kindness · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
LORD
יְ֭הוָהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
heavens
בְּהַשָּׁמַ֣יִםbe.ha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · preposition + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
faithfulness
אֱ֝מֽוּנָתְךָ֗'e.mu.na.te.kha
H530
literally firmness · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
clouds
שְׁחָקִֽיםshe.cha.Kim
H7834
a powder (as beaten small) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalms 108:4 For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
Psalms 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
Psalms 57:10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.
Psalms 89:2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
Hebrews 6:18-20 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay…
Psalms 92:2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 36:5–end
David, having looked round with grief upon the wickedness of the wicked, here looks up with comfort upon the goodness of God, a subject as delightful as the former was distasteful and very proper to be set in the balance against it. Observe,
I. His meditations upon the grace of God. He sees the world polluted, himself endangered, and God dishonoured, by the transgressions of the wicked; but, of a sudden, he turns his eye, and heart, and speech, to God "However it be, yet thou art good." He here acknowledges,
1. The transcendent perfections of the divine nature. Among men we have often reason to complain, There is no truth nor mercy, (Hos 4:1), no judgment nor justice, Isa 5:7. But all these…
mercy . . . and . . . faithfulness--as mercy and truth (Psa 25:10).
John Gill on Psalms 36:5
Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens,.... Meaning either the general mercy of God the earth is full of, and extends to all creatures; to which it is owing that wicked men before described are not consumed; and which reaches "up to the heavens" (d), as the words are by some rendered, as their sins do; see Psalm 57:10; or the special mercy of God, and regards not the objects of it, creatures in heaven; for there at, none there proper objects of mercy; but the seat of it, the heart of God, who is in heaven; or the repository of it, the covenant of grace, which is full of the sure mercies of David; and of mercy there was a most glaring instance, when the son of God was sent down from heaven, to…
Psalm 36:5-9
5. O Jehovah! thy mercy is unto the heavens, and thy truth even unto the clouds. 6. Thy righteousness is as the mountains of God; [4] thy judgments are a great deep: [5] O Jehovah! thou preservest man and beast. 7. O God! how excellent [6] is thy loving-kindness! therefore, the children of men shall trust in the shadow of thy wings. 8. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them to drink of the river of thy pleasures. 9. For with thee [7] is the fountain of life; and in thy light [8] shall we see light.
5. O Jehovah! thy mercy is unto the heavens. Commentators think that David, after having described the great corruption and depra…
The Church Fathers
Mercy abides in heaven, but it is reached by the exercise of it on earth.
Therefore, mercy must be sought from heaven, and the truth of God must be gathered from the oracles of the prophets, who, like clouds, cover the mysteries of divine knowledge. For God has placed darkness as His hiding place; so that you may first receive the rain of mystical fertility, and then, infused with heavenly dew, recognize the brightness of revealed light, so that you may say: From His fullness we have received.
"Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Thy truth reacheth even unto the clouds" (ver. 5). I know not what Mercy of Him he meaneth, which is in the heavens. For the Mercy of the Lord is also in the earth. Thou hast it written, "The earth is full of the Mercy of the Lord." Of what Mercy then speaketh He, when He saith, "Thy Mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens"? The gifts of God are partly temporal and earthly, partly eternal and heavenly. Whoso for this worshippeth God, that he may receive those temporal and earthly goods, which are open to all, is still as it were like the brutes: he enjoyeth indeed the Mercy of God, but not that which is excepted, which shall not be given, save only to the righteous, to the holy, to the good. What are the gifts which abound to all? "He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Who hath not this Mercy of God, first that he hath being, that he is distinguished from the brutes, that he is a rational animal, so as to understand God; secondly, that he enjoys this light, this air, rain, fruits, diversity of seasons, and all the earthly comforts, health of body, the affection of friends, the safety of his family? All these are good, and they are God's gifts. ... But this man rightly understood what mercy he should pray for from God. "Thy Mercy, O Lord, is in the Heavens; and Thy Truth reacheth even to the clouds." That is, the Mercy which Thou givest to Thy Saints, is Heavenly, not earthly; is Eternal, not temporal. And how couldest Thou declare it unto men? Because "Thy Truth reacheth even unto the clouds." What are the clouds? The Preachers of the Word of God. ...Truth reached even to the clouds: therefore unto us could be declared the Mercy of God, which is in Heaven and not in earth. And truly, Brethren, the clouds are the Preachers of the Word of Truth. When God threateneth through His Preachers, He thunders through the clouds. When God worketh miracles through His Preachers, He lightneth through the clouds, He terrifieth through the clouds, and watereth by the rain. Those Preachers, then, by whom is preached the Gospel of God, are the clouds of God. Let us then hope for Mercy, but for that which is in the Heavens.
Dictionary and topics
Faithfulness Of God, The · Declared to be: Infinite — Declared to be: Infinite
Mercy Of God, The · Described as: High as heaven — Described as: High as heaven
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
(Heb.: 36:6-10) The poet now turns from this repulsive prospect to one that is more pleasing. He contemplates, and praises, the infinite, ever sure mercy of God, and the salvation, happiness, and light which spring from it. Instead of בּשּׁמים, the expression is בּהשּׁמים, the syncope of the article not taking place. בּ alternating with עד, cf. Psa 57:11, has here, as in Psa 19:5; Psa 72:16, the sense of touching or reaching to the spot that is denoted in connection with it. The poet describes the exaltation and super-eminence of divine mercy and faithfulness figuratively, after earthly standards. They reveal themselves on earth in a height that reaches to the heavens and extends to שׁחקים,…
As the source of wisdom, the Lord is reliable and incomparable. His faithful care extends to all parts of the created order.
36:5-6 God’s all-encompassing goodness surpasses that of the created order. God graciously meets his people’s practical needs.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 36:5-9
From the baseness of the wicked the psalmist turns his contemplation to the glory of God. Contrasts are impressive.
