A Psalm for Battle
Psalms 5
July 22, 2018
Before we dive into this 5th Psalm tonight, I first want you to
TURN TO: Ephesians 6:10
You recognize the passage as that which speaks of
Spiritual warfare and the armor of God.
In verses 10-12 Paul reminds of something that should be continually in the minds of all believers and that is that we are in a constant battle.
Each and every day we fight a battle “against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
• This is real.
• There is an enemy that seeks “only to steal and to kill and to destroy.” (Jn. 10:10)
• There is an enemy who “prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” (1 Pet. 5:8)
• There is an enemy blinds “the minds of the unbelieving so that they may not see the light of the glory of the gospel of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4)
• There is an enemy who snares those who are opposed to the truth and holds them captive “to do his will.” (2 Tim. 2:26)
• There is an enemy who “deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9)
• There is an enemy who bombards with temptation to sin. (Mat. 4) (1 Cor. 7:5)
• There is an enemy who demands permission to sift believers. (Lk. 22:31)
• There is an enemy who seeks to hinder our ministry (1 Thess. 2:18)
It is a real battle.
We fight him in our daily lives
Both in our personal walk and in our ministry.
And because of this
• Paul called for believers to “be strong”
• And not just in themselves but to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might”
• And that we would “put on the full armor of God” in this battle.
And you are aware of the armor.
It is easily divided into two groups.
1) The Customary Armor (that which the soldier wore at all times)
• It is identified with the adverb “having”.
• It is armory you should have already put on.
• “having girded your loins with truth”
• “having put on the breastplate of righteousness”
• “having shod your feed with the preparation of the gospel of peace”
And then there is the
2) Combat Armor (that which you put on when you know there’s a fight)
• Identified as that which we should “take” up when the battle draws near.
• “taking up the shield of faith”
• “take the helmet of salvation”
• “and [take] the sword of the Spirit”
But the final aspect of the spiritual battle,
And the final concept of being “strong in the Lord” comes in verse 18.
“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit”
The admonition is to remember that in your battle
You have a great ally on whom you must depend.
We are talking about the battle technique of prayer.
I’m especially mindful of the fact that Paul says to pray “in the Spirit”
Now, as you well know, I’m not a mystical person.
• So when I read that we should pray “in the Spirit” I am not talking about some
sort of mystical experience whereby the Christian yields control of their
consciousness to utter incoherent babble that they might just hope they are
saying something accurate.
When we talk about praying “in the Spirit”
We are talking about praying according to
The mind and the will of the Holy Spirit.
We already know that His prayers are perfect.
Paul taught us:
Romans 8:26-27 “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Praying in the Spirit is to pray consistent with His nature and will.
It is synonymous with praying in Jesus’ name.
So, in our spiritual battle
• We must also understand the importance of prayer in that battle.
• And that our prayer in that battle cannot be according to our will, but rather according to the will of the Spirit of God.
And might I add one more thing,
Which is that the Spirit of God makes His will known
Through the revelation of Scripture.
Do you want to know the will of the Spirit of God?
Then look at the prayers He inspired.
I tell you that as you turn back to Psalms 5.
Psalms 5 is a tremendous example
Of David in an instance of spiritual battle.
And because the Holy Spirit inspired this Psalm
We then are afforded a tremendous example
Of what our prayer life looks like as we fight this same battle today.
Again, for this Psalm we do not know the specific circumstance.
• The fact that David is in a conflict with the wicked is obvious,
• But we do not know to which conflict he refers.
But we are absolutely fine with our limited information there
For this allows us to easily and readily apply this prayer
To the spiritual battles we are facing.
Let’s walk through this 5th Psalm together.
4 divisions
#1 HIS STRATEGY
Psalms 5:1-3
In this battle which David faces we see that he has a very clear strategy.
PRAYER
“Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my groaning. Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray.”
• That is to say that I’m not going to pray to anyone else about this.
• I’m bringing it to You and to You alone.
David could be easily seen here as following the admonition of Paul
To cloth his battle in constant prayer.
But the verse I really like is verse 3.
“In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”
Now at first this verse gave me some difficulty.
Let me show you why.
First of all
We recognize that the words “my prayer” and “eagerly” are italicized
Which means they are not in the text, but rather added by the translators
As what they believe David to be referring to.
Take those out and you read: “You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order to You and watch.”
And perhaps now you see my dilemma
Since that sounds an awful lot like a verse
That the Word-Faith people might claim.
It comes across very bold as though David would have the audacity to sort of tell God what to do and then just stand there with his arms crossed until God did it.
I don’t mind telling you that this picture bothered me.
So I decided to dig a little more.
What I found were military terms that shed a whole new light on the verse.
“order” there is Hebrew word ARAK
And it means “to arrange or to put in order”
Many times when you see the word in Scripture
It is translated “Array” or “Arrayed”
Genesis 14:8 “And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arrayed for battle against them in the valley of Siddim,”
It speaks of troops arraying or getting in order for battle.
