1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:01,920 Tonight we're going to look at Psalm 5. 2 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 And if you just want to know real quickly the the 10 Psalms 3 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,200 we're going to look at this year, Psalms 5. 4 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:09,120 Next week we're going to look at a big one. 5 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:19,680 Psalm 27, Psalm 44, Psalm 53, Psalm 65, Psalm 79, Psalm 86, 6 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:25,400 Psalm 87, Psalm 1O2, and Psalm 116. 7 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,040 Because I know some of you asked me, but why study the Psalms? 8 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,119 Why study the Psalms? Well, there are five books of 9 00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:34,720 poetry in the Bible. And it's quite interesting here 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,760 at Christ Community Church that last year Lance finished the 11 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:42,440 book of Job on Wednesday nights. And in Psalms, we've done almost 12 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:47,240 50 to 60 of the Psalms. And then Proverbs, rarely as a 13 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,320 sermon ever preached in this church where the pastor doesn't 14 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:54,360 mention 123 or 4 Proverbs. And Lance actually has 24 15 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,200 messages on Proverbs that you're interested in than that. 16 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,680 And then we just finished Ecclesiastes, so the only book 17 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,960 left is Song of Solomon. And I've only been married 22 18 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,160 years, so I'll leave that one to Lance to do someday. 19 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:11,320 But there's not just poetry in the five books that we call the 20 00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:13,920 poetry books. Poetry's all throughout the 21 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,920 Bible and begins the first poem is in Exodus 15 with the Song of 22 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,640 Moses. And then Deuteronomy, there's 23 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,480 also Deuteronomy 32, there's another Song of Moses, and then 24 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,600 you have the song of Deborah and Barack in Judges 5. 25 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,880 And you've got that beautiful poem of Hannah's prayer in First 26 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,520 Samuel 2. You've got David's song of 27 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,840 deliverance in Second Samuel 22. Habakkuk chapter 3 is a 28 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,000 wonderful prayer. And then you go to the New 29 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,320 Testament. It has poetry right away. 30 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:48,600 In Luke you have you have the magnificent Mary's prayer and 31 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,240 then you have Zachariah's prophecy in chapter 1 all the 32 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,320 way to Revelation. In Revelation there are 7 hymns. 33 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,720 One of them is Revelation 15, three to four. 34 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,600 So God's word is filled with poetry. 35 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:05,560 God likes poetry, so should we, right? 36 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:08,400 Who else likes poetry? Jesus. 37 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,720 Jesus quotes from the book of Psalms more than any other book 38 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:16,440 in the Old Testament. Jesus began as earthly ministry 39 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,840 and when he cleansed the temple in John chapter 2, verse 17, his 40 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,880 disciples remember that it was written zeal for your house will 41 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,280 consume me. That's a quote from Psalm 69, 42 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:30,880 verse 9. And then Jesus entered his 43 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,760 earthly ministry when he hung on the cross and in Luke 23 verse 44 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:39,560 46, he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. 45 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:42,760 And that's a quote from Psalm 31, verse 5. 46 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,640 I have a lot of background on Psalms I want to give you, but 47 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:48,320 I'll spread it out over the 10 weeks. 48 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,040 So tonight I just want to give you 5 keywords from Psalms. 49 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,400 OK, 5 keywords. The book of Psalms may aptly be 50 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,200 summarized by these 5 words #1 praise. 51 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:04,040 The word praise is used 134 times in Psalms, 13 times alone. 52 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:09,440 In the last one, in Psalms 150, the psalmist worships extols 53 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,600 with a heartfelt gratitude, thanking the sovereign God of 54 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:17,080 Israel for his Person, His Word, His mighty works in regard to 55 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,600 both creation, redemption. The second word would be 56 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,520 prophecy. The psalmist often writes about 57 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,480 the coming Messiah, foretelling his zeal, suffering, death, 58 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,760 resurrection, ascension. His high priestly work, and the 59 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,800 coming millennial Kingdom. Example would be Psalm 22. 60 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,280 The third word would be pain. The psalmist describes in 61 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:43,960 graphic fashion about his personal doubts, his fears, his 62 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,400 pain, and his problems. And I think This is why we can 63 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,160 relate to the Psalms, because we have pain like he does. 64 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,640 The fourth word after praise, prophecy, pain is petition. 65 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:58,920 The psalmist offers up many requests. 66 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,800 He cries out for relief, for forgiveness, reassurance, 67 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,080 direction, protection, and strength. 68 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,440 And we'll see that in tonight's Psalm, Psalm 5. 69 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,440 And lastly, poetry. The psalmist pens his words in a 70 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,720 poetic fashion meant to be sung. You all know Psalm 42 as the 71 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:20,720 deer pants for the streams of water. 72 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,880 Beautiful poetry. It's Hebrew poetry that we've 73 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:26,800 translated in English, but it's still very beautiful. 74 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,600 So those are 5 keywords in the book of Psalms. 75 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,560 If you have your Bibles, when you open to the Psalm #5 you 76 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:35,920 notice there is a superscription at the top of it. 77 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:40,200 And about 114 of the psalms have these. 78 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:44,320 And this one says to the choir master for the flutes, a Psalm 79 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,320 of David. So this would have been sung in 80 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,920 the Temple and apparently accompanied by a flute or a 81 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,800 choir. And David is the author of this 82 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,000 Psalm. And David wrote at least half of 83 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,120 the psalms. We'll talk more about that in 84 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:59,240 another week, but let's look at this Psalm. 85 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:01,800 In case you're wondering what type of Psalm this is, it's a 86 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,400 lament Psalm, an individual lament Psalm. 87 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:08,600 Let's look at Psalm 5. Give here to my words, O Lord, 88 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:12,240 Consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of 89 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:17,080 my cry, my King and my God, For to you do I pray. 90 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:19,880 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice. 91 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,560 In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. 92 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,520 For you are not a God who delights and wickedness. 93 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:30,120 Evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand 94 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,800 before your eyes. You hate all evil doers. 95 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,000 You destroy those who speak lies. 96 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,440 The Lord abhors bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 97 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,520 But I, through the abundance of Your steadfast love, will enter 98 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:44,880 your house. I will bow down towards Your 99 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,640 holy temple in the fear of You. Leave me, O Lord, in Your 100 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,600 righteousness. Because of My enemies, make Your 101 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,680 way straight before Me. For there is no truth in their 102 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:56,760 mouth. Their inmost self is 103 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,400 destruction. Their throat is an open grave. 104 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,640 They flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt. 105 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,400 O God, let them fall by their own counsels. 106 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,960 Because of the abundance of their transgressions, cast them 107 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:10,960 out, for they have rebelled against you. 108 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,120 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice. 109 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,760 Let them ever sing for joy and spread your protection over 110 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,400 them, that those who love your name may exult in you. 111 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:24,920 For you. Bless the righteous, O Lord, 112 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,680 you, cover him with favor as with a shield. 