July 16, 2017
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Reading along with us in the first 30 chapters of Psalm? Here’s today’s reading:
Psalm 5 (ESV)
Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man… Continue Reading
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Grace and justice
I listened to a testimony on YouTube last night called “23 Minutes in Hell,” and this psalm reminded me of what Bill Wiese shared. Especially v. 7: “But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.”
He said when people say God isn’t loving because He doesn’t let everyone into heaven, he shares this analogy: “Let’s say you see a spectacular mansion along the road that you want to live in. So you go up to the door and knock, and when the owner answers, you say, ‘I’m moving in with you.’ He has no relationship with you. Would you tell him he’s ‘unloving’ when he doesn’t allow you into his house?”
He also shared how, in his vision, when he saw Jesus, all he wanted to do was thank Him over and over and over again. Nothing else. “Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus!”
Psalm 5:11 – “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.”
I have many conflicting thoughts about this Psalm.
Part of me thinks how lightly we take sin after the coming of Christ. We take his imputed righteousness for granted. David hates wickedness and evil. He says, “the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.”
And yet, David recognizes his own need for God’s mercy and to approach God with fear.
And….David was a bloody and deceitful man.
And….David was a man after God’s own heart.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.❤️
This Psalm shows us there is certainly a place for right judgement: to call a spade a spade, to confirm in our own hearts and before God what is wrong and sinful. It helps define things for ourselves…let’s make sure I don’t do those things. It also affirms to us the things God cares about, what He supports and what He rejects so we can know what He is doing when our enemies come against us. To know that He is working against the wrong and working to promote what is right should help us as we engage with evil. In many cases it helps us be merciful. I don’t have to carry the burden of judging the world, giving them their due because God is dong that.
Because we need to make sure we don’t become judgmental even after having made a proper judgement about things. We have to find that place of recognizing the behavior that is wrong but then not treating people according to it or getting self righteous and condescending because we know and do better. I imagine Jesus knew and expressed that balance as He was a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
Our prayer should be v8…”Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies-make straight your way before me.” Doing what is right and following God’s ways are most difficult when we have people coming against us or sin surrounds us….hence the prayer…lead me Lord!