Devotional on Psalm 65:2-4
This morning’s devotional comes from Psalm 65:2-4
2 O you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
3 When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!
I think every Christian goes through stages where we don’t feel like there is any purpose to prayer. We say things like, “I feel like my prayers are bouncing off the ceiling.” Prayer just seems pointless. God seems far away. If you’re experiencing a time like that right now, or if you want to prepare for when the next one comes, verse 2 is like a foothold for your faith. David addresses God by this description, “you who hear prayer.” That’s who God is. Whatever it is you feel today, who God is doesn’t change with your feelings. He is always “he who hears prayer.” This is food for our faith.
The fact that God hears prayer is all the more astonishing when David brings sin into the picture in verse 3. Notice that first line, “When iniquities prevail against me.” David isn’t taking sin lightly. He sees himself as being overwhelmed or defeated by sin. If we ever think that we have sinned too much for God to forgive us, these words offer hope. God’s grace is for people who are overwhelmed by sin, whose sins prevail against them. And the second half of verse 3 tells us how this can be. God atones for our transgression. Being reconciled to God is totally dependent on God’s atoning work.
David only ever experienced the atoning or reconciling work God through the Old Covenant sacrificial system. But even so, he doesn’t attribute atonement to the blood of bulls or goats. He confesses that it is God himself who makes it possible for sinners to be reconciled to God. God makes the atonement. David spoke better than he knew. In the sacrificial death of Christ Jesus, God atones for our transgression once and for all. Our iniquities will not defeat us if we have faith in the one who conquered sin and death. Though we are sinners, we are united to God by faith in Jesus.
Verse 4 extols the blessed state of those who are reconciled to God. And it is interesting how this brings us back to where we started. The blessing of being reconciled to God by his atoning work is that the forgiven sinner gets to be in God’s presence. David uses royal imagery, feasting imagery, and then sacred imagery “the holiness of your temple.” Blessed are those who enjoy access to God’s royal throne room, who will feast at God’s table, and who can dwell in his holy presence. The great blessing of the gospel is that God gives us himself. We enjoy fellowship with God because our sins have been covered by the blood of the Lamb. God hears us. Through the cross God becomes for us, “you who hear prayer.”
Because Christ is the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for sin, nothing can remove us from God’s presence. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. God will always and be for his people, “He who hears us.”
Prayer
O you who hear prayer, we praise you and thank you because you have come near to us in Christ. You have shown us your grace by covering our sin in the righteousness of Christ. You sought us out and brought is into your family. We confess that in hard and anxious times, we doubt your power and presence. Sometimes we go back to living as if we are far off from you. Please disrupt our comfort with sinful habits. Please stop us when we wander away. And remind us of the blessing of life in your throne room, of feasting at your table. Grow our desire for a holy life in your temple as we live for the sake of Christ’s holy name. Amen.