113 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:31,240 Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you 114 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:33,280 tonight that we can look at Psalm #5. 115 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,960 Father, I pray tonight that you would just challenge us, 116 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:41,360 encourage us, motivate us to talk to you more and more and 117 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:46,640 more in Jesus name, Amen. You know, it's almost a cliche 118 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:50,280 when the pastor of church, any church, admonishes the 119 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:53,400 congregation to read their Bibles or pray more. 120 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:56,920 There is a lot of books on prayer. 121 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,480 One of my favorite is Valley of the Vision. 122 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:02,480 Tim will often read this before on Sunday. 123 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,320 It's a prayer book by the Puritans if you want to get it. 124 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,080 It's a great book that they write out their prayers and you 125 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,200 can actually pray them. I got a new book this week, 126 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,880 Handbook for Praying for Scripture by William Warner. 127 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,320 But prayer books are a dime a dozen. 128 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,760 There are lots of prayer books, but Pastor Lance said something 129 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:25,680 many years ago that prayer is more caught than taught. 130 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,240 Last night we had just a few people at our Tuesday night 131 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,440 prayer meeting and I listened to the ladies who pray and I 132 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:36,960 learned how to pray better because they make it so simple. 133 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:40,040 It's almost as if God is there and they're talking to him face 134 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,640 to face. So I hope tonight when you hear 135 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,280 that we're talking about prayer, you won't think. 136 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,400 Oh no, another passage about prayer. 137 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:52,040 Listen to what JC Rile said. He said prayer is the mightiest 138 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,480 engine that God has placed in our hands. 139 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:59,200 It's the best weapon to use in every difficulty and the surest 140 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:03,120 remedy in every trouble. It is the key that unlocks the 141 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,720 treasury of promises and the hand that draws forth grace and 142 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:12,240 help in time of need. Show me a growing Christian, a 143 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:17,160 going forward Christian, a flourishing Christian and sure 144 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:20,880 am I He is one that speaks often with the Lord. 145 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,560 He tells Jesus everything. So let me ask you, are you a 146 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:29,080 growing Christian, a going forward Christian and a 147 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,840 flourishing Christian? How's your prayer life? 148 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,280 You know, the real question isn't how's your prayer life, 149 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:39,760 but the real question is how's your relationship with your 150 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,080 heavenly Father. You know, I was thinking 151 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,760 recently as a, as I was preparing this, about the actor 152 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:47,880 Gene Hackman and his wife died a few months ago. 153 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,760 Do you remember that? And I don't know exactly if it 154 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:55,080 was 7 days or 10 days or two weeks, but it was a long time 155 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:59,320 before they discover the bodies. And yet I believe he has grown 156 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,640 up children. So it's sad that none of those 157 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:06,080 children checked in on their parents or at least had one of 158 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:08,840 those things that if they fell, they could, you know, call 159 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,240 emergency. So I don't know if it's too much 160 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,240 to speculate, but that leads me to believe there was a 161 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,720 relationship problem, and that's not right. 162 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,560 It's a sad situation that nobody checked on them and their bodies 163 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:22,840 lay there for so long. That's a bad example of an 164 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:24,480 earthly relationship. That's not right. 165 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,320 Let me give you a good example. When Ping, Tessa and I would 166 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:31,080 come home from Myanmar or Thailand, when we were on the 167 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,080 mission field, we would come home and we would stay at the 168 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:39,000 House of Ray and Joanne Cruz. And every night at 7:00, I knew 169 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:43,040 it was 7:00 because Ray would scream at the top of his lungs, 170 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:44,600 usually sitting in his Barca lounger. 171 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:48,960 I love you, mom. And he knew because Joanne was 172 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:53,440 upstairs on the phone talking to her mother in Boise, ID. 173 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,080 So we knew it was 7:00. Every night at 7:00, they would 174 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,600 check in with their mom. That's how it's supposed to be 175 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,560 in an earthly relationship. We should not have a problem 176 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:09,040 with our parents here on earth. We should be checking in on them 177 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:13,360 and have a great relationship with them, but how much more we 178 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,600 who call ourselves Christians, we shouldn't have a relationship 179 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,080 problem with our heavenly Father. 180 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:22,800 So my prayer tonight is you'll be a growing Christian, a going 181 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:27,120 forward Christian, and a flourishing Christian and speak 182 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,160 often with the Lord. We have an outline, which I hope 183 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,280 you have. Every once in a while there's a 184 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,080 Psalm that's difficult to outline, and this is one of them 185 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:41,160 because it's interesting that the psalmist verses 1 to 3, it's 186 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,880 a prayer, but then in verses 4 to 6, he's talks about the 187 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,360 wicked. He just switches subjects and 188 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:50,560 then in verses 780 switches back about God. 189 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,080 And then in verse 9 to 10, he switches back to talking about 190 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,320 the wicked, and then he finishes it with the prayer in 11 to 12. 191 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:01,120 So I spent a lot of time trying to perfect this and I don't know 192 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,960 if I ever was actually satisfied with this prayer. 193 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:07,720 But your outline .1 is the psalmist request verses 1 to 194 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:13,720 3.2, the relationship of God to the wicked in verses 4 to 6, the 195 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:17,360 purpose of the psalmist in verse 7-8, the rejection of the wicked 196 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:21,400 in nine to 10, and the prayer of the psalmist in verses 11 to 12. 197 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:24,720 Let's look at point #1 the psalmist request verses one to 198 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:27,560 three and you have five points there. 199 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:31,000 Sub points, prayer, plea, person, period, and promise. 200 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,920 Let's start with prayers. He says in verse one, Give ear 201 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,800 to my words. O Lord, consider my groaning and 202 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:39,560 give attention to the sound of my cry. 203 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,080 Notice there are three types of prayers right there in verse 1. 204 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,080 He says words, He says groanings, and he says cry or 205 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,960 crying. First off, he says words, and 206 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,200 that's what we pray most often is with words. 207 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:57,440 We express ourselves to God by speaking words in the human 208 00:11:57,440 --> 00:11:59,320 language. It's just an open dialogue to 209 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,480 God. I mentioned the women of CCC who 210 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:04,960 pray last night. It's just a simple prayer. 211 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:10,120 Prayer is not some technological big words expose that some 212 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,160 people think it is. It's just simple language, like 213 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,520 you're talking to God face to face. 214 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:19,600 We speak. God hears and it says his ears 215 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,600 inclined to us. We don't speak into space. 216 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,560 We speak into the ears of God using words. 