Psalm 59: When Dogs Howl

Hey, Manuel, we continue this morning on our journey, through the book of Psalms. During the summer time today were looking, at Psalm 59. This morning. We're going to consider the superscription of Psalm 59. Again. Remember those are the words that generally come immediately before the song which generally give us some context and what the song is about. In the superscription this morning connects this song to events in David's life that are recorded in 1st, Samuel chapter, 19, 11 where we read. Saw send Messengers to David's house to watch him that he might kill him in the morning. Lucy that this song as we read it seems to have been adopted for liturgical use because it expands its scope to include to be relevant for all of the worshippers of Israel. And so it was inspired by David's tribulations of the hand of Saul, which came to represent Israel's trials at the hands of other nations and it comes to us. Now. To teach us how we can pray in difficult circumstances. I'm most commentaries would categorize this song as a Psalm of Lament. And I'm going to preach at this morning along the lines of a pattern that is inherent in the song by itself. We see that the psalm is praised and then the psalmist presents the problem to God and then he responds in praise. That's repeated two times in this song. And so that's how we're going to look at it. So, let's go to the song this morning, Psalm 59. I'll be reading out of the ESV courage. You'd open up your Bibles and turn on your devices that as I read it a law, allow. You can follow along.

Psalm 59 to the choirmaster according to do not destroy a michtam of David when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

Deliver me from my enemies. Oh God! Protect me. From those who rise up against me. Deliver Me from those who work evil and save me from bloodthirsty men. For Behold a lion, wait for my life, Fierce men stir up Strife against me for no transgression or sin of mine. Oh lord, for no fault of mine. They run in. Make Ready awake come to meet me and see you Lord, God of hosts, our god of Israel. Rouse yourself to punish all the nations spare. None of those who treasure asleep. Lot evil. Each evening. They come back howling like dogs and prowling about the city. There they are bellowing with their mouths, with swords in their lips. For who they think will hear us. But you oh Lord. Laugh at them. You hold all the nations in division. All my strength. I will watch for you for you. Oh God are my Fortress. My God and His steadfast love will meet me. God will let me look and try them on my enemies. Tell them. Not. Let's my people forget make them Tighter by your power and bring them down. Oh Lord our shield for the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips. Let them be trapped in their pride for the cursing and lies that. They utter consume them and wrath consume them till they are no more. Did they may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the Earth. Each evening. They come back howling like dogs and prowling about the city. They wander about for food and growl if they did not get their fill. But I will sing of your strength. I will single out of your steadfast love in the morning, but you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. Oh my strength. I will sing praises to you for you. Oh God are my Fortress. The God Who shows me steadfast love.

The main idea for this sermon for this song. I Would articulate this way since God is a loving strong Refuge. God's people should pray to him for deliverance in the midst of your trials, and praise him in faith for their anticipated salvation. Did your thing that Gerald touched upon not in his Elders prayer, but responding to God with praise and thanksgiving. Put the song, must-starts this pattern out with prayer and verses 1 and 5 and then you repeat the universe 11. Those verses 1 through 5 and 11 contain, the main content of the prayer, a prayer for safety for deliverance and salvation. A prayer that God would snatch, the psalmist. I would have danger set him in a secure place and defeat his enemies. The song besides God deliver me, protect me, deliver me, and save me. Seeking salvation from Saul's men, even as Israel them self with seek deliverance, from the Nations that oppose them. Clearly. The danger was urgent. The danger was pressing. It came from enemies those who were hostile. It came from evildoers. Those who perpetrated wickedness. It came from bloodthirsty men, those types of men who murder of it came from Fierce, man, those who were powerful and dangerous David praise. God. Save me from these men. And then is Is frequent throughout the songs, the psalmist employees anthropomorphisms. No, for those of you who forgot what that word means from high school in your English class, and anthropomorphism is in a scription of human traits or attributes to something that's not human than the songs. It's done regularly, ascribing human characteristics to God. The psalmist goes here and he prays and calls upon God to wake up. We don't believe that God sleeps and he calls upon God to Rouse himself in a prize himself or the situation and act quickly to save. This is the psalmist reinforcing his prayer for salvation. A prayer that is made to Yahweh, the Covenant God of Israel. To the god of hosts. That is the god of armies. Asking him to intervene at the change. David's, Destiny into change the destiny of Israel from that of Doom 2 Deliverance.

