December 18
“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. Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is destruction; their throat is an open tomb; they flatter with their tongue. 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. 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. For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield,” Psalm 5:7-12.
The psalmist expresses his determination to worship God in spirit and in truth. He would come into the temple with awe and reverence for God’s presence. He trusted in the multitude of God’s mercy. We are reminded of the words of the apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans and in his First Epistle to Timothy: “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,” Romans 5:20. “Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 1:13-14. God’s love and mercy are limitless. There is no sin too great or too grievous that it cannot be forgiven. Scripture clearly states, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from ALL sin,” 1 John 1:7.
The enemies of David were watching closely to see what might happen to him. He prayed that God would keep him on the straight and narrow way. As Christians, we should always heed the words of the Lord Jesus, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it,” Matthew 7:13-14. The gate to heaven is too narrow for anyone who is puffed up with pride and who thinks that he can work his way into heaven.
The enemies of God and the Gospel are not to be trusted in anything that they say and do. The words that come out of their mouths are lies and flattery. By rejecting God and His mercy, they place themselves under the judgment of God. David points out that those who are his enemies are really God’s enemies. He writes, “They have rebelled against You.”
It reminds us of Samuel when the Israelites asked for a king, and he personally felt that the people had rejected him as the prophet of God. God told Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them,” 1 Samuel 8:7.
The psalmist closes this psalm on a word of joy: “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.” As Christians, whose faith and trust is in God’s mercy revealed through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, we rejoice in the forgiveness of sins and the promise of life everlasting. In His grace and mercy, God will bless us and shield us against all harm and danger.
“I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
Trusting only Thee;
Trusting Thee for full salvation,
Great and free.
I am trusting Thee for pardon;
At Thy feet I bow,
For Thy grace and tender mercy,
Trusting now.
I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus;
Never let me fall.
I am trusting Thee forever,
And for all.” Amen.