God's Steadfast Love in Ps. 36

"5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.

7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.

10 O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your salvation to the upright of heart!
11 Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
or the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers lie prostrate;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Singing God's Steadfast Love

This most remarkable section of Ps. 36 celebrates and yearns for the continuation of God's steadfast love toward the people. Whereas other Psalms use God's steadfast love as a sort of hymnic refrain (cf. Ps. 136), this Psalm sees it as a living reality, an expression of God's sweet constancy and immense concern for the covenant people. This part of the Psalm literally explodes with terms of long-standing theological significance. The images are intimate and warm--feasting at a table and sheltering under God's wings. An air of confident satisfaction pervades the whole. If I were preaching on this portion of the Psalm, I would divide it into three sections: (1) the extent of God's love (5-6); (2) the excellency of the divine love (7-9); and (3) the eternality of God's love (10-12).

I. The Extent of God's Love (5-6)

Two ideas encouraging comment from this section are the notion of God's steadfast love and the reach of that love--from the heavens to the depths. God's steadfast love, or hesed, is basically God's covenant loyalty to the people. A synonymous use of "hesed" is in I Sam 20:8, "Therefore deal kindly (i.e., "do hesed") with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a sacred covenant with you." God's covenant faithfulness anchors several Psalms. An example is from 89:28, "Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him, and my covenant with him will stand firm." From the Pentateuch we know that God is one who "keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him" (Deut. 7:9). The mention of steadfast love is heartening, but the stress on the universal reach of that love in vv. 5-6 is what overwhelms us. It reaches from the heavens and clouds to the great deep. It cares for all animate creation. We know the heavens are the realm of the divine, according to the Scripture, but God's love reaches to the great deep:

"Was it not you who dried up the sea,/ the waters of the great deep?" (Is. 51:10).

God's love and the depths are connected closely in another beloved Psalm:

"If I ascend to heaven, you are there;/ if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there./ If I take the wings of the morning/ and settle at the farthest limits of the sea/ even there your hand shall lead me,/ and your right hand shall hold me fast" (Ps. 139:8-10).

The wicked, who are mentioned in vv. 1-4, are completely overshadowed by the extent of the divine love.

II. The Excellency of God's Steadfast Love (7-9)

Image tumbles over image in these verses to express the excellency and preciousness of God's love. Indeed, that word "precious" in v. 7 is often used in the OT to describe the sacred or valuable stones that make up priestly garments or are given as gifts. Especially noteworthy are the portraits of the Queen of Sheba in II Chron 9/I Kings 10, where she is said to bear "precious stones" (II Ch. 9:1,9,10) to present to King Solomon. The concept of "preciousness," originally linked to objects has now taken on a figurative meaning in association with God. God's steadfast love is enormously precious--calling to mind the value of these exemplars of regal wealth. But God's steadfast love is also manifest in the banquet that God provides (do you hear some echoes of Ps. 23:5 in v. 8?) and the protection under the divine wings (v. 7). The river which God supplies for the people is the "river of delights," which recalls the beautiful language of Ps. 46:4, "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God." The saints of God slake their thirst in this refreshing river. I also love the imagery of protection under the shadow of God's wings. This has many Psalmic imitators, including Ps. 57:1 and 63:7,

"Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
until the destroying stroms pass" (57:1), and

"for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy," (63:7).

Who wouldn't bask in the divine light (v. 9) when all this is true?

III. The Eternality of God's Love (10-12)

In the last three verses the Psalmist implores God to let the steadfast love continue. He is confident of that request being answered because he knows what it means for God to exercise covenant loyalty or faithfulness (hesed). God has mercy on children's children (Ex. 34:7; Ps. 103:17) and so will continue to demonstrate it to the people of Israel. One of the ways this will happen is expressed in the final words of the Psalm. The arrogant, the evildoers, whose ways were described in 1-4, will now be thrust down and lie prostrate, unable to rise. They seem to plot mischief so well on their beds (v. 4), instead of doing what the blessed person does (who meditates on the word of the Lord in his/her bed--Ps. 1:2), but it will all come to nothing. No longer will the wicked be a threat to the people of God. God is requested to prolong the steadfast love to the people. Who can't hear in this the distant echo of a Psalm of complaint (Ps. 85) when the Psalmist asks, "Will you be angry for ever?/ Will you prolong your anger to all generations?" (85:5) The answer is that God will not be angry forever, because ultimately the covenant loyalty of God, God's hesed, will triumph. That, friends, is the Good News.

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