Sunday Night, November 22, 2020 PM

We encourage you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 5, and Josiah is going to come and preach to us once again, and I appreciate my brother laboring in the Word and getting ready for tonight, so let's give him our full attention.

Come preach the Word for us, brother.

Like Michael said, I'm glad some of you came back tonight. I appreciate that. I appreciate the opportunity to spend time in the Word of God with you all tonight. It's truly a joy, and I very much appreciate the opportunity.

David’s Prayer in Psalm 5

Like Michael said, we'll be in Psalm 5 tonight. Last time I was up here, I was able to walk through you all the first beginning portion of Psalm 5, the Psalm of David, where he prays to the Lord, and we're not sure when exactly this Psalm takes place in David's life, whether it was during the time of Absalom or during the reign of Saul, but one thing we do know is that David was faced with evil during this time.

He was faced with enemies that sought to harm him, sought to do him much harm, and were vile. What was David's response to this trial? How did he respond to these enemies? Prayer. He responded in prayer.

When faced with evil, David prays, and we saw that the first three verses of Psalm 5 note the initial aspect of David's prayer. He prays with a sincere heart, and we see in the first three verses that David offers up the words of his mouth, the meditation of his heart, and the voice of his cry, and he looks up, and now we come in verses 4 through 8 to the next aspect of David's prayer.

When faced with evil, David prays with confidence in God's holy character. Confidence in God's holy character. So let's go ahead and read verses 4 through 8 and see what the Lord has to say. Psalm 5, starting in verse 4.

For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood.

The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into your house in the multitude of your mercy. In fear of you, I will worship toward your holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies.

Make your way straight before my face. Here we have the word of God. Would you pray with me to begin? Father, we thank you again for tonight, for blessing us with mercies throughout this past week, Lord.

For providing for us, for keeping us safe, for watching over us, Father. You have truly been good and you have been good to give us your word that reveals to us your Son, Jesus Christ. And we know that he says that the scriptures testify of him.

Amen. As we examine Psalm 5, Lord, may we see it in its truth. May your Spirit help us to understand it, Lord. Open our eyes and illuminate this text so that we might see Jesus Christ. And it's in his name we pray.

Amen. When faced with evil, do you think on God's character? Are there particular aspects that come to mind? Here, when David's faced with evil, he considers God's holy character in this part of Psalm 5 in two particular ways.

Both God's holy intolerance in verses 4 through 6 and God's holy mercy in verse 7 and 8. So the first part in verses 4 through 6 is on God's holy intolerance. That's not often a word we use to describe God or we ascribe to God, intolerance.

Many people in our culture and different churches around the world would say to use this word to describe God would be blasphemous, would be wrong. For is not God altogether accepting of however a man or a woman acts, how they love and doesn't he love them for who they are and how they behave, how they identify themselves?

Yet we see in this text something different. We see in this text the revelation from God himself. We see God's holy intolerance on full display. Verse 4, David starts out, for you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness.

God takes no pleasure in sin. He does not find satisfaction in it or entertainment in it. Sin finds absolutely no favor before God whatsoever. No sin dwells with God, David says. Sin does not come to God's door and ask, can it spend the night?

Evil does not come. It does not abide with God. It does not live with God. Both sin and the sinner do come before God, but not in a favorable way. God does address these though. Verse 4 acts as the general introduction of how God views evil, but David now becomes a bit more specific in the coming verses.

In verse 5, he says, the boastful shall not stand in your sight. Those who are proud shall not stand before God. Those who shine forth their own strength, their own merits, their own resources. Look at me, see how great I am.

I make my stand with pride. Yet we know from another part of scripture, God resists the proud, does he not? He resists the proud. They will not stand on their own merits or abilities, but will face a holy God in the end.

Next, David notes in verse 5 that the Lord hates all workers of iniquity. Here's another word we don't often describe to God, hate. Does God hate? Is this part of his nature? Is the God of the Bible really someone who hates?

According to scripture and the holiness of God, yes, he does. But we must be very cautious here, though, very careful, for when God hates, he does so in an absolutely just and perfect way. An absolutely just and perfect way.

He cannot hate in a way that is sinful or wrong. Do not be deceived, my beloved brother, in every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

James 1, 16 through 17. The Lord cannot act against his nature, therefore he will hate, but not in a wrong way, not in an unjust way. He is holy. And in a right and just way, we see here his holy wrath set against workers of iniquity, those who practice evil habitually.

David continues, in verse six, he says, God shall destroy those who speak falsehood, those who speak lies. Is not truth important to God? Do we not receive all truth from him? Do we not know right from wrong, true from false from him?

How important is truth to God? It's very important. And those who would take that truth and manipulate it or give you something else, sins against God and against you. He is intolerant of those who would tell falsehoods and lies rather than the truth.

Think of Galatians. When Paul finds out that someone's brought a different gospel to the Galatians, what is his response? Let those people be anathema. When people bring you a false gospel, they shall face the wrath of God.

In verse six, David also says, the Lord abhors, he loathes and detests the bloodthirsty and the deceitful. Those who eagerly seek bloodshed and those who manipulate subtly with lies. It's one thing to tell a lie, but it's another thing to manipulate with your lie to achieve a goal, to manipulate a person or a situation.

In these three verses, verses four through six, we see that God is intolerant of evil and of evil doers. We see that he hates sin and the sinner. Why is he so intolerant of these things? Why is he so intolerant of these people?

Why does he hate? Because he is good, because he's righteous, because he is altogether good and holy. I appreciate the illustration utilized many times by Ray Comfort during his street evangelism. And many of you have probably recognized the name and know some of his work.

But in his conversations on the street, he'll bring up this illustration, this picture of the mind. If a judge were to be brought a guilty criminal, this man or woman has done horrible acts of evil, vile things, horrible things.

