1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:02,440 Well, church were a few a few weeks back. 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:06,040 Summer's coming to an end. It's a weird time to start a 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:07,440 series called Summer in the Psalms. 4 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,160 But the reason is that we have our college students coming back 5 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,600 in about 5 weeks. Everybody will be back from the 6 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,040 summer excursions. We wanted to wait to start 7 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:20,280 Ephesians until we had all of our church body here, as many as 8 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,320 we could. And so the idea was, it's not my 9 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,360 idea, it's Jeff Goss's idea. He said we sing Psalms together 10 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:30,160 all the time, Psalm 5 being one that we just sang. 11 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,680 Why don't we study the theology of the words that we're singing 12 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,720 and unlock a new, deeper meaning to what we're singing to the 13 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:38,200 Lord. And so we've got Psalm 5. 14 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:43,400 We sing all the time, Psalm 40, Psalm 42, Psalm 116, Psalm 148 15 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,200 through 150. And so for the next few weeks, 16 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,160 we're going to look at those together beginning this week and 17 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:54,640 Psalm 5. And if you remember back to the 18 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,240 end of Isaiah last week, we just finished Isaiah. 19 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,960 The the final verses revealed to us what we called the climactic 20 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:07,400 vision of divine and eternal glory, that future view of the 21 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,240 second coming and of the Kingdom of God and the final state and 22 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,520 the new heavens and the new earth and the inheritance that 23 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,200 is supposed to be for the church. 24 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:17,560 This is what we've been promised. 25 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:21,800 And then the commentator Kim revealed to us after saturating 26 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,040 us in the teaching of heaven and of the future, Isaiah doesn't 27 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,560 take us there. He leaves us here and it it's 28 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,200 not a happy thought that he leaves us with. 29 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,160 He says you're going to be hated, you're going to be 30 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,000 persecuted, you're going to be surrounded by injustice. 31 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,360 And we feel the the tension of trying to achieve righteousness 32 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,560 on the earth, trying to let our light shine in the darkness, but 33 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,040 the darkness is overwhelming or can feel that way. 34 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:51,680 And so this has been the condition of Christians for all 35 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,280 ages, even before Jesus walked the earth of of being light 36 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,600 shining in the darkness, hated and persecuted. 37 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,600 And when you look at Psalm 5, this was the condition of King 38 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,480 David. We say even as the king, or 39 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,600 maybe we could say especially as the king or especially as a 40 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,880 Christian king, even David felt the hostility of the world, the 41 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,640 persecution of trying to live the godly life and achieve 42 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:16,040 righteousness while you're surrounded by evil. 43 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,520 And as is typical of the Psalms, David doesn't give you the 44 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,120 specific historical situation. He didn't say, well, you know, 45 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:25,400 I'm riding now, fleeing Absalom, hiding in a cave. 46 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:27,800 He doesn't give you those historical details, partly 47 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,800 because they don't matter. What he's doing for you is 48 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,520 giving you vocabulary for your life, expression of your soul. 49 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,600 When you find yourself in a similar situation, surrounded by 50 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,600 your enemies, and you see that whatever's happening to him, 51 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,640 there is some level of slander and betrayal and opposition, 52 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:51,560 maybe this is a little bit too close to home for you. 53 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,960 He prays against his enemies in verse 6, saying they're lying 54 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,840 and slandering his reputation in verses 8 to 10. 55 00:02:57,840 --> 00:02:59,720 Whatever it is they're doing, they're deceitful, they're 56 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:04,360 scheming, and they're hostile. So this could be politics in the 57 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,560 court. This could be any number of 58 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,720 things, a coup in the palace of people not accepting him as the 59 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,120 new king initially, nobody. There's always opposition to 60 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,720 change. And again, we say it could be 61 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:17,800 any of these things. But ultimately it does not 62 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:23,200 matter because the point is how he reacts is how he reacts, how 63 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:27,640 he vocalizes the internal stress and the external pressure that's 64 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:32,920 being put on him as a man living in a world that's hostile to the 65 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:34,760 things of God and of Jesus Christ. 66 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:40,120 And so through Psalm 5, the the implication for you is going to 67 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,720 be, this is a living illustration of how you are to 68 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,640 respond when you feel like you are surrounded by enemies or you 69 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:51,760 are surrounded by injustice. And so we see when surrounded by 70 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,360 enemies on every side, your response ultimately is prayer. 71 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,720 When you're faced with anxieties on every side, your response is 72 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,200 ultimately going to be prayer. You'll see it modeled more 73 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,000 specifically than that. I think of Hezekiah and 36 to 39 74 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,240 when he's, he receives a letter that's horrible news. 75 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,480 He receives horrible news about the state of his military, you 76 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:12,920 know, in, in comparison to his enemies. 77 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:15,880 And what does he do except take that letter and spread it out 78 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,240 before the Lord of glory. And he says, Lord, you, you know 79 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:21,800 what this says, here's the results. 80 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,520 This is what my health is like. I'm going to die, right? 81 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,320 And he lays it before the Lord and he prays and you see, that's 82 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,240 essentially what David is doing. He goes and drives him to prayer 83 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,480 and and David has made this a pattern of his life and of his 84 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:35,600 ministry. You go all the way back to Psalm 85 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:40,080 32, Psalms ago. Psalm 36I will not be afraid of 86 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,920 many thousands of people who have set themselves against me 87 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,760 all around. What a passionate, powerful, 88 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,280 talking about God's sovereignty in his life. 89 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:53,320 It's total trust and hear his prayer with the with these 90 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:57,040 thousands of people. He says arise, O Lord, save me, 91 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,360 Oh my God. Verse 8 salvation belongs to the 92 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,480 Lord your blessing be on your people or you Fast forward a few 93 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,040 psalms to Psalm 22. He says many bowls encompass me. 94 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:10,720 The strong bowls of Bashan surround me. 95 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,040 This were Jesus's words on the cross, open wide their mouths at 96 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,040 me like a ravening and roaring lion. 97 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:20,160 Dogs encompass me, a company of evil doers encircles me. 98 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:21,760 And you say, what is your response? 