Big Idea: The absence of the fear of the Lord that characterizes the wicked is outmatched by the covenant love of the Lord, which encompasses the world, humans and animals alike, and reaches the heavens.

Understanding the Text

The literary genre of Psalm 36 is a bit elusive. Dahood says it has elements of wisdom in 36:1–4, becomes a hymn in 36:5–10, and then is a lament in 36:11–12. This, of course, is not the only instance when the form-critical method of analyzing the Psalms fails. In Dahood’s words: “The coexistence of three literary types within a poem of thirteen verses [in Hebrew] points up the limitations of the form-critical approach to the Psalter.”[1] Craigie prefers the classification of a wisdom psalm but recognizes that the form does not give much reason for it.[2] Ultimatel…