The “title” to this psalm is, “To the chief Musician, A “Psalm” of David the servant of the Lord.” On the meaning of the phrase “To the chief Musician.” see the notes at the title to Psalms 4:1-8. The words “A Psalm” are supplied by the translators. The original is simply “of,” or “by David,” as in Psalms 11:1-7; Psalms 14:1-7; Psalms 25; Psalms 26:1-12; and others, without indicating whether it is a “psalm” or a “prayer.” In many instances the “character” of the psalm is indicated try the title, as in Psalms 3:1-8; Psalms 4:1-8; Psalms 5:1-12; Psalms 6:1-10; and others, “A Psalm of David;” in Psalms 7, “Shiggaion of David;” Psalms 16:1-11, “Michtam of David;” Psalms 17:1-15, “A “Prayer” of David,” etc. etc. The meaning of the title here is simply that this was “composed” by David, without indicating anything in regard to the “contents” or “character” of the psalm. The addition in the title, “The servant of the Lord,” occurs also in the title to Psalms 18. See the notes at that title. This seems to have been added here, as in Psalms 18, for some reason which rendered it proper to remark that the psalm was composed by one who was a “servant” or a friend of Yahweh, and who was setting forth something that was especially connected with that service, or was suggested by it - as expressing either the feelings of one who served God; or as showing the result of serving God. In Psalms 18 the latter seems to have been the prominent idea; in the psalm before us the former seems to be the main thought; “and the psalm is properly an expression of the feelings of one who is truly engaged in the service of God.” As such, its instructions are valuable at all thees, and in all ages.
The occasion on which the psalm was composed is not known. There is nothing in the title to indicate this, or in the psalm itself, and conjecture is vain. Amyraldus supposed that it had reference to the thee of Saul, and especially to the thee when he seemed to be friendly to David, but when he secretly harbored malice in his heart, and sought to destroy him, and to the fact that David saw his real designs through all the professions of his friendship and confidence. See Rosenmuller’s Introduction to the Psalms. It is certainly possible that this may have been the occasion on which the psalm was composed; but there are no circumstances in the psalm which make this absolutely certain, and there were many occasions in the life of David when the description in one part of the psalm Psalms 36:1-4 would have been applicable to the character and designs of his enemies, as the description in the remainder of the psalm would have been applicable to his own.
The psalm consists of three parts:
I. A description of the character of the wicked, referring doubtless to some persons who were, or who had been, plotting the ruin of the author of the psalm; a general description of human depravity, drawn from the character of those whom the psalmist had particularly in his eye, Psalms 36:1-4.
II. A description of the mercy of God, and an expression of strong confidence in that mercy; particularly, a description of the character of a merciful God as a refuge in thees when depravity prevails, and in thees of darkness; an expression of strong confidence that light will ultimately come forth from him, and that they will find security who put their trust under the shadow of his wings, Psalms 36:5-9.
III. A prayer of the psalmist that he might experience the mercy of God in this case, and an expression of firm conviction that God would interpose in his behalf, Psalms 36:10-12. He is so confident of this - so certain that it would occur - that he speaks of it as if it were already done.