Yesterday, we had a nice day of visiting with friends. We drank tea with one and met a new grand-baby, and were able to surprise another who was totally not expecting us.

How special to come home and see that, while some things change, others don’t … friendships, the ability to laugh together. The fact of having walked through lots of shared experiences together creates a bond that time doesn’t wash away.

I read psalm 5 in the hours before I was getting ready to head to church…

Interested in knowing Why? this series on Psalms…
check out the 1^st post.

Psalm 5

¹ Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
² Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
³ O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

⁴ For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
⁵ The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
⁶ You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

⁷ 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.
⁸ Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.

⁹ For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.
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.

¹¹ 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 exult in you.
¹² For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.

My 3 Thoughts

1. Give ear to my words: The first words that I read from this psalm were… “Give ear to my words.” and I must admit, they kind of struck me. Over the past nine months, I have had a lot of words stored up in my heart & mind (as us introverted types are prone to do)… but I can’t really say that I’ve always been quick to give those words to the Lord.
   • So often we get to a point where we try to “handle things” ourselves, independently and in our own strength… (we get so used to not depending on anyone else… that we try to do everything ourselves.) … that sometimes we can even leave God out of the mix.
   • That’s not a healthy coping strategy… for then we truly are left to our own devices, which often are insufficient for the task at hand.
2. v.7 : “I, Through the abundance… of your steadfast love will enter your house.”
   • I’ve got to admit… this struck me because I was reading it on a Sunday morning and I was getting ready to do just that… “enter his house… church”.
   • It reminded me that, as ornery as I’ve been over the past bit… I am still able to come into his house… on this particular Sunday, a very particular house… our home church in Saint John. What a privilege it was and it was the result of his steadfast love. Others made it possible for us to be there, and that was an expression of God’s steadfast love for us. #Thankful
3. v.8: Lead me O Lord in your righteousness… because of my enemies.”
   • It struck me that David included what he did in the 2^nd part of that sentence.
   • His request that the Lord lead him in righteousness wasn’t a means by which he could then turn around and boast about that righteousness… so that others would see it and credit him with the goodness. Rather, it seems as though he was saying “lead me in righteousness so that my enemies have nothing to accuse me of; so that they can,t say: ‘he says that he loves God, but look at what he does’.” (heaven knows there’s enough of that going around these days….)
   • It’s like Paul’s advice to Titus, in Titus 2.7-8:
     ⁷ In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness ⁸ and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

Food for Thought…

I’m glad, today, that God’s steadfast love, allows me to come into his house, to be heard by him and to be led by him, in his righteousness, because I still need that.

Thanks for joining me today!
If you’re not someone who typically spends time reading the Bible…
I appreciate you being here & will be doing this for the next couple of weeks if you’d care to continue joining me.