Psalm 36: Man's Wickedness - God's Perfection

In Psalm 36, there are 6 verses that describe man’s wickedness (verses 1-4; 11-12) and then 6 verses that describe God’s perfections (vs. 6-10). There are 13 descriptions of man’s wickedness, and 14 accounts of God’s perfections.

The number 13 in the bible represents rebellion and lawlessness. Nimrod, the mighty hunter who was 'before the Lord' (meaning he tried to take the place of God - Genesis 10:9), was the 13th in Ham's line (Ham was one of Noah's three sons who survived the flood). Thirteen represents all the governments created by men, and inspired by Satan, in outright rebellion against the Lord. The dragon, a symbol for Satan, is found 13 times in Revelation. Satan is behind all rebellion against God.

The number 14 in the bible represents deliverance and salvation. It is also a double of the number 7, which represents completion. In the verses of this Psalm that describe God’s perfection, there are 14 pronouns: (Your, You).

Here are the 13 descriptions of man’s wickedness:

The wicked man has no fear of God

The wicked man flatters himself

The wicked man loves to sin

The wicked man hates others

The wicked man speaks deceitfully

The wicked man turns from wisdom

The wicked man turns from goodness

The wicked man plots evil through the night

The wicked man walks in evil

The wicked man loves what God hates

The wicked man crushes others with their pride

The wicked man pushes people around

The wicked man falls down and is unable to rise again

Here are the 14 descriptions of God perfections:

God’s mercy is as vast as the heavens

God’s faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds

God’s righteousness is as powerful as the mountains

God’s justice is as deep as the oceans

God’s care extends to every man and creature

God’s love is precious and unfailing

God’s shelter under His wings is secure

God’s provision is abundant
God's drink springs from His hand

God’s pleasures flow like a river

God’s life pours out like a fountain

God’s light gives us light for our eyes

God’s kindness extends to all who know Him 
God’s virtue covers the upright in heart

The number 14 also represents David - the numerics of his name add up to 14: D_V_D represent the numbers 4+6+4=14. David was the 14th generation from Abraham. Then there were another 14 generations to babylon and another 14 generations to Jesus (Matt. 1:1-17). Jesus is the Divine King who is descended from David.

Unusual Friends

Friends are one of the greatest treasures we have. When friends betray and turn on us - when they talk to others about us before they talk to us, it is one of life's greatest tragedies, and the pain of this kind of loss can be intense. Even Jesus experienced betrayal like this (Ps. 46:9).

These beautiful animals show us how precious friendship can be. You would think that these animals would not be natural friends, and yet they have found a way to enjoy one another.

These scriptures are from the NLT...look at these photos and see how the Lord has placed secrets of kindness and friendship in His creation:

Num. 6: 24 The Lord bless you and keep you 

Ps. 31:20 You hide them in the shelter of your presence,

safe from those who conspire against them.

You shelter them in your presence,

far from accusing tongues.

Eph. 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle;

be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Is. 43:2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.

When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.

Ps. 15:1-3 Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?

Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,

speaking the truth from sincere hearts.

Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors

or speak evil of their friends.

Eph. 1:8 He has showered his kindness on us,

along with all wisdom and understanding.

Ps. 5:12 For you bless the godly, O Lord;

you surround them with your shield of love.

Ps. 13:5 But I trust in your unfailing love.

I will rejoice because you have rescued me.

Ps. 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov. 18:24 There are “friends” who destroy each other,

but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

Ps. 148:7, 10 Praise the Lord from the earth,

you creatures of the ocean depths…

wild animals and all livestock,

small scurrying animals and birds,

Col. 3:12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves,

you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy,

kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Ps. 36:5 Your unfailing love,
O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;

your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

Is. 40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd.

He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.

He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

7 Things - Our Journey From Faith To Love

Peter describes a seven-step journey of faith
—2 Pet. 1:2–8

(I have included the NLT version of this passage as it reads so well, and aids in the meaning)

2 Peter 1:2-8 (NKJV)

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,

6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,

7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We can see in verses 3 and 4 that this seven-step journey takes us from faith to love—through His power and promises, and our participation (partake) in His divine nature. Look at the attributes we have to add to our faith in order to gain more and more of the likeness of Christ:

Add to your faith—virtue (moral excellence, goodness, Christian energy)

Add to virtue—knowledge (intelligence)

Add to knowledge—self-control (discipline)

Add to self-control—perseverance (patience, endurance)

Add to perseverance—godliness (piety)

Add to godliness—brotherly kindness

Add to brotherly kindness—love

It is interesting to me that the journey begins with faith and concludes with love. What perfect "bookends" for our journey!

The concept of “adding” to our faith means that we have work to do. We cannot work for our salvation - Jesus has done that - there is nothing we can do to add to what He accomplished for us on Calvary. However we do have work to do in order to grow in grace. God does not force these attributes onto us, nor does he hand them to us as a free gift. Each of these attributes has to be worked into our lives through a series of choices, self-discipline, and faith victories. God doesn’t do this work – we must do it.

I think we will grow stronger in faith if we have to walk into these things day by day - disciplining our hearts and minds to follow Christ and let go of self.

We must become passionate about gaining the likeness of Christ – this is really what it means to be a “Christian.” I invite you to embark on this journey to “build and perfect your faith” – take a day out of the week to focus on each one of these steps and ask the Lord to reveal His plan for you to grow in this grace.

2 Peter 1:2-8 (New Living Translation)

2 May God bless you with his special favor and wonderful peace as you come to know Jesus, our God and Lord, better and better.

3 As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness!

4 And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature.

5 So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better.

6 Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness.

7 Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.

8 The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Things to Add To Your Faith

2 Peter 1:4-8

I feel strongly about these 4 verses right now. God has given us wonderful promises so that we can become a part of His Divine nature. Just think about that - we can adorn ourselves with His likeness by following these steps.

Verse 5 says - "...add to your faith..." This is something we must do - God doesn't do it for us, we have to do the work of adding these 7 things to our faith:

Add to faith—virtue (moral excellence, goodness)
Add to virtue—Knowledge (especially knowledge of God)
Add to knowledge—self control (discipline)
Add to self control—perseverance (patience, endurance)
Add to perseverance—godliness (piety)
Add to godliness—brotherly kindness (love for other Believers)
Add to brotherly kindness—love (love for everyone)

Here are these 4 verses in New King James and New Living Translation:

4by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.5But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,6to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,7to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.8For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature.5So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better.6Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness.7Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.8 The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice how we grow with each step - we build these 7 things into our faith so that we will be mature and more like Christ.

The other important thing to note is that we have to add these things into our faith - the Lord doesn't do this for us. There are things that He does that we cannot do. For example He saves us—we cannot save ourselves; but these are things that we must do for He calls us to deeper relationship and intimacy with Him. He will not do this work—we have to do it ourselves and win these victories in order for them to remain in our lives.

Without God—we cannot

Without us—God will not