“Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD.” (Psalm 36:5-6)
God’s unfailing love extends to everyone, everywhere. His love knows no geographical boundaries. It has no limits.
It goes to “the heavens” (the universe). It is exalted; it is as high as man can conceive. This is the universe.
It goes “to the clouds” (the sky on earth).
It goes to “the mountains” (the highest elevations on the earth).
It goes to the “great deep.”
Now, why would David not talk about God’s love before he talks about God’s wickedness? Why wouldn’t David give this good news first? Why not start Psalm 36 with vs. 5-6? Well, the answer is, “We already love ourselves. In our flesh, we aren’t surprised God loves us because we already think too much of ourselves.” So, before we can be built up, we need to be broken down.
We need to hear our real conditions so the love of God will seem even more glorious and awesome. God’s love drives us to our knees and awes our heart when we understand Psalm 36:1-4 and our needy condition for reconciliation.
Here is C.J. Mahaney from his book Living the Cross-Centered Life, “When you tell non-Christians, ‘God loves you,’ they aren’t surprised, they aren’t perplexed, they aren’t stunned. Regrettably, the same is true among most evangelicals, who simply assume this gracious disposition of God – and therefore presume upon it. And we’ll continue to do this until we learn to see our condition more fully from God’s perspective.”[1]
God’s perspective on sin? He hates it and will have none of it in heaven without it being perfectly atoned for.
That is why David talks about God’s love having no limits. It can reach the most despicable Ted Bundy or Madonna or Adolf Hitler. It can reach “the great deep” or “the heavens.” Now, that is good news.
[1] Page unknown
Worldly Saints 