SERMON TEXT
“To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A 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; 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. 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 exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.” (Psalm 5:0–12 ESV)
MAIN POINTS
Followers of Jesus must depend on the righteousness and favor of God for refuge in the face of evildoers.
Psalm 5 shows us in prayer-form how we can further depend on the righteousness of God and his favor in times of distress and unjust suffering. In five stanzas, David gives five ways that our cries are shaped by God's character and his mercy towards us:
- Cry Out and Watch (v.1-3)
- Cry Out to the God of Uncompromising Righteousness (v.4-6)
- Cry Out with Confident Requests (v.7-8)
- Cry Out with a Holy Hatred of Evil (v.9-10)
- Cry Out, Trusting in God’s Uncompromising Favor (v.11-12)
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APPLICATION
1. What does God's favor mean to you? (In other words, what does it mean to you that he is predisposed to be on your side purely because you belong to him and have taken refuge in him?)
2. What does God's righteousness mean to you? (In other words, what does it mean to you that God only does what is right and will not bend on that?)
3. Consider listening to this brief interview where John Piper makes sense of the partially-true statement— "God Loves the Sinner, but Hates the Sin."
4. What would it look like for you to be zealous for God's glory such that you hate what he hates in the way he hates those things? Who or what should you feel strongly about and act upon in a way that honors Christ?
SONGS TO SING