Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Psalm 36:5 NIV

To begin Psalm 36, David mourns the wickedness of humanity. Saying that he has a message from God in his heart, the great king grieves man’s lack of reverence for the Lord. Specifically, David laments deceitful men who flatter themselves too much to detect their own sin. He speaks against those who fail to do good things but instead commit to a sinful course in life.

The bitter, wicked, and arrogant attitude of sinful man is in stark contrast to the love, kindness, and mercy of God. With this Psalm, David exposes the massive gap between the wickedness of man and God’s unsurpassed goodness. Saying, “Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,” David highlights the immense measure of God’s love. David uses the vast canopy of the skies and the great expanse of the heavens to illustrate the magnitude of God’s faithfulness and glory in contrast to the wickedness of man.

God’s Love Revealed

The Lord’s love is so great that he sent a redeemer to call the wicked to repentance and die for our sins. As the psalmist wrote, God’s love reaches to the heavens. David’s words describe God’s tremendous love and the Word of God, Jesus Christ, demonstrated the enormity of his devotion on the cross. As we read in 1 John 4:9, “By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. WEB”

David lamented the wickedness of man. More importantly, our sinful nature grieves God himself. But the love of God calls the sinner to repentance and forgiveness. Love that is deeper than the deepest ocean, higher than the stars in the night sky, and broader than the universe itself calls out to us. Turn from your sins and come to me, says the Lord. Believe in the redeeming power of my Word in Jesus Christ. Be forgiven.

Yesterday’s Devotional: The Word Became Flesh