February 26, 2021 -- Psalm 5:1-3 -- Grieved groanings or giving glory

Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

Psalm 5:1-3 English Standard Version

Strange, isn’t it, how the Psalms seem to go from mountaintop experiences of blessing and joy, to valleys of grief and sadness. How truly this reflects our daily experience. Psalm 4 ended with that sense of peace and sleep and security and now Psalm 5 opens with emotional turmoil and upheaval. Makes sense to me. That is how life is lived. Right now the province where I has incredibly low numbers of Covid cases—yet the provinces is still in orange—a very restrictive stage. There are nattering fears expresses by the media and health officials that there will be a third wave, worse than the others. It is as if the government is shouting “there are lions in the streets of Moncton, everyone stay indoors.” (This is a reference to the Proverbs 22:13)—there is no real danger, there is no lion, but it is the cry of the sluggard who refuses to engage in the work necessary for full and active living.)

Rather than remain mentally locked on the source of his groaning, the Psalmist looks to the LORD his God He prepares the morning sacrifice. Among the people of God a morning and evening sacrifice were always offered at the temple of the LORD. As New Testament Christians, we offer the sacrifice of praise. Such sacrifices orient our vision from merely looking at our circumstances or our helplessness to seeing with faith the glory of our God and King Who rules over all. We watch to see the salvation of God which will unfold, no matter the machinations of sinful man. The LORD is our King! He directs our feet and our path and our future. Blessed be His Name.

O LORD, God of our fathers and mothers through-out the generations, You Who guarded Your people and by Your Spirit led them into the righteousness of Jesus Christ—hear our groaning. As we are Covid-weary and in news-overload help us all to serve You in our homes and workplaces, in schools and family activities, restrictions or no restrictions. We will run in the way of Your commanded blessings when You enlarge our hearts. May the light of Your glory shine from us in this day! May Jesus Christ receive the glory due His Name until the whole world sees the Hand of God at the Dreadful Day of Judgment where God the Triune will make all things rights by His just and holy judgment. Hallelujah. Amen.

https://youtu.be/KpMCE1G3N7Q