99 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,880 How do you respond to that kind of opposition, that kind of 100 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:27,880 pressure? He speaks these words in verse 101 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:30,320 19. Oh Lord, do not be far off. 102 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,880 Oh, you my help, come quickly to my aid. 103 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,160 And what we saw in Isaiah is over and over again. 104 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:42,040 When the pressure came, did Isaiah go to God or did they go 105 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,400 to the military might of Egypt and play politics with Assyria? 106 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,600 They went to everywhere else except looking unto the hills, 107 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,120 setting their eyes on the hills, saying, where does my help come 108 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,080 from? Where does your help come from? 109 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:58,000 From the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 110 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,080 David's help is the Lord. And you hear this trust 111 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,400 overflowing in the Psalms. I'll take you to one more 112 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,040 example. When the emperor didn't approve 113 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,560 of his Protestant writings, Martin Luther was summoned to 114 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,800 Worms, where he was expecting a theological debate, hoping to 115 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,440 take it to speak for himself. And he arrives there. 116 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,480 When you hear the diet of the Diet of Worms, or you read that, 117 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:24,680 it's not what you think, right? It's talking about this moment 118 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:27,320 in his life. He's going to the Imperial Diet 119 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,440 where he thinks he's going to get to give a defense of 120 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,560 himself. And when he shows up, there's no 121 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,960 room for discussion. He's legally demanded for Can't 122 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:39,640 your views and your writings or face the consequences of heresy. 123 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:43,360 And Luther's response is, can I have a day to think about it? 124 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,200 And they grant it. And so April 17th and the 125 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,840 evening is April 17th, he retreats into his closet. 126 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:53,040 And in the sorrow of his own soul, surrounded by his Catholic 127 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,440 enemies with his life threatened, he prays. 128 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:01,440 And I want you to hear his words at length because this is his 129 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,480 response. Oh God Almighty God, 130 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:06,600 everlasting, how dreadful is the world. 131 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,760 Behold how it opens its mouth to swallow me up, and how small is 132 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:13,280 my faith in you. Oh, the weakness of the flesh 133 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:16,360 and the power of Satan. If I'm to depend on any strength 134 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,680 in this world, all is over. The Nella struck sentence has 135 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,640 gone forth. Oh God, Oh God, oh thou my God, 136 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:24,960 help me against the wisdom of this world. 137 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:26,880 Do this. I beseeched me. 138 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:29,840 You should do this by your own mighty power. 139 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,560 The work is not mine, but yours. I have no business here. 140 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,120 I have nothing to contend for with these great men of the 141 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,480 world. I would gladly pass my days and 142 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,160 happiness and peace, because the cause is yours, and it is 143 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,440 righteous and everlasting. Oh, Lord, help me. 144 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,280 Oh faithful and unchangeable. God, I lean not upon man. 145 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,280 It were vain. Whatever is of man is tottering. 146 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:53,280 Whatever proceeds from him must fail. 147 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,840 My God, My God, do you not hear me? 148 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:57,800 My God, are you no longer living? 149 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,360 No, you cannot die. You do but hide yourself. 150 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,080 You have chosen me from this work. 151 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:05,400 I know it. Therefore, oh God, accomplish 152 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,080 your own will forsake me, not for the sake of your well 153 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,600 beloved Son, Jesus Christ, my defense, my buckler, and my 154 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,000 stronghold. Lord, where are you? 155 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,360 My God, where are you? Come, I pray thee, I'm ready. 156 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,320 Behold me prepared to lay down my life for the truth, suffering 157 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:23,560 like a lamb. For the cause is holy. 158 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,520 It is your own. I will not let you go, no, nor 159 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:28,960 yet for all eternity. And though the world should be 160 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,720 thronged with devils, and this body, which is the work of your 161 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,919 hands, should be cast forth, trodden under foot, cut into 162 00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:38,360 pieces, consumed to ashes, my soul is yours. 163 00:08:38,799 --> 00:08:40,799 Yes, I have your own word to assure me of it. 164 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,840 My soul belongs to you and will abide with you forever. 165 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:45,880 Amen. Oh, God, send help. 166 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,960 Amen. Where do you go when the world 167 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,080 surrounds you and your enemies surround you? 168 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,560 I want you to to see a couple things in his prayer which are 169 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:58,680 going to be saturated and and David's prayer, you see a plea 170 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:04,120 to be heard saying, Lord, please hear me take up my 'cause you 171 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,840 see a plea to be led by the Lord God Almighty saying lead me. 172 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,440 Lord, you've brought me into this persecution in the 173 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:12,560 suffering. Now help, help me to be faithful 174 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:13,800 in it. Help me. 175 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:15,440 I was righteous. Righteousness is what brought me 176 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:17,880 into the suffering. Now may righteousness be my 177 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,040 light as I go through it and endure it. 178 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,560 And then finally, a plea for justice because he's been 179 00:09:23,560 --> 00:09:27,960 wrongly and falsely accused. And above all, I want to remind 180 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,080 you or point out the confident expectation of his prayer when 181 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:33,560 he says yes, I have your word to assure me of it. 182 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:36,320 My soul belongs to you and will abide with you forever. 183 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,160 O God, send help. Amen. 184 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:43,240 It's such expectation and hope. And then they it gets delayed. 