Lead Me in Your Righteouness (Psalm 5)

Announcements

I was hoping that we would be able to start renovations on the storefront today, but due to a delay on the building management company’s end, we have yet to receive keys for the building and we actually haven’t seen the lease yet. We were supposed to get the lease last week, which was delayed until Monday, and was delayed again until tomorrow, which means hopefully, tomorrow, we’ll have the lease and we’ll be able to get some advice about the lease from other pastors as well as some legal advice to make sure everything in the lease is in our favor.

If everything is good in the lease, the officers of the church will sign it and return it to the building management company as soon as possible, with the hope that we’ll be able to get into the building on Friday to start doing some of the work.

Again, the first bits of renovations will be done by contractors, but once the contracted work is accomplished, we’ll need help with painting, cleaning, and setting up the building. So please consider ways in which you can help and come talk with me as soon as possible.

The goal is to finish the building as quickly as possible in order for us to move all of our services to the building by October 3rd, which is a prayer request in and of itself.

Just a reminder, this Sunday’s service starts at 10:30am and will be located under Pavilion 2 at Cold Stream Dam. I noticed that there’s rain in the forecast, so let me just say that we’ll have a service there rain or shine (we have a pavilion as well as canopies to sit under, so I think we’ll be alright).

If you’ve signed up for food, we’ll have coolers and trays filled with ice to keep your cold food cold; if you’re bringing something hot, be sure to bring a crockpot, we’ll have outlets to plug them into.

I forgot to mention this on Sunday, unless you plan on sitting at the picnic table the entire service, be sure to bring some camp chairs with you. We’ll have a few extra, but not enough for everyone, so be sure to bring yours if you them.

If you’re bringing something like a canopy or any equipment that we need for the service, please try to be there by 10am.

Sunday, September 12th, 2021, at 5:30pm, we’ll gather for baptisms at 935 Brisbin St in Houtzdale. This is in addition to our regularly scheduled Sunday morning service at the YMCA. If you or someone you know needs to be baptized, please have them contact me as soon as possible.

As always, let me remind you to worship the LORD through your giving. To help you give, we have two digital means for your giving: (1) you can give by texting 84321 with your $[amount] and by following the text prompts or (2) you can visit us online at www.graceandpeacepa.com and select giving in the menu bar. Everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Sermon

Introduction

This evening’s sermon is a continuation on our series in the book of Psalms. This psalm is a psalm of David when he faced immediate danger from his enemies. I’m sure that you’ve noticed throughout this series that many of the psalms are during times of great distress in David’s life. This psalm is similar; but you can see in this psalm his assurance or confidence in God’s ability to judge those who are wicked. This psalm as a whole is one long prayer; and in this prayer we see David expressing his desire for God to hear him, his confidence in God’s judgment, and his need for God to provide for him wisdom and guidance. Let’s read Psalm 5 together before we dig into Scripture.

Psalm 5 ESV

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David. 1 Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. 2 Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. 3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. 4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 6 You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. 8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. 9 For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. 10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. 11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. 12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

As we study this passage, we’ll take it in three parts: (1) David’s Prayer in the Morning (1-3), which gives us the opening words to David’s prayer. This is the section in which David asks God to hear his voice, it is also the start of David’s worship of the LORD through prayer; (2) David’s Confidence in God (4-7), which is specifically about David’s confidence in God being a God of justice, that despite the wickedness that surrounds him, he knows that God doesn’t delight in wickedness, and he knows that he has the ability to come into the presence of the LORD because of God’s steadfast love towards those who are his; (3) David’s Prayer for Guidance (8-12), then closes the psalm with David requesting guidance in order for him to follow the path of righteousness. Psalm 5 teaches us two things in particular, which I’ll emphasize during this evening’s message: it shows us the proper response in times of distress and it models to us how to pray in times of distress.

