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Moving Your Heart from Groans to Gladness (Psalm 5)
9 Plays21 days ago
Can a toxic person remove your inner peace and joy? David began Psalm 5 with a groan. Why? Many bible scholars feel that he was grieving over the rebellion of his son, Absalom. He wasn’t a two-year old throwing a temper tantrum, this young man had arranged a dangerous military coup to overthrow King David. The king had to flee from the capital city of Jerusalem, seeking shelter and refuge out in the wilderness. Thankfully, David’s life was spared.
Although we can learn many more details about his rogue son and his escapades from 2 Samuel 13-18, the focus of our study is on the content of David’s writings in the fifth psalm. He was experiencing deep sorrow when he started writing, but by the time he ends this psalm, he is rejoicing and even singing. How could he do this when nothing had changed externally?
He personally met with the Lord and spent time with Him in the morning, and this encounter changed his internal disposition. He writes in the third verse, “O Lord, in the morning You hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for You and watch.” He would eventually express these words in verse eleven, “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.”
During this New Year, you may enjoy life most of the days in 2025, but it sure will help you be prepared for any possible “cold pricklies” if you will regularly meet with the Lord each morning. When you meet with God, what should you do? What should you say to Him if life is tough rather than easy? Listen to David as he pours out his broken heart to the Lord.
Talk to Him about the Injuries of Life, 5:1-3
Trust Him through the Injustices in Life, 5:4-6, 10
Thank Him despite Inconsistencies in Life, 5:7
Track Him through the Insults of Life, 5:8-9
Tune into Him during the Insecurities of Life, 5:11-12
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Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Church Invitation
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, FBCColumbusTX.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
Theme of Psalm 5 and New Year's Challenges
00:00:43
Speaker
Happy New Year from Growing in Grace. I'm glad you were with me today. We're going to look at Psalm 5, the fifth psalm. This is what many call a morning psalm. And there are evening psalms as well. But ah Psalm 3 is a morning psalm. And ah Psalm 4 is an evening psalm. And Psalm 5 is also a morning psalm. And I'm going to talk a little bit of why we're going to look at that. It all has to do with the new year.
David's Sorrow and Rejoicing
00:01:12
Speaker
You know, can a toxic person remove your inner peace or joy? Well, David began Psalm 5 with a groan. Why? Well, many Bible scholars feel that he was grieving over the rebellion of his son Absalom. He wasn't a two-year-old now throwing a temper tantrum. Don't get that in your mind. This young man had arranged a dangerous military coup to overthrow King David.
00:01:42
Speaker
The king actually had to flee from the capital city of Jerusalem seeking shelter and refuge out in the wilderness. But thankfully, ah the Lord spared David. He was fine. And if you want to learn more details about this rogue son of his named Absalom, then his escapades can be read in fuller detail in 2 Samuel 13 through 18.
Morning Prayer and Internal Change
00:02:08
Speaker
But our focus today is on the content of David's writing in the fifth psalm. He was experiencing deep sorrow when he started writing, but here's the deal.
00:02:21
Speaker
By the time he ends the psalm, he's rejoicing and even singing. Now, how could he do this when nothing had changed externally? You see, he personally met with the Lord and spent time with him in the morning, and this encounter changed his internal disposition.
00:02:45
Speaker
He writes in the third verse of this psalm we're about to read, O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice. In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. He would eventually express these words in verse 11, but let all who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them ever sing for joy.
00:03:08
Speaker
and spread your protection over them that those who love your name may exalt in you.
Preparing for Challenges with God
00:03:16
Speaker
During this new year, you may enjoy life most of the days in 2025. At least that's my prayer for you. But it sure will help you be prepared for any possible, may we call them cold pricklies?
00:03:34
Speaker
that you may or may not encounter ah during your ah your year if you will regularly meet with the Lord each morning. You see, when you meet with God, you may be thinking, okay, let's say I decide to do that. What should I do? Well, when you meet with God, what should you do? What should you say to him if life goes sideways? If life is tough rather than easy?
