Psalm chapter 5. And I was thinking in my study before
coming down, I thought it would be nice if I could turn the things out there off when
I come in here, like I do the TV when I leave the house. When
you leave the house, you turn the TV off and all that chatter
and all that stuff stops, and then there's quietness. Then
you come over here, and I wish I could turn my mind off like
that. I was sitting in my study, and there's so much just going
through my mind that I thought, You know stop and just stop and
think and as a David says here consider my meditations You know
meditate and think upon For me was think upon the message that
I'm going to bring tonight and for you is to think upon what
you are about to hear the word we are about to look at and and
give much consideration to it. There's a real preparation in worship. There's a real preparation
that happens before we come here in preparing
our hearts to worship. Too many times, And I'm guilty
of this. Too many times I've just had
the TV on and just running about, getting dressed, doing this,
that, and the other, and flip it off and come. And I was thinking today, I was
thinking, you know, there's - we need to have more preparation
and consideration that we are coming before God and we are
coming here to worship, you know, to - you know, when you worship
something or when you worship someone, it has your heart. It
has your thoughts. It has you. You adore it. I mean, it has your adoration. And I was thinking of those things
as I was preparing for this. The Lord helped me to preach,
helped me to write and divide the Word of Truth, and helped
me to worship, to have a real spirit of worship, and to listen
as I preach. Because I'm preaching to me,
as well as you. It's surprising to me, and you
don't know it because I have my notes here, but it's surprising
to me. The things that come to me when I'm preaching that I
never thought of when I was studying. I don't have them in my notes,
I don't have even a clue, and then when I'm preaching it's
just like, it comes to me. And that's the Lord. That's the
Holy Spirit. And I'm trying to listen and
be instructed at the same time I'm preaching and teaching. But anyway, it happens. That's
the way it happens. Now in Psalm 5, we have another prayer of David. And this also can be applied
to our greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this prayer, David asks
God again to hear his prayer. There's a lot in this prayer
that was in the last prayer, but I realize how much I say,
how many times and how much I say the same things week after week. A lot of my prayers are repeated
over and over. And David does the same thing
here in this prayer. And he makes a distinction here
between the righteous and the wicked. There's a real distinction
between God's people and those who are not. And he tells us
that the righteous shall be blessed. They shall have God's favor.
If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you have God's favor.
Now, it may not feel like it. And you may be going through
something that you're thinking, how in the world can I have God's
favor and this be happening? Was it Rebecca that said, if
it be so with me, why am I thus, when she had the twins in the
womb? And sometimes we think that way. We think, how can we have God's
favor and all this going on? But you do. You do. If you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, you have God's favor. You are the apple of His eye. He says here in verse 1, Give
ear to My words, O Lord, consider My meditation. Words have meaning. They express what's in the heart.
The Scripture says, Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaks. And he's not afraid to call on God to hear his words, because
words are powerful. They're powerful. They can lift
up. They can bring down. Listen to Matthew 12.37, For by thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Powerful,
isn't it? The power of words. Because words come from the heart.
It's an expression of what's going on in here. You know, my
words, the words that I speak all the time, they're really
a reflection of me. It's me. And then Christ, He is the Word
of God. When God came into this world
and He became incarnate, It was the Word that became incarnate. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Give ear to my words. And here's
the second part of prayer that we need to give a lot of attention
to. And, O Lord, consider my meditation. You know what he's saying here?
Weigh out my thoughts. Weigh out my words. Weigh out
what's going on in my heart. He's not afraid. He's not afraid
to ask God to weigh it out. Now in reference to the Lord
Jesus Christ, He could always say, Look at my heart. Consider
my thoughts. And us, listen, as we are in
Christ, can say the same thing. David said, Now can you say this?
