Psalm 36-37
Key Verse: 37:34

    In these Psalms we see how the Psalmist struggled with the problem of wickedness in the world along believers. Sometimes he struggled when worldly people didn't seem to suffer like he did. It's a reassurance that we only need to wait for God's will to be accomplished in his own way. We can feel overwhelmed when we see how evil seems to thrive. In these passages we see how we must teach the word of God and live a generous life in accordance with the righteous life God has called us to.

1. Your Love, O LORD, Reaches To The Heavens (Ps 36)
    Psalm 36 tells us how God's love sustains a believer. God's love has no price tag. God's righteousness is like mighty mountains. With God is the fountain of life. While God is at work, the wicked continue to reject the knowledge of God. Verse 36:1-2 say, "An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin." The wicked do not fear God. The wicked one praises himself, so that he cannot tell that he is a sinner. When one does not fear God, then he assumes he is the greatest in the world and cannot detect his wretched sinful condition. David was a great king and man of God, not because he had a reputation as a perfect iron ruler or flawless hero, but rather because he came to God with his sins and repented. The Bible here says that the wicked very easily develop their own fantasy world where they are like a god. They develop habits and love their sinful habits. In order to grow as a Christian its *necessary* that we detect and hate our sin. Apostle Paul knew that he was sinner. He confessed in the Bible that he struggled with a covetous desire and in the past had persecuted the church of God. People generally don't like to visit a dentist for fear that their failures or painful truths will be realized. Likewise, people would rather live in a fantasy world that they are #1, read all the books in the world, did many great things before they admit they are a flawed sinner.
    Psalm 36:3-4 say, "The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good. Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong." When people reject the Creator as their ruler they are living under Satan's deceptions and become like Satan. Satan's life purpose is to take glory away from God. He does this through lying and deception. The wicked follow Satan's pattern of deceit. Some people think it doesn't matter if a culture turns away from a Christian past. Secular humanists have dreamt of a society where there is no God. What they actually get is deceit. Many people dreamed the secular humanist utopian dream and got a nightmare instead. Many people thought legalism without forgiveness or God's grace could reform people, but it condemned many guilty people as sinners, making them powerless. Jesus said that the devil is a murderer and a liar. (John 8:44) When God is absent from an individual, a town, social group, a nation or a culture, it is no longer under God's rule, but under Satan's deception, full of deceit and murder. The Psalms support this, saying that the wicked, or those who reject God's rule, have ceased to be wise and do good. The wicked plot many evil things on his bed. In a diverse globalized society to say such a thing in public might be offensive for many to hear, where people think there are many truths.
    Psalm 36:5 says, "Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies." Instead of praising himself he focused on God. God's love reaches very far. God's love can sustain us and fill us with a wonderful hope. We think if we have some material thing that this will fulfill us or give us meaning. If we go to the market, it may be necessary, but it usually leaves us tired or irritated. Some people think fame, recognition or peer recognition will make them happy, but it cannot really fulfill people. Human love is conditional, incomplete and cannot always accept us for who we are. Only God's love can fill our hearts with joy and peace, when we realize that he cares for us.
    Psalm 36:6 says, "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast." God's righteousness is like mighty mountains. God's justice is like the deep oceans of the sea. God's qualities are not shallow. God's character and knowledge have great depth and are majestic like nature that God created. Verse 36:7 says that God is for both high and low among men. We may have a high or low position, but all people need to have a relationship with their Creator. In John's gospel Jesus met Nicodemus and taught him about how to be born again. Jesus also met with the Samaritan woman and taught her how to have a fountain and how to have the living water within her. People from all walks of life need Jesus. In the past somebody asked me, "Are you upper class?" or "Are your parents high class?" Based on what? High class what? Our bank account balance? What degree we have? Who we know? What my job is? To one person we can appear one way, like we are high class, and to another person we may appear low class. I grew up riding bicycle motocross (BMX) bikes, always riding a bike. When I ride my bike on the street, I look much lower than people in shiny black SUVs. Whether or not we are high or low or sometimes high and sometimes low, we all need to have a relationship with our Creator.
    Verse 36:9 says, "For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light." John 1:4 reiterates this truth: "In him was life, and that life was the light of men." Sin darkens mankind, so they lose the meaning of life. When one is full of God's life, he can love other people and have God's compassion, instead of seeing others as merely objects for my use.

2. Wait For The LORD, And Keep His Way (Ps 37)
    In Psalm 37 the Psalmist, David, perceived that wicked people seemed to prosper without consequences. It assures us that evildoers will have a Day of Reckoning. This chapter contrasts the believer's lifestyle of generous giving with the wicked. May God give us hope that our labor and struggles in the Lord are not in vain.
    Verses 37:1-2 say, "Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away." God's assurance is that people who do not repent will wither away like green plants. God's people can be given to envy, when things didn't happen as quickly as they thought. We may wonder why I didn't get a decent job yet, while somebody else who rejected Jesus seemed to get a better job. Someone may ask why couldn't I meet the best marriage partner yet, while that unbeliever who parties a lot seemed to meet a nice person. How come that person who quit Bible study lives in a better dwelling place than mine. These kinds of envious thoughts, or Satan's whispering can plague believers. What does the Bible say? "For like grass they will soon wither." Even a cut flower looks gorgeous for a while. If grass is cut off from the life source, then eventually it will wither. It may take a while, but it will surely happen. These days we see the onset of winter. I started growing many plants in my apartment, and cold weather took its toll on some plants near the window.
    Verses 37:3-4 say, "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." The Bible tells us to trust in the LORD and do good. Delight yourself in the LORD. We can only do this through a life of faith, trusting God that he sees everything. "Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." (37:5-6) In the long run the only way to be blessed is to commit our way to the LORD and to trust in him. In real life people depend on big money, powerful people, insurance companies instead of trusting in God's word.
    The main point of this chapter is that God blesses us in the long run when we trust in him and dwell in God's righteousness. Verses 37:7 says, "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes." Verse 37:8 says "Refrain from anger..." People have been carrying out wicked schemes. God's people don't need to be angry, but only be still before God, because at his time in his own way, God will cut off people who do not repent. We don't need to figure out God's time schedule or the way God works. Some people are angry and try to be the instrument of God's wrath, but the Bible says to be still and refrain from anger.
    Verses 37:10-11 say, "A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace." This verse gives us the assurance that God will carry out his justice. The Bible promises God's final victory over wickedness in Psalm 37:17, "for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous." Verse 19 says they don't wither in times of disaster. How does the LORD uphold the righteous? While the wicked live selfishly, the righteous live a giving life. 37:26 says, "They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed." Next, the righteous preserve truth and the word of God on their lips. "The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip." (37:30-31) Many many churches gave up sincere Bible study and messages based on the Bible a long time ago in exchange for relativistic political messages, traditional messages or messages talked about in the global media which have nothing to do with the Bible. The righteous utter the word of God.
    God's people must believe like Apostle Paul that their labor in the Lord is not in vain. We must believe that God is working out his purpose through his servants who teach the Bible and live a generous lifestyle. When we see people with no faith, we must believe that when we wait we will see God's will being done.