Pastor Ed's Series of Psalms

Psalm 1 | Psalm 2 | Psalm 3 | Psalm 4 | Psalm 5 | Psalm 6 | Psalm 7 | Psalm 8
Psalm 9-10 | Psalm 11 | Psalm 12 | Psalm 13 | Psalm 14 | Psalm 15
Psalm 16 | Psalm 17 | Psalm 18 | Psalm 19 | Psalm 22 | Psalm 23
Psalm 27 | Psalms 28-30 | Psalms 31-32 | Psalm 33 | Psalm 34
Psalm 35 | Psalm 36-37 | Psalm 38 | Psalm 39 | Psalm 40 |
Psalm 41 | Psalm 42-43

Psalm 5
12/6/09

“Joy in the Morning”

Have you had a restful week? Filled with peace? Have you strengthened your relationship with the Lord?

Remember the formula from last week – if you strengthen your relationship with the Lord and do your best to pursue righteousness and not be too cozy with the wrong things, then the result is peace and rest.

We have a situation with the dog next door that has been robbing me of my peace at night, but we're praying that situation will be resolved soon.

This gives us a great lead in to Psalm 5, which has been called the “morning psalm.” The title of this message is “Joy in the Morning.”

Verses 1 -3 give us a great habit to get into, with the goal of knowing our Lord better.

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.

There's something special about the morning, about the dawn. Especially here in Mississippi, the beautiful trees and forests and the way the light shines through them. Colorado was beautiful too with its rugged peaks and scenic vistas.

Mornings call to mind the opportunity to develop a good habit - I got in a habit of starting my day with scripture reading and prayer. It was usually quiet, and I could get my thoughts organized to start the day.

I call meeting with the Lord the first thing in the morning our first fruits, since we haven't had the chance to be influenced by anything other than the Scriptures. No TV, internet, or morning paper. You give the Lord the very first part of your day.

Lamentations 3:22 says: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.

One of the amazing things about this verse is the context – Jeremiah wrote these words as he sat in the ashes of a destroyed Jerusalem. He was downcast, but he called to mind hope we have in the Lord each morning.

We always need blessings every morning. Each day has enough challenges of its own. Each day we need strength for our bodies and for our spiritual lives. Each day we need guidance and direction. Of course, your devotional time can be anytime throughout the day – I just happen to enjoy the morning.

The dawn has a beautiful physical appearance, but we can reflect on the spiritual dawn as well.

CS Lewis said that “I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen; not only because I can see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

Listen to these beautiful scriptures that describe our spiritual gifts described in terms of the dawn metaphor:

Proverbs 4:18 says that the path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter until the full light of day.

Isaiah 33:2 O Lord be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.

Malachi 4:2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.

Luke 1:78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

Romans 13:12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

2Peter 1:19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

You get the sense from these verses that morning has a sense of optimism about it. Spiritual renewal. It's a chance for brand new opportunities. In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

David is also acknowledging the Lord as King as well as God. He is the King of Israel, but he is turning to his king.

In the rest of the Psalm, as in so many of the Psalms we see the contrast of Holiness and those who follow the Lord with Sin and Evil and those who choose this path. In verses 4-10, David is reminding us about God's character and the existence of evil in the world.

He draws the sharp contrast between evil and a holy righteous God, and the judgment that must take place.

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 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 full of 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.

We might add to this list what is found in 2 Timothy 3:3:

Without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, treacherous, rash, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

There is a line drawn between good and evil. Psalm 45:7 also says that You love righteousness, and you hate wickedness.

Hebrews declares that without holiness, no one will see the Lord.

Isaiah 64:6 says that all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags. Of course, the world doesn't want to hear that.

God's hatred for sin is inseparable from His holiness. Could you imagine what it would be like to have a creator who took pleasure in wickedness? We'd have an omnipotent Fiend running around! Think for a moment about what the world would be like without a holy righteous God.

But we need to understand that God's hatred for sin does not contradict His love. Because he is love, he wants the best for his children. He wants our happiness. Sin chokes out this happiness because it causes strife, injustice, cruelty, disease, pain, tears. A sinner cannot be separated from his sin.

But we can be through the gospel.

