."
     The righteousness of god is unshakeable. It is higher than we
can imagine. It is not possible for mortal man to fathom the
judgements of God. Life itself, whether life of man, or life of beast
is in the hands of God. Man and beast are creations of God. The
Creator has control of His creation. We live or die at the command of
God.

     Psalms 36:7 "How excellent [is] thy lovingkindness, O God!
therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy
wings."

     The lovingkindness of god is what sent His only son Jesus Christ
to the earth and eventually to the cross to save each one of us. John
15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends." The love of God for sinful man has always been
a mystery to me. The wings of God are not literal, but are real. It
is as if we are under a great canopy that shades us from the terrible
heat of the sun. Christians put their trust in God. That trust is the
protection through Jesus Christ our Lord.

     Psalms 36:8 "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness
of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy
pleasures."

     The fatness of the house of God is the tree of life which bears
twelve fruit. This river, also, that we are to drink from, is the
river that flows from the throne of God. Jesus told the woman at the
well, if she drank of this water, she would never thirst again. this
tree and river are both in heaven, as we read in the next 2 verses.
Revelation 22:1 "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear
as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."
Revelation 22:2 "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side
of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner
of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the
tree [were] for the healing of the nations."

     Psalms 36:9 "For with thee [is] the fountain of life: in thy
light shall we see light."

     Look at these 2 following Scriptures about the light in the above
verse. Revelation 21:23 "And the city had no need of the sun, neither
of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and
the Lamb [is] the light thereof." Revelation 22:5 "And there shall be
no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for
the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and
ever." The fountain of life is the same as the river. If we look at
all the elements mentioned in the last few verses in this lesson from
Psalms, we will see that all of them are symbolic of Jesus. the tree
spoken of, here, is the same as the food that Jesus called Himself,
the Bread. Jesus is the tree of life. The river that flows is the Lamb
of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus is, also, the light of the world. If we
have Jesus in us, we have life and Light.

     Psalms 36:10 "O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know
thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart."

     We see in this, a plea from David that God will continue on in
the same way He has been in the past. this recognizes again the
lovingkindness God shows to those in right standing with Him.

     Psalms 36:11 "Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let
not the hand of the wicked remove me."

     David's sons had not been exempt from the very pride that David
is asking God not to allow to come against him. David knows for sure
that he is where he is, because God has preserved him. We see one more
plea that God will keep him safe from the wicked who desire to kill
David.

     Psalms 36:12 "There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are
cast down, and shall not be able to rise."

     This Psalm ends with a positive note of confidence from David. He
says, my enemies who were workers of iniquity have fallen, and they
will not be able to come against me again. This is, David's way of
thanking God for the defeat of the evil ones.
































                             Questions 37

1.  Why are we giving each chapter of Psalms in metre before we begin
    the lesson?
2.  Who does David call himself in verse 1?
3.  The fear of God is the beginning of _________.
4.  The wicked are speaking to ______ heart in verse 1?
5.  What are transgressions?
6.  What kind of a man is verse 2 describing?
7.  Quote Proverbs chapter 16 verse 5.
8.  In verse 3, the words of the evil man are what 2 things?
9.  What do the words of a persons mouth match?
10. What is meant by {he deviseth mischief upon his bed}?
11. The man in verse 4 reminds the author of whom?
12. Thy mercy, O LORD is in the_____________.
13. Where is the true mercy seat?
14. Who does mercy belong to?
15. What does the 9th chapter of Romans tell us about God and His
    mercy?
16. Quote Isaiah chapter 25 verse 1.
17. Who preserves man and beast?
18. It is not possible for mortal man to fathom the ________of God.
19. We live or die at the command of _____.
20. What actually sent the Son of God to the cross?
21. What does verse 8 mean by the fatness of thy house?
22. What is the river that is spoken of here?
23. Who is Life?
24. Who is the Light?
25. Who is the Tree of Life?
26. Who is the River of Life?
27. What is the confident statement David ends this Psalm with?