00:04:03
Speaker
I want you to listen as I just read through Psalm 5, let the word of God just speak to your heart. Listen to David as he pours out his broken heart, in this case, on this day, ah to the Lord. And I want to encourage you to develop the habit of meeting with God each morning. I believe your day is going to go a whole lot smoother, but even if it doesn't go smooth, just like David's day was not going smooth, but Because he spent time with God, it totally changed things on the inside. Outside? True. Everything's still the same. Absalom is being a towhead. He's he definitely ah going rogue on him. But the thing is, because David hung out with God,
00:04:54
Speaker
He had a whole new perspective. And I believe in 2025, you will as well.
Dealing with Personal Pain and Injustice
00:05:00
Speaker
let's Let's listen to what David says as we go through Psalm 5. 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.
00:05:19
Speaker
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.
00:06:18
Speaker
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've 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.
00:06:52
Speaker
What great words, especially if you're facing something in your life that is very difficult, very hard. And so I want you to listen closely to what David says because I believe God is going to help you be prepared. But the way you'll be prepared for whatever you face in life, good, bad, ugly,
00:07:12
Speaker
is if you will spend your mornings with God, spend a little bit of time. I'm not saying how long it has to be. It may only be 10 minutes or 15 minutes. It may be 30. Maybe you have an hour, but take the time to get into God's word, to pour out your heart to him and see what happens. So let's go back and go over these steps that David leaves for us here in this Psalm 5.
00:07:39
Speaker
The first thing I noticed is in verses 1 through 3. Think about how he's going through a lot of pain as he watches his own son, whom he loved very, very much, turn against him. Imagine the pain. So the first thing is, when you experience pain in life from whomever, whatever, then talk to him about the injuries of life.
00:08:04
Speaker
Talk to the Lord because he hears your prayers. Did you notice in verses one and two and three how clear it is that David had this conviction, if I talk to God, he's listening.
00:08:19
Speaker
He says, give ear to my words, O Lord. He says, give attention to the sound of my cry. He says, O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice. Will the Lord hear your voice each morning that you go through 2025?
00:08:35
Speaker
Talk to the Lord not only because He hears your prayers, but also because He can heal your pain. You know, the word there ah that is used in verse 2 for groaning, it actually suggests intense sorrow. And I can't think of anything that would be ah more sorrowful than if your own child turns against you. That hurts. I mean, they can bless your heart, but they can also break your heart.
00:09:03
Speaker
And so talk to the Lord and allow him to heal that pain that you're feeling. Talk to the Lord because he hears your prayers, but also talk to the Lord because verse two would also tell us, verses one and three, that, hey, he can actually help with our problems.
Focusing on God Over Conflicts
00:09:22
Speaker
You know, the king acknowledged God's sovereign power in verse one and verse three by using that name for God, Lord. It means the one in control.
00:09:33
Speaker
But something shifts in verse two. From honor for the Lord, he moves to asking help from the Lord. Have you ever considered doing that? See, here's what David says. He's not just saying, you're the Lord. He says, you are my king and you are my God.
00:09:57
Speaker
For to you do I pray. Do you see the personal plea? I like what one Bible scholar named Matthew Henry says of this verse. He says that kings on their thrones must be beggars at God's throne. In other words, David is probably saying to God in his prayer, Lord, I know that I'm the king of Israel. I know that I sit on the throne, but right now I bow my knees and I acknowledge that you are this king's king.
00:10:27
Speaker
You're the one that I'm accountable to. There's an old song that we used to sing a long time ago called, What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Some more contemporary versions of that song have also been produced in recent times. But I love the way it starts out. It says, oh, what peace. We often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. Why? All because we do not carry.
00:10:56
Speaker
everything to God in prayer. Listen, just talk to Him. Talk to Him whenever you get hurt, whenever you have injuries in life. But also, sometimes when we're going through life, things aren't fair. Have you learned that things aren't always fair? This life is not always fair. The truth is bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. You wouldn't think so, but that's the way it works. So what's going to be your faith posture whenever you experience some kind of injustice in your life? I want to encourage you to trust him. I think that's what David is talking about in verses 4 and 5 and 6 and 10.
00:11:41
Speaker
He's saying to God in verse 4, for you're not a God who delights in wickedness. Evil may not dwell with you. And so the first thing I want you to trust God on, no matter what happens as you go through this year, is trust Him regarding the origin of evil. Don't blame God for something that, well, a rebellious son is doing, let's say, in David's case.
