July 26, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Ester 9:20-Job 2:13; Acts 16:25-17:9

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

Psalm 5

1     Give ear to my words, O Lord,

Consider my groaning.

     2     Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God,

For to You I pray.

     3     In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;

In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

     4     For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness;

No evil dwells with You.

     5     The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;

You hate all who do iniquity.

     6     You destroy those who speak falsehood;

The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

     7     But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house,

At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.

     8     O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes;

Make Your way straight before me.

     9     There is nothing reliable in what they say;

Their inward part is destruction itself.

Their throat is an open grave;

They flatter with their tongue.

     10     Hold them guilty, O God;

By their own devices let them fall!

In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out,

For they are rebellious against You.

     11    (a) But let all who take refuge in You be glad,

Let them ever sing for joy;

(b) And may You shelter them,

That those who love Your name may exult in You.

     12     For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord,

You surround him with favor as with a shield.

NASB95^[1]

I noticed a pattern as I read through this Psalm that was rather interesting.  Compare the concepts between verses 1, 4, 8 and 11a, then 2, 5, 9, and 11b, then look at verses 3, 6, 10, 12, and wrap it up by considering verse 7 a fulcrum verse that everything is balanced on.  Hebrew poetry rhymed concepts, I can't say if it rhymed words or not since I don't read Hebrew.  Notice the way that the concepts of prayer, and the hindrance of evil compare.  Notice the way that God dwells with those who seek after Him as opposed to the treatment of God toward those who do not dwell with Him. 

The concepts are like a reverse Oreo cookie, the outsides of the verses,  speak of righteousness and the way that the prayer of the righteous will be heard.  While the dark center speaks of evil, sin, and the downfall of the wicked.  It speaks of the journey to righteousness, 1-3 speak of the desire, 4-6 speak of the problem of sin, 8-10 speak of the Lord’s judgment, and 11-12 speak of the walk of the righteous, and again, 7 overshadows the entire psalm with the truth of our standing before God.

David made it a priority to pray to the Lord in the morning, to cry out to God for help, and then to watch for the answer.  He compared and contrasted that with those who make it a priority to follow after wickedness, boastfulness and sin. 

The question that each of us have to answer in our lives is where do we stand before God?  Do we fit in the group that takes the time to pray to God?   Or do we stand in the group that follows and glorifies the world?  The fulcrum verse dead center in this Psalm gives us a clue as to the attitude that we are to have before the Lord, (verse 7).

Each of us knows about the evil that exist in our world, we are very familiar with it.  Yet we have forgotten how to draw before the Lord to seek His righteousness in our lives.  In a world that has drifted away from the church and away from God it is time that each one of us take this chapter to heart.  Let's determine that we will follow God and depend on Him for our lives.  Let's live in His lovingkindness, worship Him, and reverence Him in every area of our lives.

Enough said today, I challenge you to put this psalm into practice and to evaluate your life on it.  All comments are welcomed.

Father, as we consider Your word today, open our eyes so that each of us can discern where we stand before You.  Put a passion in our hearts for righteousness.

In Him,

Joe Turner.