1 Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.
2 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?
Selah
3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD will hear when I call to him.
4 In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the LORD.
6 Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.
7 You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
8 I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety. Psalms4:1-8
This beautiful psalm is written by David who is struggling in the grip of trouble and hardship. He's being hounded by the wicked who trust in delusions and false gods. They turn glory into shame and twist good to evil.
David calls his listeners to be Godly and Righteous. He wants them to contemplate God's ways and to do the right thing in His eyes, but the response is "Who can show us any good?"
"Who can show us any good?"
As we look at the broken world around us - as we contemplate the lies, deceit, murder, rape, violence, corruption and heartache.
"Who can show us any good?"
When we look at the fallen heroes and the idols with wobbly bases.
When evil is celebrated as cool and good is sidelined as uncool.
When anger, violence and destruction are seen as a way to get your way.
"Who can show us any good?"
David is right - it is only God who can.
The light of His face - this is the only true and lasting good.
Ultimately, this is fulfilled in the One who lived the only good life and then used it to cancel out our darkness.
"Who can show us any good?"
" In Him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of humankind" (John 1:4)
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And so this Psalm is very appropriate on the eve of Lent.
I'm going to be pausing the series on "Light" to do a series for Lent. If you know of anyone who would like to receive a devotional thought for the season of Lent, they can email me and request to be subscribed....
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