Prayer for Illumination

David’s Prayer in the Morning (1-3)

Starting in Vs. 1, David cries out to the LORD. “Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” There are several elements to the opening of David’s prayer that I want us to consider:

First off, I want us to take note of the descriptive elements that David utilizes for God

He calls God LORD in Vs. 1 and Vs. 3, remember that when the word LORD is in all capital letters, it refers specifically to the proper name of God, which is Yahweh. This emphasizes the personal nature of David’s relationship with God. It is important to note that David is praying to the God whom he knows.

In Vs. 2, he says that the LORD is his King and his God, which emphasizes the positional nature of David’s relationship with God—that Yahweh is sovereign over David’s life.

Taken together, that informs us that as David opens his prayer, he is praying specifically to the one that he knows personally as the almighty, all-sovereign King and God.

Secondly, I want to point out the rawness of David’s cry.

Often, when we pray, we attempt to clean-up or pretty-up our prayers. We attempt to sound eloquent or we attempt sounding put together.

Take note of his words, “Give ear to my words . . . consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, . . . for to you do I pray.”

They aren’t eloquent words and they really aren’t put together, in a sense it sounds as if he’s begging the LORD to hear him and listen to him.

They’re raw or what we might call authentic

But at the same time, they’re confident.

As David calls out to the LORD, he’s not eloquent and he isn’t really put together, but he’s honest and he’s authentic with the LORD. And there’s a certain amount of confidence—both in God’s ability to handle those who are wicked, which we’ll discuss in Vs. 4-7; and in God’s willingness to hear David’s prayer.

Vs. 3, “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”

Now, I do want to say, that I’ve heard this verse misused to attempt convincing people that they had to wake early for quiet time with the LORD, or they had to wake early to commune with God.

And while I do actually recommend waking early to commune with God, this verse cannot be utilized to prove that point.

What this verse speaks of is not a necessity to wake early to commune with God, but rather a willingness to limit sleep in order to commune with God.

The willingness to approach the LORD in confidence even first thing in the morning—and I see that confidence in the fact that David claims that God hears his voice; so he prepares a sacrifice for the LORD and waits.

So David calls out to the LORD with authentic or raw words, he relates his position in God in contrast to God’s own position, and then expresses confidence in God hearing him; and then he bases that confidence in who God is. And remember he’s praying through this whole psalm, which means that Vs. 4-7, which focuses on God’s character is part of his prayer. Read with me Vs. 4-7.

David’s Confidence in God (4-7)

Psalm 5:4–7 ESV

4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 6 You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

As David continues in his prayer, he speaks of the character of God. And I want to make it clear, that the reason for David’s confidence in Vs. 3 in the LORD answering his prayer is based on God’s character, which is why he starts speaking of God’s character in Vs. 4, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.”

Vs. 4 tells us essentially that God is good. In this verse, despite it not specifically calling God good, the implication is that since God cannot dwell with evil and since God doesn’t delight in wickedness; he must dwell in goodness and he must delight in wickedness.

This idea of God not dwelling with the wicked extend to those who commit wicked acts. Vs. 5, “The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.”

In our modern-day world, there’s a rather lax stance against sin—we’re typically not as firm when it comes to sin issues as we ought to be, to the extent that we justify lying by saying that we didn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings; or we justify adultery in the name of love. Even when we don’t outright condone sin, many people are more lax towards sin than what the Bible allows and they’re utilize the phrase, “who am I to judge?” Which let me be clear, is a misunderstanding of Jesus’ command to not judge.

In reality, the Bible is firm against sin to the extent that Paul tells us to not tolerate sin within the church--we’re told to discipline those who are unrepentant towards sin, and we aren’t to allow someone who is sinfully misleading people and teaching false doctrine fellowship into the church. Why is that? Because God himself is firm against sin.

Psalm 5:4 tells us that God does not delight in wickedness, so much so that evil cannot dwell with God and God hates all evildoers.

Until we understand how God’s stark position against sin, we’ll never fully comprehend how big of a deal it is that God loved us enough to send his Son to be an atonement for our sins.

Until we understand how detrimental sin actually is, we’ll never fully praise Jesus for what he has accomplished for us on the cross.

