Eternity strides toward us. Finding joy in Christ now prepares us for the unbroken joy of heaven.
Do you “direct” your prayers? David did. “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up” (Ps 5:3). To “direct” (Heb, ‘ârak) means “to arrange, set in order.” This arrangement is known as a chiasm, an X-shaped pattern. In this design, the ideas are nested within each other. The first verses (vv 1-3) and the last verses (vv 11-12) are a pair; the second section (vv 4-6) and the second-last (vv 9-10) are coupled; and the middle two (vv 7-8) are conjoined. The psalm is book-ended by two portraits of devoted souls. The first section (vv 1-3) portrays David’s personal passion for the Lord, while the last section is a group shot, speaking of “all those…who put their trust in You” (vv 11-12). Note the recurring reference to joy, but there are three different words. “Let all those rejoice [Heb, śâmah, “to brighten up” or shine with joy] who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy [Heb, rânan, “to give a cry of triumph”], because You defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful [Heb, ‘âlas, “to jump for joy”] in You” (v 11). A happy face, a cheerful voice, a spring in the step—you couldn’t miss someone like that! Beside these two portraits are grim sketches of the wicked (vv 4-6, 9-10). David piles it on: wicked, evil, boastful, iniquitous, false, bloodthirsty, and deceitful. Or again, unfaithful, destructive, deadly, flatterers, guilty, transgressors, rebels. At the heart of the prayer, he writes, “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;…I will worship toward Your holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness…make Your way straight before my face” (vv 7-8). By grace, we don’t have to be like the world around us. We can be joyfully different!