20 June
Bible In 365 Days 
Psalms 36-39
Psalm 36
The antithetical nature of this psalm is self-evident. In the first part (Psalms 36: 1-4), the reason and expression of the wickedness of the wicked are described. The one and only reason for transgression is that the fear of God is lost. All evil results therefrom.
In contrast to this the advantages of the remembrance of Jehovah are set forth, first, by a description of certain facts concerning Him. One can easily imagine that the psalm was written on some natural height from which the singer looked out on a far-stretching scene in which he saw symbols of truth concerning his God. Note the sweep of vision. The heavens, the skies or clouds, the mountains, the great deep, the river, and, over all, the light.
There is a fine fitness in the interpretation of suggestiveness. The encompassing blue speaks of lovingkindness; the passing clouds in the mystery of their orderliness, of His faithfulness; the mountains suggest His righteousness from which rivers of pleasure flow to mingle in the deep of His judgments. Of all the abundant and varying life He is the Source or Fountain and the sunshine of His face is the light on everything. All ends with a prayer for the continued safety of the divine care and protection.
Psalm 37
This psalm has as its keynote "Fret not." The underlying problem is the prosperity of evil men. It is an astonishment and a perplexity still, troubling many a tried and trusting heart. The psalmist first declares that all such prosperity is short-lived and then tells the secrets of quietness in spite of the problem. There are first positive injunctions. They may be grouped thus: "Trust in Jehovah," "Delight in Jehovah," "Commit thy way unto Jehovah," ''Rest in Jehovah." Then again the fundamental injunction is twice repeated, "Fret not." It is wrong; it is harmful; it is needless. Let the trusting wait. Events will justify the action.
Continuing, the psalmist works out his contrast into greater detail. The prosperity of the wicked has within it the elements of its own destruction and cannot last (Psalms 37:12-20). This is all stated by way of contrast. The little of the righteous is better than the abundance of many wicked. This is by no means out of date. It is only to wait long enough and to watch to know that the principle is abiding. Ill-gotten gains and the triumph of wickedness are alike doomed by inherent evil to sure destruction. Then the other side is stated in great fullness (Psalms 37:21-31). The way established by Jehovah is sure. There may be failure, but there is restoration. With the more complex civilization in the midst of which we live, perhaps sometimes the righteous have been driven to beg, but even now such cases are surely rare, and after some varied experience I would want to subject him who begs one to somewhat severe cross-examination before accepting his testimony against that of the psalmist. Even if it be granted, the underlying principle remains, that the bread of charity is to be chosen in preference to the wealth of wickedness.
In verses Psalms 37:32-40 we have the final contrast of this psalm. The first statement is of the safety of the righteous against the machinations of the wicked. The way in which this psalm has appealed to men and continues to do so is a proof of how prone the heart is to rebel against the seeming prosperity of the wicked, and also a demonstration of the conviction of men that it is better to trust in Jehovah than to achieve any kind of success by other means. Faith does falter and demand some explanation. It finds all it asks when resolutely it obeys the injunction to trust, delight, commit, rest, wait!
Psalm 38
This is the third of what are known as the penitential psalms. The circumstances of the singer were most distressing. He was suffering from some terrible physical malady, deserted by his friends, and persecuted by his enemies. The deepest bitterness of his soul was caused by his overwhelming sense of his moral pollution. He recognized that all his sufferings were the rebukes and chastisements of Jehovah for his sin. This sense of sin crushed him and in his distress he cried out to Jehovah.
The use of the divine names and titles in this psalm is interesting. The first cry for help is to Jehovah. When he would utter his complaint concerning the desertion of friends and persecution of foes, the singer addresses himself to the Lord as the supreme Being. In his final appeal he both begins and closes with Jehovah, Lord, and God. All the foundations seem to have given way beneath his feet, and with deep contrition and desperate endeavor he strives to take hold of God in all the facts of His being. In this he was right, for so desperate a case demands the help, the government, the might of God. Blessed be His name forever; all are at our disposal.
Psalm 39
Again the circumstances are sorrow and affliction. The attitude of the sufferer is true dignity. If the psalm be taken in connection with the preceding one, it marks an advance, perhaps a gain out of that experience. Then we saw a man crying out for Jehovah and His help. Here is a man still undergoing trial and acutely conscious of it, but he has found the secret place of communion and this conditions his attitudes. Toward his foes he maintains a great silence, the secret of which he presently declares: "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because Thou didst it." Yet the things he sees strangely stir him and at last he breaks the silence.
Here again the result of his knowledge of Jehovah is seen in that he speaks to Jehovah and not to his enemies. Thus he sets the strange prosperity of the wicked in relation to God. All the apparent success is seen to be nothing worth and this sorrowful man makes his personal appeal to Jehovah.
