David knew well the lengths to which “transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart.” He knew it from his personal experience and failure; he knew it from the hands of his enemies before whom “there is no fear of God.” Thus, he opens the song we know as Psalm 36 with a chorus which laments “trouble and deceit” from those who have “ceased to act wisely and do good.” The lyrics are dark. The music, I imagine, either foreboding or melancholy.

But then, in verse 5, he switches it up, transitioning from a minor key to the major scale.

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 ESV)

Your love O LORD reaches to the heavens! (I never fail to hear Third Day when I read this psalm).

And while steadfast love that reaches to the heavens is beyond defining in just a few words (not even in a few million words), the songwriter gives a snapshot of one facet of how exquisite (MSG) the love of God is.

How precious is Your steadfast love, O God!
 The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
They feast on the abundance of Your house,
 and You give them drink from the river of Your delights.

(Psalm 36:7-8 ESV)

Those are the verses I’m hovering over this morning, chewing on the shadow of Your wings . . . the abundance of Your house . . . and the river of Your delights.

The shadow of His wings . . . so expansive that each morning — whether they know it or not, whether they acknowledge it or not — the children of mankind fall under its protection. Every day before them which ends up being a day behind them is a day the inhabitants of the earth have known a divine protection extended to them by the common grace of the God of all the earth. How big is the steadfast love of the Lord? Pretty big! It reaches to the heavens.

The abundance of His house . . . He sets before all who would come a banqueting table unlike any other. Freely offering the Bread of Life (Jn. 6:35) and the fruit of righteousness (Php. 1:11) for all who hear Him knock and open the door accepting His invitation to eat with them (Rev. 3:20). His love reaches to the heavens.

The river of His delights . . . When God fills the cup, He fills it to overflowing for those ready to taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). The floodgates opened, unleashing springs of living water (Jn. 4:10, 7:38). By faith, taking sons and daughters born again of the Spirit and hooking them up, as it were, to the fire hose of His delights and good pleasures. His love reaches to the heavens.

How precious is Your steadfast love, O God!

But wait . . . there’s more . . . you ain’t seen nothing yet.

The degree to which we’ve known the presence of the shadow; to which we’ve eaten at His table and been filled; to which we’ve drank of living water and had our thirst quenched while here on earth, is but a small foretaste of what awaits the child of God when faith gives way to sight. Then the shadow of His wings will give way to the drive-you-to-your-face glory of the majesty of the God whose glory fills heaven’s temple (Isa. 6:1). There the feast will take the form of a marriage supper, when the Lamb welcomes home His bride bought by His blood (Rev. 19:6-9), and no one ever goes hungry again. And there we will drink, and drink deeply — for the Lamb will shepherd His people to springs of eternal water (Rev. 7:17).

The shadow of Your wings . . . the abundance of Your house . . . the river of Your delights.

How precious is Your steadfast love, O God!

It reaches to the heavens.

By Your grace. For Your glory.