Psalm 36:5-10 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 36:5-10 on biblegateway.com
Verse 5Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
Verse 6Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
Verse 7How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Verse 8They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
Verse 9For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
Verse 10O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart!
Devotion
The Bible and this psalm are true to life, just like the daily paper and the evening news. They begin, as we must, not glossing over the cruelty and wickedness rampant in the world.
But verses 5-10 witness to an otherworldly, invisible reality evident only to faith. Epiphany is a season of hope because God, says Psalm 36, is loving, righteous, faithful and just. God’s gift of his Son to the world will attract the nations just as the magi were drawn.
The struggle is on. Who will win, our Lord or the wicked? How will human history turn out? Will God’s love and justice prevail? Can we now trust courts to be always, or only sometimes, just? Are all leaders, or only some, fair? Are all spouses, or only some, faithful? Do I always, or only sometimes, do the right thing?
Prayer
Uncertain as our answers are, we pray verses 5-10 with the psalmist. Amen.