217 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:30,480 Matthew 66 says that when when you pray, go into your room, 218 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:34,640 shut the door and pray to your heavenly Father who is in secret 219 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:37,720 and your father was in secret will reward you. 220 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,880 The second one is groanings. Now it could be translated 221 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,960 meditations or sign. David is asking God to pay 222 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:51,080 attention to his unspoken words or his groanings of the heart. 223 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,680 There are times I'm sure you relate, when we just don't know. 224 00:12:55,920 --> 00:13:00,120 Have the words to express what we want to say to God, yet we're 225 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,600 still praying. Example in Romans 823 it says, 226 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:07,240 And not only creation, but we ourselves, who have the first 227 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:11,880 fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for 228 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,680 the adoption of sons, the redemption of our bodies. 229 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:17,200 We can pour out our thoughts to God. 230 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:21,000 We can groan when we encounter sin and brokenness. 231 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:25,360 We groan when we face bodily sickness, weakness, and death. 232 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,640 We groan when relationships are strained or broken. 233 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:31,280 Or do we see those we who we love are struggling? 234 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,240 We ache for an end of pain. We long to be made whole and set 235 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:37,960 free. We're groaning for the day we'll 236 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:41,120 see when we shine in God's glory as he intended. 237 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:43,720 The third type of prayer is crying. 238 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,760 And sometimes we are in such distress that our prayers are 239 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,600 just a desperate cry for God. Help us. 240 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:56,920 Psalms 3417 says the righteous cry and Yahweh hears them and He 241 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,560 delivers them out of all their trouble. 242 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,840 A good example would be Hannah. You remember Hannah in First 243 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,720 Samuel chapter 1? She couldn't have a baby and the 244 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,720 other wife, Pannell was making fun of her, constantly mocking 245 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:12,720 her and she's at the temple. And it says in First Samuel 110 246 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,560 she was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept 247 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:19,520 bitterly. In fact, she was weeping so much 248 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,480 that the high priest, Eli, thought she was drunk and tried 249 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,080 to admonish her. So those are three types of 250 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:26,960 prayers. Let's look at the Pleno. 251 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:31,960 OK, notice the words here in my translation, the ESV, it says 252 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:34,120 give. We're still in verse one. 253 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:37,360 Consider and give. If you're using the NESP 254 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,520 tonight, it says listen, give, listen. 255 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:43,360 When was the last time you talked to God like that? 256 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:47,960 It's like wrestling with God, like an arm wrestle with God. 3 257 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,720 Imperatives demanding action from God. 258 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,800 This is not a normal prayer, but an urgent, serious prayer in an 259 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,640 attempt to gain a hearing with God Almighty. 260 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:03,280 It carries the same idea as the persistent widow in Luke 18 that 261 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,960 was banging on the door of the unjust judge again and again. 262 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,200 The point here is that we are to be persistent in prayer even if 263 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,880 for reasons unknown to us, the answer from God is delayed. 264 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:17,520 God will not refuse to act forever. 265 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:21,720 God hears our prayers and you notice in verses the first 3 266 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,640 verses we have the use of the word my five times. 267 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,960 My favorite verse in all the Bible about prayer and when I 268 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:34,840 often use is Hebrews chapter 4 verses 15 to 16. 269 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,000 And that says we do not have a high priest. 270 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:42,560 That's Jesus Christ who is unable to sympathize us with our 271 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,800 weaknesses. Jesus knows what we've walked 272 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:49,280 because he's walking our shoes. He knows our our sorrows, our 273 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,800 heartaches, our troubles. It continues saying, but one who 274 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:57,280 in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without 275 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,200 sin. And then verse 16 of Hebrews 4 276 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:04,840 says, let us then with confidence draw near to the 277 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:09,880 throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to 278 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,720 help us in time of need. The veil was torn from top to 279 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,360 bottom. We have direct access to God 280 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:18,960 will never be put on hold. There's no answering machine in 281 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,080 heaven. It's just a wonderful, wonderful 282 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:28,200 verse misplaced. The third thing is the person, 283 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:34,160 and this is really important. He says for to you do I pray the 284 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:39,560 last part of verse 2, my King and my God, for to you do I pray 285 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:43,240 who's the you? Well, we know it's Yahweh five 286 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,440 times. In Psalm 5 we have the use of 287 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:49,000 Yahweh and Lance talked about it I think last Sunday. 288 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,880 It's used 6519 times in the Old Testament. 289 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:57,000 The first time was in Genesis when the day the Lord Lord God 290 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,000 made the earth. But here in verse 2 we have an 291 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,320 interesting saying. Yahweh is also called my King 292 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,920 and my God. We know He's our God, but he 293 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:11,400 uses the word King because God rules and God reigns. 294 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:16,480 This is used three times in Psalms, Psalms 5 Here that 295 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:21,800 wonderful chapter in Psalms 84 three and in Psalms 1 and 41451 296 00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:26,480 it just says I will extol you my God and King. 297 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:31,040 There is only one true God and He alone is who we are to pray 298 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,560 to. There are no verses in the Bible 299 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,240 to pray to anyone else except God. 300 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:40,360 You know, we are seeing a very stark increase in Mary ology. 301 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:43,080 And that's because the Pope who just recently died has 302 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,840 propagated Mary ology. And I've seen online that 303 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,560 Catholic theologians are debating, arguing, trying to 304 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,080 defend, defend the veneration of the worship of Mary. 305 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:56,680 In fact, as I was driving to work this morning listening to 306 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:02,520 KFI radio, they were taking a poll about which of the the 307 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,400 Who's your favorite patron that you pray to? 308 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:08,920 And people were calling in saying oh, Francis of Assisi or, 309 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,560 or Apostle Paul. So do the Catholics worship 310 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:14,840 Mary? Well, I've got 8 questions for 311 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,240 our Catholic friends and I didn't write this but I I got it 312 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,960 from another commentator. Catholics, they sing hymns to 313 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:26,560 Mary and Luke chapter 4, verse 8 says that we are to worship the 314 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:31,160 Lord our God and Him only #2 they still believe she's a 315 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,520 virgin. And yet my Bible in Matthew 1355 316 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:36,560 tells us clearly that Mary had other children. 317 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,240 They bow down and kiss her statues. 318 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:45,440 Jonah 28 warns against paying any regard to other idols, and 319 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,280 they pray to her and ask for intercession. 320 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:53,120 And first Timothy 25 says there is one God and one mediator 321 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,320 between God and man, and that that mediator is Christ Jesus. 322 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:04,280 They believe she is sinless #6 Romans 323 says all have sinned 323 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:06,080 and fall short of the glory of God. 324 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,200 They call her the queen of the universe. 325 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,840 And Luke 147 Mary herself speaks, says that my spirit 326 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:19,240 rejoices in God my Savior. They believe that she converts 327 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,160 Sinner. And Acts 412 says salvation is 328 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,000 found in no one else. There's no other name given 329 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,880 under heaven by which men must be saved. 