Part 19: God Wants Us To Pray For His Protection Series

Great Prayers of the Old Testament

Part 19: God Wants Us to Pray for His Protection

Psalm 36:1-12

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared January 31, 2025)

MESSAGE:

*God is watching over us all the time. I can think of a dozen times when I would have been seriously hurt or killed, if the Lord hadn't protected me. About two weeks after I got my driver's license, I was on the Upper River Road in Macon, Georgia. It's a very hilly, curvy, dangerous, country road. My girlfriend's father had been killed in a wreck on that same road.

*Coming home one day, my back, right wheel went off the edge of the road. It was a drop-off of about six inches. This was in 1967, long before most young people took Driver's Ed, and I didn't know enough to slow down before I got back on the road. So, I wound up on the wrong side, and a lady was coming right at me, head on. She was so close, I could see her 5-year-old grandson standing on the front seat beside her. She was so close, I could see the terrified look on her face.

*Then, at the last possible second, I jerked the wheel, and I missed her. But I flipped over into the ditch, with the window open, and no seatbelt on. It could have been the worst of the worst. But by the grace of God, all I got was a scratch on my arm.

*And I was as lost as I could be at the time. But God was watching over me. Praise the LORD! And when we get to Heaven believers, we will see countless times God was watching over us, not because we prayed, but because God was always watching over us! And that's because He loves us, and He always has loved us!

*At the same time though, God wants us to pray for His protection. This is one of the main lessons for us here in God's Word. So let's explore what God's Holy Spirit inspired David to write in Psalm 36. The title of this Psalm is "Precious Is Your Steadfast Love." And the introduction is "To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the Servant of the LORD." Let's get started by reading Psalm 36:1-12.

1. GOD WANTS US TO PRAY FOR HIS PROTECTION SO FIRST, HE EXPOSES THE EVIL THAT WE FACE.

*In vs. 1 David wrote, "An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes." God used 15 different words in the Old Testament to describe our sins. And the original word for "transgression" has the idea of harsh defiance, revolt, open rebellion against God. It's the "Get out of my face!" attitude. "I'm gonna do what I want to do!" That's transgression. So vs. 1 could say, "The hard-hearted rebellious sin of the wicked tells my heart that there is no fear of God before their eyes."

*Here, King David was thinking about ungodly people. And he realized that the ultimate reason for their unbridled evil was this: THEY HAD NO FEAR OF GOD.

*But what is godly fear? Last year we had a Sunday School lesson on Genesis 22. There God had commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only promised son, Isaac. Abraham trusted the LORD enough to fully obey Him. Of course, the LORD stopped Abraham at the very last moment, and the LORD Himself provided a lamb. God's test for Abraham was a picture of what God Himself would do through the cross of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

*But in Genesis 22:12, God described Abraham's faithful obedience as "fearing God." And our lesson explained that godly fear is not the kind of fear that makes you want to run away. It's just the opposite. Abraham's godly fear was inspired by his reverent love for the LORD, and made him willing to submit to and obey the LORD. (1)

*John Gill explained that godly fear has "a childlike reverence with fervent love, strong affection, and genuine heartfelt worship with awe of the divine Being, submission to His will, faith in Him, love for Him, and obedience to Him. (2)

*Here are several Scriptures that help us understand godly fear:

-Psalm 40:3-4 says, "He has put a new song in my mouth -- Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD. Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies."

-Psalm 130:1-4 says, "A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD; Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared."