Pray Boldly
Psalms 70
May 3, 2020
Tonight we come to an interesting Psalm.
Namely because it is one of repetition.
You have seen it before.
I would invite you to begin by turning back to: PSALMS 40
Psalms 40 is a popular Psalm and one that speaks of salvation.
I don’t want to rehash it in detail tonight,
But I would remind you of the basic outline.
1. DAVID’S DELIVERANCE (1-3) – David was saved
2. DAVID’S DOXOLOGY (4-5) – David now praises God
3. DAVID’S DELIGHT (6-8) – David’s new desire
4. DAVID’S DECLARATION (9-10) – David’s public confession
5. DAVID’S DEPENDANCE (11-17) – His new perspective in life
• Dependent on God to PRESERVE him (11)
• Dependent on God to FORGIVE him (12)
• Dependent on God to DELIVER him (13-15)
• Dependent on God to SAVE him (16-17)
We are particularly interested in those final 5 verses in Psalms 40
Because they are nearly identical to Psalms 70.
It is clear to us that David has now returned
To his former belief and confession
And is reiterating that portion of his faith before God.
• Think of it as reciting a favorite stanza of a favorite hymn to God.
• Or think of it as reciting a favorite chorus of a favorite song to God.
Certainly you love the entire song, but at this very moment
It is this verse that speaks volumes to you and which greatly fits your life.
That is where David is.
He is drawing strength from God’s hymn book and a song from his past.
Now IT IS HELPFUL TO NOTE that there are a few differences
In the final 5 verses of Psalms 40 and with Psalms 70.
These differences help us feel the difference in David’s attitude.
In Psalms 40:13 we read, “Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me”
But here in verse 1 we read, “O God, hasten to deliver me”
There is a difference in urgency.
In Psalms 40:15 we read, “Let those be appalled because of their shame”
But here in verse 3 we read, “Let those be turned back because of their shame”
Clearly now David wants them stopped.
In Psalms 40:17 we read, “Let the Lord be mindful of me”
But here in verse 5 we read, “Hasten to me, O God!”
You can feel that Psalms 70 is written
With much more passion and desperation.
It may very well be that
Psalms 40 was sung as a theological declaration before the storm,
But Psalms 70 is sung from the middle of it.
The disciples entered the boat to cross over the sea of Galilee,
• And they may very well have prayed for a safe passage and said, “Lord save us” as we cross.
• But in the midst of the storm their cry “Lord save us!” would have taken on an entirely different feel.
SO IT IS HERE.
• You have here David now reaching back to his doctrine.
• You have here David singing again that old song, but this time the stakes are much higher.
I remember in 2005 when for the first time we had gone to Africa, and one night late after showing the Jesus film several of us where crammed in the back of a small pickup driving back to the campsite.
On the way we drove through a group of men, and as we passed they started chasing us (they may have meant no harm, but it didn’t keep us from being scared). The ground was rough and the truck was moving slow and so they were catching us.
I remember someone in the truck just started singing “Jesus loves me” real loud.
I had never sang that song quite like that before.
You get the idea of what is happening here.
• In Psalms 40 David sang in confidence about how God would care for him in a future situation.
• In Psalms 70 David is in that situation and returning to that same old song.
From a Scriptural standpoint consider our lives.
How often have we read:
Romans 8:35-39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
And we have often rejoiced in the promises
Which are laid out for us in those verses.
But would you read them differently if you were actually about to be put to death?
Your circumstances can change your attitude can’t they?
Well this is where David is.
And so tonight he returns to a previous song
And now sings it with much urgency.
When we read the Psalm there are
Some realities that seem to really jump out at us.
FIRST: We clearly see David’s URGENCY
(1) “O God, hasten to deliver me; O LORD, hasten to my help!”
(5) “But I am afflicted and needy; Hasten to me, O God!
(5) “O LORD, do not delay.”
David’s urgency is obvious.
Of all the songs he is singing, “In His Time” is NOT one of them.
David wants God to move and he wants God to move NOW!
If anything it brings to our mind the urgency of Martha and Mary.
John 11:1-3 “Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her “sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
We know their urgency because when Jesus didn’t fulfill their desire,
They let Him know about it.
Martha:
John 11:21 “Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Mary:
John 11:32 “Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
All the guests:
John 11:37 “But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”
Their request was one of urgency.
This is a time-sensitive prayer.
When the disciples woke Jesus up in the boat,
It was a time-sensitive request. “We are perishing!”
We see that urgency in David.