Our sins separated us from God because God does not delight in wickedness; God does not dwell in evil; and God hates all evildoers. And until the moment of repentance and belief in Jesus Christ, we were evil doers.

The idea that the “boastful shall not stand before your eyes” is the idea that those who are prideful cannot stand in the presence of God.

And it’s more than just because pride is a sin, which it is. Solomon writes in Proverbs 16:18 that “pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Paul warns in Romans 12:16, “Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”

In CS Lewis’ book Mere Christianity, he writes, “According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through pride that the devil became the devil: pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind . . . it is pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.”

Why is pride such an issue so much that the Psalmist makes the claim that the “boastful” or the “prideful” shall not stand before your eyes?

It’s actually quite simple, because pride prevents repentance—those who are prideful don’t see a need for God let alone repentance:

They justify themselves like the Pharisee who prays, “thank God, I’m not like him” or I’m not that bad, my sins aren’t too terrible, I’m genuinely a nice guy

They don’t seek for God, they think, “why do I need God?” My life is fine—I’m not necessarily rich, but I’m alright

And because of their pride, they don’t actually repent.

Which is why the boastful cannot or will not stand before the eyes of God—they are still in their sins, they are still evildoers, they still delight in wickedness; and the evil cannot dwell with God.

In fact, God’s position against sin is so firm that Vs. 6 tells us that “You [referring to God] destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.”

David shows a confidence in knowing that God’s position against sin results in the destruction of those who dwell in wickedness. There is no if in this statement, David knows that God will destroy those who speak lies; because “the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.”

In this scenario, David is relating his prayer and God’s character to his life—he’s facing a time of great distress and opposition from those who are wicked. Thus, it makes sense that part of his prayer will speak of the ones who oppose him—in his case, his opposition (those who are wicked) are lying, they’re deceiving, and they’re bloodthirsty.

And David knows that because the LORD is against sin and against wickedness, God is against his enemies who are acting in sin and wickedness.

But God’s position against sin is only one part of God’s character; and David doesn’t just focus on that one part of God’s character, he shifts his focus to talk about another part of God’s character in Vs. 7, “But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.”

You might hear that and think, where is God’s character at play here, but let me clarify for you what David is saying of God’s character in this line of his prayer:

David says that in contrast to those that will be destroyed for their wickedness by God, David will come into God’s holy temple and bow down.

Which again, you might hear that and think, that isn’t necessarily about God’s character, but it actually is in several ways:

David is able to enter into God’s house because of God’s abundance of steadfast love—the word translated as steadfast love is the Hebrew word hesed. Hesed is what we sometimes refer to as God’s covenant-keeping love. Or in other words, David is appealing to God’s character in that he knows that he can come into God’s presence because God keeps his covenants (and remember, there are multiple covenants that have been given by God to the Israelites as well as David). God’s willingness to keep his covenants is seen in what we sometimes call his covenant-keeping love or his loyal love or his steadfast love. What this tells us of God’s character is that he keeps his promises and he acts and reacts out of love.

David enters into God’s house and bows down, this tells us of God’s worth and it solidifies the idea that God is worthy of worship. In other words, David is clear that as he enters into God’s presence even in the midst of his distress and even in the midst of facing enemies, he still comes into God’s presence to worship the LORD. What this tells us of God’s character is that worship to the LORD is more important than our temporal distress; because God is worthy of worship.

In the last phrase of David’s prayer concerning God’s character, he states, “I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.” The fear of the LORD is an important topic throughout Scripture and we normally take it to teach us that we ought to fear and respect God, which is true. But it also tells us about God himself, that God himself is worthy of fear and respect, which ties into our worship of the LORD. What this tells us of God’s character is that God is worthy of fear and respect even during times of great distress in our lives today.

I also want to point out before we continue in the text, that while this section has focused on God’s character, we also see a bit about David’s character:

David is in a time of great distress in his life in which there are enemies surrounding him; and he doesn’t hesitate to call out to the LORD.

David is in a time of great distress in his life in which there are enemies surrounding him; and he still meditates on God’s character.

David is in a time of great distress in his life in which there are enemies surrounding him; and he still desires to worship the LORD.

David is worth learning from and emulating because he expresses great confidence in the LORD’s character even when life seems to be showing him something different.

So, David calls out to the LORD confidently and he reflects on the character of God—that God hates evil, that God abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful; but that God is a good God who acts according to his covenants and his love for his people; and because of who God is, he is worthy of worship, and of fear. And after calling on the LORD and reflecting on God’s character through prayer, David then spends the rest of his prayer praying for guidance or what we might call wisdom. Read with me Vs. 8-12:

David’s Prayer for Guidance (8-12)

Psalm 5:8–12 ESV

8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. 9 For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. 10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. 11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. 12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

David starts this final section of the psalm with a prayer for guidance, “Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.”

This prayer for guidance is actually pretty simple--”Lead me . . . in your righteousness.”

“Because God is righteous, David’s prayer is to follow the right path. “Make your way straight before me,” is the idea that David is trying to pray for. That the way of God would be visible for him, that he can see in the way that he should go.

The reason for the prayer of guidance is found in Vs. 9, “For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.”

In contrast to the way of righteousness, which one is led through by the LORD, what the wicked have offered are lies and flattery.

In many ways, this prayer is a prayer for wisdom and discernment—Lord, make your way clear so that I can follow you and not fall into destruction.

Which is a prayer that we should be praying as well, especially when we face times of great distress—the reason for that is when we’re facing times of great distress we have a tendency to make foolish decisions:

When we’re facing financial distress, we fall for scams more easily

When we’re facing physical distress, we tend to over-exert ourselves or even give up

When we’re facing spiritual distress, we tend to blame God and turn the other way

In reality, when we’re facing times of distress, our response ought to be prayer; and we ought to pray for wisdom in order to determine the path that we ought to follow. We should do what James 1:5 teaches in times of trials, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

David prays for the LORD to “make [his] way straight before [him]” because he’s facing a situation in which the wicked seek his own destruction.

And then in Vs. 10, David prays for the judgment of the wicked, “Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled you.”

This is what we sometimes call an imprecatory prayer and there are a handful of psalms that fit this category. Imprecatory prayers or psalms are essentially prayers in which the writer asks for God to judge his enemies. And modern-day Christians typically have a difficult time reconciling this with Jesus’ commands to love our enemies. Since this is the first time an imprecatory prayer has been mentioned in our series, I want us to take a moment to discuss them. (This isn’t going to be a deep or detailed discussion of imprecatory psalms and prayers though because I’m going to save that for when we get to a psalm that is completely imprecatory)

There are ten psalms that are considered imprecatory and then there are some psalms that aren’t considered imprecatory but have a line or two in them that are (like Psalm 5).

And I want to be clear, these prayers weren’t written because the psalmist wanted revenge on his enemies, but rather to emphasize God’s hatred of evil.

So, these aren’t prayers of vengeance in which the psalmist felt that God should judge these people—these are prayers for God’s righteous judgment to be enacted.

Modern-day Christians tend to have a difficult time with prayers of imprecations because of Jesus’ exhortation for us to pray for our enemies, so let’s talk about that just briefly.

Prayers of imprecation in the Bible aren’t prayers for vengeance and they aren’t prayers based on a person’s character.

They’re prayers for the righteous judgment of God to be enacted and they’re prayers based on God’s character.

This changes our view of imprecatory prayers because they’re no longer based on human character and human emotion, they’re based on what God has said about himself and what God has said about sin.

Keeping that in mind, is it alright to pray for someone’s sin to be found out? I would argue yes, if the purpose behind the prayer is for them to repent from their sins and call on the name of the LORD.

However, I would also argue that to pray for someone to go to hell, would be inappropriate in light of what Jesus says about praying for our enemies; and I would argue that to pray for someone’s sin to find them out just because you don’t like them, or you want to see them fall apart, or you want them to be hurt isn’t just inappropriate, it’s wrong.

