Psalms 36:6

6 1Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; 2your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you 3save, O LORD.

Psalms 36:6 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 36:6

Thy righteousness [is] like the great mountains
Or, "the mountains of God"; so called for their excellency, as the cedars of God, ( Psalms 80:10 ) ; or, as Gussetius F5 observes, the greatest and highest mountains, which are here meant, reaching above the clouds and the region of the air, are the pillars of the palace of God, and a part of it; and therefore called his mountains with great propriety, to which his righteousness is compared: that is, either the righteousness of God in the government of the world, which is sometimes like the high mountains, not to be reached and accounted for in the present state of things, though always is, and is immovable as they are; or the righteousness of God, by which he justifies sinners, which may be said to be as the mountains of God, because of the dignity of his person, who has wrought it out; and because of the clear manifestation of it, the Gospel, and so visible, as high mountains; and because of the immovableness and duration of it;

thy judgments [are] a great deep;
both in a way of providence, many of them being at present not to be traced, though before long they will be made manifest; and in a way of grace, such as the choice of some, and the leaving of others, the rejection of the Jews, and the call of the Gentiles; see ( Romans 11:33 ) ;

O Lord, thou preservest man and beast;
in a providential way, upholding each in their being, and supplying them with the necessaries of life: some understand this figuratively, of God's saving Jews and Gentiles, wise and unwise, and particularly those who, through humility and modesty, as Jarchi says, compare themselves to beasts, because of their ignorance and stupidity, ( Proverbs 30:2 ) ( Psalms 73:22 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F5 Ebr. Comment. p. 66.

Psalms 36:6 In-Context

4 He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.
5 Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

Cross References 3

  • 1. [Psalms 71:19]
  • 2. Psalms 92:5; Romans 11:33
  • 3. Psalms 104:14, 15; Psalms 145:9, 15, 16; Nehemiah 9:6
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.