Psalm 5:4
For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome.
Very often, we turn to the Psalms when we want comfort,
reassurance and encouragement. We might, perhaps, come to think of the Psalms as the Bible equivalent of a fluffy blanket and a mug of hot chocolate - warm, soothing and restoring. Thank God that his word IS comforting and encouraging when we are in distress.
But that's not all it is. The whole Bible - Psalms included
- speaks to us in many ways: comfort, reassurance, encouragement and hope, but also warning, instruction and rebuke. So, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised when we read a verse like v.4. (Not to mention v5-6, when we hear that God
'hates' and 'destroys'). It does feel slightly jarring. Haven't we just been revelling in Psalm 27 and the promise that God will never reject us? Haven't we just spent 3 verses of this Psalm
enjoying the fact that God listens when we talk to him. How, then, can David suddenly say that some people are NOT welcome in God's presence? It'll take us all the way to v.8 to answer
that question, but for now just notice this: God is not pleased with wickedness. He does not welcome evil people. He
is not the fluffy old-man-on-a-cloud of popular imagination, smiling benignly on everyone and everything.
This may make us uncomfortable, but at the same time, it's
absolutely what we want to be true! Do we want a God who turns a blind eye to evil? Do we want a God who smiles indulgently on those who hurt and abuse and destroy others? Do we want to spend eternity in a place where evil people are welcome, unchanged and unchallenged? No! Let's praise God today that he is altogether holy, righteous and good, recognising evil and opposing it with power and justice.
