PSALM 5
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by the flute.
O Lord, hear me as I pray;
pay attention to my groaning.
Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
for I pray to no one but you.
Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness;
you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.
Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence,
for you hate all who do evil.
You will destroy those who tell lies.
The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.
Because of your unfailing love,
I can enter your house;
I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe.
Lead me in the right path, O Lord,
or my enemies will conquer me.
Make your way plain for me to follow.
My enemies cannot speak a truthful word.
Their deepest desire is to destroy others.
Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with flattery.
O God, declare them guilty.
Let them be caught in their own traps.
Drive them away because of their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them sing joyful praises forever.
Spread your protection over them,
that all who love your name may be filled with joy.
For you bless the godly, O Lord;
you surround them with your shield of love.
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by the flute.
O Lord, hear me as I pray;
pay attention to my groaning.
Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
for I pray to no one but you.
Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness;
you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.
Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence,
for you hate all who do evil.
You will destroy those who tell lies.
The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.
Because of your unfailing love,
I can enter your house;
I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe.
Lead me in the right path, O Lord,
or my enemies will conquer me.
Make your way plain for me to follow.
My enemies cannot speak a truthful word.
Their deepest desire is to destroy others.
Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with flattery.
O God, declare them guilty.
Let them be caught in their own traps.
Drive them away because of their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them sing joyful praises forever.
Spread your protection over them,
that all who love your name may be filled with joy.
For you bless the godly, O Lord;
you surround them with your shield of love.
Morning Prayers Today I start my day like I do every Tuesday, praying with an accountability partner for an hour. Getting up to pray at 6 in the morning is not what I want to do until we start to pray. Getting to the point of prayer is hard. I would much rather stay in bed, especially when the weather is cold and it is still dark outside. (It is easier to get up now that it is light out at 6:00.) When we start to pray, my struggle to be there evaporates like dew on a hot day. In its place is a cloud of love and blessing from the Lord.
David must have had days where it was hard to go and pray at the tabernacle. Once there, however, his prayer to God is filled with joy and expectancy. Even his worries and enemies pale in comparison to the presence of God. His cares float away on the wings of prayer and are replaced with peace, joy, and love.
It sounds too simple for us logical and methodological people. We need 10 easy steps, a 15 chapter book, three point sermons and email devotionals. None of these are bad, but if they ever replace our morning time of prayer with God we have slipped onto the path of religion and off the path of relationship. Jesus tells us to come to God like little children or we will miss the Kingdom of Heaven. We don’t need to start our day with theological proofs; we need to start our day with God. Spending time in his presence, listening with expectancy to hear God’s voice is the best way to begin every day.
Jesus, early in the morning my prayer shall rise to you. In the morning I will seek you and listen to your voice as I wait in expectation for your answer to my prayers. Thank you for meeting me this morning, I look forward to the rest of our conversation today. - Dan Jones
A beautiful graceIf politics in a democracy is a “full contact sport,” as one of this year’s presidential candidates indicated, then politics in an autocracy is a blood sport. David penned Psalm 3 while his son Absalom staged a bloody coup. But many other enemies conspired against David before and after this bloodletting.
I imagine that living among people who insert themselves into my networks of relationships with agendas to take advantage of me would leave me feeling a lot like David. Even if they were not out to do me in, but instead tried to suck everything they could out of the relationship, climb over me to get ahead, and use me to advance their self promoting agenda, this would prompt my prayer, “Get me out of here!” and “Give them a taste of their own medicine!”
In those times when I’m on the receiving end of abuse, I feel completely innocent. Like David, I go to God to plead my case, a godly man before a holy God. Because I love him without boundaries and am passionate about serving him with all my heart, I run to him to defend me. And God receives me!
God receives me not because I am as innocent as I think I am. I’m not. The Son of David, Jesus Christ, has come and pulled back the curtain of my own sinfulness even further than during David’s lifetime. I lie, not when I invite a friend to meeting when really it’s a surprise birthday party, but when I use deceptive words in everyday communication that seem to say one thing but really mean another. I lie when I habitually refuse to let my “yes be yes, and my no, no!”
And I murder when I allow anger to fester and then spill into an angry torrent of words. Jesus insisted on these truths in the Sermon on the Mount. Alas, I am nowhere near as innocent as I feel when others lay their traps for me, use, or abuse me.
But thanks be to God, he still hears me and welcomes me into his presence. I tell him how much he detests liars and murders, all the while such things lurk in the deep recesses of my own heart. But he doesn’t dismiss me. Instead, he saves the conviction of sin I need for another day, and offers me the protection and strength I need for today.
God of Grace and Truth, thank you for not answering the prayers I pray in ignorance, but, instead, offering the good things I need. Though I am never as innocent as I feel when others attack me, you never turn away the heart that has turned toward you. - Mike Leamon
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