Romans 8:2-4 says that Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Our world laughs at references to sin and evil:

Mae West, the actress said: Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before
What it amounts to is that the world doesn't want to acknowledge that evil exists and we certainly we don't want to hear about own sin. If we have no sin, I'm OK, you're OK – we don't have to worry about what God thinks and we certainly don't need a Savior.

There is a famous story about the existence of evil, and it goes something like this:

The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists?  A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"  "God created everything? The professor asked.  "Yes sir", the student replied.  The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil". The student became quiet before such an answer.

The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.  Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"  "Of course", replied the professor. 

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"  "What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.  The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy.  Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"  The professor responded, "Of course it does."  The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.

"Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"  Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man!.  It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil." 

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."The professor sat down. The student's name was Albert Einstein.

David had many foes on the battlefield, so he had very real enemies that he could point to probably every day. By way of application, I would also like to apply the references of evil to those in our day and age who oppose the things of God.

For example, we highly esteem the opinions of those in the media.

Here is a sampling of quotes in this generation about the Bible and Christianity:

Bill Maher, a popular talk show host said: Let's face it. God has a big ego problem – why do we always have to worship him? We're the dummies who take the Bible literally.

Oprah Winfrey said that Jesus can't possibly be the only way to God.

John Lennon said:

Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first — rock and roll or Christianity.

Brad Pitt said: I have a hard time with morals. All I know is what feels right...

Yusuf Islam – the singer who was known as Cat Stevens said

“At Jerusalem, I went to the mosque and sat down. A man asked me what I wanted. I told him I was a Muslim. Now I realize I can get direct contact with God, unlike Christianity or any other religion.”

Most of you know I'm a golfer and I'm sure all of you are aware of the story that has been dominating the news. Tiger Woods has been in the news recently, but not for hitting golf shots or winning golf tournaments. His car accident started a chain reaction of reports that he was unfaithful to his wife. He seemed to confirm those reports with a public apology about his “transgressions.” and there was a recording available of his alleged voice mail that contained some conversation that can only be described as deceitful.

But...it's the media's fault for exposing him. The focus seems to be on how famous he is and how much the media is hounding him for details, rather than the adultery he committed, which seems to be the case. He's more or less admitted it without saying the word.

Funny, the media was ok for him when all he got was praise.

I thought it was interesting how his fellow players were expressing sympathy for him – Chris Riley said he has known him since he was 10 yrs old and has spent a lot of time with him – he's a good person, we all make mistakes, you know, there's 2 kids involved, they're precious little kids, you know, I'm just hoping for the best.

Tiger is a billionaire – but can he buy his reputation back? How much is that worth? How does he look his wife in the eye? As Brother Ted likes to say, his actions are speaking so loudly that we can't hear a word he's saying. Yes he is human, but my question is,

Will he ever find peace if he doesn't accept Jesus into his heart and ask for forgiveness and be washed of his sin? We have the remedy for his problem – I'd like to see that happen, but don't think it will.

By way of contrast, in the final verses of the Psalm, David is encouraging believers:

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 a shield

The Hebrew word for shield describes full body armor – so we're surrounded with the Lord's favor if we accept and love the name of the Lord.

Psalm 46:1 says God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Isaiah 41:10 says So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

The last verse indicated that we will receive favor from the Lord. And that favor will be our protection. We have the same favor that was bestowed on Mary, on David, on Samuel, on Abraham, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Paul, and of course Jesus Himself.

As Moses declared in Deuteronomy 33 – There is no one like the god of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty. The eternal God is your refuge and underneath is the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you.

Don't we want to believe that we have favor from the Creator of the Universe? This passage is saying we will have it by believing and trusting in Him, and by carrying out his commands. Let's enjoy His strength today! Let's enjoy his favor!

This Psalm is reminding us that we can find hope in God's holiness both because he is incompatible with evil and because he is relentlessly good. This world is broken and doesn't represent the full intention of the Creator. His intention is good and blessing.

Even Job ultimately confessed that the God he encountered was sovereign over the creation was worth holding onto despite the clamoring voices of pain and suffering.

David's King in this Psalm is our King! We need to remain steadfast that He is in control, despite the world's circumstances.

This week, let's find our refuge in Him as we awake in the morning to expectation of getting to know Him better. We can have joy in the morning!

Let us pray.