Psalm 5 today, a slightly longer psalm, and it has some fairly complex issues involved
with it, and I'll try to keep it short.
Psalm 5, verses 1 to 12.
Now I'll read it out loud for us.
It's to the choir master for the flutes, a psalm of David.
Give ear to my words, O Lord.
Consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God.
For to you do I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.
In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
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.
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness.
Because of my enemies, make your way straight before me.
For there is no truth in their mouth.
Their inmost self is destruction.
Their throat is an open grave.
They flatter with their tongue.
Make them bear their guilt, O God.
Let them fall by their own counsels.
Because of the abundance of their transgressions,
cast them out.
For they have rebelled against you.
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice.
Let them ever sing for joy.
And spread your protection over them.
That those who love your name may exalt in you.
For you bless the righteous, O Lord.
You cover him with favor as with the shield.
So,
the world is full of suffering and injustice.
And a lot of,
we see that all around us.
The poor are defrauded.
And made poor while the rich are sheltered.
And made richer.
In this imperfect order of injustice in this world.
Sometimes the innocent are unfairly punished.
While the wicked roam freely.
And it is in this context,
the question of suffering.
Of how a good God and a sovereign God,
all powerful God,
can allow such suffering and injustice in this world.
And of course,
there are satisfactory philosophical answers for this.
But the philosophical answer,
though it's not unimportant,
is often intellectually satisfying,
but not emotionally satisfying.
It's not viscerally satisfying.
But the Psalms,
their response is a little different.
They do not sanitize,
sanitize the presence of real evil
and suffering in this world.
Instead,
they help us to think and feel with God.
And this Psalm,
Psalm 5 in particular,
tells us that we can take refuge in the Lord
because of the abundance of God's steadfast love
and righteousness.
We can take refuge in the Lord
because of the abundance of God's steadfast love
and righteousness.
And in the first part,
it tells us about how God's love issues in our worship.
It leads us to worship.
Excuse me.
It begins in verses 1 to 3.
1 to 7, really,
where the psalmist prays and prepares for worship.
And he confesses that God is my king and my God.
So we can tell already
that this intimacy prompts him toward prayer.
He's not just reaching out to our king,
his people's king or his people's God,
but this is God he knows.
He's my king.
This is my God.
And so that he utters to him
not just formal prayer,
but also his groaning and cries,
it says in verses 1 to 3.
And he's confident that he will hear God's voice.
But as he approaches God in prayer,
he is reminded of God's holiness.
And as he reflects on God's holiness,
he's reminded that the evil that surrounds him
is brought into sharp belief.
And so he acknowledges in verses 4 to 6,
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 men.
And these are really categorical,
strong statements, right?
And they get progressively more intense
if you look at how the list is arranged.
So first, it says that God in no way
delights in wickedness.
In verse 4,
but it's not only that he doesn't delight in wickedness,
he can't even stand evil.
He has such an aversion to evil
that evil may not even dwell with him, right?
And it goes from the abstract idea of evil
that it's not merely that he's displeased by evil,
irked by evil,
but that he opposes also evil people.
It's not that,
so it's verses 5 to 6,
it says,
God hates all evildoers.
He destroys those who speak lies,
and he abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful men.
And this is challenging
because it flies in the face of our
to feel good maxim that we use a lot,
which is,
God hates the sin but loves the sinner.
And because that's not exactly a biblical statement,
because God's wrath is not some impersonal force
that's inevitable because of our sin,
but rather it's a personal outpouring of God's justice.
And as theologian Leon Morris writes,
it is largely because wrath is so fully personal
in the Old Testament
that mercy becomes so fully personal.
For mercy is the action of the same God
who was angry,
allowing his wrath to be turned away.
And so this teaches us that God not only hates sin,
but he hates sinners, right?
For their stubborn rebellion.
And yet this fierce hatred towards sinners
doesn't preclude his unyielding love for them.
They exist simultaneously.
And it's his love, precisely,
that restrains and delays his judgment and wrath.
So we have to hold those two things in tension
where we don't sterilize God's wrath
so that people who are sinning
can live contentedly,
assuming that God still loves them
and that the weight and fury of God's personal wrath
toward them is,
they don't feel it.
