Psalm 36 · a question people ask
Psalm 36 speaks of "the wicked" (36:1). Why does Paul use its words about everyone?
The psalm sets two kinds of people apart. It speaks of "the wicked" (36:1), and it prays, "Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart" (36:10). Paul (Romans 1:1) writes that "both Jews and Greeks" are "all under sin" (Romans 3:9), and after "As it is written" (Romans 3:10) he gives a run of Scripture's words that ends, "There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18), words close to Psalm 36:1. He says what the words are for: "that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God" (Romans 3:19). And he goes on, "for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Romans doesn't name the psalm, and doesn't say what the psalmist had in mind. Both are in Scripture: the psalm's line between the wicked and the upright in heart, and Paul's "all under sin". Psalm 14's notes ask the same kind of question of Psalm 14 and Romans 3:10-12, and follow Paul on to where he goes next.
The verses
“For the Chief Musician. By David, the servant of the LORD. A revelation is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes.”
“Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.”
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,”
“What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one.”