Meditation on Psalm 5

During the last week I've been meditating on Psalm 5. I would like to share some thoughts that I have had from meditating on this Psalm.

Give ear to my words, O LORD,
consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.

Currently, I'm writing a blog post called "Wait on the Lord." All I have written down so far is the title "Wait on the Lord" the rest is still in my head (I'm still waiting :). Maybe you'll get to read it someday! Anyway, I love what verse 3 has to say, "In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." How often is that the case for you? I often lay my requests before Him and then when I say "Amen" I pick them back up and head out into my day. Do you believe the Lord really hears your voice every morning and do you leave your issues before Him and wait? I'm still a working on this!

You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
the LORD abhors.

This is one of the major parts that I really have been reflecting on. Do you believe "God takes no pleasure in evil and that with the wicked He cannot dwell?" This day and age you can hear lots of ideas about what grace in regards to Christianity means. What exactly is grace? Our church had an excellent sermon 2 weeks ago on the topic of "Applied Grace" by Sam Dharam (11/1/09). In that sermon he said that the majority of way the word grace is used in the Bible means, "God's enabling power." Did you know that? God's grace in our life isn't a blanket to cover over our sin to hide it, excuse it, keep it nice and warm rather it's His strong power to set us free. Jesus said, "Go and sin no more." Just because God has paid they price for sin does not mean sin is now okay with God. God still hates sin as much as He always has and He still doesn't want His children messing with it because it is DANGEROUS. That is why He went to great lengths to make a way for us to be free.

But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple.

Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.

We still all sin, don't we? These verses show us what to do when that happens. We can go boldly before the throne of mercy and fall down at His feet and say, "Lead me, O Lord, make your paths of righteousness straight before me." He more than gladly wants to do this. If you've been trying to walk out of your sin on your own, stop right now, you are just going to fall down in that giant pit again. Rather go before Him, He sees your nakedness and He is more than willing to lead you if you let Him. (If you are currently caught in a besetting sin please consider reading my three part series on Uprooting a Besetting Sin).

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.

Do we see the destructiveness of sin? "Not a word from their mouth can be trusted." A friend of mine recently told me that she went through many of her old memories with the Lord and sorted through them. Each memory that came to mind she would ask the Lord whose voice was over that memory. He would answer "This was My voice or this was the enemy's voice." There is INCREDIBLE value in doing this. You have voices speaking to you everyday. There are voices of TRUTH that come into your life and voices of death. For you to have the ability to recognize and distinguish these voices is of GREAT VALUE. A word from the voice of the enemy CANNOT be trusted, it is filled with destruction, it is like an open grave. Beloved, if there is one thing I pray you get from this post it is to take the time to stop and sort through some of the voices you've been listening too. Is it from the voice of truth or is it from the enemy?

Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.

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.

For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

2 Corinthians 10:5

We demolish arguments and every pretension

that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,

and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

These things will be the end result of you taking every thought captive. The Lord will demolish and destroy the strongholds the enemy has built and/or is trying to build in your life. May the blessings of the Lord and His shield cover over you.