Psalm 138 Prayer.

Announcement:

Good-morning:

I want to welcome you here this morning!

Jonathan Hansen, Pastor and planter of Connection Church in Lead.

if you are new here, fill out a connect card located in the seat back in front of you. We want you to get connected.

you can also write out prayer requests on this and the staff and I pray for those Monday mornings.

Prayer and Worship night in Lead.

Sunday, February 26th, 6 p.m. Location in bulletin.

Ask:

I am asking you to come and worship Christ with us and pray for the community.

One of the greatest things a sending church can do is pray for the community and church they are planting in.

I am asking you to volunteer.

We need help with music, tech, and greeting.

If you want to help, I will be in the back at the “Celebrate” table after service. But I am asking you to at least come and pray for the community and church.

The reality is that the greatest thing we can do is go to our Lord in prayer and make our needs and requests and thanksgiving known to Him.

Transition:

Speaking of prayer, one of my absolute favorite things to do is to pray Scripture. And an amazing way to pray Scripture is to start with the Psalms. Many of the Psalms are already prayers. This morning, we are going to pray through Psalm 138, a Psalm of thanksgiving, and give thanks to God!

Reading Psalm 138.

Let’s start by reading this beautiful song of thanksgiving written by David. Psalm 138

1  I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise;

2  I bow down toward your holy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.

3  On the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.

4  All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5  and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,

for great is the glory of the LORD.

6  For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he knows from afar.

7  Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve my life;

you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and your right hand delivers me.

8  The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;

your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.

Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Behold, the Word of God.

Praying Psalm 138.

Now we are going to give thanks to God, using this Psalm as the outline for our prayer. We are going to look at this, verse by verse, phrase by phrase, and use it as the outline for our time of prayer. I think you will begin to feel a flow to this as we move through the Psalm and I really hope you will take this practice of praying Scripture, specifically the Psalms, and make it a habit in your own prayer life.

So let’s begin by looking at verse 1.

1  I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise;

David starts this song of prayer off by saying I thank you God with my whole heart. That seems pretty straight forward. And just for clarity, when David says he sings God’s praise before the gods, he could mean a couple different things. But the heart of it is to say, “I will sing boldly to the One True God before all. Before rulers, angels, or even false idols.” So let’s pray and thank God and pray for passion and boldness in singing this morning.

- Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we give you thanks this morning! We give you thanks, Lord with our whole hearts! This morning we will stand together and boldly and passionately sing your praise! We thank you for who you are. Lord, you are worthy of our singing and our praise.

Transition:

Let’s look at verse 2 now.

2  I bow down toward your holy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.

The idea of bowing down toward the temple was a physical symbol of repentance. It was to say, “I am turning away from my sin or from distractions to turn toward the Lord.” This is what we did last week before taking communion. And the beautiful thing is that God in His steadfast love and faithfulness hears our prayers and forgives us! So let’s pray and thank God for His steadfast love and faithfulness.

-Prayer:

Oh Lord, we thank you for your steadfast love. We thank you for your faithfulness! You never leave us nor forsake us! You love us with an everlasting love that never changes or wavers! Lord, even when we are faithless, you are always faithful! We cannot thank you enough for this! Thank you Lord for your never failing love and faithfulness! Your name is truly above every name! Your Word is true and enduring! Thank you Lord!

Transition:

Let’s look at verse 3.

3  On the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.

Let’s pray and thank God for hearing us.

-Prayer:

Oh Lord, when we called out to you, you answered us. I am sure that there are so many testimonies of answered prayers in this room. So Lord, we thank you for this. We praise you for this. But Lord, we especially thank you for hearing us when we cried to you for salvation. You brought us from spiritual death to life so that we could even make that cry. Lord, we can never truly be thankful enough for this. But this morning, we come together as a church and we say thank you. Thank you for hearing our cry.

Transition:

Lets look at verses 4-5.

4  All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5  and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,

for great is the glory of the LORD.

Let’s pray for our earthly rulers.

-Prayer:

Oh Lord, we ask for the earthly kings and rulers you have placed in positions of authority. We ask you would work in their hearts to bow to you and to praise you. You are King of kings and Lord of lords. But Lord, may the earthly kings and lords see this truth and bow to you. May we see these prophetic verses realized. Save our leaders and may they praise you. From the highest earthly king down to lowest earthly lord, we ask that you would cause them to sing your praises. Lord, may our president, congressmen, senators, governors, mayors, and every other ruler in our nation bow to you as King over them and may they sing your praise.

Transition:

Verse 6 says.

6  For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he knows from afar.

Join me in thanking God that He hears us in our lowly estate.

-Prayer:

Oh Lord, you who sit on high, have heard the prayers of sinners like us. I can never truly fathom how incredible this is. All I can say is thank you. Thank you for hearing me. Thank you for hearing us. We have never done anything to deserve this, but you hear us anyway. Thank you Lord. Crush any pride in us. Humble us, Lord. And may we always be thankful that you hear us.

Transition:

Verse seven says

7  Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve my life;

you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and your right hand delivers me.

Let us pray and thank God for preserving our lives from circumstances and foes.

-Prayer:

Oh Lord, we thank you for giving us life and for preserving our lives. We know how fragile life is. But it is your hand that keeps us alive. It is your hand that gives us each breath. It is your hand that protects us from all dangers and foes. Lord, we thank you for this.

Transition:

Verse 8.

8  The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;

Let’s thank God that nothing can stop His will for us!

-Prayer:

Oh Lord, we thank you that you will accomplish your purpose for us. Nothing and no one can change this. Nothing can separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Lord, thank you for the comfort this brings. We thank you that you are sovereign over all, and that nothing can happen to us outside your will.

Transition:

Now let’s close with thanksgiving through the ending of this Psalm.

Final prayer:

Finally Lord, we want to close this time of prayer by echoing the Psalmist’s closing. Thank you, O LORD for your steadfast love that endures forever. Your love never changes. Your love never wavers. Thank you Lord!

Now, O Lord, prepare us to sing loud and passionately to you in thankfulness for all you have given us! Accept this time of singing as pure and undefiled worship to you! May we sing boldly before all to you, our God and our King. In Jesus name, Amen!