How Honestly Do You Pray? (AM Sermon Notes)
GIST: Pray persistently. Pray honestly. Pray remembering who you are and what He’s done for you. And, pray for others to be saved.
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 28
This morning we’re coming to Psalm 28. It appears to be a prayer of raw emotion. However, from what I’ve studied, it was also likely used as part of the liturgy recited before entering the temple. That would mean, this kind of praying was meant to prepare hearts for entering into God’s presence. That is exactly what we do every time we pray, so I feel there is something for us to glean here about our prayer life in general. Let’s read it, and then we’ll take it a section at a time together.
“1 Of David. To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. 3 Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts. 4 Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward. 5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more. 6 Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. 8 The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.”
I struggled a bit with getting a concise sounding gist for this morning that would still make enough sense that if you walked away afterward (or fell asleep ☺️), you’d still understand what the passage is expressing. Therefore, I tried to err on the side of clarity rather than brevity for this morning's gist ☺️: Pray persistently. Pray honestly. Pray remembering who you are and what He’s done for you. And, pray for others to be saved.
It’s a four-pointer today. None of those will be tremendously long ☺️, but we should still dive straight in! Let’s walk through each section by asking ourselves a series of questions. First→
I. ARE YOU PERSISTENT WITH YOUR PETITIONS? (1-2)
“1...To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.” He starts here with both the→
Right Attitude and Action. We’ve seen this before, but it’s still worth remembering. He refers to God as his LORD and rock. Calling Him LORD refers to God’s complete sovereignty—He’s the one in control. Calling Him his rock recognizes God as the foundation of his life—He’s the one that makes David stable! He’s all-powerful and necessary for David’s life. Yeah, I’d say that’s a good place for our prayers to start. AND, that’s exactly what He’s doing here. He’s crying out to this God! Then, he demonstrates that he→
Understands Dependence. When he says “I need to hear from you, lest I go to the pit”, he’s expressing this truth: if we’re not communing with God, if Jesus is not a real and active part of our lives, there is only one alternative, and that’s Hell. He’s conscious of this from the very beginning of the prayer. God is everything, and again, he personally needs Him to be his everything! Keep that in mind, because he’ll come back to it. Also, he prays this with→
Persistency. He’s bold. He asks God not to be silent but to listen to his pleas for mercy. The idea here is that he’s been crying out, and he’s been lifting his hands up to the Lord seeking His face. But, at least it appears, he hasn’t yet seen a response. Are we persistent like this, or do we give up when we don’t “get what we want when we want it”? See, it’s easier to be persistent when you remember who God is and how much you need Him. It’s a lot harder to fake dependency for any real length of time. So, do you pray persistently with this perspective?
Second question→
II. ARE YOU CONSCIOUS OF CONDEMNATION? (3-5)
“3 Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts. 4 Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward. 5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more.” This portion might be harder for us to process. Is he really praying for people to be judged? Can we do that? Should we do that? Let me try to answer that with a few observations. First, he→
Doesn’t Want To Be Counted With The Wicked. He’s honest in this section. Let’s not miss this. He doesn’t try to sound holy. He doesn’t try to fit his emotions into some kind of formulaic expressions. He’s real with his REAL savior. He wants to be with Him and doesn’t want to be treated like those who don’t love Him. Praying is pouring your heart out to God. You don’t have to sound right. You need to speak to the one who loves you. Pour out your heart, and if it needs changing, ask Him to do that! Secondly, he describes the “workers of evil” as having a→
Good Face, Bad Heart. This might not flow with the point I’m making this morning since we’re talking about how we should be praying, but I can’t just skim over the fact that we should be very careful that this isn’t a description of...us. These wicked ones put on a good face, but behind their masks was a selfish heart seeking its own gain. Man, we should take that as a warning. See, at the center of this request is a→
Call For Justice. That’s what this is all about: wanting to see God’s justice. It’s hard for us sometimes to talk about the justice of God. It’s easier to think about His grace. However, His grace is beautiful because He is just. He is not a God who winks at sin like it’s just not that big of a deal. It is a big deal. It’s self-destructive selfishness that destroys those He created to be loved! He takes this so seriously that He will not allow sin to go unpunished because that is not loving. It’s not compassionate to allow devastation to go unchecked and evil to flourish without result. So, He does punish sin with precisely the severity it deserves, and He chose to take that punishment on Himself, in our place, because He’s just and won’t turn a blind eye to sin. In essence then, David is asking God to be Himself, to remain just. And at the base of this call for justice is this imagery of→
Contrasting Hands. We see man’s works and God’s works pitted against each other. David doesn’t sugarcoat his prayers by the way, and neither should we. Yet, what he’s praying for here isn’t personal. These individuals are deliberately turning their backs on God, and he knows that results in punishment. We need to take the effects of sin seriously. The wages of sin is death, Hell, eternal condemnation. That’s why people need a Savior, not just adjustments to the comfort levels they experience in life. David understood his position. Which leads to the third question→
III. DOES YOUR RECOGNITION OF GOD’S GRACE LEAD TO REJOICING? (6-7)
“6 Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” Nearly every time David prays, we see his petitions turn to praise. Why? Because if we’re honest with God and come before Him in truth, not just some kind of mumbling, we meet with Him and are blown away by what we remember there! What hits him first is that he’s→
Heard! How did he get from verse 5 to verse 6? Is he rejoicing in the punishment of the wicked? I don’t think so. Remember, from the beginning, he’s been conscious of his own position before God. He’s one of the wicked! He deserves justice, but gets mercy and salvation! Though he deserves the pit, instead he is experiencing the shield and strength of God. He’s trusted and has been helped. How wonderful is it to know that God really does hear our prayers. This is no trite truth. So, of course, this results in→
Praise! “He’s my fortress, so I will praise Him!” How else could he react? You’ve heard this from me before. How else should we react? How much praise happens in your prayers?
Which leads to the final question→
IV. DO YOU LONG TO SEE SOULS SAVED? (8-9)
“8 The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.” Coming face-to-face with his need and this broken world, he remembers that God is the Strength For His People. They, the whole world, need Him just as badly as we do. He’s their strength and without Him, they have none. He’s their Saving Refuge. Oh, this one has been hitting me hard the past few weeks. He’s where we belong. Everyone needs to know that! In a world of isolation and despair, He’s hope and He’s home! David sees this and cries not just for the wicked to be punished, but for them to experience justice through Salvation as they are Carried By Their Shepherd! Do you long to see souls saved like this? If you do, you’ll be praying about it.
TAKEAWAYS
1. Be persistent.
2. Be honest.
3. Take your position seriously. Remember the gravity of sin and the need for justice. Rejoice as a recipient of His mercy.
4. Pray for salvations. Not just improved conditions.
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