Speaker 1: 0:05

Good morning, welcome to the house of the Lord. I trust you came into God's house joyful today. But even if you didn't, you're in the right place. God's here, where two or three are gathered in His name, he's present in a special way. God's here, where two or three are gathered in his name. He's present in a special way. So I want to invite you to open your Bibles, if you have them, to Psalm 5. Psalm 5. If you don't have your Bibles, that's okay, it'll be on the screen here in just a moment. I'm Pastor Corey Colravey and if you're a guest with us today, I'm very glad that you're here. I hope you feel warmly welcomed and God's people are glad you're here. We love people to join us, come from outside and visit, and we'd like to get to know you. So stop and say hello to me on the way out the door today. I'd like to know your name. Well, I'm going to introduce this and then I'll read it and pray in just a moment. Well, I'm going to introduce this and then I'll read it and pray in just a moment.

Speaker 1: 1:12

Think about the things that have deeply hurt you in your life this morning. Think about those cutting words when you learn that that saying sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me. The day you learned that that wasn't true, right? Well, if that's happened to you, this psalm is for you. Verse six men were speaking lies about David here. They were using their words to bring him down and to destroy him. Think about somebody's actions. Maybe in your life you've been threatened. Maybe there's been times that you were physically abused in some way. Your safety or your life was in danger. You were dealing with people that were murderous and deeply hateful in heart. Well, this is a psalm for you. Notice in verse 6 who David was dealing with here bloodthirsty men. And then. Have you ever had somebody deceive you in such a way that it just shocked you and rocked you? Maybe in your marriage? Maybe in your business life or your work life? Maybe in the life of the church? Maybe somebody you thought was a close friend? Well, look at verse 6. This psalm is for you. David was dealing with deceitful men.

Speaker 1: 2:33

When we get deeply hurt, we typically get deeply angry in the depths of our heart, and we all handle it a little bit different. But here's what's the same about all of us when we're deeply hurt, and we all handle it a little bit different, but here's what's the same about all of us when we're deeply hurt and we know we've been unjustly treated, as David has been unjustly treated in this psalm, that's when we're pretty dangerous and tempted to sin, to react to those who have hurt us in a way that is not honoring to God and doesn't reflect His character and His glory. And so, really, the main point of this whole psalm and, I think, the practical application I usually do later on, but I'll just stick it up front and then we'll unpack it but if Christians are to reflect Jesus Christ's holy and righteous character in response to the world's hatred, then we have to rely upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, because that's not natural to us, that's not a natural thing to us, and so we must rely on God's grace of the Holy Spirit. How, through the promises of His Word, through trusting His Word, through basking in His presence, through prayer and asking Him for help, and then trusting Him in His providence. And by providence I mean that he is going to work out the details in our life in such a way that we'll be helped and we shall overcome and gain the victory. If there's a New Testament passage.

Speaker 1: 3:53

There's a couple passages that I think summarize this psalm as it applies to our dealing with things of the world. I think 1 Corinthians, 10, 13, and 14 summarizes it well. Listen, the apostle Paul says to the Corinthian church no temptation has overtaken you. That is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Now, of course, the way of escape we're going to learn here in Psalm 5. He's going to provide the way of escape either through His providence, where he deals with our enemies through sovereign and gracious intervention to deal with them directly or our circumstances, or he's going to. Our way of escape is going to be, even though he may not change our circumstances, he'll strengthen us through prayer. So it's either through providence or prayer, or both. That's our way of escape.

Speaker 1: 4:56

And Paul says to the Corinthians flee from idolatry. You see, psalm 5 is going to teach us how to flee from idolatry, and by idolatry I mean false worship. So when people hurt us, what are we in danger of worshiping? Where's the danger for false worship. Well, the danger comes, and we're wanting, right in that moment of our anger and our confusion and hurt, to serve our own wills rather than the will of God, tempted to strike back in a way that feels good, in that moment, we're tempted to serve our passions rather than the will of God, amidst the hurt, rather than reflecting to those around us the beauty and the glory of Christ. And so, with that, I'm going to have you. If you would stand. I'd like to invite you to stand.

Speaker 1: 5:48

I'm going to read Psalm 5. It's the infallible word of God, it's inerrant and it's holy, and I want to remind you that God sends you his word and love to give you a blessing, and I pray that that happens today. Hear God's word, psalm 5, to the choir master for the flutes the Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, o Lord. Consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry. My King and my God, for to you do I pray, o Lord, in the morning, you hear my voice.