00:12:07
Speaker
But secondly, you can trust him regarding the outlook on evil. You know, verses five and six describes that outlook. He says, the boastful shall not stand before your eyes. You hate all evildoers. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. I know that that may be sort of out of sync with where we are in our culture, in a politically correct environment. But let me just assure you of something about God.
00:12:37
Speaker
This is God's hatred of evil. It isn't emotional. It's judicial. It's an expression of God's holiness. And that's why he says, I don't like it. I see what evil does to mankind. So I just wanted to encourage it to just trust him.
00:12:58
Speaker
regarding his outlook on evil and also regarding the origin of evil. But I want to
Trusting God in Trials
00:13:04
Speaker
encourage you a thirdly third thing is to trust him on the outcome of evil. Verses 6 and 10, you know, I believe that's what he's getting at. You know, the wealthy wicked will not get away with their sin. They will not.
00:13:20
Speaker
He says, you destroy those who speak lies. 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. See, these are called imprecatory Psalms. And imprecatory Psalms, while not popular today, they are plentiful and they are inspired.
00:13:46
Speaker
What they are, they are pleased from the heart of those who have suffered injustices to the only one in the whole entire universe who can rightly balance the scales and administer justice.
00:14:03
Speaker
So I just want to encourage you to say, Lord, when things are not right, I feel there's injustice. It's unjust what I'm going through. He understands. He's watching. So why don't you say, Lord, I'm going to trust you that I can deliver this over to you. And that's what David is doing.
00:14:22
Speaker
You know, if you don't pray about it, if you don't cast it down and let him take care of it, you know what you're going to do? You're going to let it fester inside your heart. It's much better to roll your burdens over on him, to say, Lord, I'm not going to take vengeance. I'm not going to have revenge. I'm going to leave that up to you. But why don't we move on to verse seven, because it's definitely got a good word for us. Thank him.
00:14:49
Speaker
Thank him despite the inconsistencies in life. Now put yourself in the king's shoes. The response of his son was erratic and inconsistent. He was raised by a godly father with his needs amply provided for. And so it's illogical to try and figure out how in the world can I fix this boy's flaws?
00:15:14
Speaker
Well, here's the thing, verse seven is telling us, 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. I believe that there's a choice that you and I will make when we are not being treated justly. Here's the choice, the choice of focusing on the Father, not the fight.
00:15:41
Speaker
He says, but I, so he's contrasting him. He said, you know what? I can't totally control Absalom's actions and reactions and all of that kind of thing. So what I'm deciding right now is I'm going to fill my heart and occupy my mind.
00:15:58
Speaker
with focus on the Father. I'm not going to focus focused on the fight. I'm going to focus on the Father. You know Nehemiah 6 verses 1 through 16 is a great example of at least one man in the scriptures who said, I'm focused on the Father. I'm not going to focus on the fight. And there was a group of men trying to get him out. They were trying to call him out, hey, come on out here and meet with us and fight with us.
00:16:23
Speaker
He didn't want to do it. He said, you know what, I'm doing a great job that God has given me to do. I have an important task and I don't want to be distracted from it. The other thing is the consistency of the faithfulness of the Father, not the foe. Yeah, if you want to focus on Absalom, if you want to think about them, your heart is going to be so agitated and upset.
00:16:45
Speaker
But he says, you know what I'm going to do? He said, I'm going to go into the Lord's house. And he said, I am just going to sit there and be amazed at the abundance of God's strange steadfast love. You know, I wonder if he went in there and he said, Lord, you were faithful when I faced Goliath.
00:17:04
Speaker
Lord, you sure were faithful when I faced old King Saul. He was after me and I was hiding out in the caves. Lord, you were faithful when we faced the Philistines and when we faced the Moabites. So why should I meditate upon Absalom's misplaced hate when I've tasted your steadfast love? You know, God's acceptance of you in Christ, that can displace anyone's rejection of you in life.
00:17:34
Speaker
Think about that. Think about his faithfulness. Focus on him. Yeah, I believe another thing that was happening that David talks about, he says, I'll bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Yeah, I think we need to also be controlled by a healthy fear of the Father. Notice I said a healthy fear, a healthy fear of the Father, not the fray.
