Psalms 36:6
Psalms 36:66Your righteousness is like the highest mountains; Your judgments are like the deepest sea. O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
Cited for Jehovah's righteousness, the depth of his judgments, and his care for all living creatures. It is used in Watchtower material about God's justice and his provision for creation, and raises no controversy.
The line to hold onto is the last one: man and beast you preserve, O Jehovah. Preserving what lives is named as something Jehovah does, and says the same — in his hand is the life of every living thing. That has a bearing on the Colossians question. Paul says at that in Christ all things hold together — the sustaining of creation, attributed to the Son. And at 1:16 that all things were created in him, through him and for him. This is also the place to deal with "firstborn" in 1:15, because the Watchtower reading of that word is what makes the rest seem manageable. Firstborn in Scripture is a rank, not a birth order. Esau was born first and lost the birthright to Jacob. God says of David, Jesse's youngest, "I will appoint him as my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth" (). And Paul defines his own use in the next breath: firstborn over all creation, FOR by him all things were created. Compare , , .