And then when David says that he will “watch”
That is also a military term.
Which means to “keep watch” or “spy”
So if you want to simplify David’s strategy it is clear.
• God, I’m going to get up in the morning and present myself before You.
• I’m going to array myself as in battle before You.
• I’m going to present my cry before You.
• And then I’m going to faithfully watch to see what You do.
And what we glean from that is that it’s not just prayer,
But rather is it is prayer and faith.
David’s prayer here is NOT some token, “Shouldn’t we pray before we go and do everything we’ve already planned?”
David’s prayer IS, “I’m going to pray and I’m not planning anything until I get Your answer.”
Or one could say,
“I’m not doing anything until You move.”
I am praying and then I am watching.
Thomas Brooks said, “He is either a fool or a madman, he is either very weak or very wicked, that prays and prays, but never looks after his prayers; that shoots many an arrow towards heaven, but never minds where his arrows light.”
(Spurgeon, C.H. [The Treasury of David; volume 1; Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA] pg. 51)
Charles Spurgeon said, “How can we expect the Lord to open the windows of his grace, and pour us out a blessing, if we will not open the windows of expectation and look up for promised favour? Let holy preparation link hands with patient expectation, and we shall have far larger answers to our prayers.”
(ibid; pg. 46)
• We are talking about praying with faith.
• We are talking about praying with the expectation that God will answer and God will move.
James said:
James 1:6 “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.”
Or listen to the warnings of Jesus regarding our prayer.
Luke 11:1-13 “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” And He said to them, ” When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. ‘Give us each day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'” Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
Luke 18:1-8 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
And that final question is so fitting.
Is there any faith?
Well the prayer of faith is David’s ultimate strategy.
• He isn’t running into battle with a sword trusting in his own might,
• He is running before God presenting his request
• And He is watching and waiting for God to move
That’s the strategy for spiritual warfare.
So there’s the strategy.
Let me show you the next very important concept.
#2 HIS CONFIDENCE
Psalms 5:4-7
Now we begin to learn WHY David could have such faith in his prayer
That God would answer him and go to battle for him.
It is because David knew God.
David knew the character of God.
And please understand this:
• Knowing God’s character not only taught David TO pray,
• But it was God’s character that taught David WHAT TO pray.
He knew what to pray because He knew God.
And because David knew God,
He was confident that God would respond favorably to his request.
Listen to:
1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
It is what Jesus taught us:
John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
It’s when we know God, and know His will,
Then we know how to pray and what to pray for.
And when we pray according to God’s nature and God’s will,
We pray with confidence.
And allow me to show you what David knew about God.
(4) “You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You.”
David knew that God had absolutely no enjoyment in wickedness
And absolutely no willingness to entertain it.
In David’s prayer here, he knew how to pray
Because he knew how God felt about the matter.
Didn’t we say that was one of the keys?
• Praying “in the Spirit” or according to the will of the Spirit?
I love the story about Abraham Lincoln being asked if he thought God was on his side in the Civil War conflict.
“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/abraham_lincoln_388944
This is the key in spiritual warfare as well.
Do you remember the stories of Joshua and the conquest?
• Remember as they prepared to face Jericho?
• And angel of the Lord appeared to Joshua.
• I love what he said.
Joshua 5:13-14 “Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?”
Joshua wanted to know if the angel was on his side.
The angel said, “I am on the Lord’s side”
Implying it would be wise for you to be on His side as well.
Then of course after the battle of Jericho Joshua’s army was soundly defeated by Ai.
Joshua wanted to know why.
God answered:
Joshua 7:6-13 “Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. 7 Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan! “O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies? “For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?” So the LORD said to Joshua, “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. “Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst. “Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, “There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst.”
They lost because they failed to be on God’s side.
Knowing who God is and what God desires is a great piece of information
In our spiritual battles and in our prayer life.
That’s also how David knew how to pray.
He knew who God was and so he knew what to pray for
And how God would answer.
He went on
(5) “The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.”
It is no secret that God sees those who would willingly engage in known sin are among the most arrogant of men,
And in fact David relates a seldom believed fact about God
“You hate all who do iniquity”
It reminds of me when R.C. Sproul was asked
About the popular saying “God hates the sin but loves the sinner”
Sproul responded by saying, “But God doesn’t send the sin to hell, He sends the sinner there.”
David here says that God hates those who do iniquity.
He goes on
(6) “You destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.”
David knows that all those who sin against God, who lie, and shed innocent blood are an abhorrence to God.
• God hates them.
• God destroys them.
This is who God is.
And so it’s not hard for David to align before God in his battle
And present his request.
David knows who God is.
It also helps that David knows how he should act, as he prays.
(7) “But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.”
It is the reminder that God is opposed to the proud
But gives grace to the humble.
So David knows that if he humbles himself before God
Then he will be on God’s side.
David knows that he is on God’s side
And his enemy most certainly is not.
What a great confidence for the Christian to have.
So you see David’s strategy and David’s confidence
#3 HIS BATTLE
Psalms 5:8-9
Here is the part of the Psalm that the most shocking to people.