185 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,680 And so he, he doesn't show up in the morning like our Psalm will 186 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:49,280 say, but he, he gets summoned that next evening before Emperor 187 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:52,040 Charles the 5th, all of his nobles, all of his bishops, all 188 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,520 of his church officials, There's 1000 men, figuratively speaking, 189 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,120 surrounding him. And it was in the confidence 190 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,880 following his prayer that he recites the now famous words, My 191 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:02,880 conscience is captive to the word of God. 192 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,800 I cannot and will not recant anything for to go against 193 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:07,720 conscience is neither right nor safe. 194 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:12,880 And then he says, here I stand, I can do no other, God help me, 195 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,280 Amen. And so he had for his model in 196 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:22,200 his prayer closet the prayers of David and Jesus had for his 197 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:25,680 model and his prayers David and and we have Jesus as well. 198 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:28,920 This is how he prayed. And so look with me to Psalm 5 199 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,880 and see how you are to pray, living in the world that Isaiah 200 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:37,520 66 painted for us, living in the Kingdom of men, living in a 201 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:41,960 world that's full of men and women who hate you and who 202 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:43,920 persecute you for righteousness sake. 203 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:48,240 Here's the words of Psalm 5A, Psalm of David. 204 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:52,760 It says, give ear to my words. O Lord, consider my groaning. 205 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:57,920 Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for 206 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,560 to you do I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear 207 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:02,440 my voice. In the morning I prepare a 208 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:06,240 sacrifice for you and watch, for you are not a God who delights 209 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:08,680 in wickedness. Evil may not dwell with you. 210 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:10,960 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes. 211 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,560 You hate all evil doers. You destroy those who speak 212 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:17,240 lies. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty 213 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,520 and deceitful man. But I, through the abundance of 214 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:22,680 Your steadfast love, will enter your house. 215 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,040 I will bow down toward Your holy temple in the fear of You. 216 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,560 Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness. 217 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:31,320 Because of my enemies, make Your way straight before Me. 218 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:33,240 For there is no truth in their mouth. 219 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:36,120 Their inmost self is destruction, Their throat is an 220 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,360 open grave. They flatter with their tongue. 221 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,000 Make them bear their guilt. O God, let them fall by their 222 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:43,840 own counsels. Because of the abundance of 223 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,880 their transgressions, cast them out, for they have rebelled 224 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,720 against you. But let all who take refuge and 225 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,720 you rejoice. Let them ever sing for joy, and 226 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,160 spread your protection over them, that those who love your 227 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:57,960 name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O 228 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:01,400 Lord, you cover him with favor as a shield. 229 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:06,360 So remember the the marks of true worship that we saw in 230 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:10,280 Isaiah 66. And one of those was very hard 231 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:12,880 to hear. As he said, a true worshipper 232 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,040 always, without exception will experience persecution. 233 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:19,920 If you live for righteousness, if you are a light in a Dark 234 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,400 World, you will experience persecution. 235 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,280 And I want to stop because it saturates our Psalm. 236 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:25,920 It's so important to the theology of our Psalm. 237 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,840 What is persecution? What does it mean to be 238 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:31,640 persecuted? I want to pause and look. 239 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,640 If you look in the dictionary, it will just see simply it means 240 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,520 to, to drive away or to put to flight, to seek eagerly after 241 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:40,960 someone. And I think even biblically 242 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,080 along this line, if you think of Paul in the Thessalonian church 243 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,960 as he's, as he's proclaiming the gospel in Thessalonia, they whip 244 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,800 up a mob and they seek after him and they throw him out of the 245 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,120 city and literally drive him away. 246 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,120 And then was it enough that they throw him out of the city? 247 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:59,040 No, he goes to Berea and they make the journey to go there and 248 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,240 to whip up a mob and a a frenzy there. 249 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:05,240 And it says there too, they came agitating and stirring up the 250 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,400 crowds. So the dictionary definition 251 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:11,240 holds that is persecution in one sense, but look at how Jesus 252 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,200 defines it. Matthew 511. 253 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,600 Blessed are you and others revile you and persecute you and 254 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,520 utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 255 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,480 So Jesus is in this verse saying persecution comes on you when 256 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:30,080 you're insulted and persecution comes on you when you're being 257 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:34,000 driven away or when people speak falsehoods against you. 258 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:36,960 You can look at your life if Jesus has promised persecution. 259 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:40,200 Do you feel this in your life, in your ministry? 260 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,160 Matthew 24, nine. Jesus says again, then they will 261 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:46,120 deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death and you 262 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:49,640 will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 263 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:52,160 So again, he, he defines persecution. 264 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:54,080 He says you're going to be delivered over to, to 265 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:55,720 tribulation. The word means literally 266 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,520 pressure. Does anybody feel pressure from 267 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,200 the external world in this culture to conform to the 268 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,560 standards of the world, be they gender ideologies or sexual 269 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:07,880 ideologies? Do you feel the pressure, the 270 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:09,640 tribulation? He says you're going to be 271 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:11,800 hated. The words of Jesus Christ and 272 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,360 then the worst expression of of persecution, the worst that they 273 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:19,200 can do to you, he says is being tortured and being killed and 274 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:22,920 then all of it he says at every point on his account. 275 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:27,120 So persecution Jesus defines it at every point is caused by 276 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,920 Matthew 511. He says on my account, Matthew 277 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:35,360 24/9 for my name's sake. John 1521 on account of me 278 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,840 Persecution is is because you're living and preaching 279 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,040 righteousness and persecution is only persecution when you're 280 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,360 doing it in the name of Jesus. So if you're annoying and 281 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,400 obnoxious and you're experiencing the fruit of your 282 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:52,440 own obnoxiousness, that's not persecution, That's just reaping 283 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,360 what you're sowing in. The same as general suffering 284 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:57,600 and hardship in the world that we all go through with health 285 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,840 problems and everything else is not persecution. 