David said one time, search me and know me. The Lord Jesus Christ
could say that. And every believer here can say,
you can say from your heart, even knowing that you're sinful
and knowing what you are, you can say from your heart, oh Lord,
search me and know me and see if there be any wicked way in
me. Search me. I would far rather God search
me now than in judgment." We must give thought to the one
to whom we pray and give thought to what we are praying for. Praying
is not rambling. It's not rambling, like the Pharisees
who stood on the corner to be heard and seen of men. Prayer
is communicating with God. It's communicating with our Creator,
it's communicating with our Redeemer, our Savior. What creature can do that? Dogs? Cats? I mean, what? You can. Only you can. Communicate with
God through the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says here, "'Hearken unto
the voice of my cry.'" And he's saying this, "'Give me a favorable
hearing.'" That really struck me when I looked at the meaning
of this. "'Give me a favorable hearing.'"
Is that not what we go to God for? A favorable hearing? Lord,
give me Your audience, Your ear. Listen to me. That's what he's
saying. When he says, "'Hearken,' listen to me." Listen to me. And here's a recognition in this
prayer of the one He prays to. We should always recognize the
one we pray to when we pray. You know, our Lord said, when
you pray, you pray what first? What do you say first? Our Father,
which art in heaven, but our Father. You know, the Lord, when
He prayed, He prayed to His Father, now listen, and our Father. He
said in one place, I go to my father and your father. He recognizes God as His King
and as His Sovereign. We know that the one we pray
to is sovereign over all. I can take my burdens to the
Lord and leave them there because He's able to do something about
them. He's able. And He's my God, He's
my Creator, He's my Savior, this is personal. I'm not praying
to a God. You remember in the book of Acts,
I believe it was in Athens, Paul was in Athens, they had all those
altars. And they even have one there to the unknown God. And
they prayed to every one of them. They'd make sacrifices and do
all kinds of stuff to every one of those so-called gods. There's one God, there is one
God, and He's our God. He's our God. He's the only God
there is. This also shows that the one
we are praying to is able to do above all that we ask or think. Here's a problem. is we usually
don't think that way, do we? We usually don't think that He's
able to do all that we ask or think. Listen to Ephesians 3.20,
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in
us, He's able to do far more than we're able to ask. The reason
you and I do not ask great things of God is because of unbelief. We ought to ask great things
of God. He's a great God. Nothing that we ask God is a
challenge to His power. It's a matter of His will. Never
a challenge to His power. Oh, He said, listen to Me, My
King, My God, for unto Thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear
in the morning, O Lord. Who heard your voice first thing
this morning? Who heard Mine? The first person we must speak
to when we awake in the morning is our God. It's sad, it's sad
that that's not really so. It's really, I mean, it's sad
that it's not so. So often we speak to one another,
we speak, you know, we just hurry up. The kids are busy around
the house or whatever. We just, we just jump out of
bed, get dressed and get after the day. But David says here, and our
Lord proved this, our Lord did this. He said, the first person
I'm going to speak to when I wake up is my Father, my God. He's the first one. I know the commercial goes, the
first part of waking up is Folgers in your cup. That's not so. That's not so. That's a good commercial, but
that's not so. The first part is speaking with our Heavenly
Father. What an audience, what a person
to meet first thing in the morning. In the morning, he says, I will
direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. That is, look out. It means this, I will look out
with expectation. I will call upon you, you will
hear my voice, and I'm going to wait for the answer. I'm going
to wait for the answer. That's faith. That's faith. But he says here, in the morning,
the first thing, you're going to hear my voice, I will direct. Now this word direct means I
will order my prayer. You remember in the Old Testament,
the priest, the high priest, he would put the wood in order,
then he'd put the sacrifice on the altar, everything was in
order. And this is what he's saying here, I will order my
prayer. There's order to this. There's
recognition of His person. Our Lord did this. He gave much
thought before He spoke. And David here is saying, I'll
give much thought to what I'm about to say and to the one I'm
about to say it to. There's recognition of His person.