Praying for someone’s sin to be found out in order for them to repent is right; praying for them to fall in sin just because you don’t like them is sinful on your part.

Our prayers for other people when it involves God’s judgment and their sins should always be focused on their conviction of sin in hopes of their repentance from sin.

It is right to pray for someone’s sin to find them out, if we’re praying for their repentance and salvation

It is right to pray for someone’s sin to find them out, if we’re praying for their eternal souls

It is not alright to pray for someone to fall in sin and be found out because you don’t like them, because you want them to fail, or because you want them to hurt.

And we actually pray prayers like this all the time, though we typically don’t say them the way that David does in Psalm 5.

Every service that we have, I start by praying that God convicts us of sin in order for us to repent—in a sense, that’s a prayer of imprecation.

Every time we pray for the salvation of someone else, it is with the knowledge that if they don’t repent, God will judge them.

Every time we pray for the return of Jesus, we’re essentially praying for Jesus to return soon, which means people will be judged for their sins sooner.

Imprecatory prayers aren’t necessarily wrong and we shouldn’t struggle with the ethical ramifications of them, it is right to pray for someone’s sins to find them out if it’s for the purpose of repentance.

Back to the text, when David says, “Make them bear their guilt” he isn’t doing it because he felt wronged by these people, he’s doing it because these people have sinned against God; and it is right for those who are evil and wicked to face judgment for their sins.

And David roots this whole prayer in what God has said concerning sin. He doesn’t root this part of his prayer on his own disdain towards them, he roots it in their disdain of God.

“Let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.”

Notice that David’s reasoning for their destruction has nothing to do with himself; it has to do with their rebellion against the LORD.

Vs. 11-12, then closes the prayer with a note of encouragement, “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.”

Those who seek refuge in the LORD can rejoice and sing for joy because God’s protection is over them. Those who love God’s name can exult in him because God blesses the righteous.

Which again is a note of encouragement that results in praise—even though David realizes that he’s in grave danger, he can still rejoice and he can still sing for joy, and he can still trust in the LORD because of who the LORD is.

Derek Kidner, “Although danger is not forgotten, the psalmist now breaks free of his loneliness. He is no longer a man praying on his own, hemmed in by his foes, but is conscious of a whole company who can join him in praise.”

Now you might think, that’s great for David, but what about me? In my present situation in life and the difficulties that I face, how can I rejoice and sing for joy?

In Jesus, if you believe, you’ve been made righteous. Thus, keeping in mind what David writes in Vs. 11-12, you can modify the words to fit your present situation:

As I take refuge in God, I can rejoice and sing for joy

God spread his protection over me because I love his name and exult in him

God blesses me because Jesus has made me righteous

I am covered with God’s favor because of what he has done for me.

In the difficulties of life that you’re presently facing, you can sing for joy and you can rejoice in the LORD.

There is a hymn by Ron Hamilton that reflects the truth at the end of this psalm. The hymn is O Rejoice in the Lord and it says this:

God never moves without purpose or plan | When trying his servant and molding a man. | Give thanks to the LORD though your testing seems long; | In darkness He gives us a song. | O rejoice in the LORD | He makes no mistake | He knows the end of each path that I take | For when I am tried and purified | I shall come forth as gold.

As we finish up our message for the evening, I want to take the last few moments to discuss application. We’re going to take the application in two primary parts: (1) we’re going to discuss application that concerns the words of the passage themselves—in other words, we’re searching specifically for the application of the passage itself; and (2) we’re going to discuss application that concerns the methodology that David utilizes for prayer in this passage. And of course, we’re going to discuss how we can apply the passage and the prayer to our lives today:

Application

Concerning the passage itself:

Starting with Vs. 1-3, which gives us David’s opening statements as he cries out to the LORD. David calls out to God and I spoke about how his words aren’t necessarily eloquent and they aren’t exactly cleaned up, but they’re raw and authentic. As he cries out to God, he implores God to hear him and consider what he says. Our application is quite simple, in times of distress, call out to the LORD.

It’s simple and it’s easy to remember, but it’s important because often when we’re going through times of distress, we don’t call out to God. How do we typically respond when we face times of difficulty?

We typically start by whining and complaining—this usually starts internally, we start complaining in our own minds; and then it builds as we start to complain to our spouses and to our friends.

As our complaining spirit builds we start to look for ways to release anger or express frustration, which means we typically start to either take it out on those around us or we develop an addictive behavior.

Usually, when we face times of difficulty, our response is to look everywhere except at Jesus Christ, which is our flesh’s way of handling problems.

In reality, when we face times of difficulty, our first response needs to be to call out to the LORD. In the first three verses of Psalm 5, David not only cries out to the LORD, but he reminds himself of who God is in contrast to himself:

He calls God by his personal name, which emphasizes the relationship that he has with God

And then he calls God his King and his God, which emphasizes God’s power, control, and sovereignty

And then the psalmist builds on this in Vs. 4-6 by reminding himself of God’s character

So first, in times of distress, call out to God. Secondly, in times of distress, remind yourself of who God is:

Remind yourself that he is your God and that he is your King

By reminding yourself, you put yourself in a position of submission to him—in other words, by reminding yourself that God is your God and your King, you remind yourself that he is in control, he is sovereign, and he is all-powerful.

And by reminding yourself, you remind yourself that this all-powerful, all-sovereign God is your God; and if you have repented from your sins and believed in Jesus Christ, you are his child

But don’t stop at just reminding yourself of your position in Christ, keep going; remind yourself of the character of God.

In David’s situation a lot of his reminders about God’s character has to do with God’s justice and his disdain for sin, which surely, you ought to remind yourself of these attributes of God’s character, but personalize it.

When you’re struggling with depression—remind yourself that God cares for you and he loves you

When you’re struggling with physical ailment—remind yourself that he is the great physician

When you’re struggling with work—remind yourself of the shalom that you experience in Jesus Christ.

Take passages of Scripture that speak of who God is and reflect on God’s character

Passages like 1 Corinthians 13, 1 John 4:8, Ephesians 2:4-5, and Hebrews 13:8 can help give you some characteristics of God to reflect on.

Reading the Gospels will help you to reflect on God’s character

And remind yourself that your God, your King, your Christ—the one who has promised is faithful.

In times of distress, call out to God, remind yourself of who God is, and be confident in the LORD for guidance.

The last bit of this psalm shows a confidence that God can clarify David’s direction in life and that God can lead him in righteousness.

David is so confident in this truth and that God will “make [his] way straight before [him] that he closes the psalm with praising the Lord for refuge, joy, protection, and favor.

Likewise, we can be confident in God’s leading, if we choose to follow him and not our own wants and desires. How do we follow God’s leading? James 1 has something to say about it, “But be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves.”

Follow God’s Word and you’ll be following God’s leading.

Concerning David’s methodology for prayer:

In times of distress, when we cry out for him, we should do it like David does it; and I’m going to quickly work through these in the last few minutes that we have. When David faced distress and he called out to God, he was: authentic, dependent, faithful to God’s truth, and confident in God. Likewise:

We need to be authentic when we cry out to God

We need to be dependent when we cry out to God

We need to let God’s truth dictate our prayers

And we need to be confident that God will lead us if we ask him for wisdom

Put simply, Psalm 5 is a prayer from David that teaches us to: (1) authentically depend on God by crying out to him when we face distress; (2) remind ourselves regularly of who God is; and (3) be confident that God will lead us if we ask him for wisdom and follow his Word.

Pastoral Prayer

Prayer Requests

Caleb Miller — Medical Issues

Alan Wisor — Medical Issues

We know of several people who were either in the path of Hurricane Ida along the gulf coast or they’re returning to the gulf coast—we just want to pray for their safety as they return home.

Pray for the remaining amount of money needed for our building renovation—the church finally received approval for sales tax exempt status today, which will help as we buy the materials and equipment that we need for the renovations.

Pray for those struggling with COVID-19 and with other illnesses.