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Psalm 36:4
He plots iniquity on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He doesn’t abhor evil.
2For he flatters himself in his own eyes, too much to detect and hate his sin.
3The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4He plots iniquity on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He doesn’t abhor evil.
5Your loving kindness, LORD, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
6Your righteousness is like the mountains of God. Your judgments are like a great deep. LORD, you preserve man and animal.
Notice
The bed becomes a place for plotting evil, exposing how a chosen course of wrongdoing can begin in the privacy of a person’s thoughts.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What distinction do you see between an unwanted thought and the plotting described here?
Write on thisWhere, if anywhere, are you treating evil as acceptable rather than something to reject?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 1:1Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;Both passages describe wrongdoing as a path: one person sets himself on it, while the blessed person avoids it.
Proverbs 4:16For they don’t sleep unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.Both connect evil with the hours meant for sleep: one person plots in bed, while others cannot sleep without doing harm.
Micah 2:1Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.Both describe people devising evil on their beds; Micah adds that they carry out those plans when morning comes.
Proverbs 6:18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief,Both connect devised wickedness with movement toward wrongdoing, joining inward plans to a chosen course of action.
Romans 12:9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.Psalm 36 describes someone who does not abhor evil; Romans commands that very rejection of evil and attachment to good.
Isaiah 65:2I have spread out my hands all day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;Both describe people taking a way that is not good, connecting their chosen direction with their own thoughts or plans.
Psalm 140:2those who devise mischief in their hearts. They continually gather themselves together for war.Both portray wrongdoing being devised within a person; Psalm 140 also describes people gathering together for war.
Psalm 97:10You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.Psalm 36 names a refusal to hate evil, while Psalm 97 commands those who love the LORD to hate it.
Ezekiel 38:10“‘The Lord GOD says: “It will happen in that day that things will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan.Both describe evil taking shape as a devised plan, making deliberate intention central to their portrayal of wrongdoing.
Psalm 7:16The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.Both describe someone who does wrong; Psalm 36 examines his plans, while Psalm 7 describes trouble returning upon him.
Acts 23:12When it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.Both describe deliberate planning of evil; Acts names a specific plot whose participants bind themselves to killing Paul.
Matthew 27:1Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.Both describe planned wrongdoing; Matthew identifies the chief priests and elders taking counsel to put Jesus to death.
Where this verse fits
Temptation. guilt and confession. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
A plan made in bed still has moral weight. God’s righteousness remains firm, even where a person has ceased to hate evil.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 36:4. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).