Psalm 36 - The Sun of our Minds

With God's light, you can see truth that others can't.

In the LORD's Light, we see light. - Psalm 36:9

Psalm 36

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord.

¹ I have a message from God in my heart

concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: 

There is no fear of God

before their eyes.

² In their own eyes they flatter themselves

too much to detect or hate their sin.

³ The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;

they fail to act wisely or do good.

⁴ Even on their beds they plot evil;

they commit themselves to a sinful course

and do not reject what is wrong.

⁵ Your love (ḥěʹ·sěḏ), LORD, reaches to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the skies.

⁶ Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,

your justice like the great deep.

You, LORD, preserve both people and animals.

⁷ How priceless is your unfailing love (ḥěʹ·sěḏ), O God!

People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

⁸ They feast on the abundance of your house;

you give them drink from your river of delights.

⁹ For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light.

¹⁰ Continue your love (ḥěʹ·sěḏ) to those who know you,

your righteousness to the upright in heart.

¹¹ May the foot of the proud not come against me,

nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹² See how the evildoers lie fallen—

thrown down, not able to rise!

Canons of Dordt

Point III/IV

Article 1

Man was originally created in the image of God and was furnished in his mind with a true and salutary knowledge of his Creator and things spiritual, in his will and heart with righteousness, and in all his emotions with purity; indeed, the whole man was holy. However, rebelling against God at the devil’s instigation and by his own free will, he deprived himself of these outstanding gifts. Rather, in their place he brought upon himself blindness, terrible darkness, futility, and distortion of judgment in his mind; perversity, defiance, and hardness in his heart and will; and finally impurity in all his emotions.

Article 11

God enlightens the minds of His elect powerfully by the Holy Spirit so that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God...

Summary

Summary section reposted from June 20, 2025

David wastes no time getting to the crux of the matter in defining why wicked people are the way they are: There is no fear of God before their eyes. David doesn't reach this harsh conclusion on his own, perhaps at the end of a hard day when he's in a bad mood so as to skew his objectivity. No, his definition concerning the sinfulness of the wicked comes as the result of a message from God in his heart. In this regard, Psalm 36 isn't any different than any other psalm, or any other passage of scripture for that matter; God, through His Spirit breathed His message into the writer's heart, who then took up a pen and committed it to paper.

David begins his description of wicked people negatively - that is, he indicates what's missing: there is no fear of God before their eyes. Whenever something is missing or removed, a vacuum results. Something will fill the void. So in this case, when the fear of God is removed, it's quickly replaced with self flattery in their own eyes and wicked and deceitful words in their mouths.

This exchange sparks a vicious cycle of increasing depravity. As the fear of God decreases, the flattery increases to the point where a person can no longer even detect, much less hate their sin. As the words of their mouth becomes more and more wicked and deceitful, they more often fail to act wisely or do good.

Once the fear of God is removed from a person's life, sin becomes all consuming. Even on their beds they plot evil! Instead of just dipping their toes in sinful waters from time, they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong.

  Dig Deeper  

It's so easy to stop reading Psalm 36 at the end of v4, where the Psalm transitions from being an exposition of wickedness to a reminder of God's ḥěʹ·sěḏ (unfailing covenant love). Just think of the conversations you've had this past week; did you spend more time talking about problems or God's goodness in the midst of those problems? If you're like most people, you focused on the problems caused by sin.

But notice how Psalm 36 is weighted. David certainly doesn't ignore the issues caused by those mired in a cycle of flattery, deceit and sinfulness, but he spends the majority of the psalm writing about God's love, righteousness and even His river of delights! And David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, makes a stunning claim: whereas those blinded by sin wander in darkness unable to properly interpret truth, in the LORD's light, we see light!

Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck writes,

Augustine adopted this image and said, "God is the sun of our minds." Just as with the physical eye we cannot see anything unless the sun sheds its rays over it, so neither can we see any truth except in the light of God, which is the sun of our knowledge... These beautiful images make clear to us the principles from which all science proceeds. 

It's only through the light of God's Word that you can truly see and appreciate the beautiful truth that God's creation reflects - truth that most people miss in science, mathematics, music, literature and the arts. But this light illumines a knowledge which is far more valuable, for it's only in this Light that you can see and believe in Christ, who is the true light of all mankind (John 1:5).

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose love reaches to the heavens and whose faithfulness to the skies;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you would walk in the LORD's light;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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