Psalm 36 from my book, "Praying the Psalms for the Unborn Child."

Psalm 36
Wickedness of Men and Lovingkindness of God.

1 Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For it flatters him in his own eyes
Concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4 He plans wickedness upon his bed;
He sets himself on a path that is not good;
He does not despise evil.

5 Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Your judgments are like a great deep.
O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
8 They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
9 For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.

10 O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come upon me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the doers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been thrust down and cannot rise.

Man has the free will to make his own moral choices⁶⁸ : He can tell himself (within his heart) that he can sin (be wicked and deceitful) all he wants because he foolishly believes that God is not aware of his wrong doing. He freely chooses to be unwise, to plan wickedness, to follow the path of sin and embrace evil (36:1-4). The righteous, however, trusting in God's boundless (reaches to the heavens) mercy (lovingkindness) and in His loving protection (shadow of His wings), choose the path of Christian perfection that leads to an abundance of life-giving grace (rivers of delight) and the Truth (Jesus Christ), the light of the world (fountain of life) (36:5-9). The righteous can count on God's mercy; the wicked on destruction (36:10-12).

Prayer for Life: Father, never let me be counted among those who promote abortion. They falsely believe that You do not exist or that You do not object to their ending the lives of children in the womb. I choose the path of Christian perfection that leads to Jesus, the Light and the Truth. I choose Life. Have mercy, Lord, on pro-abortionists for they know not what they do. As for me and my baby, we will count on Your mercy all the days of our life. Amen.

Have a blessed day!
John

⁶⁸The Orthodox Study Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 705. Print.

Scripture (Psalms 25-36) taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Copyright © 2010 by John P. Gross. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material must be done in its entirety with the copyright notice intact. This book is not for sale, but is offered to the public free of charge in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and for the glory of God.