But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
Make your way straight before me.
Psalm 5:7-8
David calls out his enemies pretty often in the Psalms, calling for God to judge them. There are always two groups: the godly and the wicked. The problem is that, as I read the Psalms, I often identify with the wicked. I see in my own heart the duplicity of deceit, the selfish ambition of greed, and the haughty heart of the boastful. That makes it hard for me to take comfort in the promises to the righteous - I feel outside of that group.
That is why I love the little reminders that I do not approach God in my righteousness, but Christ's. I enter God's house (his temple - the place of sacrifice) not on my own merit but through "the abundance of your steadfast love." It is God's unwavering, unlimited, covenant love that equips me to draw near. He has absorbed my rebellion, claiming its penalty as his own, and draws me to his house. I stand there, on the blood of Christ, accepted, loved, and accepted - because Jesus was judged for me.
I come now, then, as a son, not a rebel. The problem is that I still have a rebel's heart. But God, in his grace, urges me to pray, "Lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies." My greatest enemies are not the world or the devil. My greatest enemies are the broken desires of my flesh that would lead me down a crooked path of trying to find outside of God what can only be found in him.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for Jesus. Thank you that I am invited - even compelled to come - to your house because of your covenant love to me. I come not in fear of judgment or fear of rejection, but in awe-inspired, joyful fear of your glory. You are great, I am not, but you love me anyway. Lead me today, Lord, to desire your kingdom more than my own. Make my path straight today, Lord, because my heart still longs for the crooked path of self-indulgent self-destruction. Thank you for grace.
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