Mensa Otabil - God Abhors Sin (11/01/2025)
We are learning from Psalm number five, and as we’ve said, the Psalms were very important to the life of the Old Testament believers as well as the early believers in Christ Jesus. It was a way of learning how to pray and how to worship before God. So, in Psalm 5, we’re looking at verses 4 and 5: «You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.»
David’s opening statements in this prayer in Psalm 5, from verse one onwards, talk about how he would approach the presence of God. Then he discusses how he directs his prayer to the Lord. Now he’s talking about the nature of God and affirming that God hates sin. Just as there are people who can go before God’s presence, there are also other people who cannot. God does not just allow anything to come before His presence. God is not neutral about sin; He takes a strong stance against evil.
That’s important for us because, many times, people think you can live any way you please, do whatever you want, and still worship God, go to church, and pray, and that God will hear you. God is merciful; He’s kind; He’s loving, but He also tells us what He hates. So, if God tells you, «I love you, but I hate this,» I think it’s in your own interest to accept His love and depart from what He hates.
David talks about what God hates, and there are four things that he says God hates. The first is that God does not take pleasure in wickedness. This means God does not enjoy seeing people do wicked things to others. He does not embrace it. So, when people act wickedly-whether we are acting wickedly at home as husbands or wives, parents or children, or as people who work in an office or in a nation, wherever we are-if we act to destroy somebody else, God doesn’t take pleasure in that. You cannot then arrange your prayer before God; it doesn’t work that way.
Secondly, God does not dwell with evil. He does not give protection or covering to evil. When something is evil, God will expose it. He will not say you are such a favorite of His that if you do evil things, He will cover it like some worldly people may do. God does not dwell with evil. The word " dwell» there means to tabernacle or to cover. He does not cover evil; He does not embrace evil; He exposes it.
Third, God does not live with the boastful. He does not entertain the boastful; He does not listen to them. In fact, when you look at the Hebrew, it means God does not give audience to the boastful. So, if you are a boastful person and you come to God’s presence, He will not receive you because He resists the proud. So, when you enter God’s presence, if you come before Him and you are boastful, full of yourself, believing in your own rights, and counting all the things you’ve done-"God, you know I gave you this, I did that, I’m a good person " — God says to you, «Get close,» because He does not allow the boastful into His courts.
Finally, David says that God hates all workers of iniquity. This is an omnibus statement that means He includes everything wrong; it’s evil, all manner of sins. God doesn’t like it. So, when we come before God in prayer and arrange our prayer before the Lord, we must also be mindful of what He doesn’t like and whom He doesn’t want in His presence, so that we prepare our hearts rightly to enter the presence of God. When we come right into the presence of God, He will honor His word in our lives.
Here, God shows us clearly, contrary to the world’s belief that anything and everybody is acceptable to God, that there are some things that are not acceptable to Him. So, when you come in prayer, check your heart and check your attitudes.
Let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, keep me away from evil. Purge my heart from pride and deception. Cleanse me and make me whole. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.