Daily Bread

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness stands like the strong mountains,
your justice like the great deep;
you, Lord, shall save both man and beast.
How precious is your loving mercy, O God!
All mortal flesh shall take refuge
under the shadow of your wings.
They shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house;
they shall drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the well of life
and in your light shall we see light.
O continue your loving-kindness to those who know you
and your righteousness to those who are true of heart.
Let not the foot of pride come against me,
nor the hand of the ungodly thrust me away.

The writer of Psalm 36 has filled the psalm with metaphors and similes for the characteristics of God, all drawn from creation: God's righteousness standing like strong mountains, God's justice like the great deep, taking refuge under the shadow of God's wings, and drinking from the river of God's delights. With these metaphors the psalmist describes how we find our salvation, satisfaction, and illumination in God's love and mercy. Yet, there is a sting in the tail.

What could possibly deviate us from finding our life in God? The answer? Pride. Despite the awesome majesty of God, all it takes is for us to turn our eyes upon ourselves and we become 'thrust away' or disconnected from God. Pride is putting ourselves — our own needs, wants, and status — before God, others, and the world around us, and it's the very definition of sin.

There are two ways of thinking about how we maintain our relationship with God. One is to focus on not sinning — to do our best to avoid the pitfalls that we encounter in our daily lives. The other is to focus on our relationship with God, to do our best to stay connected to the author and perfecter of our lives.

Psalm 36 is all about focusing on God — the majesty, splendour, holiness, and righteousness of God. If we do that, then by definition, we are turning away from pride and from sin.

Holy God
Majestic is your name!
May we grasp just how awesome you are,
and keep our eyes fixed upon you.
May we be not led into temptation
but marvel in your all-forgiving love.
Now and forever.