286 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:05,000 And the consequences of your bad choices are not persecution. 287 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,840 Jesus has defined it for you. And with that in mind, now turn 288 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:14,280 back or think back with me to Psalm 5, David and Psalm five. 289 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,160 The first of his keywords, and there are a few, is the word 290 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:21,040 righteous. He's going to say it in verse 8, 291 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,400 Lead me Lord, and paths of righteousness. 292 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,680 He's going to say it in verse 12, For you bless the 293 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,400 righteousness, O Lord, you bless righteousness. 294 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:30,560 And So what he's saying is righteousness is what got me 295 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:32,840 here. Righteousness is why I'm in this 296 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:34,840 boat anyway. And then he adds to it. 297 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,120 And righteousness is what is required of me in the midst of 298 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,480 persecution. It caused it and it's what's 299 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,920 required of me in it. It's because the light of 300 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:46,440 righteousness dispels the darkness of the wicked and they 301 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:49,840 don't like it. And so for righteousness, he's 302 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:51,400 being insulted, he's being driven away. 303 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:53,120 He's having falsehood spoken against him. 304 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,000 Above all, the pressure is on him. 305 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:56,920 He's hated, his life is threatened. 306 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,480 And then here is his response in Psalm 5. 307 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:03,440 And I want to break it down in four please, 4 sections because 308 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,800 there's a four fold pleading with the with the Lord verses 309 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,240 one to three. He's pleading to be heard. 310 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,520 Give ear to my word. Oh Lord, consider my groaning, 311 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:17,640 hearken unto the voice of my cry 3 times, hear me, please hear 312 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,000 me, please take up my cause. And then he moves to pleading to 313 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,120 be LED saying lead me Lord versus 4 to 8 in your 314 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,960 righteousness. Maybe even the the four coming 315 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:31,000 of Psalm 23 when he says like a shepherd, Lord, lead me. 316 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,240 Verses 9:00 to 11:00, there's a pleading for justice. 317 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,840 You'll see why that's important. And then finally, verse 12A, 318 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:41,120 pleading for just rewards, a plea to be heard, a plea to be 319 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:45,120 LED, a plea for justice and a plea for a just reward. 320 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,800 And it starts in verse one, asking three times in three 321 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:51,720 ways. He's pleading with God that he 322 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:53,520 would listen to him, that he would hear him. 323 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,280 He says give ear to my words, O Lord, that's the first. 324 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:00,600 Then consider my groaning and then give attention to the sound 325 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:03,760 of my cry. An extremely important to to 326 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:07,440 this prayer is when he prays it and make sure he tells you 327 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:09,119 twice. It's in the morning. 328 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,839 In the morning, he says in verse 3 to you, oh Lord, I pray in the 329 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:14,640 morning. You hear my voice again at the 330 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,440 second-half of verse 3 in the morning, I prepare a sacrifice 331 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,800 for you and watch If you read your translations, everybody's 332 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,200 translations in here, we'll take one of three stances. 333 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,040 Your translations are different and I want you to see why. 334 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:29,880 I actually want you to see what's what's unique about them 335 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:31,280 all or what's similar about them all. 336 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:33,600 They all are directed toward God in prayer. 337 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:35,520 They're all spoken in the same spirit. 338 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:38,440 They're reflecting the same thing, but there's a difference 339 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,280 because it says, Oh Lord, in the morning you hear my voice. 340 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:45,880 In the morning, I the actual verb is arrange, and then 341 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,440 there's no word after it. In the morning I arrange and 342 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:53,040 we're forced to supply the word in the Hebrew that comes after. 343 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,200 What is he arranging? And your, your interpreters or 344 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,240 your translators are going to take a couple different stances 345 00:17:58,240 --> 00:17:59,680 here. Some would say he's arranging 346 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,880 his petitions to God, his requests of God. 347 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:05,800 And it, it seems to fit the context well. 348 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,280 He seems to be kind of ordering his prayers here, pleading for 349 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:11,080 these things. But the problem is commentators 350 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,000 will show you that the word arrange is not used anywhere 351 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,200 else in the Old Testament. This verb is not used anywhere 352 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:20,920 in the context of prayer. And so it it may very well be 353 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,960 that he's arranging his prayers. This is what we sing, the 354 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:27,200 version that we sing together as a church, where he says, oh 355 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,600 Lord, in the morning I will direct my prayer unto thee and 356 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:34,880 will look up. And the NASB says, oh Lord, I 357 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,720 will order my prayer. And then we could say if, if the 358 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,880 word is not arranged, if we're not arranging prayers, then what 359 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,120 is the word arranged usually used for in the Old Testament? 360 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:48,800 And the answer is you're arranging a sacrifice to set on 361 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,600 fire for the Lord. You're arranging the wood for a 362 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:54,320 sacrifice. And so that's why the, the ESV 363 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:58,400 says in the morning, I prepare or arrange a sacrifice for you 364 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,320 and watch. And that may very well be what 365 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:03,440 David is doing. And, and the, the third option 366 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,840 that I'm going to latch on to follows the, the idea of the 367 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,800 logic of the Psalm as a whole. There's the Robert Alter, the, 368 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:14,240 the Hebrew poetry expert latches onto this and he says David is 369 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,200 coming to God the Father as a man who's coming into a 370 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,960 courtroom to plead his cause. So what is he arranging? 371 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:24,480 He's arranging his arguments. He's arranging his cases. 372 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:27,480 And with that in mind, he says the reason he follows it is 373 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,000 because it's a whole structure of the Psalm. 374 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,480 Verses 1 to 3 is his appeal. Hear me take up my case. 375 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,760 Verses 4 to 8 are the precedent. We'll see what that means. 9 to 376 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:41,720 11 are his petition, and verse 12 is a plea for the just 377 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:43,280 reward. And So what does the verb 378 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:44,720 arrange mean? In verse 3? 379 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,800 He's arranging his cases. And in the depositions and the 380 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,080 legal proceedings that I've been involved with, the lawyer comes 381 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:55,600 into the room and he has his litigation bag. 382 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,760 He has thousands of pieces of paper that are arranged. 