SECOND: We clearly see David’s DECISIVENESS
David issues 5 clear requests. They all begin with the word “Let”
(2) “Let those be ashamed and humiliated who seek my life”
(2) “Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt”
(3) “Let those be turned back because of their shame who say, “Aha, aha!”
(4) “Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You”
(4) “let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified.”
Those are straightforward decisive requests.
• There is no ambiguity there from David.
• There is no vacillating there from him.
We don’t get any sense of “Whatever You want to do here God”.
David is spelling it out.
Do this, this, this, and this.
THIRD: We see clearly David’s DESPERATION
(5) “You are my help and my deliverer”
That is to say, MY ONLY help and deliverer.
If You don’t do it, it won’t be done.
There is a desperation in his prayer.
And if we are honest, these are the types of prayers
That routinely emerge when trials arise.
My prayer life is much more laid back when I am in a comfortable place.
But when I am in a little pain.
• When I am in a struggle.
• When I am afraid of what is happening.
How quickly my prayer becomes
More urgent, more decisive, and more desperate.
We understand that.
But the question I sort of wrestled with this week
Was what this teaches us in regard to prayer.
Let me be honest.
David’s prayer comes across PRETTY BRASS and PRETTY BOLD.
We like to lift high (and rightly so) the prayer of Jesus in the garden
• Who in one breath is praying “Let this cup pass from Me”
• And in the next “Yet not My will but Yours be done.”
And we see that as a tremendous picture of submission and faith.
David’s prayer is NOT like that.
• Answer me God and answer me quickly!
• Stop my enemies and stop them now!
• Save those who seek you, especially those who are in trouble like I am!
• And then he even repeats the urgency, “Do not delay”
And the questions I began to ask where
How are we to apply that example to our own prayer life?
Well, on one hand we know that this prayer was NOT SOME ROGUE POEM that accidentally made it in to the book of Psalms.
• This is God’s inspired word.
• It was God who not only gave David the words,
• But who also put David in the circumstances that would cause him to pray it.
God preserved this bold and urgent prayer for us in His perfect word
That the saints might have access to it as an example for all the ages.
Certainly God willed for you to know it.
Obviously God is in agreement with it.
Obviously God is not upset with it.
I mean we could ask: “Can we be so bold in our prayer?”
• “Can we cry for such deliverance from our enemies?”
• “Can we expect such an outcome if we seek God?”
• “Can we make such a demand for urgent deliverance?”
We may be tempted to think David too bold here,
But this is not merely David’s song, this is God’s song.
With that in mind I began to consider other passages on prayer.
I can’t find a passage in the Bible
Where God rebuked His people for praying too boldly.
I can however find an instruction
WHERE GOD WARNED US NOT TO BE DOUBTFUL IN PRAYER.
James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 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. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
James even said that if you go to God in prayer doubting,
“that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord”
James certainly didn’t say not to be bold.
He commanded just the opposite.
Or I remember when the disciples saw the withered fig tree:
Mark 11:22-24 “And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”
I know we can get into the whole debate about treating God like a genie in a bottle
And demanding of Him to fulfill our desires.
OBVIOUSLY THAT IS A PERVERSION.
But consider David here.
• Is God not His help and deliverer? (He declares it so in verse 5)
• Is God not His avenger against his enemies?
• Is God not the Savior of those who seek Him?
So David certainly isn’t demanding God do anything
That is not consistent with God’s nature or promises.
He isn’t treating God like a genie in a bottle.
He’s just boldly asking God to be who God has said that He is.
Or we remember this story
Mark 9:20-24 “They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. “It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”
Jesus actually rebuked that man for not being bold enough.
And the man knew exactly what Jesus meant
For he immediately cried out “help my unbelief”
His soft-spoken request was not politeness or good manners,
It was pathetic unbelief and Jesus called him on it.
Even recently we studied in Luke 18 THE TAX COLLECTOR who had the audacity to enter the temple and pray to God saying:
Luke 18:13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’”
Could we ever conceive of a bolder prayer than that?
This vile and sinful man had the audacity
Not only to enter the courtyard but to ask God to propitiate his sin.
And yet Jesus didn’t rebuke his brashness,
Jesus announced that he was justified.
So while prayers like this may seem bold,
I don’t find that to be a restriction given to us regarding our prayer life.
Rather I see it as an encouraged example
That God’s people should be so bold before Him.
Recently in our Ephesians devotion
We listened as Paul spoke of one of the benefits that is ours in Christ.
Ephesians 3:12 “in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.”
The writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 4:16 “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Even Paul told Timothy:
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”
The point is, it may seem bizarre to be so bold with God in prayer,
But in Scripture, I don’t find that this offends God.
Rather, it is those vacillated or doubted in their requests;
It was the timid who earned the rebuke of God.
I was also curious, could we be so DECISIVE in prayer?
Could we just spell it out for God like David did?
Do this, this, this, and this.
But what if we consider the Lord’s Prayer (the model prayer)
Matthew 6:9-13 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]”
There we find a great balance.
Certainly we pray for God’s will to be done,
But that doesn’t negate decisive requests.
• He told us to say, “give us this day (urgency) our daily bread”
• He told us to say, “forgive us our debts”
• He told us to say, “do not lead us into temptation”
• He told us to say, “deliver us from the evil one”
That’s decisive isn’t it?
We certainly DON’T FIND Jesus teaching us to make no requests to God.
That prayer is simple and clear and to the point.
And this was how Jesus taught us to pray.
Or we consider DESPERATION in prayer.
Are we to pray so desperate?
Well, again I can’t find anyone who was ever rebuked for being too desperate in prayer?
I can however find a man who wasn’t nearly desperate enough.
Luke 18:11-12 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”
Jesus flat out taught us that that man was not justified.
There was no desperation in his prayer.
If God didn’t answer, no big deal, this man had it all under control anyway.
And I simply point all that out to you just to make the simple point that
Perhaps at times we may think we are being pious
• When we beat around the bush,
• Make no bold demands,
• Or defer everything to God’s will.
I think sometimes WE FEEL MORE SPIRITUAL when we pray that way,
But I’m not sure that’s always the model.
In fact, our timidity and lack of boldness and lack of decisiveness
And lack of desperation may not be spirituality at all.
It may be just the opposite. It may be a lack of faith.
It may be that the reason we don’t pray boldly or decisively or desperately
Is because are double-minded and don’t really believe.
THE MODEL here, and the model throughout Scripture is that
God’s people go boldly before God.
• They hold up God’s promises before God’s face and bid Him be faithful to them.
• They remind God of His perfect character and demand He show it again.
• They remind God of His role as our only salvation and expect Him to show
Himself a Savior.
Is that not what David is doing here?
God, you are my help, so help me, and do it quickly!
John MacArthur shares a somewhat shocking example of this.
“In 1540 Luther’s good friend and assistant, Friedrich Myconius, became sick and was expected to die within a short time. From his bed he wrote a tender farewell letter to Luther. When Luther received the message, he immediately sent back a reply: “I command thee in the name of God to live because I still have need of thee in the work of reforming the church…the Lord will never let me hear that thou art dead, but will permit thee to survive me. For this I am praying, this is my will, and may my will be done, because I seek only to glorify the name of God.”
Those words seem harsh and insensitive to modern ears, but God apparently honored the prayer. Although Myconius had already lost the ability to speak when Luther’s reply came, he soon recovered. He lived six more years and died two months after Luther.”
(MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series; Ephesians; Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL, 1986] pg. 103-104)
Indeed these are types of bold prayers that we saw
• From Jacob as he wrestled with God.
• This is Moses declaring that God cannot destroy the Israelites.
• This is Abraham interceding for the righteous at Sodom.
IT IS A BOLDNESS IN PRAYER
And I have a hard time finding God rebuke it in Scripture.
Rather we see Psalms like this one which God has preserved for us.
Now, that being said, tonight we look at this bold prayer of David.
And it won’t take us long to look at it.
As we said, it begins and ends with a bold cry to God
With urgency that God would deliver.
(1) “O God, hasten to deliver me; O LORD, hasten to my help!”
(5) “But I am afflicted and needy; Hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.”
David is boldly coming to God, who is his only hope,
And demanding that God come and deliver and do it quickly.
• He is resting upon who God revealed Himself to be when David was saved
• And now in his moment of need he is calling God to be faithful to His revelation.
He is boldly praying.
Perhaps the easiest way for us to examine the Psalm
Is to look at the 5 requests of David.
As already noted, they are distinguishable because they begin with the word “Let”
#1 LET MURDERERS BE SHAMED
Psalms 70:2a
David prays, “Let those be ashamed and humiliated who seek my life;”
• It is those who practice lethal force.
• It is those who would lift up their hand to strike David down.
They are his persecutors.
They are those who would kill him if they had the chance.
And David prays that God would make them “ashamed and humiliated”
There are any number of ways in which God could accomplish this,
And David doesn’t concern himself with the means.
David’s only concern is the end.
God, however You see fit to do it, just do it.
