Psalm 36

Psalm 36 is a contrast between character of the wicked and the character of God. This psalm is quite unique in that we cannot assign any precise genre to it. V1-4 sounds like a wisdom psalm, v5-9 a praise hymn, and V10-12 a petition for help. There is an emphasis on God’s characteristic hesed in the praise.[1] God’s hesed, faithfulness, righteousness and judgments. In V10, the psalmist pleads or God to “extend your hesed to those who know you”.[2] Knowing means God it is more than the intellect but implies a relationship that is experienced and lived out in daily life. In V11 there is a plea for deliverance from the wicked, and V12 a plea for judgment on the wicked.[3] So here we see an implicit contrast between the ‘self-ruled’ individual and the God-ruled cosmos.” The wicked is not described as a violent threat to the psalmist but pictured as one who lives life by setting up the self as the autonomous standard, living life according to “what seems good to me.” But every fragile finite human being has access to the hesed of God. The psalmist trusts God.[4] The “fullness of life” is a gift that comes from only one source: God.[5]

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[1] DeClaisse-Walford, Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of Psalms, 338.

[2] DeClaisse-Walford, Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of Psalms, 339.

[3] DeClaisse-Walford, Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of Psalms, 345.

[4] DeClaisse-Walford, Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of Psalms, 346.

[5] DeClaisse-Walford, Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of Psalms, 347.