Being Clear in the Real World

"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. 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. 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. 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." Psalms 5:4-12

There are three things that the remainder of Psalms 5 makes clear; three things that we should be mindful of at all times. In the real and often difficult world we live in it is good to remember that: 1. God is Holy and will not be mocked. 2. Because of His mercy He will hear us, help us, protect us, and bless us. 3. God will deal with His enemies.

So O.K., knowing this we should be: 1. Righteous – not self-righteous, 2. Humble – not arrogant, 3. Joyful – not bitter, 4. Glad – not resentful.

Instead, we too often try to get even, get involved in the mind games of others, keep the drama alive and waste our precious time, energy, and resources messing with stuff that we should surrender to God. What is up what with that? You would think that once we begin to feel the arrogance, bitterness, resentment, and self-righteousness we could figure out that we are creating more trouble.

If indeed God hears us, and will help u,s and is going to protect us, and bless us my best guess is He knows best and would like to be more involved in the rest of it to, not only with our enemies, but with each other too. Regrettably, we sometimes treat our enemies a little better. Seek Him first. Aren’t the Psalms a blessing?

Pastor Fred

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