Let all who take refuge in You be glad

Psalm 5 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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 But let all who take refuge in You be glad,
Let them ever sing for joy;
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.

The psalmist says:  You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You.  The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.  You destroy those who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit. But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.  1 John 1:5 says:  This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.  When Jesus was here, He did not associate with outcasts and sinners because He loved or even tolerated evil and darkness. Light cannot comingle with darkness. It was to dispel darkness; that they might see the light and repent. Jesus was and is one with God. He could not tolerate and embrace what God abhors. He did not take pleasure in wickedness. He died so that those who practice wickedness could be redeemed. Sin has not been redeemed, sinners have. For those who have come to know, believe and accept God’s grace and the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross, we can not only bow in reverence, Hebrews 4:16 says:  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Because of God’s lovingkindness we can enter into His presence and receive the help we need.

It is with that in mind that the psalmist says:  Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my groaning.  Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray. In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch…  O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes; Make Your way straight before me.  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.  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.  In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says:  “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  In John 14:6 Jesus says:  “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”   Jesus will not only guide us on the way of righteousness, He is the way and He is our righteousness. Continuing what He says about the narrow way, Matthew 7:15-20 says:  “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”   We need to take care then when we listen to the words of human philosophy, trying to glean something good from it. The psalmist says:  There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Jesus says:  “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit… Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.”  If we are to glean anything good from what the world has to say or offer, we must recognize, as James 1:17 says:  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.   What is evil cannot speak what is good. A liar does not speak truth, but rather twists the truth in order to speak their lies. 

The psalmist says:  Let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You. For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.

Thank You Lord God, Jesus Christ my Savior and Redeemer and precious Holy Spirit; I am blessed by and through Your love and grace. I take refuge in Your goodness. I am thankful for Your favor. I am glad because You have made me glad. You have made me righteous by grace, through the cross. I exult in Your name and I will heed Your voice.  Amen.