330 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,320 And lastly, they believe she hears their prayers. 331 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:35,560 And Deuteronomy 1811 says that we are not to inquire of the 332 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,960 dead. So do Catholics worship Mary? 333 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:40,240 Yes, they do and they need to stop. 334 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,440 And those prayers that Catholics are praying are not been 335 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,920 answering because God is a king and he's the one true God and 336 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,240 they're not praying to him if they're praying to Mary. 337 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:55,240 Let's look at the period sub point number D OK, it says in 338 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,200 the morning, you hear my voice in the morning. 339 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,200 So you've got that repeated phrase which carries the idea 340 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:07,040 that as soon as it's morning and every morning, the psalmist has 341 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,440 a morning quiet time with God. And I hope that you do. 342 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:14,360 I, I've used that illustration before. 1 missionary once said 343 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:19,000 no Bible, no breakfast. I personally like my coffee and 344 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:23,720 my mug and my Bible. But one author said a resolution 345 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,240 to give God the fittest time of the day for devotional approach, 346 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:32,040 when the body is rested and the brain untired, when the outlook 347 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,720 is fresh and the world has not yet been pressed in on the 348 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:40,280 innermost life. And JC Ryle said that we need to 349 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:45,040 speak to God in the morning before you speak to the world. 350 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,680 And then you need to speak to God at night after you've been 351 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:51,200 in the world. And I love that quote. 352 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:55,240 So every one of us needs to get up in the morning and have a 353 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:57,880 time with the Lord because you're going to go out and face 354 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:00,960 the enemies of the world. And we need to be prayed up with 355 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:04,560 the full armor of God and #5 their pointy. 356 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:09,240 We have the promise. David ends with verse 3 saying I 357 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,360 prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. 358 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:15,320 The prayer has an expected spirit. 359 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,360 This means that psalmist was praying in faith. 360 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,400 He laid his request before God and expects God to answer. 361 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:26,240 Now the answer might be yes, the answer might be no. 362 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,840 The answer might be wait. But the word watch here has a 363 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,160 sense of looking with eager expectation. 364 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,760 David has the confidence that his prayers gone in the very 365 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:41,040 throne room of God and he wasted expectation for God to answer 366 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,320 it. God's character is unchanging, 367 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,120 unwavering, unshifting, unshakable. 368 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:51,080 So Psalms 5 gives us confidence that God will answer our 369 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:54,360 prayers, and we are to eagerly watch how the Lord will answer 370 00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:59,320 those prayers and when he does, offer him a sacrifice of praise. 371 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,880 So I hope that when you pray, I hope that you pray with an open 372 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,320 Bible, OK? When you read your Bible, it 373 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:10,720 ought to cause you to pray, including the Psalms. 374 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:15,640 When you read a a chapter, what does it say about God and what 375 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:17,800 do you, what do I learn about reading today? 376 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,680 And then you pray. Are there any attributes 377 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,280 mentioned? If you look at Psalms 86, five, 378 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,800 it talks about grace and mercy and truth. 379 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,280 Is there a sin mentioned that we need to confess? 380 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,080 Does the passage mention kings or rulers or leaders? 381 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,360 Every time I get one of those passages, I know I need to pray 382 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:39,760 for the current president and the current vice president. 383 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:43,320 Is there a command you obey? And I could go on and on and on. 384 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:47,120 But as you read your Bible, the Holy Spirit prompts you to pray 385 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:49,360 for certain people, certain individuals. 386 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,680 Bible reading and prayer go together. 387 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:55,320 Don't rush it. Sit quietly and patiently for 388 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,280 the Lord. Some of you may say, well, you 389 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:02,080 only have one child. I have 2345 and I have work. 390 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,600 But you all have probably heard of the example of Susanna 391 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,400 Wesley. Let me read just a little bit 392 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:12,000 about her life. Earlier in her life, Susanna 393 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:16,000 Wesley vowed that she would never spend more time in leisure 394 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:20,680 entertainment than she did in prayer and Bible study, even 395 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,320 amidst the most complex and busy years of her life as a mother. 396 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,840 Now, she had 19 children. I believe that eight of them 397 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,120 died. So at some point, I know when 398 00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:32,080 she died, nine of them were still alive. 399 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,080 So she has somewhere between 9:00 and 11:00 children. 400 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:41,800 She's still scheduled 2 hours a day for fellowship with God and 401 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,320 time in His Word, and she adhered to that schedule 402 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:46,640 faithfully. The challenge for her was 403 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,960 finding a place of privacy in a house filled overflowing with 404 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:53,840 children. Well, the challenge, I'm sorry. 405 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:58,000 Mother Wesley's solution to that was to bring her Bible to her 406 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:01,960 favorite chair and she would throw her apron over her long 407 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:06,640 head, forming sort of a tent. This became something that ached 408 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,480 into the tent, a meeting that you'd have in the Old Testament 409 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,480 Tabernacle. But every kid, every person in 410 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:16,560 the household knew, including the domestic helpers, and the 411 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,160 children knew well to respect this signal that when Mom put 412 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,160 her apron over her head, she was studying the Bible, she was 413 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:27,520 praying, and that she was not to be disturbed except if there was 414 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,400 an emergency. There was privacy in her little 415 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:32,720 tent. She interceded for her husband 416 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,720 and children, and she plumbed the deep mysteries of God in the 417 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,360 Scriptures. This holy discipline equipped 418 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:42,160 her with a thorough and profound knowledge of God, and you 419 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,040 probably know that two of her boys changed the world. 420 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,440 Charles would write over 6000 hymns. 421 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,680 Charles Wesley and John Wesley would be the father of 422 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,600 Methodism. So she was a great example to 423 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,080 her children and I hope you parents are examples to your 424 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,080 children. I think one reason we see a 425 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:04,360 decline in prayer is because parents aren't modeling and 426 00:25:04,360 --> 00:25:05,880 aren't teaching it to their children. 427 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:10,520 Today, let's move on to paragraph 2, the relationship of 428 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:12,600 God to the wicked and verses 4 to 6. 429 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,680 We now go from the God who hears our prayers in verses one to 430 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:21,240 three to the relationship of God to the wicked and verses 4 to 6. 431 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:27,560 Now in paragraph 2, verses 4 to 6, David says you you three 432 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,040 times Speaking of God and his relationship to the wicked. 433 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,080 David's going to reflect on the sinfulness of man and the fact 434 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,480 that God will not hear the prayers of the ungodly. 