Speaker 1: 6:25

In the morning, I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch, for you are not a God who delights in wickedness. Evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes. You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man, but I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

Speaker 1: 7:01

Lead me, o Lord, in your righteousness, because of my enemies. Make your way straight before me, for there is no truth in their mouth. Their inmost self is destruction. Their throat is an open grave. They flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, o God. Let them fall by their own counsels Because of the abundance of their transgressions. Cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. But let all who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them ever sing for joy and spread your protection over them. That those who love your name may exalt in you, for you bless the righteous, o Lord. You cover him with favor as with a shield. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord endures forever. God's people said Amen. You may be seated. Heavenly Father, your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, and so we ask that, by the Holy Spirit, you would shine the light of Christ into our heart, into our mind and into our life in a transforming way, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Speaker 1: 8:19

By the way, that little superscription here at the top of verse 1 in your Bible is to the choir master for the flutes of Psalm of David. What a wonderful thing. Our struggles are worthy to be sung about before God. God wants to hear us talk to Him and even sing to Him. This tells us that he sympathizes with our struggles and our pain and our hurts in this life. But there's five sections in this psalm. We're going to briefly look at each one and we'll go through them in sequence and kind of see how David. There's a certain logic or argumentation that he uses as he prays through this psalm. And so notice section one here, the first three verses give ear to my words, o Lord. Give ear to my words, o Lord. Give ear to my words, o Lord, consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray, o Lord, in the morning you hear my voice. In the morning I prepare a sacrifice and watch. Give ear to my words, o Lord, consider my groaning.

Speaker 1: 9:25

Do you come into god's house today with groanings in the depths of your heart? You know what groaning is. You're not quite sure how to put the pain into words. It's visceral, it's from way down deep. That's where David's at Dearly, beloved by God, but hurting. He's groaning. God's chosen king is groaning. What burdens you this morning, as David's heart was burdened, as Christ's heart was burdened?

Speaker 1: 10:02

What do you do with your groaning? You see, that's the next question. What do we do? How do God groaning? You see, that's the next question. What do we do? How do God's people, the righteous, deal with the groanings and the pain of their heart compared to the world?

Speaker 1: 10:11

You remember, in the first two Psalms, the righteous and the wicked, the righteous and the wicked, the righteous and the wicked. How do the righteous, how do God's people deal with it? Have you cried out to the Lord? Sometimes we stuff our pain, sometimes we entertain ourselves to death, sometimes we do all kinds of things, but do we take it to the Lord? Do we take it to the Lord?

Speaker 1: 10:37

Psalm 5 is telling us take it to the Lord, because God doesn't promise us a trouble-free life in this world. If his own son did not have a trouble-free life, why would we expect a trouble-free life in this world? If his own son did not have a trouble-free life. Why would we expect a trouble-free life? No, he doesn't promise us a trouble-free life, but the good news is he promises his people that he will be with us and he will be for us in the troubles. And, yes, ultimately we shall overcome them all. Aren't you glad for that? We were reminded of that yesterday in this beautiful funeral service here in this sanctuary. Sometimes God relieves us of our suffering. Look back in your own life of all the things you worried about, you're overwhelmed with, and look at how God helped you again and again and again and again and again. God is good, isn't he? If God's good, say amen, he is good and he's great. But David's groaning here. God hasn't changed. But David's hurting. But he knew God personally and he knew God intimately.

Speaker 1: 11:44

Look in verse 2. He says my king and my God. Here's a king who knew there was a king of kings. Don't you wish our politician knew that there was a king of kings? The rulers of this world grow arrogant and they do their own will.

Speaker 1: 12:06

Here's a king, a godly king, who knew that there was a king of kings. He says my God, or my king and my God. He's in covenant relationship. He's in an unbreakable eternal bond by faith with God. God owned him, had him secured, and Christian God is our king and our God as well.

Speaker 1: 12:29

If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is no small thing. The God of all the universe is our king, our ruler, our protector. He's for us. He pours out all good things upon us and he's our God. He's for us. He pours out all good things upon us and he's our God. He's our God, he's the transcendent one. Here it's El, sometimes it's Elohim, but here it's El, my God. He's the transcendent one, he's the one that's above it all. None of the troubles of this world can touch God, which is what makes the incarnation of Jesus so amazing, that he would put on flesh and bone and come experience just like you and me. But my king and my God. How do we get assurance that God is our king and our God? When we trust in his son, jesus Christ, we become sons and daughters of the king, and at this table, it reminds us, we'll sit at the table of the king forever as his royal children.

