“He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.” -Psalm 36:4
Here, in verse 4, the transgressor progresses toward his ultimate condition. He moves from entertaining evil in the heart (v. 1), to reconciling with it in his mind (vs. 2), to acting on it in word in deed (vs. 3), to finally plotting (devising and scheming) in secret (vs. 4). Like an arrow launched, the very trajectory of his life is now on an evil course he has little control of—and he embraces all of it (does not reject evil), the Psalmist tells us.
Alexander Pope noted this progression as well in his brilliant poem, Essay on Man:
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen;
Yet, seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace (Book II, 1-4).
Such a progression is noteworthy in that it ought to prompt us to pause and examine the meditations of our hearts with fear and trepidation.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” -Psalm 19:14