Bottom line up front: Interiority before exteriority.

David’s words in Psalm 36 wash over one’s soul. For me, at least, that’s my experience. Verses 7-9 of Psalm 36 follow:

7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.

Teaching: When you read this psalm repeatedly, you discover that a binary undergirds the poem. The binary is two types of people. The first type of person “has no fear of God before his eyes” (Psalm 36:1b, ESV).

The second type of person is described as “those who know [God]” (Psalm 36:10a, ESV). That doesn’t mean mere head knowledge or mental assent; it means, rather, to trust the Lord, to lean in to God, to live in obedience to his revealed will.

That’s the thing with David. He was a great sinner at times, no doubt about that. But he always repented and turned and sought the Lord’s face, often in tears. But he was the real deal. When he blew it, he owned it. He didn’t sugarcoat things with God because he knew that God knows all.

Encouragement/takeaway: David understood that his standing before God came before his standing before other sinners. He feared God rather than men. He trusted the Lord. And when David sinned, he owned it; he sought the Lord in repentance and faith. David understood that his soul, just like everything else—was known to the Lord. Therefore, he aimed to get things right inside before he stepped foot to the outside. Interiority before exteriority.