Morning: Psalms 35 and 36.
Evening: Psalm 37
Psalm 36: 5-6
Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the ocean depths.
This too is the turning point in the Psalm! It is the ‘However … Moment’ after a bleak look at the world around. The first four verses paint a distressing view of humanity that leaves the writer disturbed. It is so easy to get caught up with this ‘Ugh’ view of people. I spoke with someone recently who had found a large and obviously deliberate knife scratch down the side of her car – what sort of people do that? Exactly the kind of people the Psalmist was writing about! You might call it a random act of vandalism, but it also reflects something distasteful about society and can lead us into despair.
This time I feel the writer makes a positive effort to re-focus. There may be some rotten people about, he thinks, but HEY –
Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens.
Sure, there are petty-minded and destructive people about, but look up and see the vastness of the love of God. Now, it takes a deliberate effort to think that way. When you might be consumed with rage about what your neighbour might or might not have done, and get drawn into negative thinking about society around you, then is the moment to reflect on the nature of God’s care for you.
Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens.
Thank you Lord!
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