For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple. Lead me, O Lord , in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face.
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue. Pronounce them guilty, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels; Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, For they have rebelled against You.
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You. For You, O Lord , will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
Psalms 5:4-12 NKJV
Yes, the Psalmist equates “put your trust in the Lord” with “loving the Lord” and with being led in a righteous life. And this path is contrasted harshly against the path of the wicked who do not trust in the Lord or love Him.
And this message is consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ, because He taught that if we will turn from our evil ways to instead trust the Lord and love Him that He would come and live with us and abide with us and lead us along the narrow path of righteousness.
There are vessels for holy use, and there are vessels of wrath. Both are very different in their nature, their desires, and their thoughts – which are all hidden from us. But some are very good at hiding these in their words and actions of they are concerned about what people think of them. A vessel of wrath may dress up the outside to look good, but still be a white washed tomb with only death inside, void of any Holy Spirit fire, void of any fruit of the Spirit.
A born again Christian life does not just produce emotional praise on Sunday and a life of lawlessness the rest of the week when away from the eyes of others.
It also does not produce a religious life full of measuring and judging that leaves no room for the very mercy and forgiveness that imperfect people claim to have received for themselves through Jesus Christ but are happy to keep away from the “undeserving”.
But the Psalmist boldly proclaims:
Pronounce them guilty, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels; Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, For they have rebelled against You.
Yes, this is our attitude towards sin, towards the wicked, while still preaching and offering the Good News of Christ to those who have ears to hear. Because He tells us that those who says:
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”
John 10:25-30 NKJV
Isn’t it clear that the wicked do not believe? That they do not trust in the Lord? That they do not love the Lord? That they do not seek His Kingdom and righteousness, but they seek only for themselves and their own bellies? That they do not listen and hear and obey His voice? That they are headed to destruction?
Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
John 10:7-18 NKJV
Have you entered by the gate, friend? Or are you trying to climb over the wall a different way?
Do you hear His voice?
Does He know you?
Do you follow Him?
These are the things that He says of His sheep.
He lay down His life for the sheep, because He lives and cats for the sheep.
Do you love and care for the sheep?
Will you feed his sheep?
Will you encourage and equip, honor and rebuke accordingly, standing bold and firm on the foundation of Christ our Lord and Savior because you are a vessel of the Holy Spirit set apart for His Holy use?
Will you share this Good News with the nations so his sheep might hear His voice in your words, might feel His love in your service, might know His love in your mercy and forgiveness?
Who do you serve?
Harold J. Ballinger 