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Psalm 36 Bible study: The spring of life
Psalm 36 calls what it sees in the wicked a revelation, ne'um, the word of the prophets' "says the LORD", and Romans has nearly the same words, "There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18). Then it looks up and says, "with you is the spring of life" (36:9): Hebrew words found elsewhere only in Proverbs, once of "the fear of the LORD" (Proverbs 14:27).
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“For with you is the spring of life. In your light we will see light.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Romans 3:18's "There is no fear of God before their eyes" has almost the same words as Psalm 36:1.”
Is that in Psalm 36, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
A revelation, about the wicked
The title reads, "For the Chief Musician. By David, the servant of the LORD" (36:1). The WEB has "the servant of the LORD" in two psalm titles, this one and Psalm 18's (Psalm 18:1), and Psalm 18's notes look at the words (tap servant). Then the psalm begins, "A revelation is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked" (36:1). Revelation is ne'um (tap revelation). Most of its uses in the Hebrew Bible are in the prophets, as in "says the LORD" (Jeremiah 23:5), and the Psalms have it only twice: here, and "The LORD says to my Lord" (Psalm 110:1). Here is what almost everyone misses. In Psalm 110:1 the word after it is the LORD's name. In Psalm 36:1 the word after it is pesha', disobedience (tap disobedience). The psalm doesn't explain the wording, and these notes don't either. What the psalmist has to say is plain: "There is no fear of God before his eyes" (36:1).
Where it leads to Jesus
Life in himself
Psalms 36:9leads toJohn 5:26
Jesus, speaking of the Father and the Son (John 5:19), said, "For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself" (John 5:26). The psalm says to the LORD, "For with you is the spring of life" (Psalm 36:9). Jesus doesn't name Psalm 36, so setting the two together is a reading. It rests on a shared subject, where life comes from: the psalm says the spring of life is with God, and Jesus says the Father has life in himself and has given the Son to have life in himself. It doesn't rest on the word life alone, and no link between the Hebrew and the Greek words is claimed. One reading hears in Jesus's words the spring of life the psalm places with God, given also to the Son. Another keeps each to its own setting: the psalm speaks of the LORD's loving kindness to those who take refuge in him (Psalm 36:7-9), and Jesus speaks of what the Father and the Son do (John 5:19-26), without pointing to this psalm. These notes don't choose between them.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 36
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 36 is waiting in Favor
- The wicked man, in four verses
- Then the psalm looks up
- The spring of life
- "No fear of God", in Romans
- The river of your pleasures
- 7 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 36 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
מָקוֹרmaqorsay ma-KOHR
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "spring, fountain". Strong's: "properly, something dug, i.e. a (general) source". "For with you is the spring of life" (36:9). In Hebrew the spring of life is meqor chayyim, and those two words come in four more verses of the Hebrew Bible, all in Proverbs (Proverbs 10:11, 13:14, 14:27, 16:22). One of them is "The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life" (Proverbs 14:27). Jeremiah has the word with living waters, of the LORD: "they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living waters" (Jeremiah 17:13).
For your group
Psalm 36 Bible study questions
- 1The wicked man "flatters himself in his own eyes, too much to detect and hate his sin" (36:2). What helps you see your own sin honestly, rather than flatter yourself?
- 2Psalm 36 turns from the wicked man (36:1-4) to "Your loving kindness, LORD, is in the heavens" (36:5), with nothing in between. When the wrong around you weighs on you, what helps you look up?
- 3"For with you is the spring of life. In your light we will see light" (36:9). Where have you found life, or seen more clearly, because of God this week?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 36 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home