435 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,000 So we have 5 sub points there. Types of sin. 436 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:47,040 You know, we constantly need to be reminded how God views sin 437 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,520 and David helps us here. I think there's seven different 438 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,560 words for sin. He says in verse 4IN wickedness. 439 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,680 In another part of verse four he says evil. 440 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:01,840 In verse 5 he says the boastful or maybe your Bible says 441 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,920 arrogant. And then he also says evil doers 442 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,720 in verse 5. In verse 6 he says those who 443 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,720 speak lies. And the last part of verse 6 he 444 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:15,160 says bloodthirsty and deceitful men, different kinds of sins. 445 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:17,960 He mentions how does God view those sins? 446 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:22,840 Well, number one, he says in verse 4, God does not delight in 447 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:27,640 or take pleasure in wickedness. God is repulsed by the evil 448 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:33,720 wherever He sees it, and we need to be repulsed by it also #2 God 449 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,000 doesn't allow evil to dwell in His presence. 450 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:40,040 The word dwell there in verse 4 means to sojourn or visit. 451 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:45,200 It's a picture of a wandering traveler passing through and 452 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:49,560 living in a tent. God is so incompatible with sin 453 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,320 that he won't Even the most temporary coexistence is utterly 454 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,040 impossible. And you all know the verse of 455 00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:00,760 Habakkuk 113. You who are of pure eyes than to 456 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:05,800 see evil and cannot look at wrong #3 God doesn't allow the 457 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:10,600 boastful to stand before him. In first Peter 55 it says God 458 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,640 resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. 459 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,600 You would think of the in the the parable of the the 460 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:22,880 Samaritan, he, he talks and I think I counted 35 words and yet 461 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,640 the tax collector only says 7 words. 462 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,480 God be mercifully A Sinner. He was the tax collector was 463 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,880 humble. The Pharisee was so proud his 464 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,720 prayer only went to the roof of the temple #4 God hates all evil 465 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,560 doers. The the new legacy standard 466 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,680 Bible, some of you have that new translation says workers of 467 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,760 iniquity. You've heard the false 468 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:46,480 statement. God hates the sin but loves the 469 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:48,040 Sinner. That's wrong. 470 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:53,240 This evil doers in the Psalm are people who sin as a way of life. 471 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,680 They're workers of iniquity. They working at sin every day 472 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,760 and #5 God destroys those who tell lies. 473 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,320 Verse 6. Do you remember that wonderful 474 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,160 chapter in Isaiah 6? We won't turn there tonight. 475 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:07,320 I'm sure you're familiar with it. 476 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:13,400 When Isaiah saw God in his glory sitting on the throne, remember 477 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:17,800 in verse 5, Isaiah cried out, Woe to me, for I am lost. 478 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,400 I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people 479 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,200 of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of 480 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:27,840 hosts. So when the most righteous man 481 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:32,360 in all of Israel saw God on the throne, he was immediately aware 482 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:35,600 of the uncleanliness of his lips and the fellow Israelites. 483 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:37,960 How serious is God about hating lies? 484 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:43,480 Revelation 2215 says that those who practice lies will be kept 485 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:47,280 out of heaven. And lastly #6 God abhors 486 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,840 wickedness. That word abhors means to 487 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,680 loathe. You have a repugnance of sin. 488 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,800 It's because many states have abolished the death penalty. 489 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,000 I think the the last time the death penalty was actually 490 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,520 exercised in our state of California was 2006. 491 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,480 So we tend to forget how much God hates the bloodshed. 492 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:13,320 The 5th commandment is thou shall not kill and Numbers 3531 493 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,360 says the penalty for murder is death. 494 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,120 But notice also how the words grow in intensity. 495 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:25,480 It says does not take pleasure, hates, destroys and aborts. 496 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,240 You see this list and they grow in increasing increasingly. 497 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,480 God hates it. We see the holiness of God and 498 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,800 we see His hatred of sin. These thoughts are not just born 499 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,080 out of a deep sense of sinfulness of sin. 500 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,280 Our world today does not speak enough of sin and its 501 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:47,200 consequences. So the world, the church pastors 502 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,000 often soften the message and its compromises. 503 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,200 I wrote this down a long time ago and I don't know the 504 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,520 message, but it's from Pastor Lance and he sold us that sin is 505 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,920 satanic. First John 38 sin is 506 00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:04,440 lawlessness. First John 3-4 sin is a passing 507 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:09,600 pleasure. Hebrews 1125 sin is deceitful. 508 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:18,120 Hebrews 313 sin entangles Hebrews 12/1 sin enslaves John 509 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:27,520 834 sin stings First Corinthians 1556, sin kills Romans 512 and 510 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:33,080 sin dams First Corinthians 69. It was Paul Washer who said the 511 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:38,040 mark of a true believer is not sinless perfection, but a new 512 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:43,120 repugnance for sin, a greater sensitivity to sin of or 513 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:47,880 vehement zeal to fight against sin, and a humble contrition 514 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:53,040 because of sin, and lastly A willingness to confess sin. 515 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,560 Number C There God has no pleasure in wickedness, he says, 516 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,960 for you're not a God who delights in wickedness. 517 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,640 You know, the the gods of the nations, the Egyptian gods, the 518 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:12,680 Roman gods, the Greek gods, they had gods who delighted in blood 519 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:16,880 and lust and sinful practices. These gods in Greece and Rome 520 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,120 and Egypt found all kinds of pleasure and sinful practice 521 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:22,840 with their gods. Not so the God and Father, the 522 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:26,400 Lord Jesus Christ. First, John 15 says God is light 523 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:31,440 and in Him there is no darkness. Jesus wept over the sins of 524 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:36,560 Jerusalem in Luke 19 verse 41. The Holy Spirit is grieved over 525 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:41,720 sins in Ephesians 430 and God the Father was sorry that he 526 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,280 made mankind. He says I regret that I have 527 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:48,400 made mankind in Genesis 6 verse seven. 528 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:52,960 It was CS Lewis who said we don't hate sin enough to get 529 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:56,880 upset at the wickedness and the godlessness around us. 530 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,800 We're bombarded as we are by so much evil and violence. 531 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:04,120 We've gotten accustomed to the darkness. 532 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:06,800 Next, God does not tolerate wickedness. 533 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,120 He says evil may not dwell with you. 534 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:14,520 God cannot dwell, cannot and or and cannot tolerate it. 535 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:19,560 Twice in our Bible, in Isaiah 6 and Revelation, the angels 536 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:24,200 saying holy, holy, holy, the whole earth, The holy, holy, 537 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,520 holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his 538 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,920 glory. Evil can't dwell with God, and 539 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:33,960 the same should be true in our personal and spiritual lives. 540 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:38,880 That's why it's impossible for a genuine believer to continue in 541 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:42,960 an ongoing lifestyle of sin. First, John 39 says no one born 542 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,440 of God makes it a practice of sinning for God. 543 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:50,360 Seed abides in him and he cannot keep on sinning because you've 544 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:54,600 been born of God. It was Spurgeon who said rest 545 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:59,400 assured, Christ will not live in the pallor, pallor of our hearts 546 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,600 if we entertain the devil in the cellar of our thoughts. 