Hidden Sin versus Expansive Love


Psalm 36
To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
1Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
4He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.
5Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
6Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.
7How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.
10Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
11Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.

This psalm had an immediate impact on my spirit. As I first began reading verse one my thoughts went to the picture of someone who embraces evil rather than God. It was almost a cartoonish vision of someone who gradually shrinks into themselves because that’s all they have. They literally become smaller and smaller as their vision includes only themselves and the evil works they perform. But then you come to verse 5 and the psalm explodes outward as David extols our all-encompassing God. The words take your spirit and lift it outward and upward into the presence of God. Finally he ends with a plea to God to keep him away from those who are shrunken in on themselves in their evil.

Just as the heart of God constantly reaches out to the world, so too do the hearts of His children. Instead of shrinking in on ourselves as the center of everything we want to reach out to the world with the love of God. We can do no other. And our message is filled with hope, grace, and eternal rest. Of course we would want to share it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more