This prayers even strengthened is, the Samus asked God, not to show Grace or favor to the evildoers. This is not a request that all unbelievers, never be shown. The grace of God is very specifically that those who are treacherous treacherously plotting, evil against David and against Israel. Not be shown mercy and Grace. And then in verse 11, again the content the main content of the prayer that God would save and deliver David, but there's a Twist in 11. The psalmist David asked God to destroy them in a memorable way, not to annihilate them too quickly.

Not to do it so fast, will it God's people would forget what it happened. It's almost like the psalmist is requesting the destruction of his enemies. In a similar fashion to what those of us who are a bit older would have seen in an old western. Remember how the enemy would die in an old western, he get shot but he wouldn't immediately fall to the ground. He'd stagger around for a few minutes. And then he dropped to one knee into another, and he's Rock back and forth before he finally collapsed on the ground, but even then he wasn't dead as you continue to breathe, and then a camera focusing on, and he breathed his last breath, so dramatic. So much more dramatic than just being shot and died. I think that's what David is asking for. Make this a memorable thing. Make this a dramatic thing, a momentous salvation, so that it will be indelibly etched in the minds of your people. He prays for a remarkable deliverance. And that's what we see in verses 1 through 5 and verse 11, the first aspect of the threefold pattern, he praised.

Then he moves on in versus 6 and 7 and 12 through 15. After the main content of his for, he moves on to put the problem before. God. He prayerfully reasons with God, in regards to why God should answer his prayer for deliverance. He presents the problem. To God. The psalmist argues that God should answers prayer. Barely bluntly. Why? Because his enemies are dogs. The psalmist pictures, those who rise up against him and seek his life as a pack of wild canines who are seeking prey among the people of God, they prowl in the city. They instill fear with their growling in there. Howling, there are clear and present danger to David and to God's covenant Community, not to mention obnoxiously noisy as well. Do I have a dog? My dog's name is Bauer. He's generally a fairly quiet, dog, except when he hears sirens.

Having worked in this location. I am well aware of how many sirens are coming out of this. Dispatch. Ambulance, dispatch plays across the road constant, but the first time I noticed her concert was it was with Bauer cuz he'd howl. When he hears the sirens. Our neighbors have a dog. They're not, doesn't make noise when the sirens are wailing. Their dog makes noise when there's a storm.

Different dogs. Different opportunities to make noise, I guess. But David's enemies. They made noise to strike fear and indicate their evil intentions against God's people. That's the kind of dogs they were. Now the word for that, we see at the beginning of verse 12 indicates that the psalmist is presenting argumentation to God. You should act this way God, you should answer this prayer because just take a look at 12 for the sins of their mouths, the words of their lips. Let them be trapped in their price for the cursing and lies at the other, consume them in Wrath. The psalmist is presenting the argument before, God. The principal send that the wicked are committing. The David suggest is pride and the evidence of, that pride comes from the mouths of these dogs, they Bellow, and how to curse, and lie in their lips are swords and their words are sin. And as for these dangerous words, words of curse and deception and blasphemy and the potential for them to act on that the psalmist appeals to God for deliverance. I want to focus in this morning really on this main point of application. That we might understand that when we pray to God, we are to bring arguments to him. That sounds strange to our ears. I think that we are to argue with God and prayer. June 18th, is the famous preacher in England. Charles Haddon Spurgeon delivered, a sermon titled order and argument in prayer in that sermon. He declared the second part of prayer is filling the mouth with arguments, not filling the mouth with many words, nor good phrases, nor pretty Expressions, but filling the mouth with arguments. These arguments are the knocks of the wrapper by which the gate is open. It seems Spurgeon believe that in some sense prayer to God was similar to coming before a judge in a courtroom and making an appeal using argumentation 200 years earlier. The English Puritan John Flavel assumed that his congregation understood this as well, in his sermon entitled of Christ humiliation on to death. He preached from John 17:11, which as many of you will know as part of Jesus's High Priestly prayer. And a significant section of Lavell, sermon is explaining how it is in the ways in which Jesus argues his prayer before God. This is what Flavel says, let us see how he Jesus follows his request. And with what arguments he pleads with the father for these things. And then Football goes on to show six separate arguments that Jesus employs as he prays to his father. So we may be singing ourselves. Does Jesus, the son of God, the second member of the Trinity, really argue with God, the father in his prayers? And I assure you, he does.

