At the beginning of Psalm 5 we see a trend starting to develop. The author again asks God to hear his cries and his prayers. Do we do this enough that if we wrote down our prayers we (or our kids in years to come) would see us begging God to hear us?
...now I know what you might be thinking: "Why do I have to beg God? He has promised to hear us as long as sin is not between me and God, right?" True. And, if you've never experienced those lonely moments when the only person you could turn to was God, then you don't know. I have often felt alone and out of God's reach. Sure, I know better. I know there is no where for me to go where God is not present. I know that now that I am in Christ's hands and in God's hands I can never leave them. But I'm also human and I have emotions that sometimes win the battle of the will. I forget that God is there or I "feel" like He is there even though I know He is.
So, I find myself praying (or crying out) and asking God to hear me. In my most lucid moments I then have the joy of remembering that He has already heard me and answered me with a "yes." :o) What a great encouragement too!
Verses 4-6 are going to help us understand the character of God a little better too. I think we have a tendency to forget this. I mean, as a parent I often work in degrees. So, my daughter disobeyed me. Did she do that on purpose, with a knowing and hateful mental-smile, or did she just forget? Well, forgetting isn't an excuse when I've told her something 12 times...in the last 12 minutes. So there is still a consequence for her action(s) but not the same consequence as if she had been paying full attention and still done whatever she did.
God both does and doesn't work that way. Let me try to articulate this. God knows that we are dust. He made us, He sustains us, so He knows us better than we know ourselves. Yet, the Bible is also clear that sin is sin before God. Which means that the sins we commit are not, before God, in any sense of degree. God hates sin. In fact, in these three verses we see a lack of delight, destruction, hate, and abhorrence. These are some tough words and it s all reflecting on ways God feels towards: evil doers, wickedness, liars, etc. God takes our sin and our choices very seriously!
Do we?
To God be the glory!
...now I know what you might be thinking: "Why do I have to beg God? He has promised to hear us as long as sin is not between me and God, right?" True. And, if you've never experienced those lonely moments when the only person you could turn to was God, then you don't know. I have often felt alone and out of God's reach. Sure, I know better. I know there is no where for me to go where God is not present. I know that now that I am in Christ's hands and in God's hands I can never leave them. But I'm also human and I have emotions that sometimes win the battle of the will. I forget that God is there or I "feel" like He is there even though I know He is.
So, I find myself praying (or crying out) and asking God to hear me. In my most lucid moments I then have the joy of remembering that He has already heard me and answered me with a "yes." :o) What a great encouragement too!
Verses 4-6 are going to help us understand the character of God a little better too. I think we have a tendency to forget this. I mean, as a parent I often work in degrees. So, my daughter disobeyed me. Did she do that on purpose, with a knowing and hateful mental-smile, or did she just forget? Well, forgetting isn't an excuse when I've told her something 12 times...in the last 12 minutes. So there is still a consequence for her action(s) but not the same consequence as if she had been paying full attention and still done whatever she did.
God both does and doesn't work that way. Let me try to articulate this. God knows that we are dust. He made us, He sustains us, so He knows us better than we know ourselves. Yet, the Bible is also clear that sin is sin before God. Which means that the sins we commit are not, before God, in any sense of degree. God hates sin. In fact, in these three verses we see a lack of delight, destruction, hate, and abhorrence. These are some tough words and it s all reflecting on ways God feels towards: evil doers, wickedness, liars, etc. God takes our sin and our choices very seriously!
Do we?
To God be the glory!
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