547 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:09,000 Next and lastly, fourthly, God hates wickedness, OK, He says 548 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,240 the boastful can't stand before your eyes. 549 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:16,800 You hate all evil doers. Here we see condemnation of all 550 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,040 who speak lightly or tolerating sin. 551 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:21,960 You know, we see it in evangelical circles today. 552 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:27,120 It's called anatoneism, lovers grace we see in the Catholic 553 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:32,280 Church where they divide venal sins and mortal sins, and we see 554 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:33,880 it in today's church in the United States. 555 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:36,440 It just has no general hatred of sin. 556 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,040 So in verses one to three, David's prayer went into the 557 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,600 very throne room of God. But in verses 4 to 6, the 558 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:47,320 prayers of the wicked are not. There's a lot of people praying. 559 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:49,760 You know, every day there's a tragedy. 560 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,480 And if you go on social media, everybody will put out there our 561 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:55,440 thoughts and prayers are with you. 562 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,920 Who's praying? Because God is not listening to 563 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:03,800 a lot of those prayers. Psalm 6618 says if I had 564 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,600 cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have 565 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:11,719 listened. Proverbs 1529 says the Lord is 566 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,440 far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the 567 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,560 righteous. And in John 9, interesting, the 568 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:22,880 blind man is healed and they're grilling him and they're asking 569 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:26,400 him about it. And he says in verse 31, we know 570 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:30,560 that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a 571 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,760 worshipper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 572 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:38,080 And of course, Isaiah 59 verses one to two, you probably heard 573 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:40,520 this. Behold, the Lord's hand is not 574 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:45,120 shortened that it cannot say, or his ear dull that it cannot 575 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,000 hear. That tells us God can hear. 576 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:50,199 God can hear every prayer if he wants to, of all 8 billion 577 00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:51,639 people on the earth if he wants to. 578 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,040 But verse 2 says, but your iniquities have made a 579 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:59,720 separation, being you and your God, and your sins have hidden 580 00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:04,360 his face from you so that he does not hear. 581 00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:08,120 Isaiah says God's ear can hear because he's omniscient. 582 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:11,760 He knows they're praying. The problem is the wickedness of 583 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:15,680 the one praying. Because of that wickedness, God 584 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:19,480 does not hear their prayer. What this means is God is not 585 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,000 going to listen to any of those who flout His law. 586 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:26,760 Now you might ask, there is one prayer of a wicked person can 587 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:30,200 pray that God will listen to and that's the prayer of repentance. 588 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:36,280 We have a great example in first Kings chapter 21 verses 17 to 29 589 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:39,880 of the wicked king Ahab. You remember him absolutely 590 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,120 wicked king, but when the prophet comes to him and he 591 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:47,600 hears the words of judgment, Ahab repents and puts sackcloth 592 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:52,040 on the Lord Caesar repentance and declares that his judgment 593 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,520 will not fall on Ahab, but Ahab's descendants. 594 00:35:56,320 --> 00:36:00,320 So you also could consider the the Ninevites in Jonah who 595 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:03,400 repented and God relented from the disaster that he was going 596 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:06,080 to bring. God knows and hears all things, 597 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,760 but only the prayer of the wicked, which God will hear is a 598 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:12,280 prayer of genuine repentance. Now some of you might feel 599 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:14,320 tonight that God isn't answering your prayers. 600 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,880 You need to examine yourself to see if you're in the faith. 2nd 601 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:21,640 Corinthians 13, five, and you need to confess your sins first. 602 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:26,240 John 19 says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and 603 00:36:26,240 --> 00:36:29,280 just to forgive us our sins. And you cleanse us from all 604 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,240 unrighteousness. Let's move on to point #3 We got 605 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:35,240 to move quickly. So we saw in verses one to three 606 00:36:35,240 --> 00:36:40,040 the word thought my five times. In verses 4 to 6, we saw the 607 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:44,000 word you three times and now here in verses 7 and 8 we're 608 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:48,440 going to see the pronoun I three times giving the purpose of the 609 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:51,640 psalmist. David says 4 things about God 610 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,600 who hears our prayer. First off, he talks about God's 611 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:55,760 mercy. In verse 7. 612 00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:59,920 He says bye through the abundance of your steadfast love 613 00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:02,640 will enter your house. The NSB says graciousness. 614 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:06,760 The new King James Bible says mercy and I like the mercy 615 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:11,920 translation best. Mercy is God not giving us what 616 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:14,960 we deserve. Sinners can find acceptance with 617 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:18,240 God who hears our prayers if they come to Him when they 618 00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:23,240 repent and believe as David had. Only because of God's abundant 619 00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:26,720 mercy are we saved, and it leads us to enter God's house. 620 00:37:26,720 --> 00:37:29,760 As the verse says. It's by the mercy of God alone 621 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,600 that any human can approach God. The tax collector, as I 622 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:36,920 mentioned before in Luke 18, knew this when he cried out. 623 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:44,280 God be merciful to me, a Sinner, because we have God's mercy, and 624 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,960 if you have His salvation, it ought to cause you to fear God. 625 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:53,520 I think in Psalms I see the words about fearing God 19 times 626 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:56,960 and then in the book of Proverbs I see verses about fearing God 627 00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:00,840 19 times and I know Lance has written a book. 628 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,880 You can buy that book in the the tape library if you want about 629 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:05,920 fearing the Lord. We give that out of the new 630 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:08,960 members class. But I was recently got an 631 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:14,160 article from Virgil Walker, one man I follow on social media and 632 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:16,120 let me just read you what he talks about the fear of the 633 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:18,200 Lord. First off, he says many 634 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:22,520 Christians today are missing one thing, the fear of the Lord. 635 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:27,520 Why have we lost it and why does it's absent week in the church? 636 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:30,200 Many think the fear of God is outdated. 637 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:33,800 Some say God is love, we shouldn't fear him. 638 00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:36,520 Others assume that it's just an Old Testament thing. 639 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:40,000 But the Bible teaches us that godly fear is essential to 640 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:46,000 faith, and those without it really don't know him #2 he said 641 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:48,400 what the fear of the Lord is not. 642 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,160 It's not a cringing terror that drives us away from God. 643 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:56,680 It's not a serval fear like that of a beaten slave. 644 00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:00,320 It's not an Old Testament concept that's been replaced by 645 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:03,480 grace. Instead, it's deep reverence, 646 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:06,960 awe, trembling, joy before a holy God. 647 00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:13,880 He says a low view of God leads to a lowlife #3 He says the fear 648 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:18,560 of the Lord is in two categories #1 there's a sinful fear like 649 00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:22,920 Adam in the garden hiding from God, or the demons trembling in 650 00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:28,960 James 2 #2 it's a holy fear like Isaiah before God's throne, 651 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:33,760 which I mentioned in Isaiah 6, or the disciples after Jesus 652 00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:36,240 calmed the storm in Mark chapter 4. 