Chevelle offers six ways in which we like Jesus can argue in prayer with God's just as Jesus. Did no five of these ways. The football presents. Speak about how Jesus argued with a father in prayer. We see them in Psalm 59. Here's what those five things. Are. We are in prayer to make an argument from God's attributes in prayer. We are to make an argument from God's glorious name. Where to make an argument and prayer from God's people's Soro. Where to make an argument in prayer from God's enemies evil? And we are to make an argument from God's promises. Let me just show you how Psalm 59. Does this remember, the the psalter is a handbook of prayer for the Saints? And it is demonstrating to us ways in which we can pray to God. So, let's take a look at this. David argues from the attributes of God, when he draws attention and makes note of God strength. God steadfastness and love. Superiority over humans, which causes him to laugh. God's power and God's covenant faithful. David is saying God, do this deliver me because of who you are the presents that argument in prayer. David also, argues from God's glorious name and verse for when he says You Lord God of hosts, our god of Israel. Are we supposed to think that David was informing? God what his name and title and roll was no, God knows who he is. David is suggesting to him that you are the god, the Glorious God of evil. So Rouse yourself punish the nation's spare. None of those who treacherously plot evil. God's David is leveraging, God's glory bringing that before him as an argument, to answer his prayer.

David also argues from God's people's sorrow, in this case is on, he lays out before God his own innocence, and the evil treatment that these enemies are acting against him.

David is saying you are my God do not be indifferent to my suffering but rather act to save me. He's arguing from God's people Sorel. I think the main and most explicit argument is I brought to your attention earlier is an argument from God's enemies, evil, David argues for the cursings and lies that they utter consume them in Wrath, consume them till they are no more. The evil wickedness and treacherous sons of David's enemies. David employs to persuade God, to answer his prayer. He's building a case in prayer before God's.

We may miss is the fifth way in which David makes an argument in prayer before God and that pertains to God's promises in Psalm 2 verses 7 and 9. God promises this to David. You are my son to get today. I have begotten, you ask of me and I will make the nation's your heritage and the ends of the Earth. Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces. Like a Potter's vessel. David argues for the answer to his prayer based on what God has already promised.

We need to learn to argue with God and prayer. The psalmist is our handbook, a handbook on prayer. We need to learn to do this.

I know I mentioned earlier that Flavel had six arguments. The Jesus made in regards to bringing his prayer before. God. It's not a final argument, which I'll mention. Now is something that David himself could not even pray. The way we can, in the New Covenant. The six type of prayerful argument that Flavel encourages his listeners to use is based as an argument from, Christ's work. We can make our appeal to God. The Father arguing from the Glorious work of redemption that Christ has accomplished. And we can do that and ways that Old Testament Saints could really only wonder about and speculate about To add to these first five prayerful arguments, the argument that leverages Chrysler demon, work should be all the encouragement that we need. To make these sorts of prayers. And if you think about it, brothers and sisters this morning. The very essence of all of our prayers. The very essence of all our obedience has the very essence of all our praises and all our service, and a very relationship with God is built on an argument from the work of Christ. It's all because of what Christ has done.

it's Christ saving work in his life, death, and Resurrection by which we live and move and have our being Our repentance from sin and our faith in Jesus is built on an argument from Price work. Our salvation and forgiveness from sin. And from the ensuing wrath of God is also built on an argument from Christ. Redeemer work. Why do we believe our sins are forgiven? Why do we believe that God's Wrath doesn't fall on it because of what Christ has done.

