Week 6 Psalm 36
David describes four qualities of the Lord: love faithfulness righteousness & justice. Four fairly specific things about what the Lord is like (I know there’s more than four but David just mentions these).
Finding out specific details about what the Lord is like is very helpful. But David also adds details about the extent and range of the four qualities – their expanse & magnitude & dimension & extravagant size. The Lord’s love faithfulness righteousness & justice stretch out beyond the stratosphere. They’re higher than Everest. Deeper than the Mariana Trench.
When I think about love faithfulness righteousness & justice I’m thinking about known qualities. Which helps a lot. David doesn’t say in psalm 36 that the Lord is – let’s say – colisticomorantic. He sticks to familiar concepts. I do have a general understanding about what love faithfulness righteousness & justice are. But David’s added-value comment – about the scope of the qualities – I do have some trouble with.
If a kid says to his mom ‘how much do you love me?’ and mom says ‘a million trillion’ then the kid can accept that. Mom loves me (even if I don’t have a comprehensive quantitative grasp of the degree of Mom’s love). The kid is just happy that his mom loves him. Her expression of excessive numerical quantity is more of a theoretical backstop to reassure him that more capacity is there. He’ll never not have what he needs from his mom. There’s no end to it.
Note: Psalm 36:5-6