653 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:41,160 We believers are called to fear the second way, a holy fear 654 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:44,760 before God's throne and, and, and look at Jesus, not the 655 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,680 sinful fear like Adam in the garden #4 and I never heard this 656 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:51,040 before. Jesus feared the Lord. 657 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:55,520 That's right, Isaiah Chapter 11, verse 2, you look it up. 658 00:39:55,960 --> 00:40:00,000 It prophesied that the Messiah would be filled with the spirit 659 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:03,800 of the fear of the Lord. So if Jesus feared the Father, 660 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:08,000 why don't, why don't we #5 what happens when we don't fear the 661 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,240 Lord? We have casual worship. 662 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:14,920 We have apathy towards sin. We have a small view of God. 663 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:21,080 We make foolish decisions. Romans 318 describes the wicked. 664 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:25,960 It says there is No Fear of the Lord before their eyes. 665 00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:29,440 So without the fear of the Lord, Christianity becomes casual, 666 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:34,360 shallow and powerless. And number six, he said, here's 667 00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:36,440 the test. Do you, do you fear, really fear 668 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,240 the Lord? He says, do you hate sin and its 669 00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:43,240 consequences? Do you approach God casually or 670 00:40:43,240 --> 00:40:46,600 reverently? Do you obey quickly and 671 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:49,600 joyfully? Does God's holiness move you to 672 00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:53,160 worship? If these aren't true of you, ask 673 00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:57,360 God to give you a holy fear. So David had a holy fear of God 674 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:00,560 and we should and never see God's righteousness. 675 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:04,920 In verse 8 he says lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness 676 00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:08,240 because of my enemies. You know, we've gone verse one 677 00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:10,960 to seven is actually preparing us. 678 00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:13,560 This is the first actual petition in the Psalm. 679 00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:15,880 Lead me. It's the first imperative in the 680 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:18,800 Psalm. So he and Dave, what is the 681 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:21,920 petition that God would lead him Not in David's own 682 00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:25,600 righteousness, which he knows is worthlessness, but in God's 683 00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:29,000 righteousness. And lastly, if he's following 684 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,680 God and God's righteousness, he will follow God. 685 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:35,200 He says that the last part of verse 8, make your way straight 686 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,040 before me. Because of God's mercy, we fear 687 00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:40,680 God. Because of his righteousness, we 688 00:41:40,680 --> 00:41:43,280 follow God. Here we have a prayer of the 689 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:45,920 righteous man. He appeals to the faithfulness 690 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:49,240 of God. He wants to be led by God in 691 00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:52,880 God's righteousness, which means according to faithfulness to 692 00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:56,680 those who trust in you. If God should fail him, it would 693 00:41:56,680 --> 00:41:59,960 get occasion for his enemies to mock and blasphemy God. 694 00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:02,760 But God would never fail David, and that would never happen. 695 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:06,040 Psalms 119105. I'm sure your children know 696 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,240 this. Your word is a lamp into my feet 697 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:13,160 and a light into my path. Let's look at the last. 698 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:16,680 I'm sorry, the 4th paragraph, the rejection of the wicked. 699 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:20,880 So once again David's going to go back to talking about the 700 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:24,160 wicked in these two verses. Two things there, God's enemies 701 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:26,360 are wicked and God's enemies are cursed. 702 00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:30,680 Earlier in verse 6, David described the wicked as those 703 00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:34,240 who told lies. Now here in verse 10 he 704 00:42:34,240 --> 00:42:36,960 describes them in terms of their wicked speech. 705 00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:39,520 The words wicked cannot be trusted. 706 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:42,480 Their words are destructive and those who follow them were 707 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:45,320 perish. Does this verse sound familiar? 708 00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:47,760 Probably does because it's from Romans. 709 00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:52,520 Apostle Paul will quote this in Romans chapter 3. 710 00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:57,000 That paragraph, verses 10 to 18 where he gives the summary of 711 00:42:57,000 --> 00:42:58,560 the great sins of the human race. 712 00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:02,760 So Paul got part of that from Psalm 5 verse 9. 713 00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:07,160 God's enemies are wicked. He also says God's enemies are 714 00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:09,520 cursed. Here we have the first 715 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:12,520 imprecatory verse in the book of Psalms. 716 00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:15,840 Got to the 5th Psalm before we have an imprecatory verse. 717 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:21,640 You may remember last year we looked at Psalm 58 and Psalm 58 718 00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:24,720 is an entire Psalm dealing with imprecatory prayers. 719 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:28,200 And they're easier to spot when you read the Psalms you see 720 00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:30,760 here. Let them fall by their own 721 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:33,240 counsel. He's calling out to God to judge 722 00:43:33,240 --> 00:43:36,880 the wicked. It's a prayer asking God's just 723 00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:40,040 judgment on the wicked. The new NIV says let their 724 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:44,200 intrigues be their downfall. You know, prayers like this 725 00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:46,040 present a problem for a lot of people. 726 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:48,680 I hope that if you don't understand a preparatory 727 00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:51,280 prayers, you'll get the message on Psalm 58. 728 00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:55,280 And and you know, God is concerned about those who rebel 729 00:43:55,840 --> 00:44:00,160 Psalms 2 and David's request is for God's condemnation of their 730 00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:04,880 sin and that that they can't justify their sinful behavior. 731 00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:08,880 You know, I mentioned that I pray every day that God would 732 00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:12,040 destroy Hamas, not that Israel is righteous. 733 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:14,560 Israel is not it's a time of the Gentiles. 734 00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:18,000 But I pray that God would destroy Hamas and I also pray 735 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:21,080 that God would destroy the five generals in Myanmar who 736 00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:23,320 slaughter and destroy and kill people every day. 737 00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:26,640 I I'm not going to partake of it, but I asked God if it be 738 00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:29,560 your will to do it. That's an imprecatory prayer and 739 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:32,840 that's what God is praying here that hit David's enemies would 740 00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:35,560 be destroyed. Let's move to the last 741 00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:38,440 paragraph. And this is the final stanza of 742 00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:41,440 our Psalm. And with almost every Psalm, 743 00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:47,000 with the exception of Psalms 88, all the psalms have a joyous 744 00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:50,840 ending or a praise or some adoration at the ending. 745 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:54,280 And two things. God is our joy and God is our 746 00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:58,240 shield. This is the first of 70 747 00:44:58,240 --> 00:45:02,600 references in Psalms to singing. And why is David singing? 748 00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:07,480 Well, joy is expressed by shouting and singing and he's 749 00:45:07,480 --> 00:45:10,400 doing that because he knows God will hear his prayer. 750 00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:16,720 God will answer his prayer. John 1624 says until now you 751 00:45:16,720 --> 00:45:21,640 have asked for nothing, Ask and you will receive that your joy 752 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:26,240 may be full. Philippians 14 says Paul says, I 753 00:45:26,240 --> 00:45:30,320 thank my God in all my remembrance of you always, and 754 00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:34,160 every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy. 755 00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:37,320 There's joy in prayer. There's great joy. 756 00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:40,280 When we finish praying, we say Amen. 757 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:44,360 Knowing that you've given God your problems, your trials, your 758 00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:49,640 sufferings, your anxieties, it's like saying hear God take it and 759 00:45:49,640 --> 00:45:51,920 there's joy. You know, many years ago when 760 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:55,280 Christ Community Church was just starting, we had a brother named 761 00:45:55,280 --> 00:45:59,280 Omar here and he taught the first prayer class at Christ 762 00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:02,440 Community Church and he gave us a prayer chart. 