For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. (Psalms 5:4-6 ESV)
I really enjoyed this Psalm because I found this first part to be especially true and convicting. It is one that I really need to take to heart and keep on my mind when struggling with the temptation of sin. Our God, while all powerful, is incredible merciful and sometimes it's easy to settle into sin and rely on his forgiveness rather than continue to fight against it, but we need to be on our guard against this complacency because this is giving in to the devil and sin without fighting against it. Which is essentially allowing ourselves to be ok with behavior that God abhors. I think this section of verses point out three major types of sin (not the only types but 3 major) that we need to fully grasp that they are sin and against God. I see them as: general wickedness when evil is dwelling in us, boastfulness and pride that creeps into our everyday thoughts and actions all too often, and the deceitfulness and lies that we let come out of our mouthes.
The pride and deceitfulness are ones that I struggle with the most, and I think it's often because we take so much of a short sighted approach that we don't see the implications. Dishonesty and deceitfulness takes root in our desire to live up to the expectations of others and put forward a version of ourselves that is a lie for others to see (I'm sure you can see too how this ties into pride). Often times we lie to people for fear of judgement and exposure of our sin. I had to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all recently as God was helping me to see a lot of this in my own life. Think about it. We are sinful Christians who have a loving, merciful God, but because we don't want people to see our brokenness and sin, we hide it from one another (which the devil loves when we do) and put on the I'm a perfect Christian face and smile and walk and talk and go through the day avoiding being confronted with the most important thing for us to talk about and that is our sin! We meet together in churches in front of our God who urges us to confess and repent, but we're each so afraid to let the other know that we're sinful and we put up these walls to who we really are rather than let it out. How silly is that. A church full of broken people afraid to let the next person know what the exact thing that Bible already told us for thousands of years: we are a broken people that fall victim to see.
This is how a sinner can feel so out of place at a church because we've gotten so good and putting on this mask and not wanting others to know.
Why do you think they call us hypocrites?
Why do you think they laugh and mock us when our elaborate plans to hide our sin become exposed?
I'm not saying this is every Christian by any means, but we are shooting ourselves in the foot by feeling like we have to be perfect and not wanting anyone to know when we fall short. God already knows, and he is the only one who matters so admit your sin and help others admit theirs so we can help each other and fight the battle together rather than turning into something that is more a comedy of lies (and pride).
I like the way this is broken down: an introduction, then a description of the unrighteous and the righteous, followed by another description of the unrighteous and the righteous. Each stanza of the Psalm describe acts and characteristics of the boastful evildoers and the reverent worshipers.
ReplyDeleteIn verse 8 we see a reference to Psalm 23:3 [He restores my soul.He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.]. David also makes it clear that instead of being boastful, a righteous man prays that God will make straight way before him and will praise joy in taking refuge under God. Verse 11 and 12 both repeat the theme of joy and exultation under God's protection.
It amazes me how differently the two cases are treated in this Psalm. On one hand are the sinners, "Make them bear their guilt, O God;let them fall by their own counsels;" Psalms 5:10
ReplyDeleteThis seems a little harsh to me. It is purely giving them what they deserve, no love/grace/mercy/forgiveness/anything good that we would like to think about. When we continue in sin, God lets us reap what we have sowed. While on the other hand, "For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield." Psalms 5:12
It just goes to show how divisive sin is. God wants to cover us from sin, and be there for us. But by constantly choosing sin, we separate ourselves from His love and everything good that it brings. It is an intense reminder that our sin carries consequences.
This passage is so black and white. God abhors wickedness. No evil dwells within Him. Those who are deceitful and hang on to their sinful ways will be destroyed. Those who love and fear the Lord, however, will forever dwell in the house of the Lord singing his praises. If something like this doesn't set you straight in your fear of the Lord, I don't know what will. God is powerful and just, and He rewards those who seek Him.
ReplyDelete"You are not a God who delights in evil;
ReplyDeleteno wicked person finds refuge with you;
the arrogant cannot stand before you.
You hate all who do evil;
you destroy all who speak falsely.
Murders and deceivers the Lord abhors."
Psalm 5:5-7
God does not enjoy when we do evil deeds. He does not like to see his children missing the mark and sinning. If you're wicked and mean and hateful without remorse, do not think that you are going to find favor with God. Often times, I witness a person who continues to sin and not love others, but then they pretend that God is okay with that because God will meet them where they are at and understand where they are coming from. Just because we have a merciful God and a Just God does not mean that we do not have an all knowing God that knows when your heart is not in something and when you are just going through the motions. God knows when you are deceiving those around you and trying to deceive him. And he looks with disdain upon those who murder with their hearts and minds and who deceive others.