July-15-0468-Delighting in God
468_Delighting in God Psalm 36 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. 4 He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil. 5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord. 7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind 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 do we see light. 10 Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! 11 Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12 There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise. A few years ago, a man named Brother Lawrence, a simple lay monk in a 17th-century French monastery, became widely known—not for preaching sermons or writing books, but for how he washed dishes. In his small kitchen, cleaning his dishes, Brother Lawrence “practiced the presence of God.” He said, “We can do little things for God. I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of Him… It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.” His heart delighted in God in the most ordinary routines of life - his joy was not reserved for the sanctuary or the psalms. Rather, it flowed into every act of his day. Psalm 36 celebrates this deep, personal delight in who God is. David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, introduces himself in this psalm with a rare and special title: “The servant of the Lord.” Only one other—Psalm 18—bears that heading. Though he was a mighty king, a fearless warrior, and a celebrated poet, David was first and foremost a servant of the Most High God. And Psalm 36 flows from that humility. David begins by contrasting two heart conditions—the heart of the wicked and the heart of the righteous. He sketches a sobering portrait of the wicked. What marks their lives is an inward posture: they have no fear of God. In their own eyes, they are not so bad. Their words, David says, are filled with trouble and deceit. Even in the quiet dark of night, on their beds, when the heart reflects, they do not repent of evil but rather plot it, and eventually practice it. Not just behavior, but their inner vision is disabled. They cannot see