HERE WE GET TO WHAT DAVID PRAYED
And yet I remind you again that this is a Holy Spirit inspired prayer.
It begins with David’s total dependence upon God.
“O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes; Make Your way straight before me.”
This is not just a prayer to be on God’s side,
But also an understanding that sin makes him vulnerable to the enemy.
David is dependent upon God to guide his steps and to mark his path.
Furthermore David is dependent upon God in the battle
Because he knows there is no ground to be gained in reasoning with the enemy.
(9) “There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue.”
That is David’s way of saying, that negotiations are useless.
• You can’t reason with them.
• And even if you strike a deal you can’t trust them to keep it.
• They are liars, they are deceivers
And you know that this is the enemy we fight.
We don’t war against flesh and blood
But against the devil is the father of lies.
And because reasoning with them does no good,
David takes the request to God.
AND HERE IT IS:
(The first time we see an actual request in this Psalm)
(10) “Hold them guilty, O God; By their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, For they are rebellious against You.”
Can you believe that prayer!?!
• Some would say, “That sounds unchristian!”
• I’ve heard plenty of scholars say that we cannot pray that way.
And yet, this is a prayer inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The same Spirit whose will we are to seek as we pray.
And I don’t mind sharing with you
• That at the time when I was studying this Psalm several months ago we had a church member here who had determined to obey God and as a result had left some sinful choices in the past.
• However, a person in their past was not willing to let go so easily.
And while the fact is certain that
The battle was not against that person, but was against the enemy,
The fact is also true that this person was a willing vessel
For the enemy to use.
I WAS STUMPED ABOUT HOW TO PRAY
Until I read this Psalm
I began to ask God to stop this person
Who would drag our beloved church member back into sin.
Now, don’t get me wrong.
• Without a doubt the way I would most want this person to be stopped would be for that person to repent and be saved. That would certainly be the top of the list.
However, if that person is unwilling to repent it’s not as though I’m willing to just throw up my hands and say, “Oh well, I guess they’ll just keep on attacking.”
In fact I was convicted to not just throw up my hands.
Let me ask you this, “When a wolf attacks a sheep are you ever concerned about the feelings of the wolf?”
So I began to pray for God to stop this person.
I asked for their repentance, but if they would not repent,
I asked for God to stop them in whatever way He saw fit.
Now before you bristle,
Let me read to you a Psalm I read 2 days later after beginning to pray this prayer.
Psalms 7:6-16 “Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment. Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You, And over them return on high. The LORD judges the peoples; Vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me. O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day. If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts. Behold, he travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made. His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate.”
And there this prayer is confirmed yet again.
I am convinced that this is a Holy Spirit inspired prayer
In regard to spiritual warfare.
• No, I don’t wish for the death of the wicked
• No, I do not feel at liberty to take matters into my own hands
And incidentally I’m not even talking about
Physical attacks of persecution.
I think Scripture is clear that we pray for our persecutors.
• What I’m talking about are people whom the enemy uses to deceive and tempt and lead our people into sin.
And I am most certainly compelled to pray against them
And that God would stop them.
FURTHERMORE
• I am confident, as David was, that God is against them.
• I am confident, as David was, that God does not align Himself with their wicked deeds.
And so as David prayed, I ask this:
“Hold them guilty, O God; In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, For they are rebellious against You.”
And for the sake of our church
For the sake of our children who daily live in a pagan influence
I think it calls for the church to go to battle in prayer as David did here.
His Strategy, His Confidence, His Battle
#4 HIS VICTORY
Psalms 5:11-12
And here the victory is spelled out by David.
He is very clear about what he desires form the Lord.
“Let all who take refuge in You be glad”
This is a conditional statement.
He is not asking for gladness for the world, but for those who are hiding in God.
It is that “all things work together for good them that love God”
“Let THEM sing for joy;
And may You shelter THEM,
That THOSE WHO LOVE YOUR NAME may exult in You.”
David is asking not only for God to stop the wicked,
But for God to satisfy and protect the righteous.
David is asking for total deliverance.
David is asking just as Jesus taught us:
“Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one”
And again we see David’s confidence to ask such a thing.
“For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield.”
Again, David can pray this because David knows God.
• David knows the heart of God.
• David knows the desires of God.
It’s not hard for David to know how to pray.
And I’m just convinced that it’s time for the church
To gain that boldness and confidence in her God.
• The battle rages
• The enemy attacks
• He seeks to devour and deceive and destroy and lead any and all of us into sin.
• AND WE DO NOT line up in battle formation against the wicked
• We do not attack them with the sword,
• We fight the battle on a different plain.
• “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”
• We line up in formation before our God
• We present our requests to Him
• We wait for Him to win the battle
• While we seek to walk in all that pleases Him.
And in that manner, you should know, we are promised the victory.
2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”
Romans 8:37 “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”
1 Corinthians 15:57 “but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 16:20 “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
1 John 5:4 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.”
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