Speaker 1: 13:31

For us who believe, isn't that a beautiful thing? Don't forget, dear Christian, you are royalty. Satan wants to thank you that. You're a piece of trash. Oh God could never love somebody like you. Oh, there you go again. And yeah, but God. Oh God could never love somebody like you. Oh, there you go again. Yeah, but God. But Christ. He's bought you with a price, and so you can pray with this same confidence.

Speaker 1: 14:01

We pray to God with that mindset and realization. We're adopted by God, and so we cry out like David Abba, father. The same spirit that filled King David a thousand years before the coming of Christ, same God, same spirit fills you and me. It's the same Holy Spirit that inspired this psalm, and so the Spirit's teaching us how to pray to God. He's given us words to pray, even back to God himself, through this psalm, and he's also telling us, by inscripting these psalms here.

Speaker 1: 14:29

God is saying to you I understand your pain, I understand your troubles, I sympathize with these things. I'm not just a rock in the sense that it's unfeeling in that sense, a rock in the sense that it's unfeeling in that sense. And it's no small thing when God's people are hurting to know that the God of all the universe, their Father in heaven, cares. He cares for you. Psalm 5 is reminding us of this. Think about it this way, you parents and you grandparents. Is there anything on planet earth that will get your attention quicker than the painful, visceral groans and cries of your own children and grandchildren? You want to get a mama and a grandma and a dad and a grandparent to stop. They hear the pain of their kids.

Speaker 1: 15:26

Now, if that's true with you and I, what about a God who is infinitely loving? The cries of His children grab His heart. God hears your cries, dear Christian. He doesn't waste one single drop of suffering in our lives. He keeps our tears in a bottle. Would you give your children any kind of suffering that was unnecessary? Well, if God, who is infinitely loving, is so much more loving than us, he is not going to give you one ounce of suffering without His good and divine and all wise purposes. We may not get and understand those purposes, but he has them, and one day we'll praise him for it.

Speaker 1: 16:14

Verse three O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice. In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you. Notice, there's an urgency about David's prayer In the morning. In the morning, it's not just the time, it's that every morning, when he wakes up, his feet hitting the floor, he is aware I'm on a spiritual battlefield. Are we aware of that? When our feet hit the floor, do we realize? Oh, satan prowls around like a lion. Oh, I know my weakness. I need to put on the full armor of God. I need God's help for this day. How many times have you and I if you've been a Christian for any time at all you know that there's been days where you were going along and then you got T-boned by something, not literally, but just out of your life, and your reaction was terrible. And you realize in that moment, we all realize in that moment I was not spiritually prepared for that. We forgot we were on a battlefield. All the time we're dealing with spiritual battle.

Speaker 1: 17:18

Spurgeon says when the dew is on the grass, let grace drop into your soul. Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night. Your soul Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night. So what that means is we need more than coffee I mean Starbucks is great, you know or Dunkin' Donuts I don't want to get us in a fight here which is better but we need more than coffee in our stomach in the morning. We need the grace of God dropping into our souls and that comes through time in the word and prayer. Why? Because when our feet hit the ground, we're on a spiritual battlefield and we need to be reminded of that. The Psalms are constantly reminding us of that. Don't forget it. We need to put on that armor, and so that comes through prayer, comes through being in God's word.

Speaker 1: 18:05

Jesus. He was early to prayer. Mark, chapter one, says that even when it was still dark outside, jesus would go to a solitary place and pray. You think if there was one guy who didn't need to pray, it'd be Christ. Doesn't it show you how stubborn we are sometimes? We are so stubborn. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Well, if we know. Okay, lord, so we grow in prayer, right, we grow to be more and more dependent on God. Don't give up, christian. God's going to grow you in prayer. Some of you are prayer warriors and you know he grows us in these things. But David says he prepared a sacrifice. That idea of preparing a sacrifice, it's as if he's putting everything in order. That's the idea of that word. He puts it in order.

