Psalms 36:5

5 Lord, thy mercy is in heaven; and thy truth is unto [the] clouds. (Lord, thy love reacheth up to the heavens; and thy faithfulness up to the clouds.)

Psalms 36:5 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 36:5

Thy mercy, O Lord, [is] in the heavens
Meaning either the general mercy of God the earth is full of, and extends to all creatures; to which it is owing that wicked men before described are not consumed; and which reaches "up to the heavens" F4, as the words are by some rendered, as their sins do; see ( Psalms 57:10 ) ; or the special mercy of God, and regards not the objects of it, creatures in heaven; for there at, none there proper objects of mercy; but the seat of it, the heart of God, who is in heaven; or the repository of it, the covenant of grace, which is full of the sure mercies of David; and of mercy there was a most glaring instance, when the son of God was sent down from heaven, to obtain salvation for sinful men; or it may denote the original of it, the heaven, being, as Aben Ezra observes some Jewish interpreters say, the fountain of mercy, and the spring of truth; or the greatness and abundance of it, it being as high as heaven, yea, above it; see ( Psalms 103:11 ) ( 108:4 ) ;

[and] thy faithfulness [reacheth] unto the clouds;
which lies in the execution of his purposes, whose counsels of old were faithfulness and truth; and in keeping his covenant and promises; he never changes his mind, nor forgets his word; he is a God of truth, and cannot lie; he knows the end from the beginning; no unforeseen event can turn up to hinder the performance of what he has purposed and promised, and he is able to perform; nor does ever any of the good things he has spoken of fail: though his faithfulness sometimes seems to be not only to the clouds, but in them, and out of sight; providences seem to clash with promises, which make unbelief to say, doth his promise fail for evermore? yet, though we believe not, he abides faithful, ( Psalms 77:8 ) ( 2 Timothy 2:13 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (Mymvhb) "usque ad coelos", Pagninus, Musculus, Muis, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Kimchi & Noldius, p. 164. No. 744. & Ainsworth.

Psalms 36:5 In-Context

3 The words of his mouth be wickedness and guile; he would not understand to do well. (The words of his mouth be wicked and deceitful; he desireth not to understand, or to do good.)
4 He thought wickedness in his bed; he stood nigh (to) all way(s) (that be) not good; forsooth he hated not malice.
5 Lord, thy mercy is in heaven; and thy truth is unto [the] clouds. (Lord, thy love reacheth up to the heavens; and thy faithfulness up to the clouds.)
6 Thy rightfulness is as the hills of God; thy dooms be (as) much depth of waters. Lord, thou shalt save men and beasts; (Thy righteousness is as high as the mountains; thy judgements, or thy just acts, be as deep as the water. Lord, thou shalt save people and beasts;)
7 as thou, God, hast multiplied thy mercy. But the sons of men shall hope in the covering of thy wings. (for thou, God, hast multiplied thy love. And so the sons and daughters of men shall hope for/shall trust in the covering of thy wings.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.