He called Him, My King and My God. There's recognition of His
need. Hear my prayer. I need God to
hear me. And there's recognition of His
ability to meet our need. He's able. There's also recognition of His
holiness, as we see in the next verse. For thou art not a god
that hath pleasure in wickedness. There's a recognition of God's
high and holy character. We are not praying to one who
finds pleasure in wickedness. I'm talking about the seriousness
of prayer. When we call on God and we use
the name of Jesus Christ, it needs to be glorifying to Him
and our good. Thou art not a God that hath
pleasure and wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee. The
righteous Lord loves righteousness. Our God is holy. He won't partake
of sin. It says in Psalm 66, 18, If I
regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. He
will not hear me. If I regard iniquity in my heart, It's evident that our Lord knew
no sin, for He said, I know you always hear me. And we can have confidence that
we are always heard in Christ who makes intercession for us. There are some who will not stand
before God accepted. They will not be looked upon
with God's favor. And that's the foolish, he says
here in verse 5, "...the foolish shall not stand in thy sight."
Who are the foolish? It's everyone who does not believe
and love the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know how foolish it is
not to do that? It's everyone who stands in a pulpit and lies
on God. Do you know how foolish it is to do that? And listen
here, "...the foolish shall not stand in thy sight. Thou hatest
all workers of iniquity." I think we need to calm it down
a little bit. I think I need to take the edge off of it. Hate is a strong word, isn't
it? But I'll give you a word that's stronger than that. Love. Love is stronger. Love can overcome
hate. That's the only thing that can
actually overcome hate. There's nothing that can overcome
hate except love. His love overcame ours, didn't
it? It's in Scripture that says love is stronger than death. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. He doesn't just hate iniquity. He hates the workers of it. The reason there's no fear of
God before anybody out here anymore is because false religion has
made it look like that God just loves everybody. He hates the
workers of iniquity. You don't want to be on that
side of God. This also shows that we must be made the righteousness
of God in Christ to be accepted. When I see this, it makes me
want to run to Christ, because I know what I am by nature, and
I know that I'm a sinful man. Peter said, Lord, depart from
me. I'm a sinful man. And I know I need Jesus Christ. I need His righteousness. I need
His blood. I need His cleansing. I need
Him. And I need His help. to enable me to overcome indwelling
sin. Because if not, it'll take me
over. And I have that help. Greater is He that is in you
than he that's in the world. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. You're not going to live under the power and reign of
sin. It's not going to happen. Because
He's not going to let it happen. He's not going to. He redeemed
you. If you're His, He redeems you from the power of Satan,
the curse of the law, and the power of sin. I don't need a Savior that can't
save me from the power of sin. I need a Savior that can save
me for time and eternity. That's the Savior I need because
I'm a mess. By nature, I know I am. Thou
hatest all workers of iniquity. This also shows that God does
not love everyone. Those who are workers of iniquity,
it says God hates them. And here's what He's going to
do with them. Thou shalt destroy them that
speak leasing, those that are liars. You know, over in Proverbs,
there's six things God hates, and it says seven, and one of
them is a lying tongue. Someone who lies, just flat out
lies. and the Lord will abhor the bloody
and deceitful man. All who lie on Christ, His person
and work will be destroyed. Carrying a Bible and using His
name won't save anyone. Many will say to me in that day,
Matthew 7.22, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name?
And in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done
many wonderful works. And He's going to say, depart
from me, I never knew you. But David has a holy resolve
here, even as our Lord did. But as for me, I don't know about
anyone else. And when it comes down to it,
now listen, when it comes right down to it, as for me, me and
Vic, we were talking about this the other day, I said, I can't
save you, you can't save me. I said, when it comes down to
it, it's our relationship to Christ alone. It's not a group
therapy session. It's Christ and me. And I said,
you remember in Pilgrim's Progress, when his wife and his children,
they didn't want to go with him, and he just turned around and
he held out by himself. He said, I've got to go. I'm
gone. I'm leaving this city of destruction. But as for me, I
will come unto thy house. I will be among thy people to
worship you in spirit and in truth." When the church gathers
together, He's saying here, I will be there. And I really like this being
applied to Christ because that means He's here. If we are His
people, two or three are gathered together here in His name, Christ
said, I'll be there. But after me, I will come unto
thy house, and here's how I will come, in the multitude of thy
mercies." I don't allow, I don't deserve to be here. Brethren,
this is a real privilege, what we have right here, right now.
There's not a person in this room who deserves to be here.
We have come here in the multitude of His mercies. You know all
the stuff that could have kept you away from here today? And
yet you're here. You're here by the mercy of God.