C.S. Lewis writes about this
in his reflection on the psalm.
He said,
the ferocious parts of the psalms
serve as a reminder
that there is in the world
such a thing as wickedness,
and that it is hateful to God.
And note the word for
at the beginning of verse 4.
It's this holiness of God
that enables,
his wrath toward evil doers
that enables the psalmist to pray.
That's his reason for praying.
He's the grounds for his prayer.
Because, of course,
the victim of injustice
is not going to go to a court
where he knows there's a judge
who's corrupt
and takes bribes from his enemies
and his opponents.
He will take, rather,
the case to a place
where a judge is known
for his uncompromising integrity.
And so, likewise,
in this case,
because the psalmist knows
that God's uncompromising
and resolute in his righteousness,
his holiness,
and his justice,
that's what enables the psalmist
to pray,
the verses in 8 and 10.
8 to 10.
But, at this point,
God's righteousness alone
isn't enough
for the psalmist to come
because,
if that's the case,
the psalmist also may fail
and may not qualify
in God's eyes.
He has to make sure
he has a perfectly good,
right case.
And that's why, I think, here,
the psalm takes a surprising turn,
verse 7,
because he doesn't go
from extolling God's righteousness
and then to extolling
his own merit,
but rather,
the basis for the psalmist's prayer
is God's steadfast love,
right?
So, Psalm,
verse 7 says,
But I,
through the abundance
of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down
toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
And there's a wonderful
asymmetry.
Asymmetry here.
Asymmetry here
because the psalmist says
that because of the abundance
of God's steadfast love,
he can enter
into God's presence
and bow down
at the temple in worship.
And then,
contrast that with verse 10,
where the psalmist notes
that because of the abundance
of the enemy's transgressions,
they are cast out
because they have rebelled
against God.
So,
same word,
abundance.
So,
while it's the abundance
of their own transgressions
that lead
God's enemies
to be cast out
and in rebellion,
it's God's,
it's not the psalmist's
abundant righteousness,
but rather,
the abundance
of God's steadfast love,
his grace,
that he's able to enter
into God's presence.
There is a symmetry here.
It's not parallel.
Israel.
And so,
and then this,
this abundance of God's steadfast love
ultimately is what fosters worship.
So,
in verse 7,
the psalmist says,
I will bow down
toward the holy temple
in the fear of you.
And,
so,
this is how God's love
promotes,
leads to issues
in our worship.
But then God's judgment,
God's righteousness,
on the other hand,
leads to his judgment
toward evildoers.
And you see this
in verse 8 to 10.
It says,
Lead me,
O Lord,
in your righteousness
because of my enemies.
Make your way straight
before me.
So,
this is psalmist's prayer.
He prays that God
will protect him
and to make his way straight.
And because his way,
his righteousness
is threatened by his enemies.
And that's why verse 9
again begins with the verse 4.
For,
there is no truth in their mouth.
Their inmost self is destruction.
Their throat is an open grave.
They flatter with their tongue.
And it's noteworthy
that the entirety
of this list of sins
is,
has something to do with speech.
As James 3, 6 confirms,
the tongue is a fire,
a world of unrighteousness.
And these evildoers,
their sin primarily
has to do with their speech.
So much so,
there's no truth in their mouth.
Their throat is like
an open grave
from which the stench of death
just oozes out.
And to this,
the psalmist responds
by praying in verse 10.
Make them bear their guilt,
O God.
Let them fall
by their own counsels.
Because of the abundance
of their transgressions,
cast them out,
for they have rebelled
against you.
And I think
if we're honest
with ourselves,
this kind of prayer
makes us a little uncomfortable.
Because it seems
to fly in the face
of Jesus' teaching
to love our enemies,
pray for those
who persecute you.
And so,
we might ask,
do these psalms
actually apply to us?
Do they teach
a sub-Christian ethic,
a Jewish ethic,
an Old Testament ethic
that's passed away?
And I don't think so.
And the reason is
that first,
we have to note
that the psalmist
is not seeking
personal vengeance.
He's not seeking
the exact personal vengeance,
but he's calling,
even though he does call
these evildoers
my enemies,
in verse 8,
it's clear from verse 10,
the context there,
that they're his enemies
because ultimately
they're God's enemies.
