May 18, 2003
Psalms for Psummer Psunday Nights
Title: Psalm 5: The Best Remedy
Text: Psalm 5:1-12
Introduction
Psalms is a powerful book of the Bible containing spiritual songs.
The word "psalms", taken from the Greek word "psalmoi" means "songs" or "sacred songs"
The Hebrew word is "tehillim" which means, "praises" or "songs of praise"
When these songs and poems were written, they were likely sung...
perhaps as part of a worship service...
or even just as a part of personal worship and devotion
Psalms is a special book...
we often turn to the Psalms when we are hurting or discouraged...
and we find that as we read the Psalms, our hearts turn to praising God...
our spirit is rejuvenated
and our soul begins to rejoice...
even in the midst of sorrow.
I would like for us to begin a study of the book of Psalms during these Psummer Psunday Nights!
Tonight I would like to start with Psalm 5.
Read Text: Psalm 5:1-12
Body
1. Background Info
One of the interesting things about many of the Psalms is the poetical order to the Psalm
This Psalm is divided into 5 stanzas.
the 1st 2 stanzas are 3 verses each,
the remaining stanzas are 2 verses each. (3,3,2,2,2)
There is not only a poetical structure...
but there is a certain structure of the actual subject matter.
The first stanza is an introduction,
then the next stanza is used to lament what evil and sinful people do.
The 3rd stanza is a rebuttal to those who do evil.
And that pattern repeats itself again...
4 stanza: lament of sin
5 stanza: a rebuttal of those who do evil.
This Psalm begins and ends on a positive note.
Psalm 5 has been called a Morning Psalm because of Psalm 5:3
David was a warrior....
He fought many battles in his life time...
as a boy, his battles were against bears and lions (1 sam 17:34)
As a man, his battles were against the enemies of his people.
And as a warrior, David had many enemies...
enemies in the foreign armies obviously...
but he also, because of his success, made enemies amongst his own people...
most notably, Saul.
And, David even made enemies within his own family.
In this Psalm, David has obviously come to the end of his rope with the verbal attacks of his enemies.
Specifically, people have been spreading malicious lies about him. (ps 5:6, 9)
You know the old children’s saying, "sticks and stone will break my bones but words will never hurt me".
Obviously that saying is not true...
just the fact that children would use this to respond to those who say hurtful things...
just shows that words CAN hurt.
And it’s not just the kids...
Let me just do an informal survey...
how many of you have been hurt by someone who either
lied about you?
or said mean things about you.?
Then perhaps you can identify with David in the words of this Psalm.
As we study this Psalm, we will not only identify with David’s feelings when people verbally attack us...
but we will also see some great ways to respond to those people
2. First Stanza
First of all, I want you to notice where David turned when these attacks came.
He didn’t run around to everyone in the Temple and say...
"Do you know what that Susie said about me...
she called me a scared-y-cat...
me David, why, I’d like to show her a thing or two about being a "scared-y-cat"
No, instead, he turned to God. Notice in his prayer...he seems to go out of his way to make sure that he goes to God...
Give ear to my words Psalms 5:1 (NIV)
consider my sighing Psalms 5:1 (NIV)
Listen to my cry for help Psalms 5:2 (NIV)
to you I pray Psalms 5:2 (NIV)
you hear my voice Psalms 5:3 (NIV)
I lay my requests before you Psalms 5:3 (NIV)
I count no less than 7 specific comments in these first 3 verses where David is soliciting God
Notice what David did...
He turned to God...and he spent time in prayer.
(goes right along with our theme for this month)
When David was being verbally attacked...
His answer was to go to the Lord in prayer...
When people were being arrogant...and pulling attitude with him...
His answer was to go to the Lord in prayer
When people were lying about him...
His answer was to go to the Lord in prayer.
Many times, when we are attacked, we are inclined to strike back...
or we are inclined to spread our own verbal assault about them to someone else.
But David answer is the correct one...
we need to go to the Lord in prayer.
Notice also that David spent time in prayer IN THE MORNING...
There is just something special about starting our day with the Lord...
David obviously thought so, not only in Psalm 5:3 but we find that mornings were special times for him in other places in the psalms.
