I have found out from leading a men’s Bible study that men do not like the word intimacy unless it is used in the context of a man woman relationship. However, intimacy simply implies a closeness of relationship, which may or may not have anything to do with the privacy between a man and a woman. In fact, it is more the intimacy of shared thoughts about personal feelings, goals, and life’s circumstances that is mostly in view.
In Psalm 28 David actually cried out to the LORD for intimacy with Him.
“To You, O LORD, I call; My rock, do not be deaf to me, For if You are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit.”
(Psalm 28:1)
David considered intimacy with the LORD to be the rock or the foundation of his life. He understood that if God did not speak to him during the regular course of his days then he would go through life like the walking dead.
At the second giving of the law God revealed to Israel their need of dependence upon Him and His words for life.
"He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)
God clearly stated to Israel that man does not live by bread alone; so the person who lives by bread alone and does not depend upon God’s word for his very life is the living dead. David did not want to live his life like those whose end is destruction, “….like those who go down to the pit…” because God was not intimate with them, “…if you are silent to me…”
This past week I had a conversation with a woman at work. She shared with me that she believed that most people are good and they only make bad decisions. On the second day of our conversation I learned that she is a reverend of sorts. She is a spiritualist, which is to say, she does not believe in any one religion as the source of all truth. What she does not understand is that the true Judeo/Christian faith that is founded upon the holy Word of God, which is the only foundation for truth and life. Apart from God’s words there is no truth or life for mankind.
We can lean upon our own understanding, which will tell us that we are good, “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.” (Proverbs 21:2) but God’s word tells us that apart from Him we are wicked. David understood the wickedness of his own heart, which is why he cried out to the LORD for help constantly.
“Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. Do not drag me away with the wicked and with those who work iniquity, who speak peace with their neighbors, while evil is in their hearts.” (Psalms 28:2, 3)
The true believer, like David, believes in the glory of God’s goodness, he takes God at His word, and trusts in Him. He regards his own natural inclinations and actions if left unchecked by God as vile, wicked, and untrustworthy. It is this need for repentance and faith, which goes undone that sends the unbeliever to hell. David called for the unbeliever to be punished, and not because he was mean spirited or unkind. David understood that God is just and He must punish sin, and all men would be punished if some did not repent from sin and trust in God for salvation. It is the sin of not acknowledging God, even by the “religious,” above all others that sends people to eternal punishment.
“Requite them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices; requite them according to the deeds of their hands; repay them their recompense. because they do not regard the works of the LORD Nor the deeds of His hands, He will tear them down and not build them up.”
(Psalms 28:4, 5)
The works and practices of unbelievers are evil, and their deeds require recompense because they result from a total disregard for the LORD’S works and the deeds of His hands. The lady reverend that I spoke to this week tried to convince me that the Bible could not be understood and that it was only a matter of every man’s own personal interpretation. She thereby disannulled God’s holy Word and replaced it with her own inclinations. She, by viewing man as basically good, even though it makes her feel good about herself as if she is better for not judging men as God does, has made God’s Word null and void. She does not acknowledge God’s words as true, and neither does she acknowledge God as having the right to the final say, but has turned aside to manmade wisdom.
“ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness …And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil.”
(Romans 1:18, 28-29)
The really difficult thing to see in life is that all wickedness does not look very bad. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day rejected Him, and saw to it that He was put to death on a Roman cross. Undoubtedly they did not live openly vile lives; they didn’t go around killing people, robbing banks, and carousing at night. However, they rejected God in a more tangible way than if they had.
David closes out his prayer and Psalm 28 in the way all true believers view God – as worthy of being blessed, trustworthy, and a help in times of need.
“Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him. The Lord is their strength, And He is a saving defense to His anointed.”(Psalm 28:6 -8)
We pray in the will of God when we echo the last words of David from Psalm 28, “Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.”
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