Welcome to this week’s musings. A battle is raging on earth and in heaven.  Many are asking where God is in all of the turmoil. You probably guessed that Psalm 5 was my Wednesday chapter in my devotions this week.  Let’s take a look at what David had to say… to… and… about God in this Psalm.

A Prayer for Guidance
To the Chief Musician.                                With flutes.                                                           A Psalm of David.  

5 Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my meditation.
2. Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.

In the first two verses, David implores the Lord to hear and consider what he’s saying, thinking, and agonizing over. He reaffirms the Lord as his King, his God.  He knows from experience that no one else can help him.

3. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You,
and I will look up.                                         David knows where to direct his voice.  He knows the morning is an apt time to seek the Lord. Notice that he directs his voice to look up to Him.

4. For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.

David has a track record with God. He knows God is not pleased with wickedness, and evil can not abide with Him. Next, David shares what God thinks of the boastful and those who work iniquity:
5. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.

David continues to enumerate the things God abhors:
6. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

In light of his knowledge of the Lord, David now turns to Him with his response to the situation.

7. 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.

David realizes that he can’t overcome his enemies on his own. He asks God to lead him and make his way straight because he knows God’s right-ness. As you read on, think about what we are dealing with these days.                 8. Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
make Your way straight before my face.

9. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.

Are you watching the debates or the news commentators?  Maybe you have a battle above and beyond the election fracas? Read  the next verses with this in mind.
10. 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.

Thank God for the grace sinners have because of Jesus Christ.  Are you rejoicing in the midst of what’s swirling around you? Read on as David shares a godly way to respond to these people.                                                                  11. 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.                                       12. For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor. You will surround him as with a shield.

A God who blesses us with such glory in the clouds should make us pause and meditate on things. What an awesome God we serve! He loves us so much. He can handle our cries and complaints, but temper them with magnifying His Name. He truly is worthy!

I leave you with  Luke 23:34.

23:34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.

Love them anyway…  the paraphrase on a sticker on the back of my phone case. Even our worst enemy doesn’t deserve the dark, evil, torturous, eternal fires of hell. Rescue the perishing and speak life where death is trying to overcome. Let the light of Jesus Christ break through the darkness that encroaches.

Until next time, Shalom to you all.             Don’t forget to pray and vote!