383 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,640 I use that verb intentionally. These thousands of pieces of 384 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,480 paper that are arranged just so they're highlighted, they're 385 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,120 marked up, there's pencil marks in the margin because they're 386 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:10,200 ready to be used and marshaled in this case, they're sticky 387 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:14,560 notes that are drawing the eye to every important document in 388 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,160 this, key documents in this. And he's saying, that's how I'm 389 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:19,880 coming to the Lord. I'm coming to present my case 390 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,920 because I'm righteous and the world is wicked, and I'm here to 391 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:25,400 prove it to you. Look at my life, Lord, examine 392 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:26,520 my life. Here's the evidence. 393 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:28,160 Look at what the wicked have done to me. 394 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:32,600 Now take up my case, God, and act justly. 395 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:35,840 That's the argument of what he's asking. 396 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,080 He's come before God the Father to make the case. 397 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:42,080 Helpful to understand is in the ancient world the rising of this 398 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:46,440 of the morning sun is associated with the enactment of justice, 399 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:50,000 which is why you look at second Samuel 15. 400 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,920 Two men are coming before the king in the morning at sunrise 401 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,680 to lay out their cases to the king. 402 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,840 And so twice it mentions in our Psalm that he comes to God in 403 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,120 the morning because that's when cases are presented in court. 404 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:08,440 We could even say in verse 2 he says my king and my God, he's 405 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,720 appealing to him his king because kings were the judges 406 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:15,560 and kings were the highest judges in the land. 407 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,440 And so to appeal to, you see, Solomon, the highest cases, the 408 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:23,320 hardest cases are brought before Solomon and he, he weighs in on 409 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:24,960 them. And So what do you do if you're 410 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:28,320 the king and you need to appeal to somebody? 411 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,480 David goes to the king of kings. He goes to his king, He goes to 412 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:38,160 his Lord, his God, his judge, the highest bar in existence. 413 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,440 And he says in verses one to three, he's begging for him to 414 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,880 hear him give ear to my words, consider my groaning, give 415 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:46,480 attention to the sound of my cry. 416 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:48,960 He's come prepared. He's laid out his arguments 417 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,160 before the Lord, and he's begging God to listen and affirm 418 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,240 his case. And so he's saying, Lord, I've 419 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:56,960 come at the appropriate time. I've come to you in the morning 420 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:58,560 when I'm supposed to come to the bar. 421 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:00,880 And he comes to him in the appropriate manner. 422 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,240 He comes to the right person. He comes to his king and his 423 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,360 judge. And then I want you to see that 424 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:10,680 this appeal ends with a powerful declaration of confidence and 425 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,400 trust. He says, I present my cases 426 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:16,640 before you. I arrange my cases and look up, 427 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,360 right. I arrange my my prayers before 428 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:21,960 you. I bring my plea and I look up. 429 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,600 And that means I wait expectantly for you to answer 430 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:26,520 them. This is what George Mueller did 431 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,440 every morning when he would wake up and there wasn't any food for 432 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,160 the hundreds and thousands of orphans that he was supposed to 433 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:33,800 be feeding. He says, this is what you do. 434 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,240 He gave instructions. It's as you pray in the name of 435 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,080 Jesus Christ, you align your heart with Jesus Christ. 436 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:41,520 You make your petition and then you wait. 437 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,880 You literally look up knowing that God is going to answer that 438 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:48,680 prayer and you see it over and over again. 439 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,920 He answers the prayers of the righteous unto thee and will 440 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:53,480 look up. George Mueller said he would. 441 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:55,600 He would just make his case and then he would. 442 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,320 He would declare, let the God who loves orphans, may the God 443 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,800 of orphans be God. Let the God who takes care of 444 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,960 orphans, let him be God. That's essentially what David's 445 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:05,480 saying here. Let the God who delivers the 446 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,720 righteous from the wicked, let him be God. 447 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,080 I'm going to look up and wait for the moment that you save my 448 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:15,520 life. And then he moves to verses 4 to 449 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,440 8. He pleads to be heard, and 4:00 450 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,600 to 8:00 he pleads to be led. And this is where the the legal 451 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:24,920 precedent comes. If you don't know the definition 452 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:26,120 of that, that's OK. I didn't either. 453 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:29,600 I looked it up. Precedent is an earlier event or 454 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:32,560 action that's regarded as an example or guide to be 455 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,440 considered in subsequent similar circumstances. 456 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,040 Maybe you knew a little bit about what it was, but that's 457 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,000 what it is. It becomes when a judge weighs 458 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,120 in on something, it becomes case law. 459 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,320 And So what David is saying here is God's character is binding 460 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,440 precedent in the world because he's the same yesterday and 461 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,680 today and forever. He's unchanging the things that 462 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,480 he's done in the past revealed to us his nature and it's 463 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:54,880 precedent. And David says, I'm going to 464 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:57,280 take that to the bank. I'm going to, I'm going to stake 465 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:00,800 my life on your precedent. I'm pleading for you to lead me 466 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,040 according to your character. And if you look through this, he 467 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:08,080 kind of gives 6 facts of precedent, kind of six things 468 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:09,960 that he's going to hinge his argument on. 469 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,440 And the first one, you can read them with me in verse 8. 470 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:16,160 He says you are not a God who delights in wickedness. 471 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:18,320 That's not who you are. That's not the God I worship. 