But I cry to you for help, O LORD;
in the morning my prayer comes before you. Psalms 88:13 (NIV)
I rise before dawn and cry for help Psalms 119:147 (NIV)
Another important component in prayer that we see in this opening stanza is WAITING
David says, I "wait in expectation" Psalms 5:3 (NIV)
So many times, we just jump into our prayer
"Dear God...
thank you for this day...
help me to have a good day...
please keep me and my family safe...
please don’t let me do anything stupid today...
amen" (me, me, me me me)
And then we run off and rush around going on with our day...
But David says, "I wait ...in expectation"
And again in Psalm 130:6, he says, "My soul waits for the Lord"
We need to take time to wait...
It is in the waiting that we will actually hear God’s voice...
I don’t mean that God will actually speak audibly to you...
but you will just know when God is speaking...
you will sense His presence...
and you will understand exactly what He wants you to do.
3. The 2nd Stanza
In the 2nd stanza, David turns his attention to the sinful people...
I want you to notice the progression in this stanza...
it starts off, God just doesn’t take pleasure in evil...
then it says that they just can’t "dwell" with Him..
then it says that they can’t "stand" before Him...
Then it says that God HATES all those who do wrong...
then God DESTROYS
and finally God ABHORS
Pretty strong language!
I certainly wouldn’t want to be in that group of people...
notice who they are:
the arrogant
deceitful
they tell lies...
do wrong
and they are bloodthirsty!
4. The 3rd stanza (on the otherhand part 1)
In the 3rd Stanza, we see David turn his attention away from his enemies and focuses on what HE will do.
But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple. Psalms 5:7 (NIV)
Looks like the picture of WORSHIP to me!
When David is attacked
and his enemies are slinging mud...
and trampling his good name around...
David goes to Church!!
David worships the Lord!!
Hebrews 4:16 syas, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Also in this 3rd Stanza, I pick up on the thought that David recognizes that he must be very, very careful...
He wants to make certain that he will not become like his enemies...
He pleads to the Lord, "Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness" Psalms 5:8 (NIV)
He says, "make straight your way before me" Psalms 5:8 (NIV)
In other words, like that old hymn
"Guide me O ’Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou are mighty:
hold me with Thy powerful hand."
It’s easy to point our fingers at our enemies...
but we need to be very careful that we aren’t guilty of the very same things!
Paul knew the danger, and he strongly warned the Romans...
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things Romans 2:1 (NIV)
So we throw ourselves upon God’s mercy and grace...
we spend our time in worship and prayer...
we guard ourselves against the sin that so easily besets us. (Heb 12:1)
5. The 4th Stanza
In the 4th stanza, David again turns his attention to those liars and workers of evil
Notice how he uses all the parts of the body related to speaking...
mouth, throat, and tongue
are used to destroy their heart.
When we lie and are deceitful,
we are not only hurting someone else...
but it also hurts us to a far greater degree.
In fact, David even uses the imagery of an "open grave"
Almost as if it is prophetically speaking of the destiny of those speak like we’ve been describing.
In verse 10, we see the picture of the courtroom...
God is the Righteous Judge...
and He declares the evil GUILTY
and He sentences them to be banished.
We can very easily pick up the image of the final Judgment...
like we talked about last Sunday Night.
Hosea 9:7 says, "The days of punishment are coming,
the days of reckoning are at hand" Hosea 9:7 (NIV)
Let me just say again (after repeating it numerous times last week)
it behooves us to make sure that we are ready!
6. The 5th Stanza (On the otherhand, part 2)
And again, David turns his attention away from the evil doer, and looks at the fate of the righteous.
By contrast to the 4th stanza, In this stanza, I see the imagery of heaven...
The righteous will:
be glad Psalms 5:11 (NIV)
sing for joy Psalms 5:11 (NIV)
rejoice in you Psalms 5:11 (NIV)
And God will:
Spread your protection over them Psalms 5:11 (NIV)
bless the righteous Psalms 5:12 (NIV)
surround them with your favor Psalms 5:12 (NIV)
Conclusion
So, the Best Remedy
when lies are spread...
when we are treated with arrogance...
when people deceive us...
Is to:
Call upon the Name of the Lord
Pray
Ask for Guidance and direction
Turn to the Lord--first thing in the Morning
Go to Church
Worship the Lord!