Speaker 1: 18:55

Well, when we pray, there's a certain way that we can order our prayers, not as a ball and chain, but as a help, you know, first you can take a, you know, commit yourself to maybe even just one chapter a day or one passage in the Bible a day, and then just meditate on it. Stop for five minutes. You will be amazed what God will show you if you just slow down and chew on that passage. One of the biggest temptations is just read it and just move on, but we need it to marinate in our soul. Stop, think about it. What is there in that passage to adore about God? What is there in that passage to give him thanks for Right? What can I confess? And then, what do I need to pray for? For myself, for other people? Pray for for myself, for other people, acts, acts, adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. So let that grace drop into your soul in the morning and watch, notice David, and watch. I prepared a sacrifice and I watched.

Speaker 1: 20:03

He was expectant, like Habakkuk, when he went up in that watchtower to wait on God's answer. He was watching. Habakkuk puts us this way that the just shall live by faith, and so we live by faith. But we have to ask ourselves why would David be so expectant and confident? Well, we're going to look at that in the second part here.

Speaker 1: 20:26

Look at it, verse 4. For you are not a God who delights in wickedness. Evil may not dwell with you. The boastful should not stand before your eyes. You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. Now, this is a shocking passage to many modern ears. By the way, that word dwell there. That's the dwelling of a sojourner, that's a traveler, somebody that might stop off and stay somewhere for a night, or maybe for a short visit, or whatever the case. God is so holy that evil can't even do a sleepover with him, can't even do a short stop and visit with him. That's what it's emphasizing. And note we live in an age that's very tolerant of evil. You see that, don't you? We're not shocked by sin like we used to be.

Speaker 1: 21:27

Note here the reason David has such confidence. Well, if we go back even into the first section, you can remember in verse 3, he prepared a sacrifice. That's the basis of his confidence. Right Now, we don't do a morning sacrifice. We come to the Lord by faith in the one true sacrifice, the name of the Lord, jesus Christ, who shed His blood once and for all for all of our sins. So we come not in the confidence of our own name, but in the confidence of our sacrifice. Jesus. We come in his name. That's our confidence. To come to God in prayer. Christ died, then he rose again and he ascended into heaven and he sits there even now for us and for our salvation, and he intercedes for us in prayer and he helps us in prayer through the Holy Spirit. That's our confidence. But the second reason he comes with confidence is because notice the argument that he gives here it's because he knows the character of God.

Speaker 1: 22:22

Look at the logic in verse 4. For or because. You see, I'm praying this way because, because what? Because you are not a God who delights in wickedness. Evil may not dwell with you.

Speaker 1: 22:43

Now, there we see that God hates sin. That's the word. He hates it. But there's something even more shocking to modern ears Verse 5, he hates all evildoers. Verse 5, he hates all evildoers. Sometimes we hear God hates the sin, but not the sinner. Well, there's an aspect of truth to that and you have to qualify that statement. But that is not all that's there in the Bible.

Speaker 1: 23:24

We have to think about this. We have to think about this David is God's chosen, anointed king. He's not just any believer. He's God's chosen, anointed king, and God was going to and is re-establishing his kingdom on earth by establishing Israel and then out of Israel the, the church of Christ. But Israel was the beachhead of reestablishing the kingdom of God on earth, god's rule on earth, and David was his chosen king to rule on God's behalf.

Speaker 1: 23:58

And now you have these men that are attacking David, god's chosen king, and so they're attacking not only David, but their hatred is toward God and his kingdom, and what they've done is heinous injustices to God's chosen king. It says here in verse five and six they're boastful, they're pride-filled liars. These are violent men, these are deceitful men. These are not men who stole a pack of bubble gum. These are vicious, animal-like people that are going after God's chosen king and they're unrepentant and they're going at him.

Speaker 1: 24:40

But I want us to think about this idea that God hates all evildoers for a moment. That too has to be qualified. John Piper does a wonderful job on this, but he says there's two senses in which we can think about hate and two senses in which we can think about love. You can say that you hate something in the sense that you see that in and of itself sense that you see that in and of itself it's vile and repugnant and so the quality of that thing that you're looking at is morally disgusting. Does that make sense? And so you hate it, and that's right. But there's a second kind of hate where there's an intent to destroy that which you hate. So you can have this sense of hate, of vile repugnance or intent to destroy.

