Scripture Reference: Psalm 36
2. The Fullness of Salvation
Please read Psalm 36:5-9 for the background to this section.
We now discover the second view that the psalmist presents to us concerning a life that excels in recognizing the fullness of salvation found only in our Lord.
The psalmist now launches into the attributes of God, the love (some versions state “mercy”), the faithfulness, the righteousness, and the judgment of God. The psalmist wrote, “Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens.” How immense are the heavens? We can honestly state that we just don’t know. God is still unfolding His universe. The love of God is not only steadfast, they are limitless; His blessings are inexhaustible. “Your faithfulness [extends] to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains.” A mountain portrays stability and strength. We can count on the rock-like righteousness of God.
“Your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD.” There are parts of the ocean that seem fathomless. The Marianna Trench in the South Pacific is approximately 36,198 feet deep, nearly seven miles, but there could be places that are even deeper. The psalmist’s words present a picture of God’s sufficiency and also His profoundness. In contrast is mankind’s fickleness and shallowness. God’s provisions are inexhaustible. When we seek the life that excels, we begin to understand the sufficiency of God’s salvation. God’s love is matchless. In it’s totality it’s incomprehensible. It’s as high as the heavens, as immovable as the mountains, as deep and inexhaustible as the oceans. So the psalmist describes salvation as sufficient. Then he refers to it as a shelter and a “refuge.”
“How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” Here we might expect that the psalmist would use the convenient name for God, Jehovah, the name of God used in relation to Israel. However the word in verse 7 used for “God” is Elohim, the name of God as Creator. He was making the point that God is faithful to all people, not merely to Israel. We can absolutely and fully trust the God of creation for He will do what He has pledged to do.
Several times God’s Word employs the metaphor of wings to refer to God. Jesus spoke of being sheltered by wings as He stood on the Mount of Olives and wept over the city of Jerusalem. “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37). View in your mind a cold night as a hen gathers her chicks and pulls them underneath her wings. For those chicks, the safest shelter in the world is under their mother’s wings. How infinitely more secure are we when sheltered under the wings of the Almighty God.
Then the psalmist writes of satisfaction. Speaking of the fullness of salvation, he has described it in terms of sufficiency, shelter, as he describes satisfaction through abundance. This flies in the face of all that the world tries to tell us about God. “They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” God’s children feast abundantly; they are filled to satisfaction. The Word of God declares that God gives satisfaction. He provides an abundance. What we usually hear, though, is, “Well, it’s tough down here. Things just go from bad to worse. But someday, somehow it’s going to get better. Someday, hopefully we’re going to be with Him and He will make it up to us, He will compensate for all the things we’ve had to experience down here. There will be pie in the sky someday.”
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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