PSALM 5.
We do not give enough time or thought to the value of prayer today, it is a hasty hour filled with petitions and pleas for the things around us with little place given to reflect on the answers or denials of the last weeks sessions.
Now as we begin to contemplate our prayer life we are brought up with a sharp reminder of whom it is we are praying to.
O Lord and five times the word is used in the Psalm, the Owner and Master of our life, the One who has brought us on to Gods holy hill to climb in the first place.
Then 'my King' the One who rules and governs my life by right since He has redeemed or purchased me through His sacrifice on Calvary to set me free from sins captivity.
'My God' the true and Living God, the Creator, sustainer and controller of all things and He has made it possible for me to become His child.
The highest authority has reached out to the lowest of people and redeemed them and bringing them into the closest of relationships, whereby we can call Him Father.
He longs for the times that we come near to Him exercising our faith and trust in Him and He looks forward to the testing times that bring us closer together seeing we ramble away so often on our own.
As we begin to climb today make sure you are conscious of His presence and never forget whose you are, the relationship is eternally precious.
We note that, when we pray, we are looking upwards and that is the place to look afterwards as well, we should learn to look up continually to the summit of the holy hill.
Most of our problems stem from not looking up, we are far too prone to look around and this causes us to stumble and be defeated.
We need to spend more time alone with our beloved Saviour and Lord so that we keep our eyes on Him and not on other people no matter how godly they are.
We have said it many times, 'holiness is not an option to choose but an obligation to obey', there are far too many Christians floundering in the valley listening to arm chair leaders.
The obligation to 'be ye holy' comes directly from our heavenly Father, He does not, let alone cannot, tolerate sin in any form v4.
The title for 'God' is a different word to v2 for here the word is the Highest One who has no equal, rival or superior, He alone stands in control of all the works of His hands.
He sits majestically on the throne watching the foolish meanderings, protestations of pushy human nature operating as if they controlled everything when they know very little about the supremacy of the Living God.
The valley dwellers are 'foolish' the word means 'bright light celebrates', people who are always looking for mens applause by their human activities.
We need to be careful in our appreciation of others ministry and we, as they, should do all things as unto the Lord who should receive the glory that is given.
The personality cult does not stop at the church door, sadly it stands in the pulpit and on the platform far too often parading a false humility.
Our heavenly Father delights to meet with the humble and contrite spirit but He has no place for the proud and arrogant folk.
We should take note that there is exclusion on the holy hill because God is holy and anything that is unholy is taken off the mount.
There is exposure on the hill that is important because God will not tolerate sin in any shape or form and the Holy Spirit quickly brings to the fore the sin that is hidden within us.
We must confess our sin before ever we approach the hill of God, and as we climb, we need to become sensitive to the Holy Spirit prompting over sin.
There is the need to see the expulsion from the holy mount of all that is unholy, we will only make progress upwards when sin is dealt with, without this our progress is down hill and off it, if we are not careful altogether.
The very presence of God will wither up any who seek to rise on His holy hill without Christ's covering, and many a defeated Christian has bemoaned their fall into a deep crevice of remorse through self conceit and deceit.
We cannot run away from this as if it did not concern our walk, we are such arrogant people, we delight in the spotlight of acknowledgment and soak up glory in subtitle ways.
When we begin to climb on the holy hill we can easily become side tracked by the things we see and learn, as if we were the example God can hold up to the world.
The scripture is clear 'let him that standeth take heed lest he fall' and that fall is painful when it comes, leaving us breathless and bruised in the crevice.
Thanks be to God, before we call out, He is there alongside us if only we could recognise Him. Sadly it takes us time to admit our failure to Him before we find the peace of God in our heart and mind.
Now we turn to the practical nature of the Psalm and the effect that it has on spiritual climbers seeking the close relationship with God.
We come in His mercy to approach the Throne of Grace, mercy is the Superior, dealing with the inferior in love that is willing to forgive repentant sinners.
Our Father has made a covenant with His Son that cannot be broken, every time we approach the Throne of Grace that covenant is operative and we climb up the holy hill in Covenant Grace v7.
Then worship does not stop when we begin to climb, on the contrary, we climb as we worship our Father and beloved Son, we make progress along the path of righteousness as we worship.
The climbing commences when we ask Him to lead the climb. Now the word 'lead' has several meanings, it can mean to guide along the way ahead as a shepherd does his flock. It can mean to lead by being in front giving the orders to be obeyed and that are followed implicitly, diligence is required by the one following the leader.
The word can also point to our obedience in following the instructions given to us personally, this involves our conduct, the application of the word of God revealed to us.
The song we sing is more than a prayer or hymn of praise it is a direct commitment of the soul, anxious to abide on God's holy hill and to make progress on the way of righteousness.
Worship becomes more than a 'Sunday service', it becomes our daily experience as we delight to breath in the fresh air of holy living, we learn to worship at His feet continually over the climb.
We take stock here about our individual progress, the falls and failures that occur by our wrestling with the enemy when we should leave the Lord to deal with them as we keep our focus on Him.
It is a real ploy of the enemy for us to take him on, when we should be keeping our eyes on the Lord Jesus who will give us mastery over the temptation that lies before us.
The enemy can rant and rave v9 as much as he can at the spiritual climber, but let it go in one ear and out of the other as it has no value in it.
We do not know all the answers to life's problems, nor do we know the solutions to the world's dilemma, but we do know One who does and we rest in His redeeming love.
What we need to learn today from these verses, is that the enemy will do many things to hinder our walk but he cannot stop us climbing towards our goal in Christ Jesus.
The enemy are doomed to fail and the final Judgement awaits them as it is only a short time away, but the spiritual climber is moving towards the summit of Gods holy hill and that is His presence v11.
So our song, as we climb today, reaches a beautiful conclusion, 'rejoice', that is to be glad in the knowledge of their salvation, to be joyful in our countenance as people travelling to be with the King of Kings.
We are safe on the climb if we keep our eyes on the Guide, we are safe when we climb as long as our Guardian is near and we will arrive on the summit of the climb as long as the Guarantor stands between us and the Throne of Grace.