Speaker 1: 25:34

There's two aspects of hate and there's also two aspects of love. You can have love in the sense that you have intense delight in the beauty and the goodness and the I don't know wonderfulness of whatever it is you're beholding, and we say I love that. Look at the beauty of their good life. We heard some of that yesterday, right With Michelle Howell's life. You saw the beauty in her life. We're to love the good qualities of things and people. But there's a second kind of love where there's an intention to bless. Just like with hatred, there can be a determination to destroy. There can be a kind of love which is determined and intends to bless in spite of the fact that that which is going to be blessed is ugly and unlovely and not beautiful morally at all.

Speaker 1: 26:34

Well, what am I getting at here? David's saying he knows that God hates evildoers. We have to be reminded that God doesn't send sin to hell. He sends sinners to hell and he's not under obligation to forgive anybody. Sometimes God is so forgiving and so gracious with his forgiveness we almost begin to think well, it's just his job to forgive. Let me tell you, as a pastor, if somebody came into my office and they'd been horribly sexually abused, I'm going to make sure they know that God hates all evildoers. Now, that's not going to be the last thing that I tell them. There's more to be said.

Speaker 1: 27:29

God is so great. Sometimes his love is determined to bless right that which is repugnant to him. That's why Luther could say God loved me even when he hated me. That's how we describe his conversion in one place God, he loved me even when he hated me. That's how we describe this conversion in one place God, he loved me even when he hated me. And in our rush to want to elevate the love and grace of God, we can't forget how much he hates sin and finds sin repugnant. The awesomeness of the love of God. You see, you and I, when we love something, we're naturally drawn to its beauty that already exists. But the greatness of the love of God is that he sees us in our vileness. He sees that which he hates, and yet he's able to love us unto himself. Is that not a glory? He rightly sees the vileness of our sin and loves us into the kingdom, and then he transforms us eventually, when we get to glory, to be everything that he delights in.

Speaker 1: 28:32

And so David is not praying something wrong here. Somebody comes into my office, like I said, and they have been abused. They need to know that there is something called the wrath of God upon sin. It's cruel for me as a pastor to look at them and say well, you know, you shouldn't be that angry about what happened to you. Oh, and mom and dad, you shouldn't be that angry about what happened to your daughter either. No way, god hates that, and that's the word. But but look at verse three, or section three. Lead me, o Lord, in your righteousness.

Speaker 1: 29:19

Now here's where David is showing that he's dealing with things different than the world. Verse seven but I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Verse 7, do you see how, david? He doesn't say well, you know I'm so much better than them, lord. He doesn't excuse his own sin. He comes into God's present not based on the goodness within himself per se, but notice how he prays, verse seven through the abundance of your steadfast love, I will enter your house. I will enter your presence according to your love alone.

Speaker 1: 30:00

David knew that he was a sinner saved by grace himself. So there's a certain humility in David, even as he sees the wickedness of his enemies and what they're doing, that he was a sinner, saved by grace himself. So there's a certain humility in David, even as he sees the wickedness of his enemies and what they're doing. And so then he talks here about in verse 8, he says lead me, o Lord, in your righteousness, because of my enemies, make your way straight before me. Now, what is he praying for? He's praying for God to lead him in two ways, and, by the way, righteousness here is almost a synonym for faithfulness. Lead me in your faithfulness, lord. Lead me according to your promises that I know you'll never break. So he's asking God to lead him in dealing with his enemies, on the one hand, and dealing with his own heart, on the other. Deal with my enemies providentially, intervene and deal with them, lord, as you see fit, and in the meantime, deal with my own heart so I can respond in a godly way according to your will. That's what he's praying for.

Speaker 1: 31:12

We can become very dangerous One when we know that we're right. You ever get dangerous when you know that you're right. Or we can be dangerous when we know we're in the right. We can be dangerous too when we're a victim. Because it's a very short step to saying something like this, and we've all been there. I trust you treat somebody back like they shouldn't have been treated according to the will of God and we say well, they deserved it. Well, they had it coming. That serves them right.

Speaker 1: 31:52

You golfers know what a mulligan is, don't you? Amen, amen for mulligans. If you don't know what a mulligan is in golf, that's where the duffers, when they go out on the weekend, about every nine holes they shank one off into the woods and chase the squirrels out of the trees. They just put down another one and hit another one. They get one freebie every nine holes. But you see, people hurt us and we want a spiritual mulligan. We want to get them back because they deserved it.

Speaker 1: 32:22

I'm going to take a mulligan, lord, and David's praying oh Lord, lead me dealing with them and lead me dealing with my own heart. Help me, I'm your king, I want to represent you well. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. That's the way the Lord puts it. David says make your way straight before me. That's what he's praying for. Why that Christ would be glorified, that his Lord would be glorified.