763 00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:05,600 And if you took Gil's class last November, you might have got 764 00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:07,640 this chart. You're welcome to come up and 765 00:46:07,720 --> 00:46:10,680 get a copy later. But Omar passed that chart out. 766 00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:15,560 And it's just a chart where you pray for 12 different things, 5 767 00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:18,400 minutes for 12 different things in a circle. 768 00:46:18,840 --> 00:46:23,840 So, and I took that to India and I didn't have a wife, I didn't 769 00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:25,760 have a kid, I didn't have anything to do because I was 770 00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:27,920 waiting for my Indian pastor to come. 771 00:46:28,080 --> 00:46:29,400 So I was trying to learn the language. 772 00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:31,760 So I would pray one hour every morning. 773 00:46:32,360 --> 00:46:36,000 That was the most blessed, joyful time of my life. 774 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:38,760 I was praying for a wife and God answered that prayer quickly. 775 00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:43,320 But I you never felt so close. The more time you pray in 776 00:46:43,320 --> 00:46:46,240 prayer, there's joy. I never felt so close to God. 777 00:46:46,560 --> 00:46:50,560 But today we get busy. But but that's just one example 778 00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:54,960 if you want to look at it, but it's a it was a joyful time. 779 00:46:56,120 --> 00:46:58,000 Do you finish your prayer time with joy? 780 00:46:58,480 --> 00:46:59,800 I hope you do. David did. 781 00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:02,840 And then lastly here he says God is our shield. 782 00:47:03,120 --> 00:47:06,760 God is our shield for you bless the righteous, O Lord, you cover 783 00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:12,280 him as a favor with your shield. Unlike the wicked who God does 784 00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:15,720 not hear their prayer, God does hear the prayer of the righteous 785 00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:20,080 and He gives us mercy and His righteousness when He saved us. 786 00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:24,080 When we pray, if we do it right, we should feel joy. 787 00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:28,560 And one of the reasons we feel joy, as David has said here, is 788 00:47:28,560 --> 00:47:32,040 that God is our shield. God is our shield is mentioned 789 00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:37,600 18 times in the Psalms. Psalm 33 says, but you, O Lord, 790 00:47:37,920 --> 00:47:42,120 are a shield about me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my 791 00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:44,040 head. You know, I was reading my Old 792 00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:47,520 Testament reading this morning and it was in First Samuel 23, 793 00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:50,560 and David is running here. David is running there. 794 00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:53,320 Saul is coming after him. Saul is chasing him here. 795 00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:56,960 David asked if the men of Kela would give him up. 796 00:47:57,160 --> 00:48:00,360 And David inquires of the Lord, and the Lord says they'll give 797 00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:02,440 you up. So Dave is running everywhere. 798 00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:06,000 But then you get to verse 14 and it says David stayed in the 799 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:08,960 wilderness in the strongholds, and you remain in the Hill 800 00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:10,440 Country in the wilderness of Zip. 801 00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:16,520 And Saul sought him every day. And then it says, but God did 802 00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:21,920 not give him into his hand. And I love that God has a shield 803 00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:24,560 about David and God has a shield about us. 804 00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:28,600 James Boyce says God puts his shield of protection around the 805 00:48:28,600 --> 00:48:30,880 righteous. Therefore the righteous put 806 00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:35,000 their trust in him. You know, at the bottom of your, 807 00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:38,120 your outline, there's a, a model of prayer. 808 00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:40,760 We teach this in our fundamentals of faith class. 809 00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:42,960 Gil teaches us in our prayer class. 810 00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:45,720 And I've been teaching it. My wife is teaching it to the 811 00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:49,080 women in Thailand. It's and maybe it's, you know, 812 00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:52,720 very simple for you, but this is just a model and there's many 813 00:48:52,720 --> 00:48:55,080 different models of prayer. You have the Lord's Prayer in 814 00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:58,240 Matthew 6. There's all kinds of prayer 815 00:48:58,240 --> 00:49:00,240 models out there. There's all kinds of books about 816 00:49:00,240 --> 00:49:02,200 prayer. But if you're not familiar with 817 00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:05,640 this, just re revise it tonight or retell it tonight. 818 00:49:06,240 --> 00:49:09,360 A stands for adoration. Do you begin your prayers with 819 00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:12,520 some adoration or do you begin your prayers with God? 820 00:49:12,520 --> 00:49:14,200 I need this or God help me with this. 821 00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:18,640 We need to spend some time in adoration praising God, and the 822 00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:20,320 easiest way is for his attributes. 823 00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:25,600 I mentioned Psalms 86, five, I think Psalms 868615, at least 824 00:49:25,600 --> 00:49:28,720 there's five attributes. So when I see verses about God's 825 00:49:28,720 --> 00:49:32,560 wrath, God's justice, God's omniscience, God's mercy, God's 826 00:49:32,560 --> 00:49:36,480 grace, it's easy to to give God adoration for those attributes. 827 00:49:36,480 --> 00:49:40,120 But we should begin our prayer with adoration, just a few 828 00:49:40,120 --> 00:49:42,760 minutes. Secondly, confession. 829 00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:46,680 We mentioned first John 19. We need to admit to God our sins 830 00:49:46,920 --> 00:49:49,920 when you be honest and humble and confess those sins before 831 00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:52,640 God. And thirdly, Thanksgiving. 832 00:49:53,200 --> 00:49:58,080 We need to tell God how grateful you are for everything, even in 833 00:49:58,080 --> 00:50:02,680 times of difficulty and trouble. And lastly, supplication. 834 00:50:02,680 --> 00:50:05,120 This should be the last one. Unfortunately, this is what we 835 00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:10,520 spend most of our time doing. We, we make specific requests 836 00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:13,920 and you know, if you just, if you know your prayer time, just 837 00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:16,880 think of the people in Christ Community Church, the widows, 838 00:50:17,240 --> 00:50:19,760 those who've undergone chemotherapy, those who are 839 00:50:19,760 --> 00:50:22,240 going to have operations. Pastor Lance is going to have an 840 00:50:22,240 --> 00:50:24,280 operation on his hip. He's going to have his hip 841 00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:27,360 replaced on May 23rd. So you guys need to start 842 00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:30,360 praying. OK, so May 23rd for that. 843 00:50:30,360 --> 00:50:32,720 But things like that, you just go through the congregation. 844 00:50:33,560 --> 00:50:35,840 A couple weeks ago, I didn't have a Sunday school class to 845 00:50:35,840 --> 00:50:38,880 teach, so I went to the library first service where we have a 846 00:50:38,880 --> 00:50:40,880 team praying and you're welcome to come. 847 00:50:41,120 --> 00:50:43,320 They pray in the library first service, they pray in the 848 00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:46,120 library second service. So I went to the library to pray 849 00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:51,640 and Dave Chapa was leading it and he handed all of us a sticky 850 00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:56,320 note or a cue card and I got 4 names of four people in the 851 00:50:56,320 --> 00:50:58,920 church to pray for, and then everybody got four names. 852 00:50:58,920 --> 00:51:01,960 So I prayed for the four people and I thought that was great. 853 00:51:02,280 --> 00:51:05,760 There's just so much and so many people and so many things we can 854 00:51:06,120 --> 00:51:07,680 pray for. And I could go on and on and on 855 00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:11,880 about that. John Wesley said, give me 100 856 00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:16,680 men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I 857 00:51:16,680 --> 00:51:21,000 care not whether they be clergymen, laymen, they alone 858 00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:24,600 will shake the gates of hell and set up the Kingdom of heaven 859 00:51:24,600 --> 00:51:28,240 upon earth. This quote tells us that there 860 00:51:28,240 --> 00:51:33,320 is power in just a few dedicated people, just a few dedicated 861 00:51:33,320 --> 00:51:37,160 prayer warriors of Christ Community Church can do great 862 00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:39,920 works. Christ Community Church is not a 863 00:51:39,920 --> 00:51:42,240 big church. I'm guessing there's about 100 864 00:51:42,240 --> 00:51:45,560 people here tonight. On Sundays, you know, 3 to 400. 865 00:51:46,360 --> 00:51:51,080 But May God look down upon this church and hear the prayers of 866 00:51:51,080 --> 00:51:54,840 the prayer warriors. And with much prayer, there's 867 00:51:54,840 --> 00:51:57,560 much power, as David says in Psalms 5. 868 00:51:57,560 --> 00:52:00,080 Let's pray. Father, thank you for letting us 869 00:52:00,080 --> 00:52:03,720 look briefly at Psalm 5. And Father, I pray that the 870 00:52:03,720 --> 00:52:06,800 people of Christ Community Church, they don't have to come 871 00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:10,320 to the library and pray. They don't have to come 872 00:52:10,320 --> 00:52:12,840 Wednesday nights at 6:30. They can pray in their quiet 873 00:52:12,840 --> 00:52:15,960 time in the morning. But Father, may you see Christ 874 00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:19,360 Community Church as a powerful, prayerful church. 875 00:52:19,800 --> 00:52:23,000 And Father, may you fill our pews with people. 876 00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:26,920 Fill our people with knowledge. May you help us reach the lost 877 00:52:26,920 --> 00:52:29,400 here in West Covina, Baldwin Park and Irwindale. 878 00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:33,760 May you help us to strengthen families and for children to 879 00:52:33,760 --> 00:52:37,040 obey their parents. Use this church in a mighty way 880 00:52:37,040 --> 00:52:38,880 and we all know it begins with prayer. 881 00:52:39,240 --> 00:52:41,800 We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.