Too Far Down?

Psalm 36:1-7

For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the LORD.

1Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts.

They have no fear of God to restrain them.

2In their blind conceit,

they cannot see how wicked they really are.

3Everything they say is crooked and deceitful.

They refuse to act wisely or do what is good.

4They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots.

Their course of action is never good.

They make no attempt to turn from evil.

5Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens;

your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

6Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,

your justice like the ocean depths.

You care for people and animals alike, O LORD.

7How precious is your unfailing love, O God!

J. H. Jowett tells of crossing the Atlantic and passing over the spot where the Titanic went down:

And I thought of all that life and wreckage beyond the power of man to recover and redeem. . . . And then I thought of all the human wreckage engulfed and sunk in oceanic depths of nameless sin. Too far down. But there is no human wreckage lying in the ooze of the deepest sea of iniquity that His deep love cannot reach and redeem.

Psalm 36 describes a “sinking ship”—humanity apart from God. But, after following the wicked down their slippery slope into pitch darkness, the psalmist talks about God’s love, faithfulness, righteousness, and justice in terms of the heavens, clouds, mountains, and ocean depths.

In Romans 3 the apostle Paul has a similar contrast. After using a barrage of Old Testament references (ending with Psalm 36:1) to convey human wickedness, he adds, “Now God has shown us a different way,” which is Jesus Christ (verse 21).

Modern engineering may raise the treasures of the Titanic, but only God can salvage twisted and fallen people, transforming them into trophies of his grace.

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea;

There’s a kindness in his justice which is more than liberty.

For the love of God is broader than the measure of our mind;

And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.

FREDERICK W. FABER

Bible Networking

In Romans 3:9-18 Paul quotes seven Old Testament passages as he makes his case that all people have sinned. Six of these are from the Psalms (14:1-3; 53:1-3; 5:9; 140:3; 10:7; and 36:1; the other is Isaiah 59:7-8). How does the progression of sin in Romans 3 differ from what we see here in Psalm 36?

Notable Quotable

“It is only man’s world that is cramping. Human fickleness makes a drooping contrast to God’s towering covenant love and faithfulness; human standards, where all is relative, are a marshland beside the exacting, exhilarating mountains of His righteousness.”

DEREK KIDNER