Speaker 1: 32:55

The greatest danger we always have when we're hurt and we're suffering is that we make our suffering first and foremost about us, and it is about us, but it's about us. Second, it's about the Lord first. There isn't one thing God sends into our life that we're not called to glorify him and enjoy him forever. And so the world makes everything about them, but God's people make everything about the glory of God, or at least that's what we're growing to do more and more as we mature in the Christian life. David knew this was not about him. He was the representative. As the king of Israel, he was the representative of God. And if you're a Christian here this morning, you're an ambassador for Christ. And so we need to pray. God, help me. I know my heart. I don't want to go there. Help me, give me strength to respond like Christ would respond.

Speaker 1: 33:52

Notice. Fourthly, there's no truth in their mouth. I won't reread 9 and 10, but you can see there that their throat was an open grave. These people were just wicked liars. They were flatterers with their tongues Smooth is the word. They were slicksters.

Speaker 1: 34:16

And Romans 3 quotes this part of this section right here, when it applies to all sinners that all of us sin with our tongues. But notice what David says about those who are trying to destroy them. Make them bear their guilt, o God. Let them fall by their own counsels Because of the abundance of their transgressions. Cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.

Speaker 1: 34:42

Can a Christian pray? Make them bear their guilt, o God? Well, we have to qualify that. This is the first what theologians call these imprecatory psalms. They're psalms with a curse in them, a covenant curse in them. Can Christians pray this way? Well, we're not dealing, like I said, with somebody who just made a smart aleck remark to David. These are people who are intent and unrepentant and they're going at the juggler, god's chosen king. These are deeply wicked people. You got to remember that. But he does say make them bear their guilt, o God. When you think about child trafficking, do you think it's wrong to pray God, make them bear their guilt. It's not all we have to pray as Christians. What about the Holocaust?

Speaker 1: 35:42

David is not praying a sub-Christian prayer. He's identifying himself. What is, I think, misunderstood here is notice that David is leaving the wrath to God. He knows God's a just judge. He will by no means clear the guilty. And David also knows, because of Romans 7, that if his enemies repent, they can be under God's wings of forgiveness and Christ as a refuge as well. We see that a couple of Psalms down the road. He doesn't state it here, but he knows it.

Speaker 1: 36:21

But David's praying in faith. You know one of the biggest things. We get in trouble. We try to be super spiritual and we say, well, we won't pray, make them bear their guilt, oh God, even though they deserve a certain justice for what's been horribly done. But then we'll strike back. David's actually doing what we should be doing, leaving it to God, knowing God will never do anything wrong. God, what these people are doing is absolutely wicked to the core. You deal with them and we all know what they deserve.

Speaker 1: 36:59

And notice David's concerned about the honor of God's name not getting even he says verse 10, for they have rebelled against you. He didn't make it about himself. He casts his personal burdens on God, but he didn't make the situation about himself. It's about the glory of God. God's a God of justice and he will make all things right in the end. Aren't you glad he will make all things right in the end? And then notice too.

Speaker 1: 37:28

Lastly, in verses 11 and 12, let all who take refuge in you rejoice and sing for joy. He says you bless the righteous, and he speaks about being under God's favor, as with a shield. This shield here is the word for full body, armor that you would go into battle. God is our shield and God cares about our joy. That's another motivator to pray to God. He cares about our joy. Jesus died that we could be full of joy forever. How can I park the bus here? Here's the wonder. His favor is upon us who trust in him, just like David, and he'll not let us go. But we have to remember the wicked.

Speaker 1: 38:19

Those who rebel, not just against King David, but King Jesus, who is that greater King David, are doomed in their guilt unless they repent. The wonder of the gospel is in Romans 5. It says even while we were still enemies, christ died for us. Aren't you glad God's love is like that, that he can see us rightly, even in the vileness of our sin, and he can love us into his kingdom. It's the greatness of the love of God, even though we deserve to bear our own guilt, god came and bore our guilt that we could live. Came and bore our guilt that we could live. This psalm was fulfilled by Jesus. I'll end with this Hebrews 5, 7. In the days of his flesh, jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard. Because of his reverence and because Christ fulfilled this psalm, he went on to lay down his life as the perfect sacrifice and we could be saved as well.