In the Presence 1

We often look at the psalms as a book of celebration, and I would agree that many psalms are written in praise. What I think get lost while reading the psalms, at least I know this happens to me, is that we don’t reflect on how the psalmist had arrived to their praise. It is kind of the idea that every action has a reaction. There are moments in which we recognize that God loves us more than others, this usually happens when we reflect upon something in the past and we give praise. Let us look at Psalm 5:11-12;

11 But let all who take refuge in You be glad,

Let them ever sing for joy;

And may You shelter them,

That those who love Your name may exult in You.

12 For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord,

You surround him with favor as with a shield.

Let us take a closer look at what this verse is saying. As I explain this I am not trying to be too simplistic, but I think this is something we often miss while reading the psalms and rarely apply to our daily life.

In verse 11 the action that first takes place is taking refuge in God. What does taking refuge in God look like? I would present two points. One, that it is total surrender to God’s will. When we take refuge to our earthly parents this means that we surrender what we desire and abide in what their house rules are. When we have the freedom to move out of our parents’ house then we have a different freedom that occurs. In the same way when we take refuge in God’s will we are abiding in what his will is for us. Two, those who exalt Him are the ones that love Him. The condition that is taking place here is that to love the place in which we have refuge is to live out the action that is asked of us. The outcome of these two things is that there is righteousness granted to man and the Lord is our shield.

This is what we call sanctification. The Lord purifies us, makes us righteous through these times in which we abide in Him. We so often rely on the emotion of the psalms to praise our God, but the concern is that we do not know where this emotion comes from.  Read PART TWO to see how the psalmist comes to these praises.