Hidden Sin versus Expansive Love


Psalm 36
To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
1Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
4He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.
5Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
6Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.
7How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.
10Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
11Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.

This psalm had an immediate impact on my spirit. As I first began reading verse one my thoughts went to the picture of someone who embraces evil rather than God. It was almost a cartoonish vision of someone who gradually shrinks into themselves because that’s all they have. They literally become smaller and smaller as their vision includes only themselves and the evil works they perform. But then you come to verse 5 and the psalm explodes outward as David extols our all-encompassing God. The words take your spirit and lift it outward and upward into the presence of God. Finally he ends with a plea to God to keep him away from those who are shrunken in on themselves in their evil.

Just as the heart of God constantly reaches out to the world, so too do the hearts of His children. Instead of shrinking in on ourselves as the center of everything we want to reach out to the world with the love of God. We can do no other. And our message is filled with hope, grace, and eternal rest. Of course we would want to share it.

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