00:17:59
Speaker
You know, David didn't fear a battle with Goliath because Goliath, oh, he was big all right, but his spirit was fueled by the size of his God, not by the size of a giant. Daniel chapters three and five, both of those two chapters record servants of the Lord who are not controlled by anxiety over furnaces, over lions, they were controlled by their very present help in the Lord God. Well, let's move to verses 8 and 9.
Seeking Guidance and Discernment
00:18:36
Speaker
There's something else here that we need to know. You know, on his way out of Jerusalem, David had to get out of there, because if he'd have stayed in Jerusalem, it's very likely that the coup, he would have been killed.
00:18:48
Speaker
But on his way out of Jerusalem, he's trying to get out as soon as he can. He hears insults from this guy named Shemai. He is an old loyalist to Saul, David's predecessor. So he liked the previous king more than this king. And so 2 Samuel 16 verses five through 14 will tell you about it, but I'll just kind of summarize it with this.
00:19:13
Speaker
Here's this guy. He's calling down curses on David as he's trying to get out of the out of Jerusalem and into the wilderness to go hide. And he's he's being accosted by this guy standing over there on the bank. And he's looking at him and he's just saying, you know, hey, get out of here. you know You're no good. You're worthless. And so he starts throwing ah dust in the air. And then that wasn't enough. So he picks up some rocks.
00:19:39
Speaker
And he says, get on out of here. David, we don't want you to be king anyway. And so Shemai's throwing all these rocks. So one of David's ah bodyguards leans over to him and whispers and says, king, shall I go over and remove his head? And David says, no, no, don't do that. He said, if that's what he needs to do, let him do it. He said, I'm just going to stay focused on the father, just like we saw, right? But here's the thing we need to do.
00:20:09
Speaker
When people like Shammai are insulting us in life, saying things that aren't even true, maybe just complaints or whatever, being critical, we need to track where God is. We need to say, Lord, I want to stay tuned in to You and what You're saying. You know, look at verses 8 and 9. Here's what David is saying in his quiet time that morning, I encourage you, start every day this way.
00:20:35
Speaker
Say to the Lord, lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness. Because of my enemies, make your way straight before me. See, we're all going to face temptation in our days. So here's the thing we need to say to God, Lord, I want to track with you for for the direction toward what is right. And that's what he was asking God. I want to go in the right direction, Lord. So would you give me guidance? Would you lead me and take me by the hand and direct me?
00:21:04
Speaker
But you're not only gonna have to ask so God ah to give you direction, there's something else you're gonna need. You know what that is? Discernment. Discernment. We also need to track the Lord through discernment of what is wrong. Listen to verse nine. For there's no truth in their mouth. Their inmost self is destruction. Their throat is an open grave.
Identity and Joy in God
00:21:30
Speaker
They flatter with their tongue.
00:21:33
Speaker
You know, I'm told among teenagers today, there's such drama and trauma that is going on in our students because many are hearing these very negative things on social media. And oftentimes, those things aren't even true.
00:21:50
Speaker
Somebody's making up something or somebody's sending a picture of somebody that's been doctored and it's not even a picture of that person and it's not always a very flattering picture. And so it's just so um terrible that we face those kind of things in real life. But here's the kicker. We do.
00:22:10
Speaker
And so what's the best way for you to be prepared if that ever comes knocking at your kid's door? If that ever comes knocking at your door, what are you going to do if Shammai is saying something critical toward you?
00:22:26
Speaker
I encourage you to just say, you know what? I'm i'm busy tracking the Lord. I need His direction and I need His discernment. And right now His discernment is telling me, I don't even need to listen to more of what you're saying. And so just track God through that daily morning time.
00:22:46
Speaker
His word will give you discernment. His word will give you wisdom for making decisions and discernment for being able to tell the difference between what is true and what's false. And so anyway, let's move to that final thing, verses 11 and 12. I think another thing to include in your quiet times as you meet with Him each morning is to tune into Him during the insecurities of life.
