Psalm 36:1-2 April 17, 2009

Ps 36:1-2 "An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin." NIV

Have you ever been grieved by the moral decline of the culture around you? This is David’s burden at the time of this psalm. It is prophetic look at the ways of the Lord as well but this portions is primarily focused on the pain he feels over the general absence of the fear of the Lord in so many of the people that surround him. It is a powerful glimpse into the heart of David the intercessor! David is carrying pain over the condition of the nation and it is being reflected in this lament. It is ultimately a cry for the fear of the Lord to be restored to the nation. The absence of a holy fear in the heart of a man leaves him open to all forms of decay into a life of sin. The greatest moral boundary that exists to regulate the heart of man is not the laws of a city or a nation but the knowledge of God’s law and the acknowledgement that He sees all things done both in secret and in public and even more He sees the heart and the life or death that lies within it.
The reality of God, all present and all knowing, is the foundation of one of Jesus’ most vital teachings. In Matthew 5 & 6 Jesus taught the principle of living accountable for the inward movements of your heart not just your outward actions. He showed his disciples that to be angry is as bad as being a murderer, to look with lust is no different than being an adulterer, and he taught them to do the good deeds that we do as worship before God not for the sake of gaining the praise of men. At its core the message of Jesus is that whatever is in our heart is who we really are. The Lord sees all the movements of your heart whether they are movements towards Him in whispers of worship or meditations of the works of the flesh and sin. The path to a deeper encounter with God is one of living from the heart, living in the real and constant awareness that God is with us and is concerned about the things that we think, say and do. This is what it is to live in the fear of the Lord:
To live knowing that God sees all of these things, that He cares that our ways are pleasing to Him and His justice will not let the deeds of men for good or evil go unnoticed, nor unrewarded.
When a man lives in the fear of the Lord he is sensitive to the voice of conscience and the impressions of the Holy Spirit guiding Him in his personal choices, directing him in the path that is pleasing to God. When a man chooses to harden his heart towards the Lord then he is now subject to the evil inclinations of the heart without a voice of inner warning that protects both him and those who will be touched by his actions. In this psalm David identifies one of the key tendencies or flaws that this type of person is subject to. “in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.” This is one of the foundational flaws of a heart that does not fear God. When a person does not respect and fear God often there is an inflated sense of self as a result of this. If God is not the cause and source of blessing, then it is only natural to assume that I am! This deception leaves us blind to the depth of sin in our hearts. When we think to highly of ourselves we seldom see the reality of our need clearly. Lord open our eyes to see just how deep the darkness is within our hearts if you are not there to bring your light!