Humiliate them in their efforts
And make them ashamed of their incompetence.
How many times did the religious leaders set traps for the Lord
And try to arrest Him before His hour had come
And they were left only in shame.
• We see the elders of Nazareth seeking to throw Jesus off a cliff, only to have Him walk right through their midst.
• Their plans failed and they looked incompetent.
This is the prayer of David.
There are those who would kill me, shame them.
It is a bold and clear prayer.
#2 LET MEANNESS BE STOPPED
Psalms 70:2b
“Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt.”
These are not people with the backbone
To actually lift up their hand to David,
But they are those who would certainly rejoice if someone else did.
They are his enemies and his opponents.
• They love to see him attacked…
• They love to see him mocked…
• They don’t have the gumption to directly take on the giant-slayer themselves, but if someone else would do it, they would love it.
They are simply mean-spirited men.
They are schemers who sit in the shadows and hope for your fall.
His bold prayer is that God would stop them.
Let them be “turned back and dishonored”
Let their cowardice and their scheming become known to all
And let them run with their tail between their legs.
It is a bold prayer to be sure, but it is the prayer which David brings to God.
#3 LET MOCKERS BE SILENCED
Psalms 70:3
“Let those be turned back because of their shame who say, “Aha, aha!”
These are simply those who sit silently and wait.
You won’t know they are your enemies until the day you fall.
They may even pretend loyalty and pretend friendship.
But on the day of your folly, and on the day your foot slips,
They are the first to run to the world and announce your blunder.
They hold up a magnifying glass so the world knows that you blew it.
And then they become a voice of mocking.
• They are cowards…
• They are hypocrites…
• But their attack is painful none the less…
And David prays that God would silence them.
They look for the opportunity to say, “Aha, aha!”
But don’t give them that opportunity.
Let them also “be turned back because of their shame”
Turn the tables on them and let them be mocked.
It is certainly a bold set of prayers, but again we must ask.
• Does vengeance not belong to God?
• Has He not said that vengeance was His?
• Is He not the avenger of His children?
• Did Jesus not teach us that He will bring about justice quickly for His elect who
cry to Him day and night?
What reason would David have to NOT be bold?
God has already revealed His role for the protection of His children.
David now runs to God in that confidence.
I’ve told you many stories about my dad,
Mostly about his temper or his creative horse training methods.
But one other thing about my dad was that
HE WAS A FIERCE PROTECTOR OF HIS FAMILY.
We knew that.
I still remember as a young kid, we were at the Brownwood horse sale and we loved that horse sale because of the long cat-walk system there and we could play on it as kids.
• But one day Alaina and I were down in the alley.
• I think we might have been putting horse back in the pen.
• And the old man running the alley ran some horses down the alley right by Alaina. It could have been a bad deal.
I certainly told my dad.
But the point here is that I already knew how he would respond
Before I told him because I knew my dad.
(I knew I was requesting according to His will)
I was bold in my declaration to him because I knew who he was.
DAVID IS THE SAME.
He has no problem boldly telling God to deal with his enemies
for David knows his God.
David also knows his God is a Savior.
#4 LET SEEKERS BE SATISFIED
Psalms 70:4a
“Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;”
While David tells God to silence his enemies,
David also reminds God that those who seek Him are never disappointed.
God’s children in this world are attacked,
But THEIR ONE REPRIEVE is that in calling God into their battle,
Their cry can quickly turn into rejoicing.
We see that again the final request.
#5 LET THE SAVED BE SINGERS
Psalms 70:4b
“And let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified.”
That’s a far cry from “Those who love Your salvation having to sit on a rock trying to explain why God didn’t deliver.”
David boldly tells God to save His children
That they might sing of His great deliverance.
And again, it is a bold prayer, but is God not the savior of His own?
• Has God not promised to satisfy those who seek Him?
• Has God not promised to put a song of praise in the mouth of those who cry to Him for salvation?
Have we not read?
Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
Romans 10:11 “For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
You just see here that David’s boldness is not irreverence.
David’s boldness is faith.
Tonight I would encourage you in your prayer life
To confidently go to God in prayer.
Do not hide in doubt and fear and pass it off as piety or respect.
The great men and women of God in Scripture
Evidenced their faith by their bold prayers.
• The heard who God revealed Himself to be and they held God to that in prayer.
• They boldly approached the throne.
• They wrestled with God.
And they did so because they knew Him.
• They knew His promises.
• They knew His character.
And they knew His desire for them to place all their hope in Him.
That is a good reminder for me, I hope it is for you.
James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 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. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
