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Holy Week · Monday of Holy Week · Year C

Psalm 36:5-11

In Your Light We See Light

April 10, 2028

El Río de Luz (The River of Light), Frederic Edwin Church
El Río de Luz (The River of Light), Frederic Edwin Church, 1877National Gallery of Art, Washington
Church's late tropical landscape, a river running out of a wall of jungle into a haze of light, painted after a long illness had limited his right hand.With you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Psalm 36 uses both images, and the painting is both at once.Frederic Edwin ChurchThe leading American landscape painter of his generation (1826-1900), who travelled to South America and the Arctic for his subjects and exhibited single canvases as ticketed events.National Gallery of Art, WashingtonGiven to the United States by Andrew Mellon in 1937 on condition it carry no founder's name, so that others would give to it too.National Gallery of Art, Washington
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelJohn 12:1-11Jn 12:1-11
EpistleHeb. 9:11-15Heb 9:11-15
Old TestamentIsa. 42:1-9Is 42:1-9
PsalterPs. 36:5-11Ps 36:5-11

Overview & Insights

“For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” (Psalm 36:9)

The literary genre of Psalm 36 is a bit elusive. Dahood says it has elements of wisdom in 36:1–4, becomes a hymn in 36:5–10, and then is a lament in 36:11–12. This, of course, is not the only instance when the form-critical method of analyzing the Psalms fails. In Dahood’s words: “The coexistence of three literary types within a poem of thirteen verses [in Hebrew] points up the limitations of the form-critical approach to the Psalter.”[1] Craigie prefers the classification of a wisdom psalm but recognizes that the form does not give much reason for it.[2] Ultimately, we simply have to admit that Psalm 36 represents a multiple-genre composition and remind ourselves that the psalmists were not working by the form-critical method.[3] The method, with much in its favor, is for our benefit, and we need not be surprised when the biblical writers do not meet our expectations.

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Commentary

Psalm 36Ps 36 Enduring Word · David Guzik

A verse-by-verse evangelical commentary on God's steadfast love reaching to the heavens.

Classic commentaries on Psalm 36Classic commentaries on Ps 36 BibleHub

Aggregated classic commentaries on the fountain of life and the light of God.

Commentary on Psalm 36:5-10Commentary on Ps 36:5-10 Working Preacher

Working Preacher commentary on the psalm's hymn of praise to God's steadfast love and justice, the one Lutheran voice for this reading.

Background & Word Study

Psalm 36 in Hebrew, with Jewish commentaryPs 36 in Hebrew, with Jewish commentary Sefaria

The Hebrew text with classical Jewish commentary on the psalm.

The Church Fathers

Psalm 36, patristic commentaryPs 36, patristic commentary Catena

Patristic reflection on God's steadfast love and the fountain of life.

Questions preachers ask

What does Psalm 36 celebrate?

Against the folly of the wicked, the psalmist marvels at God's steadfast love reaching to the heavens, the fountain of life in whose light we see light.

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