Make Your Way Straight Before Me

“Give ear to my words, O Lord;

    consider my groaning.

Give attention to the sound of my cry,

    my King and my God,

    for to you do I pray.

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;

    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;

    evil may not dwell with you.

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;

    you hate all evildoers.

You destroy those who speak lies;

    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.” (Psalms 5:1-6 ESV)

As followers of Jesus Christ we are to be seekers of the Lord and of his righteousness and holiness. We are to be those who love the commandments of our God (New Covenant) and whose delight it is to follow our Lord in obedience. And because of that, it will grieve us when we see so many professing his name still walking in deliberate and habitual sin, still ignoring the commandments of the Lord, and excusing away their sins.

For Jesus Christ was put to death on that cross for the sole purpose to deliver us out of our lives of bondage (slavery, addiction) to sin so that we will now serve the Lord Jesus with our lives in living morally pure, upright, godly, honest, faithful, and obedient lives to the glory and praise of God. And he was resurrected from the dead so that we might live new lives in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

For our Lord is not a God who delights in evil and in wicked deeds. He hates evil. He hates sin, and that is why Jesus Christ was sent to that cross to die so that we could be delivered from our addiction to sin so that we will no longer walk in sin but now in righteousness and holiness. So evil does not dwell with the Lord. So, if you are one who makes sin your practice, and not obedience to the Lord, then you do not dwell with the Lord, but in sin.

“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.

“For there is no truth in their mouth;

    their inmost self is destruction;

their throat is an open grave;

    they flatter with their tongue.

Make them bear their guilt, O God;

    let them fall by their own counsels;

because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,

    for they have rebelled against you.” (Psalms 5:7-10 ESV)

Where is the house of the Lord presently? Well, he dwells in heaven, but where else? In human hearts. Those of us who have trusted in the Lord Jesus to be our Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior, who have been crucified with him in death to sin, and who have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness, we are now his house in whom he dwells by his Spirit.

But when we dwell with him, where are we dwelling? We are in fellowship with him via a love and spiritually intimate relationship with him by God-given and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ. He is in us, and we are in him. We belong to Christ, and he is with us (God with us). So this is not a physical place but a spiritual place based upon a spiritual relationship between our Lord and us, his followers, providing that we are following him.

And those who dwell with the Lord, and him with them, are not those who delight in wickedness and who practice evil and speak lies habitually. They are not those who are living in rebellion against the Lord in deliberate and habitual sin. But they are those who walk (in conduct, in practice) in the fear of the Lord on the narrow path that leads to eternal life, and not on the broad path that leads to destruction, which is the “easy way.”

“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;

    let them ever sing for joy,

and spread your protection over them,

    that those who love your name may exult in you.

For you bless the righteous, O Lord;

    you cover him with favor as with a shield.” (Psalms 5:11-12 ESV)

Those who take refuge in the Lord are not those who practice sin and who only call upon the Lord when they are in trouble or when they need help with something. Those who take refuge in the Lord are those who trust in him and who are following him in his ways, according to his commands, because they love him, and they want to serve him with their lives. For God’s grace is shown to those who love and serve the Lord and who hate evil.

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, instructs us to renounce (say “NO!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26).

The Sands of Time are Sinking

a.k.a. Immanuel’s Land

by Anne R. Cousin, 1857

The sands of time are sinking,

The dawn of Heaven breaks;

The summer morn I’ve sighed for—

The fair, sweet morn awakes:

Dark, dark hath been the midnight,

But dayspring is at hand,

And glory, glory dwelleth

In Immanuel’s land.

O Christ, He is the fountain,

The deep, sweet well of love!

The streams on earth I’ve tasted

More deep I’ll drink above:

There to an ocean fullness

His mercy doth expand,

And glory, glory dwelleth

In Immanuel’s land.

The King there in His beauty,

Without a veil is seen:

It were a well spent journey,

Though seven deaths lay between:

The Lamb with His fair army,

Doth on Mount Zion stand,

And glory—glory dwelleth

In Immanuel’s land.

The bride eyes not her garment,

But her dear bridegroom’s face;

I will not gaze at glory

But on my king of grace.

Not at the crown He giveth

But on His pierced hand;

The Lamb is all the glory

Of Immanuel’s land.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbKzcwHSFSU

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