God is Righteous and Just

God is Righteous and Just

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Psalms 5
5:1 To the Chief Musician. With flutes. A Psalm of David.
Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue.
10 Pronounce them guilty, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels; Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, For they have rebelled against You.
11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.
12 For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield. NKJV

Good Morning! This psalm is typical of many of David’s psalms–he cries out to God for help and direction and acknowledges God’s righteousness and hatred of people’s sins. He gives God praise for His righteousness and His shielding power. Let’s take a look at these verses.

In the intro he is first dedicating this to the chief musician. Who that was we don’t know. Then he asks God to listen to him, to listen to his musing, his meditations. He again repeats his request to be heard, and calls God his king.

Do you know what it is like to have a king over you? David did and he knew God was the King of the Universe and King of Israel. Most of you who are reading this have never had a king over you, a king who made the laws of the land and executed the those laws. In countries where that is still true, the king basically has all the authority over the lives of the people of that country. David understood that concept, and when he himself became king, he strove to be the kind of king for the people of Israel that he would want over himself and that would please God. Even though he flubbed it for a season because of his own flesh nature and ego, –again it was only for a short season, and then he repented and returned to following God.

At any rate, in this psalm, he calls God his King besides his God. And he declares that it is to this God he is praying, making his request.

And notice the time he chooses for prayer! Early in the morning when he has first gotten up. He trained himself to start his day with God. Have you done that? Do you start your day with God or do you try to start it and then later spend your time with Him? For most folks, I think the most important time is in the morning, rather than later in the day. But the really important thing in all this is–have a set time each day when you spend time with God in the Word and in prayer and in praise and worship. Jesus often went off before morning to spend time alone with His Father, and sometimes He went off in an evening to have time alone with the Father. He didn’t always get to do that as frequently as He would have liked, cause the minute He would disappear, the disciples would go looking for him and so did the crowds. But Jesus too had to have His quiet time with His Father–something that wasn’t as easy on earth as it had been in Heaven where He could have that time with His Father non-stop. So if Jesus needed it, and David needed it and people all through history have needed it, so do you and I. I have to have my quiet time in the morning when I get up because otherwise my day is literally shot. And it is a battle to guard it, but I do it as best I can and pray you are doing the same with your quiet time–battling to keep it when it is supposed to be taking place.

Well, David’s quiet time was in the morning. And in verse 4 he gives us a description of God’s characteristics. “You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You.” Have you ever told God He is someone who doesn’t take pleasure in the wickedness that we see around us. And note, David also says, “no evil will dwell with You.” Have you ever told God that or even told yourself that?

Have you heard the expression which has the reply right with it?

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

Yes, God is truly good all the time. There is no time where He isn’t good. Even when you look around you and see corruption of your country on every side, where greed abounds, where hatred or murder abound, where self-centeredness and indifference abound, that doesn’t stop God from being good all the time. And evil certainly cannot dwell with Him, it can’t even approach His presence. His very presence destroys evil, chases it away, burns it up like something would be burned up by the sun if the item got close enough. David was well aware of God’s purity and knew that He was like a cleansing fire.

5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

Think about this truth as expressed in verses 5 & 6. These are strong and really wonderful words. And even though right now there are people foolish enough to boast against God, sold to their sins, full of deceit and lies, and guilty of bloodshed–yes even though these people exist in this world, He, God, will destroy them one day and one day such will be no more.

Why does He wait? Jesus gave us that reason in Matthew 13.

Matthew 13:24-30
24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares ?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares , ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. KJV

Verse 29 is the reason. In the meanwhile David continues in

Psalm 5:7-8
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face.

Where does David want to be? In God’s house, in God’s temple, in God’s presence. And he declares that when he worships, he will face the temple. Now how could he do that when it had not been built yet? I think David had in mind the temple he was hoping to build or he was thinking of the sanctuary–the tent tabernacle that was used during his time.

What is he asking? To be led in righteousness. He wants his path in life to be a righteous one and a straight, rather than a crooked one. Do you ask God for that? If Jesus is your goal, then you are asking for that too.

Now his mind goes back to the behavior of his enemies.

Psalms 5:9-10
9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.
10 Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you. NIV

I have to say, this is my prayer for the wicked that are in power who are bringing this country down to destruction. I want to see their downfall and this country rescued from their clutches, however, I want to see them rescued first from their sins, and then only if need be, removed from power. But those who are not going to repent and make their lives a dedication to the destruction of this country which was built on the foundations of the Word of God–then let them bring about their own fall and land in the pit they dug for others. So I do understand how David felt here, but if there is any way any of them can be saved, I want that especially. I want them to meet the Lord Jesus and get their sins washed away and start living holy lives as all Christians are called to do.

Hebrews 12:14
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: KJV

For those who do seek to follow the Lord all the way,

Psalms 5:11-12
11 But 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.
12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. NIV

May God bless your reading of His Word each day. Love, the Good News Lady