Scripture Reading(s)
Psalm 36:5-10
5 Your love, 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, 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 to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
Reflections
I remember when I was in high school singing a worship song that was based off of this Psalm. The words are so simple yet so powerful. I think this Psalm reflects both the magnitude and depth of God’s everlasting love for us. I love how the Psalmist uses nature as a means to give us a picture of what that love looks like.
There are three main ideas that I believe this Psalm uses to describe God’s love for us:
- The Depth of God’s love (vs 5-6): Here we see God’s love for us reaching as high as the heavens and how His love goes beyond just human beings. Even the animals can know and experience God’s love for them. His love knows no bounds.
- Unfailing Love: (vs 7-8): These two verses clearly state how God’s love for us is unfailing. Meaning it is not dependent on our actions as human beings because we constantly fail at remaining obedient. Despite our sin and failures, God’s love reaches beyond our sins ever more.
- God’s love gives Life: (9-10): When we experience God’s love, our lives are forever changed and impacted in a powerful and profound way. We begin to understand and know that the true meaning of love is and in turn gives us the desire to act out in that some love towards others. God’s hand is constantly working in our hearts to show us what it truly means to love and honor Him because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19 “We love because He first loved us.” Let us strive to live out this example of love and praise God for the love He has for us.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. (Psalm 36:5)
Sometimes the wisdom of God is hard to understand. What might seem like the most obvious statement ever is actually a very profound one. In the presence of God we will see light. This is not to say that once we are in the light we will see the same light we are in but we will see “the light.”
What is the light? In Hebrew thought, light was the radiance of something glorious. The glory and majesty of God was presented as light, as remembered by Moses’ glowing face after seeing the glory of God. In Greek thought, the word light represents the ordered entirety of the universe. It was closely tied to the understanding of the logos.
In short, the light that we will see will be many things. We will see God’s full glory. We will have understanding beyond what we know here in this earthly place. We will be filled with the love and radiance of God. What a glorious day it will be when we are standing in the light of God.