A Prayer for Love
Psalm 36 (RCL 5-10)
Tony’s Overview Video
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- Read the Bible Lesson by Tony Cartledge in this month’s issue of the Nurturing Faith Journal
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Key Verse: Psalm 36:10 –
“O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your salvation to the upright of heart!”
Do you feel loved? It’s a universal hunger. Some rare people may have a psychological condition that prevents them from feeling or appreciating love, but most of us – whether we admit it or not – have a deep-seated desire not only to be known, but to be loved.
Faith in God brings many benefits, and one of them is the belief that there is a God who knows us and loves us. Those who trust only in themselves – or who follow the ways of the “dark side” – don’t understand how much they’re missing.
Today’s text confronts us with a sharp contrast between the two. [DD] [DD]
Bad to the bone (vv. 1-4)
Perhaps you have known someone who seemed evil to the very core, sold out to selfishness and with no apparent redeeming qualities. That’s where this psalm begins. The first verse is notoriously difficult to translate. A literal reading would be “An oracle of transgression to/for the wicked is in the midst of my heart,” which may suggest that the psalmist is inspired to utter an oracle against the wicked.
The NRSV presents transgression as a personified force that “speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; there is no fear of God before their eyes” (v. 1).
The NET puts it in more modern language: “An evil man is rebellious to the core. He does not fear God.”
However we translate the first sentence, the writer’s unflattering opinion of the wicked is obvious: the wicked do not fear God (v. 1), they are too self-centered to recognize their wrongful actions as sin (v. 2), they constantly lie and deceive, caring nothing for what is right or good (v. 3), and they are so sold out to evil that they lie awake in bed planning more mischief (v. 4).
We recognize this character type: someone who is so ego-driven that he or she tells lies with impunity and does whatever necessary to advance his or her own cause with little thought for others and no concern for what is right or just.
We would expect this opening salvo to be followed by words of judgment against such wicked people. Instead, we are surprised by what comes next: a song of praise interrupts the negative oracle with a positive reminder of the attitude God’s people ought to have.
Loved to the max (vv. 5-9)
We can imagine that the psalmist may have suffered at the hands of mean, lying, and selfish people such as those he has just described. How does one endure mistreatment by others, especially if they are more powerful and society offers little comfort?
The poet turned his heart heavenward, confident that God’s love – unlike that of many people – is as solid and true as all creation: “Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.” (v. 5).
There had never been a day when the psalmist did not awake to see the heavens above. Whether clear or cloudy, sunny or stormy, the heavens were a reminder of God’s persistent love. The word chesed, translated as “steadfast love,” can also be rendered as “lovingkindness.” It is a quintessential Old Testament description of God’s character and care for humankind.
The word for “faithfulness” is based on the same root as “Amen,” and its basic meaning is “to be firm.” In the Hebrew text, the words appear back-to-back for emphasis: a literal reading would be “O LORD, in the heavens (is) your steadfast love, your faithfulness upon the clouds.”
But God’s presence is not limited to the sky: “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O LORD” (v. 6).
God’s righteousness and justice pervade both land and sea, according to the psalmist. The word for “save” is not to be understood in the New Testament sense of salvation, for here it refers to humans and animals alike. The word means “deliver,” and in this context it can have the sense of “preserve.”
This is no scriptural guarantee that God protects all creatures from harm, but a confession that God’s righteous power holds the world together as a safe habitation for all.
Verses 7-9 should be read as a “second verse” to the hymn of praise. Here the poet returns to the theme of Yahweh’s steadfast love, which he declares to be “precious,” because “All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings” (v. 7).
The reference is figurative: Yahweh was not imagined as having literal wings, but readers would be familiar with the image of a bird sheltering its brood beneath its wings. If sung in the temple, though, one might also think of the wings of the cherubim over the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred symbol of God’s presence among the Hebrews.
