Photo credit: Donna Harris
Psalm 36:1-12 (NLT2)1 Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all.2 In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are.3 Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do good.4 They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots. Their actions are never good. They make no attempt to turn from evil.5 Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O LORD.7 How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.8 You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights.9 For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.10 Pour out your unfailing love on those who love you; give justice to those with honest hearts.11 Don’t let the proud trample me or the wicked push me around.12 Look! Those who do evil have fallen! They are thrown down, never to r
The Contrast Between Mankind And God
This Psalm, written by David, begins with the same observation of the prophet Jeremiah;
Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT2) The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
The first four verses is a blunt description of the wickedness that resides in the hearts of unbelievers and the subsequent sin that results from rejecting their Creator. Left to themselves, people gravitate away from the Lord and toward an arrogant and destructive sense of ambivalence toward spiritual truth, which leads to self-deceit, evil and, ultimately, the willful rejection of all that is good.
Contrast that with the righteousness, purity and faithfulness of God, the Creator. The psalmist, David, struggles to adequately describe God’s divine justice and mercy by pointing to the vastness of the heavens, the height of the mountains and the depths of the sea as mere hints of the overwhelming goodness and love of God Almighty.
In light of the vast difference between the condition of mankind’s wickedness, and God’s goodness David makes an impassioned plea to the Lord to “continue your love to those who know you”
Jesus, the very image of God is the answer to David’s request on behalf of all people.
Colossians 1:15 (NLT2) Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT2)4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. (emphasis mine)
Jesus gave His life as a “ransom for many” so that all who believe “might live through him”.
Matthew 20:28 (NLT2) For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
1 John 4:9-10 (NLT2)9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
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