Because he says
that they rebelled
against God.
So the psalmist here
is not motivated
by a personal vendetta,
but he's consumed
by his zeal
for God's glory.
Especially since
this is a psalm of David,
and David's a king,
and that prefigures
the Messiah,
Jesus Christ.
And he,
so an offense
against the king,
God's anointed king,
and his kingdom,
Israel,
is at this stage
of God's revelation
a direct offense
against God
and his kingdom,
rebelling against him.
Excuse me.
And then secondly,
we have to note
that the psalmist
is praying to God
that God will enforce
his holiness and justice,
and he's not taking things
in his own hands
to enforce his own justice.
He's praying
that God will do this,
and he's in doing so
entrusting himself
to God's justice
and holiness
and care.
And then finally,
I think a prayer
for God's justice
and love for our enemies
are not mutually exclusive.
Because,
yes,
we should love our enemies,
yes,
we should pray for them
and be reconciled to them
if at all possible,
and we should do good to them
even as they do evil to us.
But when injustice
cannot be righted,
and when people suffer,
when there's injustice
in this world,
it is morally imperative
for us to pray
for God's justice,
not for our sake,
but for the sake
of God's glory.
And I think perhaps
we're uncomfortable
with this kind of prayers
because a lot of Christians
have become functional deists
that believe that
after Jesus' first coming,
that God basically
lets the world run on its own,
doesn't really interfere
in its affairs,
and then not until
the second coming of Jesus
when God finally judges
the whole world.
And that's not the way it is.
Because God's not
an uninterested spectator.
Rather,
He's active
and continually works
in history
and in our society.
And we would be callous
and indifferent
to the suffering
and injustice
and evil in this world
if we simply,
we do not pray,
cry out to God
for His justice
to overtake evildoers.
So there's a place for that.
There's an appropriate
place for that.
And so then,
God's love issues
in our worship
and His dry stricciness
issues in His judgment
of God's enemies.
And it is for this reason,
because of both
God's love
and righteousness,
that we can take refuge
in the Lord.
So verses 11 to 12,
they say,
But let all who take
refuge in you rejoice.
Let them ever sing for joy
and spread your protection
over them,
that those who love
your name may exalt
in you.
For you bless the righteous,
O Lord.
You cover him with favor
as with a shield.
It's a wonderful image,
right,
the continual image
of the spreading
of this protection
over us.
and then that,
and then the word
covering us
as with a shield.
It's God's over us,
protecting us,
hovering over us
like a bird
that protects its chicks.
And that's the,
and this is the,
and the reason
why God can do that,
and this is,
this song
and the list of sins here
of,
it is included
in Romans 3,
10 to 13,
where Paul says,
None is righteous,
no not one.
No one understands,
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside.
Together they have
become worthless.
And then he says,
Their throat is an open grave.
They use their tongues
to deceive.
So this is a quotation
from the psalm.
And then,
of course,
later he says
in the same chapter,
All have sinned
and fall short
of the glory of God
and are justified
by his grace
as a gift
through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus
whom God put forward
as a propitiation
by his blood
to be received
by faith.
And so this points
to that ultimate reality
that we,
all evildoers,
all of us,
in fact,
have fallen
into this category
of people
whose mouths
are open graves
who deceive.
And yet,
God's able
to spare us,
able to show us,
cover us,
with favor,
as with the shield
because Christ died
for us.
Ultimately,
he was propitiation
for our sins
and he averted
the wrath of God.
And that works
in two ways.
It's that,
first,
we can take refuge
in God
without fearing
his wrath
toward us
for our sins.
And then secondly,
we can take refuge
in God
in the midst
of the evil
and injustice
of this world
because we know
that because God
judged sin
in Christ,
the same way
he will ultimately
execute his final judgment
on all evil
and suffering
in this world.
And that
becomes,
that constitutes
the nature
of our hope
and the nature
of our posture
toward the world
and toward God.
And so I hope
this encourages
all of you,
all of us,
to let us,
to take refuge
in the Lord
because of both
his love
and his righteousness.
With that,
let's pray
to God.
and first
let's sing a song
to you.