Sermon Central
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Psalm 5 - Get The Inside Right First Series
Contributed by Rob De Jongh on Mar 15, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: God wants us to be right from within, and no amount of flattery on the outside will cover a rotten inside. We need to work on our own inner thoughts and desires first, so that the outward words and actions flow naturally from within.
In Psalm 5, David says this:
"For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue." (Psa 5:9)
Notice here that there are people who can flatter you and seem great on the outside, but "their inward part is very wickedness". Contrast this with what God requires:
"Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom." (Psa 51:6)
This second quote was from a Psalm that David wrote some time after his sin with Bathsheba, so David is not claiming to be a perfect example of virtue. What he is saying is that God wants us to be right from within, and no amount of flattery on the outside will cover a rotten inside. So also with us, we need to work on our own inner thoughts and desires first, so that the outward words and actions flow naturally from within.
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Rob de Jongh is the author of the book "Food for thought in Psalms" by Woodland Press