472 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,280 That's not the God that's been revealed in the Scriptures, 473 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,640 meaning God takes no pleasure in either wickedness or in wicked 474 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,120 people. And the second one is like it. 475 00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:32,360 Evil may not dwell with you. He says dwell is the word for 476 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:36,320 sojourn, to dwell temporarily. He says evil cannot be God's 477 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,760 guest. God's not going to open his home 478 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,240 and let evil into his house. It cannot entitle itself to 479 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:46,320 God's protection and care. The third thing he says the 480 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:48,720 boastful shall not stand before your eyes. 481 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,480 It's meaning literally God is going to cast out evil, cast it 482 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:54,640 aside. And I listen to a lot of metal 483 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,240 music and in high school and they became a cliche, this 484 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:00,320 phrase cast aside. It was like in every song you 485 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:02,480 got sick of hearing it. And that's exactly what he's 486 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,040 saying. They used it because it gives 487 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,800 voice to the theme of rejection and abandonment, which 488 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:10,080 apparently is a very metal thing. 489 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:14,760 And that's what God says here. He says I will cast out evil and 490 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:16,440 wickedness. I have no part in it. 491 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,960 And the the sobering theme is that God is going to abandon the 492 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:24,440 wicked and we can add with finality, it cannot be his guest 493 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,600 and will not be his guest. It will not be included in his 494 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,640 Kingdom. The 4th, he begins to to turn to 495 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,320 his hands and his heart and his soul. 496 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:37,000 He says you hate evil doers, you hate them, meaning his heart is 497 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,880 turned away from them. Fifth, he says you destroy those 498 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:41,960 who speak lies. It's not just his heart, but his 499 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,960 hands turn away from them. And then worst of all, the 6th, 500 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:50,120 he said the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 501 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,360 And so Spurgeon is saying, commenting on this, he says it's 502 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:56,800 not just his heart, it's not just his hands, but his spirit 503 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,560 is against them. His spirit abhors them. 504 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,760 That means literally it's an abomination to him. 505 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:07,240 It's a detestable thing. He hates the bloodthirsty and 506 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:09,320 wicked man. And remember the words of of 507 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,360 Proverbs 616 to 19. There are 6 things the Lord 508 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:16,120 hates 7 that are an abomination to him. 509 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:17,520 You'll see them all in the Psalm. 510 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:22,360 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 511 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,720 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to 512 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:29,280 run to evil, a false wicked who breathes out a false witness who 513 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,080 breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. 514 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:38,560 So if God is the same yesterday and today and forever, if he 515 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,400 hated wickedness, then if he moved against it, then if his 516 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,080 actions have been repeatedly and predictably just throughout 517 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,080 history, David says that I'm going to count that you will act 518 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:51,080 and move today as well. And so David appeals to the 519 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,440 character of God as precedent. And this is a powerful way for 520 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,960 you to pray if you're experiencing some kind of 521 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,320 pressure. I remember a time distinctly, I 522 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,120 was, I was feeling a time crunch and a time pressure. 523 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,560 I remember going to the Lord and saying, Lord, you are a God who 524 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,800 hates wickedness. You're you're a God who loves 525 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:12,680 the orphan and the widow. And so I need you to have, I 526 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:14,680 need a phone call. I need a phone call from this 527 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:18,360 person and I need it right now. And I remember before I was done 528 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:21,600 praying, as I'm opening my eyes, my phone rings exactly the 529 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,120 person I needed to talk to. And I'm not saying God is going 530 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:25,320 to. You're not obliging God to 531 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:26,680 answer your prayers. When you pray this way. 532 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,240 It delights His heart for you to pray His nature. 533 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,520 Lord, you are just and good and loving and wise. 534 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,400 He loves to hear his nature. He's revealed it to you and He 535 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,680 loves the precedent. Lord you, you saved the the 536 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:41,640 Israelites from the Egyptians in the Red Sea. 537 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:43,920 You love to act and move and prove yourself in the world. 538 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,320 And so I lift my prayer to you and wait. 539 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:48,720 It's modeled for you here. This is your prayer. 540 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,440 And when you pray this way, again, it doesn't oblige God to 541 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,720 answer your prayers, but you can know and understand and that 542 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,760 your prayers are faithful and just and good and. 543 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,720 Contrary to all of this. Evil here come more please in 544 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:07,920 verses 4 to 8, first one, he says Lead me, O Lord, in your 545 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,040 righteousness because of my enemies. 546 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,080 And the second one is like it. He says, make your way straight 547 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:14,840 before me. I need to be LED. 548 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:17,040 I need to be LED through the persecution. 549 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,320 And the word lead is the same word as Psalm 31. 550 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,320 Three. It's the same word as Psalm 23, 551 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:27,360 three, where David says, right, the Lord is my shepherd. 552 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:31,280 I shall not want. He says he leads me in paths of 553 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:32,920 righteousness for his name's sake. 554 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,600 He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's 555 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,000 sake. Here again, Psalm 5-8, lead me 556 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,480 in your righteousness. He's saying, Lord, I need you to 557 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:44,480 be my shepherd. I need you to, to, to lead me. 558 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,640 And he longs to walk in a way that is straight, meaning moral 559 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:50,640 and upright. And the shepherd has to show him 560 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,680 the way and. So if the first. 561 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,160 Keyword of the passage was righteous. 562 00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:58,840 Then the second keyword I want to draw your attention to is the 563 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,360 word wicked. He, he's painting two different 564 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:03,760 pictures of two people. He's got his case and his 565 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:05,840 enemies. And he says in verse 4, heading 566 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:09,080 off this new section, he says you are not a God who delights 567 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:14,520 in wickedness or wicked people. And that word is the main word 568 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,960 of a whole list of synonyms that starts to come verse 5. 569 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,920 You can look with me. The wicked are the boastful. 