Psalm 36 — The Wicked and the Righteous

When you see transgressors of the law being so zealous in their evildoing, do not attribute this evil to nature—this is what the heretics teach—but in saying Psalm 36 know that they are the cause of their own sinful behavior.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

I'm really struck by the statement above. To attribute one's evil to their nature instead of to their own choice to commit sin is just the way a lot of evil is spoken about today. Once again, human nature is the same now as it was thousands of years ago.

Waves in Stained Glass

There are two points that I like to think about in this psalm. The first is made by Saint Augustine about wickedness and a possible way out of it.

36:4 Plotting Evil

Our Inner Bedroom, Saint Augustine. Our bedroom is our heart, for there we toss and turn if we have a bad conscience, but there, if our conscience is easy, we find rest. .. But the person of whom our psalm is speaking retired there to hatch his evil plots, where no one would see him. And because such wickedness was the subject of his meditation, he could find no rest, even in his heart.

The Road to Evil, Saint Augustine. If we cannot be free from wickedness, at let us hate it. When you have begun to hate it, you are unlikely to be tricked into committing a wicked act by any stealthy temptation. ... Hate sin and iniquity, so that you may unite yourself to God, who will hate it with you. Homilies on the Psalms.

Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

I really was struck by this discussion of "living water" which is referred to in the psalm. I never looked specifically into the phrase. This really adds another level of meaning to both the psalm and every time Jesus brings it up.

The psalmist speaks in reverential tones of experiencing the hospitality of the divine house of Yahweh (36:8-9) and of sharing the refreshment offered by the host: restorative drink drawn from God's "river of delights" and the "fountain of life."...

First, "living water" (mayim hayyim) most often refers to flowing water taken from streams or rivers or to water drawn from spring-fed pools. This kind of living water was distinguished from standing water left in jars, gathered in cisterns, left standing by rainfall in stagnant pools, or even drawn from a well. The distinction was particularly important in the laws of ritual purity and cleansing. Only "living water" had the property of cleansing from uncleanness. For this reason ritual baths had to be provided with some access to living water in order to maintain their cleansing property and status. Often a channel of living water would be directed from a stream or spring to the site of the bath so that a small amount could be let into the chamber pool before each supplicant entered for cleansing. ...

[In his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well] Jesus deepens the conversation by pointing to a spiritual meaning: "Everyone who drinks this [well] water will never be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Living water has been transformed into a "spring of water ... [of] eternal life" (equivalent to maqor hayyim in Ps. 36). Jeremiah employs a similar phrase (meqor mayim hayyim ["spring of living water]) to speak of Yahweh as a "spring of living water" that Israel rejected in favor of cisterns dug by their own hands (Jer. 2:13, 7:13). The woman understands the allusions in Jesus' conversation and immediately asks to receive what Jesus is offering.

Psalms Volume 1 (The NIV Application Commentary)

An index of psalm posts is here.