PSALM THIRTY SIX

THE LIGHT WITH WHICH 
TO SEE LIGHT! 
 
   Man made a great discovery when he found that a prism of glass would
separate white light into a spectrum of seven primary colours. At last
it was possible to see the component parts of light. AS such
discoveries do, this one brought other interesting facts in its wake.
Man was now able to compare one light with another. 
   In this psalm verse nine is the prism and the rest of the song is
the spectrum. It unveils the component parts of character. It separates
some of life's imponderables. It deals with the character of the wicked
- the character of God - and the character of the believer. 
   THE FOLLY OF THE WICKED. Basically, every wicked person is a fool,
and his folly is revealed in a number of ways. The psalmist begins with
this revelation of the wicked, "He has no fear of God." When a man has
no fear of God, he is capable of any crime. There is today a great
increase in crime.  
Once again men need to be taught the fear of the Lord. Many say we
should teach men the love of God, but we cannot truly learn the love of
God until we have known the fear of God. The folly of the wicked is
self flattery. Self flattery makes a person obnoxious to others. The
process of sin in us is most fearful:- we dispense with conscience,
peace, hope, character, self respect, health - they are all sacrificed
to self flattery, until the poor soul is left ready for ruin. It all
starts with deceiving one's self. God still reigns. No amount of clever
word play or human argument can dispose of that fact. But it is in the
character of the wicked to speak vanity (emptiness) and subtilty. He
has ceased to understand to do good, even whilst he is at rest he plans
to do mischief. 
   THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD. The character of God is revealed in His
faithfulness. His mercy is one of His infinite perfections. The
psalmist sings of God's faithfulness IN THE HEAVENS - exalted -
excellent - rising high - abundant and very great. Above all things in
our lives - God is faithful. Once the singer begins to contemplate the
character of God the words tumble forth, the light cascades from
thought to thought :- 
His righteousness, like the towering heights of mountain ranges. 
His Judgments, as deep as the deepest sea. 
His lovingkindness, as outspread wings. 
   When we bring it all into focus we see a wonderful, loving, caring,
redeeming God, up and down and all around us in His matchless grace. In
this light we see light. If we could only see as He sees, our hearts
would be at rest. The psalmist declares that those who put their trust
in God shall be satisfied with the fullness of His House and He will
make them drink of the wine of His pleasure. These words are
beautifully symbolic. 'Fatness' is the word used for feast. They will
FEAST AT HIS HOUSE. The word the psalmist uses for pleasures is a very
significant one; it is the plural of the word EDEN. God will not merely
take us back to the Eden Adam lost. He will take us forward to the
rivers of living water in the multiple Edens (pleasures) of His
Presence. For in His presence there is fullness of joy and at His right
hand are pleasures for evermore."  
   THE FAITH OF THE BELIEVERS. To know God is an essential part of true
godliness. It is not a matter of knowing the prayer book, or order of
service, or hymn book, or even the Bible - it is knowing God which is
the basic element of faith. We must of course know our Bible to know
God. God's servants are honest, truthful, and sincere. To the end of
their lives, believers need the goodness, mercy and lovingkindness of
God. The prayer of the psalmist is that he should be delivered from the
foot of pride and the hand of the wicked. He asks God to bind the
wicked hand and foot. "Let not the hand of the wicked remove me." The
word 'remove' could be translated 'cause me to wander.'  
   In His light we see light. In the prism of character may our
characters be revealed as a true revelation of God in our hearts. 



Copyright (c) 1995, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved.



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