00:23:13
Speaker
Would you say you're an insecure person? Or would you say, no, really, I'm secure. I think I have a pretty good positive self image. Or I think I feel good about my life and that sort of thing. If so, that's great. That probably came from God right there.
Daily Morning Time with God
00:23:30
Speaker
But let's say that something rocks your world. You know, I've heard a lot of men say that when they lose their job, they kind of go in a tailspin because their job had inadvertently it had become their identity. So now that their job is no longer there, they don't even know who they are anymore. That's what I went through. When I went to Japan to be a missionary, I spent two years not pastoring, not being an evangelist, not being a missionary and learning, I mean, talking to people about Jesus. I didn't even know how to use the words to tell people about Jesus. But you know what? I was just a student.
00:24:10
Speaker
learning learning the language and I couldn't learn it well. It was so challenging for me. And so I began to deal with insecurity and I never dealt with that before.
00:24:20
Speaker
But you see, it's all because I wasn't a pastor anymore. I wasn't a knower. I was a learner. And so I had to readjust my whole way of looking at it. So if you deal with insecurity, hang out in verses 11 and 12. Let me read them one more time. Here's what it says. It says,
00:24:41
Speaker
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 exalt in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord, you cover him with favor as with a shield." Let me just tell you four summary points from those two verses. Tune into God, just like you tune in a radio state, tune into God.
00:25:10
Speaker
for your identity. He says, let all those who take refuge, where? In you. Just say, my address is in God. Man, that is definitely, if you're new in town, we're so glad you're here. But you know what? If you're feeling insecure all because of your location and your new location is causing you to struggle with your identity because you feel like, well, I'm a nobody,
00:25:36
Speaker
You need to find your identity in Christ. But here's the other thing, tune in to Him not only for your identity, but also for your levity, for some fun. He says, rejoice, let them ever sing for joy that those who love your name may exalt in you.
00:25:54
Speaker
You know, that's one of the things I love about our worship service, puts my eyes back on the Lord. Man, I start getting the pump of joy going once again. It can happen for you as well. Tune into Him for your levity and your identity, but also for your security. You know, He says, spread your protection over them. I believe you could pray for protection every day.
00:26:18
Speaker
He says, cover him with favor as with a shield. There were two kind of shields back then. One was just a little bitty round shield. If you could see the arrow coming at your heart, your stomach, your head, your face, then you could put that little round shield there. But if there's a bunch of arrows coming, then what you going to do?
00:26:37
Speaker
Well, they had another kind of shield. Not a small round shield, but a large rectangular shield that they could get behind completely so that someone's not even going to be able to hit them with an arrow.
00:26:52
Speaker
tune into him for your security, your levity, your identity, but also, how about this one, for your superiority. I don't mean that you're better than someone else, but I mean, you're experiencing the best. You know who's got your best in mind in 2025? God. He says, for you bless the righteous, O Lord, you love him.
00:27:17
Speaker
with favor. Wow, I love that. You cover him, I mean, with favor as with a shield. God wants to cover you with his best. Why don't you just hang out with God every morning?
Conclusion and Prayer
00:27:30
Speaker
Remember what David said? David said, well, you know what? In the morning, the one thing you could count on God is you're going to hear my voice. Every morning, I'm going to prepare a sacrifice for you, and I'm going to watch to see what you do. That's a great way to spend this year. It'll prepare you for whatever comes into your life. Well, why don't we pray together? Thank you for joining me today. Let's pray. Lord, thank you.
00:27:56
Speaker
Thank you for recording experiences like this that happened to someone as godly, someone that was following you like David. And if even he can experience hard times and rebellious son or something like that, then we may be able to go back to that passage whenever we're experiencing that with our family. So Lord, if someone's having a difficult time, maybe in their community,
00:28:23
Speaker
maybe at work, maybe at school, wherever it is in their family, wherever, Lord, would you just help them meet with you each day? And I know that you'll take care of that. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
00:28:37
Speaker
Listen, thank you, friend, for listening in again today. Pray that God will bless you. And I pray that tomorrow morning, you'll say, God, you're going to hear my voice. You're going to hear my voice this morning. And I certainly want to hear your voice, God, ah tomorrow morning. So anyway, you enjoy your times with God. Take care.
00:29:09
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.