Psalm 36:1-4 The Bad News

When someone tells you they have good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?

In Psalm 36, David chose to share the bad news first, so he could spend more time dwelling on the good news. This good news, which we will study tomorrow, is that God’s love is great. The bad news, which we will study today, is that we desperately need His great love.

Please read Psalm 36:1-4.

David begins this psalm with a tirade against the wicked. This describes a very specific kind of person. When temptation comes his way, or “speaks… deep in his heart,” the wicked gives in. Why? Because “there is no fear of God before his eyes.” The wicked person has no relationship with God; he wants nothing to do with God. He would rather be the captain of his own ship, the master of his own manor, the lord of his own life.

This is a great responsibility to be sure, but the wicked “flatters himself in his own eyes.” He thinks so highly of himself that he believes he is the only one qualified to decide what to do with his life. No one can tell him what to do, because he knows better than them. After all, the wicked are quick to judge others. The wicked can see the sins of other people easily enough: that person is too lazy; this person is too gluttonous; that person is too vain; this person is too self-righteous. All the while, the wicked person cannot recognize these traits about himself. “His iniquity cannot be found out and hated.” He loves himself far too much to ever recognize any fault within himself.

But the evil of the wicked person is not contained within his heart. Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. “The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit.” The wicked person speaks evil because his heart is evil. His words cannot be trusted and cause nothing but trouble for others.

From bad words, the wicked person moves to bad actions. Perhaps as a child, he knew right from wrong, but “he has ceased to act wisely and do good.” He no longer does what is right; he has given into the belief that there are shades of grey, especially in his circumstances. He doesn’t just happen to do bad things, “he plots trouble while on his bed.” He plans out his wickedness, and prepares to work more iniquity the next day. He has given himself completely over to evil. Not only does he refuse to reject evil, but he begins to call evil “good” and good “evil.” In doing this, he has dug his own grave.

Now are you ready for the truly bad news?

All of us are wicked. Everything that David has described so far in this psalm could be said of us. Paul makes this clear in Romans by going over a similar list before concluding “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

None of us want to admit our own wickedness, but that is the first step that we must take before we can receive the cure. There is good news that David wants to share in the rest of this psalm, but the news is only good to those who have first heard the bad news.

If your doctor told you that there is a new cure for Flombonitis, would you care? (I hope not, because I just made that disease up!). What if your doctor told you that your blood tests have come back and he is positive that you have Flombonitis. This is a deadly disease that will cause immense pain and suffering before it finally takes your life within the next few months. But, not to worry, there is a new cure for Flombonitis. Now, would you care?

Before we can accept the cure for our wickedness, we must first admit that our hearts are desperately wicked. We have said things that are evil, done things that are evil, and thought things that we hope no one ever hears about. We are the wicked man who deserves to be punished.

The good news, which we will study tomorrow, is that our God is overflowing with steadfast love for wicked people like us!