Psalm 5

For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David. 1Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. 2Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. 4For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. 5The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong;6you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord, detest. 7But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple. 8Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies— make your way straight before me. 9Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies. 10Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins,  for they have rebelled against you. 11But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 12Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. ******************** The writer (ascribed to David in the introduction) is in trouble.  He has enemies who are trying to deceive him.  Where does he turn?  Sometimes we may not understand why people oppose us, but it doesn't matter.   He turns to God who can make his way straight- that is smooth and right.  Crooked ways waste precious time and life.  Truth is, if you do something good, you will have enemies.  If you are seeking to make a difference rather than doing nothing, you should expect it to be difficult because of the hassles of this life.  We all will face problems.  But the writer has patience because he has a God to wait on and trust in.  For those who have no outside help, impatience is the norm.  He waits until the morning, and prays that his enemies will be frustrated.      In the end, he prays for God's protection and blessing, and even rejoices ("Surely") in it.   For those who want to tell others about God, this is a great example.  Believing in God gives us an outside source of hope that allows us to face the problems of life with confidence.   Prayer: Lord, I may face many trials, but may I face them with you.  Thank you that I am not alone, and can wait on you to help me.  Help me to spread your love so others may also have this great source of peace and patience.

Day 19- Forty Days of Fellowship; 10-16-14

10/17- Friday Psalm 5:4-8, 11- 4For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;

with you, evil people are not welcome. 5The arrogant cannot stand in your presence.

You hate all who do wrong; 6you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful

you, Lord, detest. 7But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple. 8Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies— make your way straight before me. 11But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Bonhoeffer: “Repeatedly in Psalm 5 there are two voices, bringing the same concern to God. Is this not a hint that one who prays never prays alone?”

Thoughts: To be able to downplay evil as if it does not matter what we do is to miss the importance of the holiness of God.  Some things do not please God.  Which things?  God, as the Creator, has the right to decide what is wicked and what is good.  The things that go along with His design and His creation are good.  The bloodthirsty who kill thinking they are doing good- think ISIS- are wrong.  The lying and deceiving who try to disguise the reality of life in order to achieve more selfishness are wrong.  But it is by God’s great love that we are brought into fellowship with Him.  It is by God’s great love that we know we should be reverent and humble before Him instead of arrogant and selfish.  The prayer is that God will lead us in His way of fellowship and love because there are those who would persecute or make fun of those who would try to be selfless instead of selfish.  There are the arrogant who would use their power to overwhelm the weak and humble.  The two voices Bonhoeffer describes are the “I” and the “we.”  No individual prays apart from the fellowship.  The selfless are never alone.

Prayer: Lord, as I give myself to you and others, may I find that you are there with me and others are as well. 

Crowd cheering a racer on. 

The Fellowship cheers us on the straight and narrow path to the finish line.