Psalm 5 Continued…
Psalms 5:4, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.” One of the things I love about the Holy Scriptures is that it is unwilling to avoid or shy away from difficult topics. The problem of evil is one that has plagued Christians for a long time. But this Psalm confronts this topic head-on.
God is sovereign and God is holy. And that sovereignty and holiness resolves any problem there is with evil. For in His holiness there is no room for evil and in His sovereignty evil is overruled. We may question why would a loving God allow for evil (all the while overlooking our own wicked hearts in the process) but for David, he uses a beautiful metaphor in verse four.
The NIV translates the latter part of verse 4 “with you the wicked cannot dwell”. The imagery is that of dwelling or sojourning together. The NEB translates the same part: “evil can be no guest of thine.” We are being reminded by David, a man who has experienced the wickedness of scheming men, that evil and God are entirely incompatible.
One commentator wrote: “No amount of this world’s antirejection drugs can achieve compatibility or eliminate the incalculable distance between God and evil.” (C. Hassell Bullock) This is an aspect of God that we rarely seem to dwell on. We readily embrace the idea of a God who will accept us with our flaws and forgive us our sins (which Scripture affirms that he does indeed). But a little more reverence for the Most Holy Sovereign God who is above all would be well advised.
John Stott wrote in his classic book, The Cross of Christ: “In public worship our habit is to slouch or squat; we do not kneel nowadays, let alone prostrate ourselves in humility before God. It is more characteristic of us to clap our hands with joy than to blush with shame or tears. We saunter up to God to claim his patronage and friendship; it does not occur to us that he might send us away.”
David concludes he will enter the Lord’s house and worship in his holy temple (5:7), and this by no achievement of his own, but by God’s great love!
Pray
Heavenly Father thank you that evil does not get the last word. Thank you that evil is not only no match for you, it is no problem for you either. Help us in those moments when the evil one tries to bring doubts and questions into our mind that would cause us to forget your goodness and your steadfast love for us. Help us to always remember your great deeds for your people and for those whom you have chosen!