#DailyDevotion Can I Pray This?
Psalm 5 7Your great kindness makes me come to Your house and worship in Your holy temple with a sense of awe for You.
John writes in his first epistle ch. 4, “19We love because He first loved us.” So too, David writes that it is the LORD’s kindness that makes him come to His house and worship in His holy temple with a sense of awe for Him. So too, we should come to Church and enter it to worship Him with a sense of awe for all his great mercies to us. Do you come to Church out of obligation, because you have to, or the commandment pushes you to do it. I suggest you find some Gospel, some Good News of Jesus Christ and come because God has been kind to you and you want to receive some more of it. Mind you, if you come of the other reasons, good, but when you get there, I hope your ears can hear the kindness of the LORD in our LORD Jesus Christ and decide you really want to be there.
8O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness as I face those who hate me. Make Your way smooth before me.
We need God’s help, particularly, the Holy Spirit’s help in our lives to be led in the righteousness of God as we face the world who hates us. Just as God hates all who do evil, all who do evil hate God and anyone associated with Him. God’s righteousness here is the righteousness given us through faith in Jesus. To be led by the righteousness of God is to know we deserved God’s righteous anger just as our enemies do but we have received mercy from the blood of Jesus and now are reconciled to God. God smooths our way with the One who is The Way, Jesus Christ. He has lifted the valleys and made low the hills to walk upon. His Way is not grievous. While we may be carrying our cross, the LORD Jesus Christ has paved the way for us by his cross.
9There’s no truth in what they say, but treachery is in their hearts. Their throat is an open grave. When they talk, they flatter.
The enemies of Christ have treachery in their hearts. There is no truth in what they say. They will attack you because of your faith in Jesus. They will twist the Scriptures to try to make you look foolish. They may flatter at first but that is only to set you up. Nevertheless, we have the Holy Spirit who will assist us when attacked in what we shall say.
10O God, make them suffer for their sins and fall by their own plans. Throw them out because they did so much wrong and rebelled against You.
I imagine a lot of Christians feel uncomfortable saying this. After all, James tells us we are to bless and not curse our fellow man made in the image of the Almighty. Remember, this is a Psalm about Jesus. Such a curse will fall upon all who reject our LORD Jesus Christ. We see this in the fall of Jerusalem. If our earthly enemies fight against us because of our faith in Christ and they do not repent (which we pray they do), this curse shall indeed fall upon them and they will not escape the judgment of God. Pray this with Jesus in mind and let him decide how it is carried out. Perhaps your prayer will bring them to repentance. It’s Jesus’ prayer. Let him answer it accordingly.
Heavenly Father, apart from your Word and Spirit we can do no good thing. Guide us and lead us in your way so our lives may give your glory on the day of Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.