“For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.” (Psalm 5:4)
We are truly and utterly incapable, as sinful creatures, of comprehending even a slither of a facet of the holiness of God. For as our text so plainly states, our sinful nature is completely contrary and in opposition to his divine, pure nature.
To further elaborate, in contrast to his goodness, sin is the height of ingratitude. In contrast to his Lordship, it is blatant rebellion. In contrast to his righteousness, it is dark and filthy. In contrast to the freedom offered in Christ, sin is eternal bondage and slavish servitude. And in contrast to his infinite excellence, sin is deformity.
Sin separates man from the purity and righteousness of God’s Law as well. The Law represents harmony; sin disharmony. In comparison to the straight measure of the Law, sin is crooked (Ps. 125:5). Sin distorts the likeness we enjoyed with God in creation and sets our will against his divine will. Sin alienates the soul from God and turns it against him as an enemy (Col. 1:21). For as Paul describes our sinful condition in Romans 1:30, we are haters of God.
Sin poisoned all mankind in one sweeping, blatant act of disobedience to God’s one command (1 Cor. 15:22). And from that moment forward, who can begin to number all the evils man has suffered and will continue to suffer as a result of sin entering the world? Adam’s transgression initiated the lineage of evil that since runs through the whole of the human race, stripping the soul of all the supernatural beauty that God awarded man at the moment of creation.
Finally, and most importantly, sin is contrary to God’s glory, both that which is in himself and that which shines forth in Christ Jesus. Sin denies the glory rightly due God (Rom. 1:21; Titus 1:16). And yet, God makes it patently clear, “I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory I will not give to another,” (Isa. 42:8).
The sinner’s only hope is to bow to the precious blood of the Lamb which takes away the sin of the world. There is no other way to be transformed from the hideous, sinful creature we are by nature into a child of the Most High, Most Holy God.
Contemplations:
- How shall I prove, Lord, that you are most holy? I could consider the voice of the seraphim in Isaiah 6:3 who cry one to another, saying “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts.” I could look to Revelation 15:4, “Who shall not fear thee O Lord, and glorify thy name, for thou only art holy.” I could look to the apostle Peter who said in 1 Peter 1:15, “As he which has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” Your word instructs me in holiness.
- Christ taught me in the Lord’s Prayer that you, Lord, are holy, and that I ought to revere and consecrate your name in all things. I pray that God’s name may be sanctified in me that I may give to the Lord the honor due to his name (Ps. 29:2).
- God is most holy, and therefore to be worshipped by holy people, in a holy manner, and not by unholy hearts or lips, nor in a common manner as if we were dealing with humanity and not deity.
- Shall we content ourselves to think that God is most holy and most excellent, while we remain ever so sinful in our practice and behavior of life?
Further references for Psalm 5:4:
Psalm 11:5; Isaiah 6:3; Exod. 15:11; Psalm 99:9.