As we talked about in your catechism, Our Hope of everlasting life and Eternity spent in the presence of God rest on an argument from Christ work because of what Christ did we believe those things to be true? And so let me encourage you. If you are here this morning and you are not a Believer, you don't consider yourself a Christian. You need to know. That it is Christ Alone, that saves us. There is no other argument. We will make there's no other argument. We should make. There's no other argument that we could build our lives and our Hope on other than Christ work. I encourage you. If you have never to Avail yourself of the work of Christ by turning from your sin and repentance and turning to God by faith in Jesus Christ. Prevail summed up. His point about argumentative prayers, by saying this. Hence, we learn that argumentative prayers are excellent prayers. Some there are indeed that think we need not argue and plead and prayer with God, but only present them out of our prayers to him in life, Christ Alone, who's off of it. It it is to plead with the father Nono price. Pleading is one thing hours. Another. I know we are not heard either for much speaking or excellent speaking, but yet surely, when the spirit of the Lord. So shall suggest proper arguments in prayer and help the humble suppliant to press them home. Believing Leanne affectionately when he helps us to weep and plead to grown and plead God is greatly delighted in such prayers.

This is what Flavel got from John 17. This is what I think is a parent in Psalm 59. That we should make arguments based on who God is and what God has done based on what scripture reveals and what Christ has done as we make our prayers before God.

And we consider this pattern where the psalmist phrase, the psalm is presents in the form of an argument, his prayers to God by talking about the problem he faces, but then he Praises God. Keith confidently, expresses his worship and Faith Of God, we see the verses 8 and 10, the psalmist declares that God laughs at evil-doers. We also see an echo of this and Psalm chapter 2 or Psalm 2 verses 1 and 4. Why do the nation's rage in the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves in the world, is take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying. Let us burst their bonds apart and Cast Away, the cords from us. He who sits in the heavens. Last the Lord holds them in the Risen David make this statement of faith. You enemies, you dogs are howling and growling. But my God is laughing at you.

I experienced this dynamic in a very small way, back when I play for the Toronto Argonauts. One of our fans, had one the opportunity to participate in practice.

They're part of a raffle, they won the raffle, and they got to come and be part of our practice. And this particular fan, didn't just want to be there on the field with us. He begged that for just one play. He could really play football with us.

And he begged and begged. And finally, I still can't believe this. The team acquiesced and the gear in a mop, got him a helmet and shoulder pads and thigh pads and knee pads and and got them all suited up. So he could just do one play on the field with the professionals. And he decided he wanted to run the ball. So he was in our huddle. And I remember as we got into the HUD during the defense behind me, and they just started to laugh. They were chuckling to themselves. And they weren't wrong. This guy got blown up. I mean, when it happened, and he ran through the hole and our linebacker smashed him. We all froze. Like, what are we doing? Like this is a bad idea. This guy is laid up laid out on the ground were thinking lawsuits and Bad idea, but that laughter of the defense that's a small picture of God, laughter at human beings who proposed to be his enemy. They are no threat to him. That's how the song is vocalise his confidence, faith in his praise of God, and he says, God will let me look in Triumph on my enemies. I have faith in a God and I praise him. Even before I see the answer. God will let me look and try them on my enemies. The song is confidence. Finds Its explanation in the praise that he offers to God, David Praises God, because God strength and God is his Fortress because God is his refuge. And he's The God Who steadfastly Loves Him. Brothers and sisters East songs. Teach us about prayer.

And this repeated pattern, we see teaches us how we can pray and make a request known to God. We should ask for what it is that we seek. We should then take and make argument and plead our case before God. Based on those six things that I talked about. Is that your Buttes? His glorious name? The Soro in difficulties were facing the evil of the enemy. His promises. And more than anything else. Based on the precious work of Jesus Christ. So let's learn from that then then is we were admonished and the elders, prayer. Let's respond with confident. Praise and thanksgiving. Even when the answer hasn't come yet, putting our faith and putting our trust in God. Let spray. Heavenly Father, we thank you again this morning for this blessed book of hymns and prayers. And we would ask you father God that you would help us teach us to pray. Probably got two shots and helped us to follow the pattern. That scripture gives to us and lays out for us how we might approach you and ask you for the things we need and for deliverance that we hope for.

Most, especially this morning. I pray that you would help us as we make all the other arguments before you based on your glorious name in your attributes, in your promises in the evil that we see in others and the difficulties that we go through our cells. I pray that you would help us. To put all of those arguments. On the greater argument, the greatest argument. As it pertains to Sinners, who have been saved that we would argue from the Glorious work of Christ. Help us. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.