What does the chapter actually say?
Identify the explicit claims before importing later doctrine or assumptions.
PSALMS • CHAPTER 36
Psalms 36
Prayer, praise, lament, kingship, justice, suffering, worship, wisdom, anger, hope, and Israel's poetic life with God.
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Psalms 36
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1
A revelation is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked:
“There is no fear of God before his eyes.”
“There is no fear of God before his eyes.”
2
For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
too much to detect and hate his sin.
too much to detect and hate his sin.
3
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4
He plots iniquity on his bed.
He sets himself in a way that is not good.
He doesn’t abhor evil.
He sets himself in a way that is not good.
He doesn’t abhor evil.
5
Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
6
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
Your judgments are like a great deep.
Yahweh, you preserve man and animal.
Your judgments are like a great deep.
Yahweh, you preserve man and animal.
7
How precious is your loving kindness, God!
The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
8
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house.
You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
9
For with you is the spring of life.
In your light we will see light.
In your light we will see light.
10
Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11
Don’t let the foot of pride come against me.
Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12
There the workers of iniquity are fallen.
They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.
They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.
POETRY
Where this chapter fits
Psalms belongs to Israel's wisdom/poetic tradition, where literary form matters as much as historical setting.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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