29 January
For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with Thee. The foolish shall not stand in Thy sight: Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
Psalm 5:4-6
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Daniel 6
Here David makes the malice and wickedness of his enemies an argument to enforce his prayer for divine favor. The language is abrupt, but the stammering of the saints is more acceptable to God than rhetoric, be it ever so fine and glittering. David's objective here is to show that the cruelty and treachery of his enemies is so intense that it is impossible for it to continue. God must arrest them in their course.
His reasoning is grounded upon the nature of God. Since righteousness and upright dealings are pleasing to God, David concludes that God will eventually take vengeance on men who persist in wickedness. How is it possible for them to escape unpunished, seeing that God is the judge of the world?
This passage is worthy of special attention. Often we are greatly discouraged by the unbounded insolence of the wicked. If God does not immediately restrain this wickedness, we are stupefied and dismayed or cast down into despair. But David finds encouragement and confidence in such circumstances. The more his enemies proceed against him in lawlessness, the more earnestly he asks for help from God, whose official work it is to destroy the wicked because He hates all wickedness.
Let the godly, therefore, learn when they suffer violence, deceit, and injustice, to come to God so they may be encouraged by the certain hope of his deliverance.
John Calvin
FOR MEDITATION: God will judge the wicked. They will not prosper. Those truths are so simple yet so hard for us to believe. Do not let the prosperity of the wicked create doubt in your heart; rather, let it encourage you in the certain hope of deliverance.
365 Days With Calvin
Selected and Edited by Joel R Beeke
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