Favor of God

DEVOTION

PSALMS

FAVOR OF GOD

Ps 5:9-12

9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit. 10 Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you. 11 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. 12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

NIV

In many of the Psalms we have comparisons between two types of people. We just saw how he listens to one and not the other. Now we see the psalmist verbalizing how the wicked are characterized by God.  Just as we started in Psalm one, why would we want to take any advice from a mouth that cannot be trusted to tell the truth. Sure, fine sounding words may well come from a throat that is an open grave. But their words will bring destruction, their tongue is full of deceit. We might think these people are really wicked evil people doing all sorts of nasty evil things. But that is not the case, many of them are really nice people, kind and have families who love them and whom they love. They are everyday people we come in contact with daily, some we even work with. They are business people, doing life in the way of the world. But here is where we have to draw the line. If they do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, if they do not use the truth of God as a guide for their lives, they are defined by the scripture as wicked. We cannot trust their advice. Because they are not believers, they are non-believers and they cannot speak the truth as defined by God. They can only speak words based on humanity, human thinking, human reasoning, from a human, worldly perspective. It may sound good, but it is destruction to a believer. If we pay attention to this deceitful advice we are in real danger. We cannot live in both the world of the wicked and that of the family of God. Just in one area alone, they say store up as much as you can. God says don’t store up, for where your treasure is so is your heart. On and on the contrast glares, shining so bright it would be difficult to miss it. Their lies about God helping those who help themselves is outlandish, but some believers might think works help, that we need to do all we can to improve our position in life. Some might think education is the key to success. The lies just keep spewing forth one after another. We simply cannot trust their way of thinking, we have to set our course on the truth of God. We have to take refuge in him and be glad we know the truth of God, how we are to really live. We can only put out trust in God, not in man, or self for the matter. We can sing for joy because God has spread his wings over us, he protects us, he provides for us, he guides us, he is a light onto our path, he shows us the way we are to go, we can trust his word because it is full of truth. Because we are considered by God as the righteous, because we are in Christ, he surrounds us with his favor. Consider living in the favor of God. Consider having his favor, to find favor in the eyes of God. We can live in the favor of God or in the eyes of the wicked. Is there really a choice?  We choose the favor of God, always.