Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Prayer for the People
Please take your Bibles and turn with me to , the page number is noted in the bulletin for the pew bibles.
You can also pull it up in the YouVersion app by going to more/events, and then First Baptist Park Street should pop up.
Should!
Night.
A Promise of Peace
Night often brings with it a temptation to brood on wrongs done - to us and by us - as well as fixation on present perils.
And, looking at this context, King David was in a perilous situation.
It’s no accident that this psalm is side-by-side with which Pastor Rob preached last week.
David was the anointed one, the King, meant to rule for God on earth.
Yet he had committed grievous sin.
Though David had repented, his sin opened the door for his son Absalom to rebel against him, gaining the favor of many in the kingdom.
Eventually, David had to flee Jerusalem with those friends still loyal to him. 2 Samuel tells us they were in the wilderness…hungry, tired, and dejected.
It’s likely David had this in mind when he wrote .
Please stand as I read from , where King David encourages his wavering and weary friends with a prayer to God that was answered with peace and rest.
A NIGHT PRAYER
For the choir director: with stringed instruments.
A psalm of David.
1 Answer me when I call,
God, who vindicates me.
You freed me from affliction;
be gracious to me and hear my prayer.
2 How long, exalted ones, will my honor be insulted?
How long will you love what is worthless
and pursue a lie?
Selah
3 Know that the Lord has set apart
the faithful for himself;
the Lord will hear when I call to him.
4 Be angry and do not sin;
on your bed, reflect in your heart and be still.
Selah
5 Offer sacrifices in righteousness
and trust in the Lord.
6 Many are asking, “Who can show us anything good?”
Let the light of your face shine on us, Lord.
7 You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and new wine abound.
8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, Lord, make me live in safety.
(!!!PRAY!!!)
(06:00)
In this discouraging situation, what does David do?
He turns to the Lord in prayer.
Answer me when I call,
God, who vindicates me.
You freed me from affliction;
be gracious to me and hear my prayer.
This is what made me understand how David was a man after God’s own heart: He always turns to prayer.
We could say it this way: when David is anointed and given the Holy Spirit, his life becomes marked by
A PATTERN OF PRAYER
He prays in every situation - the book of psalms is a testimony to his pattern of prayer!
Here is David - humiliated, surrounded by lies, with friends who were exasperated and gloomy.
But he prays.
Our first of three passes is to anchor this Psalm in the life of David.
Let’s look together:
Well-founded prayer
First, verse 1, the prayer is grounded in God’s character, who He is, and His power to save David…and his friends.
You see, David’s present prayer draws strength from the past trials.
But this trial is different, for it tests David less than it tests His friends.
There are three groups of friends David appeals to in his prayer: the fickle friends, the fierce friends, and the fatigued friends.
Verses 2 and 3 are an Appeal to the Fickle
How long, exalted ones, will my honor be insulted?
How long will you love what is worthless
and pursue a lie?
I thought this was directed at David’s enemies.
But my friend Buddy pointed out David does not mince words about his enemies (“break the teeth of the wicked!”) and next week you’ll see what David really thinks about enemies of the kingdom.
Since this language is so much gentler, these “exalted ones” are the leaders of Israel, leaders that were friends.
They should have stood by David but are being swayed by Absalom.
David appeals to them inside his appeal to God.
Verses 4 and 5 are an Appeal to the fierce
Be angry and do not sin;
on your bed, reflect in your heart and be still.
Selah
Offer sacrifices in righteousness
and trust in the Lord.
If some friends loyalties waver too much, others are too fierce, letting their anger get the best of them.
David had these in his group as well, and this was just as dangerous as any other threat.
Verse 6 and 7 is an Appeal to the fatigued
Many are asking, “Who can show us anything good?”
David hears this plaintive cry of despondency and doubt, and answers in a gentle & loving way, focusing on the right direction.
God.
Let the light of your face shine on us, LORD.
Their despondency is focused on circumstances.
Which are bad!
But David is not, and there is such a contract.
He is with them in the wilderness.
He is with them in hunger.
But he has joy
You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and new wine abound
Well-founded peace
This God-ward focus has a fantastic application: peace.
This is more than the sleep of the exhausted, the Hebrew here means a deep and abiding trust in the Lord that means David truly rests.
This trial has challenged David to make his faith explicit and to urge it on others, as a committal of his cause and himself to a faithful Creator.
It results in peace and rest.
TRANSITION:
Let’s take a second pass at this Psalm, this time looking at it not only as David’s Pattern of Prayer for the People, but as a Prayer meant for the People to use.
(12:00)
Have you ever been humiliated?
Exasperated?
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