Commentary - Psalm 36:5-9

Bird's-eye view

After a grim diagnosis of the wicked man's heart in the first four verses, David abruptly pivots. He does not continue to stare into the abyss of human depravity, but rather lifts his eyes to the heavens. This is the necessary Christian move. We do not understand the darkness by studying the darkness; we understand it by turning to the light. Verses 5 through 9 are a magnificent doxology, a celebration of the character of God. David stacks up metaphors, one on top of the other, to describe the sheer scale and grandeur of God's attributes. This is not sentimental poetry; it is a declaration of objective reality. The lovingkindness, faithfulness, righteousness, and judgments of God are not abstract concepts. They are the foundational realities of the cosmos, more real than the mountains and more profound than the seas.

The passage then moves from the cosmic to the personal. Because God is this great, a certain response is appropriate: taking refuge. And this refuge is not a grim, stoic endurance, but rather a place of feasting, satisfaction, and delight. The psalm concludes by grounding all these benefits in their ultimate source: God Himself is the fountain of life and the source of all true light. This is a dense passage of theology, but it is theology that sings. It is meant to reorient our entire world, away from the self-deceit of the wicked and toward the glorious reality of our God.

Outline

Commentary on the Text

v. 5 Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, is in the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

David begins with God's lovingkindness, the great Hebrew word hesed. This is not a flimsy, sentimental affection. This is covenant loyalty. This is God's steadfast, unrelenting, never-giving-up love for His people. And where is this love? It is "in the heavens." This is not to say it is distant, but rather that it is vast, transcendent, and over all. You cannot get outside of it any more than you can get outside the sky. His faithfulness, a related concept, "reaches to the skies." God's promises are not precarious. His word is not shaky. His character is as constant and dependable as the clouds that traverse the heavens. These are objective truths. When your circumstances feel cramped and your troubles feel suffocating, you are to look up. God's covenant commitment to you in Christ is bigger than all of it.

v. 6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O Yahweh, You save man and beast.

Next, David considers God's righteousness. It is like the "mountains of God." Think of the most imposing, unmovable mountain range you can imagine. God's righteousness is more solid than that. It is the fixed standard of the universe. It does not shift with cultural moods or personal feelings. It simply is. In contrast, His judgments are a "great deep." This speaks of their profundity and mystery. We cannot always trace the lines of His providence. We cannot stand on the shore and see to the bottom of His purposes. But we know that this deep is not chaotic; it is the deep of His judgments, which are an expression of His mountainous righteousness. And notice the scope of His care: "You save man and beast." God's sustaining providence extends to all His creation. This is not pantheism; it is a robust doctrine of God's sovereignty. He is Lord over all, and His care extends from the highest man to the lowest beast. This is the God who governs everything, from international politics to the sparrows in your backyard.

v. 7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the sons of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

Having declared the cosmic scale of God's character, David now turns to the personal response. He exclaims, "How precious is Your lovingkindness!" That same hesed that fills the heavens is also something to be personally treasured. It is of inestimable worth. And because it is so precious, the "sons of men", a general term for humanity, do a very sensible thing. They "take refuge in the shadow of Your wings." This is an image of profound tenderness and security. Like chicks scurrying under the hen when a hawk circles overhead, we are to run to God for protection. This is not a sign of weakness, but of wisdom. The world is a dangerous place, filled with the snares of the wicked man described in the first part of the psalm. The only true safety is found in close proximity to God, under the shadow of His protective care, a care ultimately demonstrated at the cross.

v. 8 They are satisfied from the richness of Your house; And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.

Taking refuge in God is not a grim affair. It leads to feasting. Those who hide in Him are "satisfied from the richness of Your house." God's house, His covenant family, the church, is not a place of scarcity. It is a place of abundance. We are brought into His household and seated at His table. The fatted calf is killed for us. We are given the finest robes. And it is not just food, but drink. He gives them "to drink of the river of Your delights." This is not a stagnant pond or a muddy creek. It is a river, constantly flowing, fresh, and deep. And it is a river of His delights. God is not a cosmic stoic. He is a happy God, and the source of all true and lasting pleasure. The world offers polluted puddles of fleeting pleasure that only make you thirstier. God offers a river of pure delight that truly satisfies.

v. 9 For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

This final verse is the theological foundation for everything that has come before. Why is there such safety, such satisfaction, such delight in God? "For with You is the fountain of life." God is not simply a life-giver among many. He is the source, the spring, the origin of all life, both physical and spiritual. All existence flows from Him. To be separated from Him is to be separated from life itself. This is why the wicked, who have no fear of God, are walking in death even while they breathe. To be in Christ is to be reconnected to this fountain. And then, the capstone: "In Your light we see light." This is a profoundly presuppositional statement. Without God's revelation, we see nothing as it truly is. We are in the dark. We might think we see, but we are only seeing shadows and misinterpreting everything. It is only when we stand in the light of God's truth, revealed in Scripture and supremely in His Son, that we can begin to see anything else correctly. His light is the condition for all true sight. To see the world, ourselves, or our sin in any other light is to be deluded. But in His light, we see light.

Application

This passage is a call to lift our eyes. The daily news cycle, our personal struggles, and the machinations of wicked men can be all-consuming. They can seem like the most real things in the world. David tells us they are not. The most real things are the lovingkindness, faithfulness, and righteousness of God. These attributes are not wishful thinking; they are the unshakeable structure of reality.

Therefore, our response should be one of calculated, deliberate refuge. We are to run to Christ. This is not a one-time decision but a daily, hourly discipline. When anxiety presses in, we take refuge in the shadow of His wings. When the world's pleasures tempt us with their false promises of satisfaction, we remind ourselves that He alone has the river of delights. When we are confused and cannot make sense of the world, we must remember that only in His light can we see light.

This psalm is a weapon against despair and a catalyst for worship. It reminds us that our security and satisfaction are not found in our own performance or in our circumstances, but in the objective, glorious, and unchanging character of our covenant-keeping God.