570 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:23,480 Verse 5 again, the wicked are evil. 571 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:25,720 Verse 6, there are those who speak lies. 572 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,400 Verse 6, they are bloodthirsty. Verse 6, they are deceitful. 573 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,680 And extremely helpful for me this week was a commentator 574 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:37,720 named Hans Joyakim Kraus who builds a theology of the wicked 575 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:39,560 man. He says this wicked man is a is 576 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,320 a type throughout all of the Psalms and it's it's this word 577 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,320 wicked, the wicked one. And he says in the Psalms the 578 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:49,480 wicked are often enemies of the individual. 579 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:54,280 And interestingly, he says the wicked are the persecutors, the 580 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,080 wicked ones are the persecutors of individuals, of righteous 581 00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:59,800 individuals in the Psalms. He says on the basis of all that 582 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,400 we know of the Psalms, the deceitful and persecuting 583 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,520 activity of the godless works out so that the innocent are 584 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:10,120 made to appear guilty by lies and malicious gossip. 585 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,160 So you build the theology of of this, looking through all the 586 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,000 Psalms, it says the wicked are deceivers. 587 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:18,760 That's the word used in verse 6. The wicked people are are those 588 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:22,200 who plot and plan and grumble. They destroy the defenseless and 589 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:23,440 the poor. They lie. 590 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:27,000 They encourage false witnesses. They despise and ridicule their 591 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:28,880 victims. They trample the weak. 592 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:31,640 They're ruthless. And the Psalms teach that their 593 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,360 greatest weapon that they use against you, if you want to 594 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,200 insight and to look into their playbook, is their tongue. 595 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,520 They slander you. And you can look to verse 9 and 596 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:43,040 that's exactly what it says of the wicked. 597 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,680 And this, their greatest weapon is their tongue. 598 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,480 Kraus says of these individuals, the wicked say in Psalm 10/6, I 599 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:53,880 shall never be moved. They say in 1013, God will never 600 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,880 call my actions to account. And they asked pridefully in 601 00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:02,680 Psalm 12/6, Who is my Lord? And Karl Bart talks. 602 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,320 About him as well, this wicked man, he says he's seen in the 603 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:09,920 Psalms not merely as our rival, it's not just the rival of the 604 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:12,920 righteous person, but the man who is engaged in the 605 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,600 performance of objective unrighteousness. 606 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:20,560 He says the known man is finally and characteristically evil and 607 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,840 and showing him. David also shows our response 608 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:27,080 and is personified by David in Psalm 5. 609 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:30,920 Bart says we are to let out a tempestuous yearning cry for a 610 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:35,600 higher compensating avenging righteousness, a judge between 611 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,240 US and them. And if you look with me to the 612 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,360 third section, that's exactly what you see from David. 613 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:45,000 There is a plea for justice. There's a plea against the 614 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,800 wicked man, a tempestuous yearning cry. 615 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:49,640 Verse 10. Read it with me, he says. 616 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:53,520 Make them bear their guilt. Oh God let them fall by their 617 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,440 own councils and that's the promise of God as he says to 618 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,240 anyone who doesn't provide, protect and include the church 619 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,480 or the vulnerable. He says you will fall by your 620 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:03,840 own traps. Your feet will step into your 621 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,640 own trap and you will not be provided forever. 622 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,720 You will be excluded forever from the Kingdom of God and you 623 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,200 will not find yourself in the fellowship of the Saints. 624 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:15,320 David's praying along these lines make them bear their 625 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,480 guilt. God let them fall by their own 626 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,440 counsel. He's he's longing for justice. 627 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:21,880 His plea is for justice. Lord, bring on them. 628 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,280 What is their do the fruit of their deeds? 629 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:26,360 And you look at verse 10 as well. 630 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,000 He he says because they've rebelled against me. 631 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:33,240 No, he says, because. They've rebelled against you. 632 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:37,000 So he's, they're not David's enemies first. 633 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,320 They're David's enemies because they were first God's enemies. 634 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,880 And so you have again the legal language of the court. 635 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,280 David brings his petition and he pleads for justice for the 636 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:51,080 wicked, and he also pleads for the righteous justice of the 637 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:55,800 righteous. 1 And you see here verse 11, let all who take 638 00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:00,080 refuge in you rejoice, Let them ever sing for joy and spread 639 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,040 your protection over them, that those who love your name may 640 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:05,280 exult in you. He's he's pleading for justice 641 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:07,600 and righteousness. And I want you to see there's 642 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,160 kind of characteristic of the Psalm as there's synonyms 643 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:12,000 everywhere. He's multiplying synonyms and 644 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,080 he, he shows kind of with these play on words. 645 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:19,560 He makes these synonyms or these play on words using the voice. 646 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:22,280 He's talking about their voice and you can see it back in verse 647 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:24,240 one. He's referencing my words and my 648 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:27,280 cry and my voice. He wants them to to hear. 649 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,600 And then in the next section, he turns to the he turns to the 650 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,560 wicked and he says you need a spiritual otolaryngologist. 651 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:37,080 There's a problem with your ear, nose and throat and I can't fix 652 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:39,640 it. And so he says they speak lies. 653 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:43,320 You've got an internal issue. Your throat is an open grave. 654 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:47,080 Your tongue is flattering, and we all know this to be true, 655 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:51,120 that the the smooth talk of the wicked speaking to your flesh 656 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:55,120 over time, speaking these lies will draw your body and your 657 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,880 spirit to hell. They they flatter, they they 658 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:02,440 indulge you, they whisper these secret words to your heart and 659 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:06,520 they draw you in. They're so convincing. 660 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,520 And then this play on word. Transitions to the righteous in 661 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:12,960 verses one to three. Remember how the the Psalm began 662 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:17,239 with this crying out? Hear me, Lord. 663 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:19,239 Hear me, Lord. Hear me, Lord, and it ends in 664 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:24,080 verse 11 with singing out. Let all who take refuge in you 665 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:26,679 rejoice. Verse 11, let them sing 666 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,880 eternally for joy. Verse 11 again, let them exalt 667 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:33,239 in you. Exalt means to celebrate 668 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:37,040 triumphantly, to rejoice greatly or exceedingly. 