Psalm 65:2-4 - June 29, 2009

Ps 65:2-4 "O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come. 3 When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. 4 Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple." NIV

A life of sin is overwhelming! The human heart was designed to live in a state of peace with God but the fall of man when he surrendered his will to sin in the Garden of Eden damaged man’s capacity to enjoy this life of peace and joy and left him with a wounded conscience. Two of the very first things that man did after his fall from a state of purity were first to feel the impact of shame upon his heart and secondly to yield to his damaged conscience and turn from God and hide as a response to that shame.
Imagine having a totally pure conscience, having never sinned and living in continual fellowship with God. This was Adam’s life experience until that fateful day when he participated in that forbidden desire. Instantly the very core of his being was altered and his confidence before God was damaged. I Jn. 3:22 tells us that when a man’s conscience does not condemn him he has confidence before God. Adam lost this confidence before God and became timid and ashamed in His presence. Proverbs 18 exhorts us that the righteous are as bold as a lion and He. 4:16 affirms the invitation of God that He holds out to a redeemed believer, exhorting us to “come boldly before the throne of grace. All of this is what Adam lost due to the power of sins damaging impact upon the state of the soul. This state of despair and separation is what the psalmist is referencing when he reflects upon his journey, “we were overwhelmed by our sins…” When sin is allowed to run its course in our lives it results in death and the journey that sin leads us on is one of progressively increasing despair. Unless we repent and turn to the Lord for deliverance the weight of our sins will eventually overwhelm all but the one who has totally hardened their heart against God.
God knows our frame and he is waiting for the sinful man to turn to him and it is His desire and delight to forgive those who turn to Him for restoration. But there is so much more than forgiveness awaiting the man who will search for God with a whole heart. David has an understanding that true happiness is found in the presence of the living God. After celebrating the joy of forgiveness David extols the even greater joy of intimacy; “Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house.” When God finds a man with the right heart He brings him near to live in His presence. What a glorious gift from the hand of the Living God that He would choose a man as one that He will bring near to Himself to live in the intimacy of His inner courts! The good news is that this way is open to all. The veil between God and man was torn and now the way into God’s intimate presence is available to any who will search for Him with a whole heart. Each person has been invited through the blood of Christ to come and be filled with the goodness of God‘s house. Let a vision of intimacy fill your heart today and reach to God for a place of continually abiding in His presence.