God not only protects but provides. The psalmist sings of how all people may “feast on the abundance of your house and drink from the river of your delights” (v. 8). Such feasting may call to mind the periodic worship festivals when worshipers brought animals for sacrifice, but only a tiny portion was actually burned on the altar, with the remainder to be cooked and eaten by the pilgrims themselves, like some giant tailgate party without the tailgates.
It is not just physical sustenance the writer has in mind, though. His focus is on God as the source of life itself, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light” (v. 9). Christian readers recall how John’s gospel pictures Jesus as employing similar images, speaking of himself as the bread of life (John 6:35, 48), as the source of life-giving water (John 4:10), and as the light of the world (John 8:12, 9:5).
Hope to the end (vv. 10-12)
In the final three verses, the writer brings the two previously disparate parts of the psalm together. Having confessed a belief in the steady love and justice of God, he pleads that it will not cease: “O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart” (v. 10).
The Hebrew word for “know” means “to know by experience,” so the psalmist’s reference to “those who know you” is intended to describe faithful followers who listen to God and follow God’s way. As people who are “upright in heart,” they trust in God’s delivering power.
The psalmist must have felt a particular need for deliverance, apparently from someone he regarded as both haughty, unkind, and powerful enough to cause him economic or social harm. So he prayed, “Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away” (v. 11).
At various times in Israel’s history, the prophets denounced wealthy and powerful people who preyed on the poor, loaning money at exorbitant interest rates during times of famine, then foreclosing on their property or even taking fellow Hebrews into indentured servitude when they were unable to repay the debt.
Perhaps this is what the poet had in mind when he prayed that God would not let the wicked drive him away. In our own world, how many people have been left poverty-stricken or homeless due to predatory lenders or unfair employers who don’t pay a living wage or provide benefits to provide a hedge against illness or injury?
Evidently, the psalmist not only wished to be delivered from selfish, mean, or oppressive people: he (or she) hoped they would get a proper comeuppance from God. The final verse reads appears awkwardly, unless we regard the word “there” as an emphatic expression, even as English speakers sometimes say “So there!”
If the NRSV had inserted a hyphen this would be clearer: “There – the evildoers lie prostrate; they are thrust down, unable to rise” (v. 12). The expression is not a wish, because the poet does not use imperfect verbs that could also be translated in a jussive or precative sense. Rather, the verbs are in the perfect tense, indicating something that has happened, even though the threat remained all-too real.
Hebrew prophets often used this form of speech, sometimes called a “prophetic perfect,” to indicate a coming event they were so confident about that they spoke as if it had already taken place. The NET offers an appealing alternative translation: “I can see the evildoers! They have fallen! They have been knocked down and are unable to get up!” [DD]
Do you ever wish harm upon those who have threatened or hurt you? It’s a common desire, and appears often as an acceptable response in the Old Testament. Jesus, however, turned that human proclivity upside down, urging his disciples to make a more loving choice by loving their enemies and doing good even to those who abuse them. “Do to others as you would have them do to you,” Jesus said (Luke 6:27-32).
Jesus’ command finds few adherents in these days of divisiveness and recriminations, but they remain a helpful corrective to the idea that one’s best defense is to bring or wish harm to those who are perceived as a threat.
Perhaps it would have been helpful for the psalmist to consider his own words of praise for God’s pervasive and precious steadfast love. Instead of just praying for God continue showing love to him or her, praying for the strength to show that same love to others might have been a better course.
Adult Teaching Resources
Download the PDF of teaching resources for this lesson.
This PDF contains the Teaching Guide, Digging Deeper, and Hardest Question pages.
Read Scripture online: Psalm 36
Youth Teaching Resources
Parent Prep
Not everyone your student meets will have the best intentions for them. In fact, some of them might come across as flat out wicked and try and use your student. So how do you prepare your students for this? How do you live out “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Think about this: have your students flip the question around…would the other person want this done to them?
Additional Links/Resources
Read Scripture online: Psalm 36
Download the PDF for youth teaching resources using the button below. This PDF contains the Teaching Guide for this lesson:
Video
Encourage youth to check out this video ahead of the lesson.
“Rey vs Kylo Ren” from Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens
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