669 00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:41,639 And so if. You're in a situation where you 670 00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:44,400 you feel like you're surrounded by unrighteousness and to an 671 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:48,080 extent it's all of us, but some at times worse than at others. 672 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:52,600 He says plead your case before God and commit yourself to 673 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:54,600 righteousness. He says he'll take your plea and 674 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:56,760 he'll he'll bring it into singing. 675 00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:00,080 He ends the verse with this final pleading. 676 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,920 In verse 12, He says you're pleading for a just reward. 677 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,720 And if we're going to use legal language again, we would call 678 00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:09,560 this his, his declaration or his resolution. 679 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,400 He says for you, bless the righteous, O Lord, you cover him 680 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:18,760 with favor as with a shield. So this is God's settled policy 681 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,800 toward the righteous, a confident resolved truth. 682 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,080 The the beauty comes back in verse seven. 683 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:27,920 Look at how David commits himself in verse 7 to 684 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,320 righteousness. He aligns himself with with 685 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:32,920 righteousness and beauty. And he says it's not through his 686 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,160 own merit, but he says, I, through the abundance of your 687 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:38,800 steadfast love, will enter your house. 688 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:42,200 And it's just a helpful reminder that, you know, we only make any 689 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,640 of these claims for righteousness because of God's 690 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:47,880 abundant grace and mercy and steadfast love. 691 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,400 And it reminds us that we're only included in his Kingdom 692 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:53,680 because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ that was achieved 693 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:55,840 at the cross. And so it's helpful to 694 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,480 understand that he's our judge because when we commit ourselves 695 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,680 to Jesus Christ, our judge, our King, and our Lord, what does he 696 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:06,920 do as judge? He takes his gavel, he looks at 697 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:10,400 you, he hears the case, he hears Satan, he hears Jesus Christ, 698 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:11,720 the righteous one, your advocate. 699 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:14,280 He slams the gavel and he declares you now and forever 700 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:18,160 more not guilty. That's what God the judge does 701 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:21,480 to any of him who come and plead the blood of Jesus Christ. 702 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,040 He says you've been redeemed, you've been clothed with the 703 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,280 righteousness of Jesus Christ. And so we can confidently 704 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,680 declare with David I, through the abundance of your steadfast 705 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:33,320 love, will enter your house. And I want to. 706 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:35,760 Draw your attention. To one more beautiful aspect, if 707 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:40,360 you look back to Psalm 4 and how Psalm 4 ends and this placement 708 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:43,440 of this Psalm and the whole Psalter, it ends with David 709 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:48,960 lying down in peace to sleep. He sleeps in confidence, and 710 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:52,400 then this continues into chapter 5 with him waking up directing 711 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:54,320 his prayers to God in the morning. 712 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:56,120 It's a beautiful thought. So he goes to sleep with joy in 713 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,840 his heart, dwelling in safety. He wakes up praying to God the 714 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:03,960 Father in righteousness, which leads to this final thought that 715 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:06,800 persecution is never the final word for Christians. 716 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,520 Persecution also cannot ultimately steal the joy of 717 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:12,760 Christians. Kraus says that this way the 718 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:14,840 Psalter is not a book of failure. 719 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:18,840 It's a testimony of thanks, of assurance, and of newly 720 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:22,240 established promises. The same thing said another way 721 00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:24,760 by Martin Luther 500 years ago. He wrote this hymn. 722 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:28,760 And though this world with devils filled does threaten to 723 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:32,720 undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to 724 00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:36,080 triumph through us. The Prince of darkness grim we 725 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:39,160 tremble not for him. His rage we can endure. 726 00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:43,920 For lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fail him, 727 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:46,760 and you go back even further to David. 728 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:50,320 He says it this way, resolving the whole Psalm in verse 12 with 729 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:53,400 the confident expectation that God will answer his prayers. 730 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:56,640 He says that the settled policy of God toward His church. 731 00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:00,640 You bless the righteous. Oh Lord, you cover him with 732 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:03,560 favor as a shield. And with that note, let's pray 733 00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:07,000 together. Lord, impress the meaning of the 734 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:09,400 Psalm on our hearts. Help us to understand and know 735 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:12,520 we're not left without resource in the world. 736 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,040 Teach us what this this Psalm of David means, what these these 737 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:20,120 words of David mean and help them to help us to apply it to 738 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:23,440 our own prayer life. Lord, when we are surrounded by 739 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:27,120 the wicked like wolves, and you've promised that we will, 740 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:29,200 when we speak righteousness, when we live righteousness, 741 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:33,080 Lord, help us to remember that we always have a place to turn. 742 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:35,040 It's not a foreign power. It's not our government. 743 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:37,800 It's not those around us with security. 744 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:41,160 Lord, it's you. We look our eyes, we look to the 745 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:43,560 hills, We rest our eyes up on the hills. 746 00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:44,800 And where does our help come from? 747 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:47,680 It comes from the Lord. You are the one who makes heaven 748 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:49,120 and earth. You are the one through your 749 00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:51,040 steadfast love, we can enter into your house. 750 00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:53,720 You are the one who provides, protects and includes us. 751 00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:58,680 You are our shield, our buckler. And so, Lord, we pray to you and 752 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:01,160 say, defend us from our enemies, give us the joy of our 753 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:03,440 salvation. Remind us of it this morning and 754 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,000 we sing your words back to you, Lord, the words of David written 755 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:09,200 so long ago. In the name of Jesus we pray, 756 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:13,080 Amen. Thanks for listening to learn. 757 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:16,040 More about Heritage Church, or if you'd like to respond to this 758 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:21,360 sermon, visit our website at www.heritageshawnee.org.