"...and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple." Worship
without a holy fear is not worship without awe. without standing in awe of the
one we've come to worship, without a holy fear of the one we stand
before. We stand before God's presence
right now. Just as much as those in heaven stand in His presence,
we are in His presence right now. Worship is to never be flippant. Worship is looking to Christ.
He said, I will worship toward thy holy temple. It's looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. But then He gives
a plea here for guidance. Lead me, Savior. We sing the song, Savior, like
a shepherd, lead me. I know this. This is the heart
of His children. This is the heart of His children.
Lord, lead me. Like a shepherd, lead me. We
need His guidance, for many are watching. Satan is always watching
for an opportunity. The accuser of the brethren is
always watching for an opportunity. Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness,
not mine, but Thine, because of my enemies. They're just waiting.
You and I have no idea of the enemies that are really waiting
for us to stumble. And it's over the Lord's mercies
we don't. Make thy way straight before
my face. And I like what he says here, make thy way, not my way.
I don't want to bring reproach on the name of Christ, do you?
I know you don't. By my conversation, by my words,
by my conduct, I don't want to bring reproach on the name of
Christ. Lord, lead me in thy righteousness and make thy way
straight before my face. Make it very clear to me. For there is no faithfulness
in their mouth, they are liars. Don't trust men, trust the Word
of God. There are many false prophets,
John said, many antichrists that have gone out, many that have
gone out into the world. There is no faithfulness in their
mouth, their inward part is very wickedness, they are wicked to
the core. To the core they are wicked.
And they don't see it. They don't see it. Their throat
is an open sepulcher. It's an open grave. It sucks
down everything it can, like a sweeper. They flatter with
their tongue. They stand in a pulpit and they
tell the people, God wants you to be so successful. He wants you to be so healthy.
He wants you to... That's flattery. They dare not stand there and
say, there's none good, no, not one. You better flee to Christ. Christ died for sinners. You
need to flee to Christ. Because you're going to perish
and you're going to end up in hell if you don't. But there's no flattery in that. Notice here what he prays for.
He actually prays, and this is an intercession of our Lord as
well as David. He prays for the destruction of the wicked. "...Destroy
thou them, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels. Cast them out in the multitude
of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against Thee,
they have sinned against You, they deserve to go to hell." You know, our Lord said this
in John 17, I pray for them, I pray not for the world. But this is His prayer for them,
the rebels and God-haters and workers of iniquity. He said,
destroy them. Destroy them. You know, it's an act of mercy
as well as justice toward God's elect for Him to destroy the
wicked. It's an act of mercy. for God to separate the wicked
from His sheep, the just from the unjust, to put them in eternal
punishment, to put them away, is an act of mercy as well as
an act of justice. But, he says here, verse 11 and
12, but, let all, this is universal, this is the church universal,
Let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice. Let them
be happy. Let them ever, that is constantly,
shout for joy. Why? Because you defend them. God defended every one of us
today. We don't realize it. Most of it, I guess, if not all
of it, we didn't even really see. But God defended us today
and every day. Let them also that love thy name. This has to do with the relationship.
Be joyful in thee. Those that love you. You see,
there's a lot of people who can believe a doctrine, believe doctrine,
they can believe the doctrines of grace as a system and as doctrine
and wind up in hell. But there's no one in hell who
loves Jesus Christ. The Pharisees believed God chose
the people. They believed that the sacrifice and the atonement
was only for Israel. They believed in particular redemption.
And Christ said, You are of your father the devil, but you cannot
love Jesus Christ and perish. For thou, Lord, wilt bless...
Everything toward the righteous is positive. Thou wilt bless
the righteous. Those who are made righteous
in Jesus Christ, you'll bless them with favor. With favor wilt
thou compass Him as with a shield. With favor wilt thou surround
Him. With God's favor, you will surround
Him as with a shield. We have much to rejoice about.
Our sins are gone. We stand before God accepted.
We have a place prepared for us in glory. Rejoice. Rejoice. Let this be our morning
prayer. Let's wake up in the morning
and let's pray like this to our Father, our God.