The evidence is fully there. He or she has done so with full intention and preparation. There is no excuse. Justice must be done. Sentence must be passed. What if the judge were to be indifferent toward the criminal or the sins committed?

What if he took no interest in the case whatsoever? What if he never gave it his full attention? What if he let the criminal go free? What if he wants to love the criminal, so he goes scot-free? Would you think that this is a good judge?

On the other hand, what if the judge were ready for the case? What if he studied the evidence completely? What if he knew the situation and knew for certain that the criminal was guilty beyond doubt? And what if the judge took no pleasure in the evil before him and was intolerant of the crimes and the criminal?

What if he passes right and just judgment according to what has been done? Is that judge a good judge? While I appreciate this illustration, we have to understand that this picture pales in comparison to the fullness of God, his holiness, and his holy intolerance to sin and sinners.

He is not some fallen, earthly judge. He is the Lord. He is the good judge that will ensure right judgment is done, ultimately, in one of two places. On that final day of judgment, or at the cross of Jesus Christ.

Do we see how God is intolerant of sin, and that while Christ became a curse for us on the cross, he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Here, Jesus takes all the right punishment that sinful people deserve.

The Lord will ensure that justice is done, for he is intolerant of sin and the sinner, for he is good and just. David, when faced with evil, prays with confidence in God's holy intolerance. He rests in the fact that God is not a mixed God, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes gentle, sometimes horrible.

God is altogether good. And when faced with evil, God goes to the one who is good, who is right, who will make sure that justice is done no matter what. He ran to the one who is good in his prayers. Is the goodness of God and his holy intolerance a confidence for us in our prayers?

Do we remember his holy intolerance when faced with evil? What type of evil do we face in our day? Can we see the list of evils that David details here in verses four through six in our day, in our everyday lives, in our world?

Yes, we do. We face those who take pleasure in wickedness, and many allow sin to dwell with them. How are people entertained in this world? What do sinners seek after? What do they favor? Just look at Hollywood.

Just look at newsstands and the Internet. You don't have to go far. It's right there at your fingertips. We see many who are boastful and like to parade themselves around. They have the best lives. They have found the truth in themselves.

They make the standard for what is right and wrong. They are fully capable with no need of help. Only you can save yourself, they say. And I saved myself, be like me. We see many who speak falsehood. Politicians who conceal important truths, who manipulate to achieve their own sin.

News outlets that are supposed to provide you with the truth and nothing but. Yet how often do they promote an agenda? How often do they speak falsehoods rather than the truth? How often do we see that in our lives every single day?

Where do we see the bloodthirsty and the deceitful? At your local Planned Parenthood. The workers there are ever so ready and ever so eager to see blood shed. And they're deceitful, aren't they? They say, it's not a life.

It's not a soul. It doesn't feel, it doesn't struggle against the instruments that come to take its life. I didn't see this before, but we have something posted on the bulletin board that details how much each body part is and how much they can sell it for.

Take a look at it when you have a moment. Yet when faced with all this evil, we can pray like David. With confidence in the holy intolerance of God, in a world of sin and of evil, we go to a God who is absolutely good.

One who will be sure that justice is done for every sin and every sinner, no matter what. And oftentimes we can lose heart for we see that the sin and the sinner go unnoticed, that they get away scot-free sometimes.

But the Lord executes righteousness and he will be sure that justice will be done for each sin and for each sinner. May the Lord be our comfort when faced with evil. May he be our confidence, for he is intolerance and he is good.

God’s Holy Mercy in Prayer

He's good. He's not only intolerant of evil and good, but he is also merciful. This is the next part of God's character that David takes confidence in. God's holy mercy in verses seven and eight. To begin this part, a strong contrast is made.

A contrast made by David when he looks at the sin and the sinners around him. He starts out with verse seven, but as for me, but as for me, David recognizes that he stands in the camp of the blessed by God.

And not in the camp of those facing holy wrath. David comes to the house of God in the multitude of God's mercy in verse seven. It is mercy that grants David access to come to the Lord and worship him.

How does David worship? In fear. Here we come to another spiritual reality that often goes unnoticed or unproclaimed in many churches. People ignore and even leaders would say that there is no fear for the Christian.

But we see that in fear of you, I will worship towards your holy temple. There is a connection between the fear of God and worship. David, while mercy has granted them access to come, in worship he comes recognizing that he is the lowly creature coming before the holy creator.

A creature coming due to the creator's mercy and by that mercy alone, not by the creature's standards or strength. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the word of God tells us. When man recognizes who God is and who he is.

The fear of God should stir deep worship in us and we see this occur with David. Verse 8, having come before the Lord due to holy mercy and coming in fear and in worship, David now makes his central request of this psalm.

When faced with evil, David seeks that God in his holy mercy grants him guidance. Grants him guidance. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face.

David does not rely on his own strength to follow through, but he follows through relying upon God's way, not his way. He asks the Lord, show me your way. Having come by holy mercy, David seeks more mercy.

He asks for mercy by requesting from God, what should I do? How should I respond to these enemies around me? How would you have me respond? Is he not saying in a particular way, not my will be done but thy will be done, O Lord, in my life?

Yet here's something to consider. If we study the rest of the Bible, we can pose a question here. What makes the difference for David? Why is he in this camp and not in the camp of those facing God's holy wrath?

Why is he a part of the blessed of God? For we know that the word tells us there is none good, no, not one. There is none who seeks after God, none righteous. All have sinned and fall short, all. This includes David.

And even though he is described as a man after God's own heart, is he not also a sinner who will commit adultery and murder, who will seek bloodshed and be deceitful himself? How is he a part of the blessed of God?

How does he come to God? The difference is God's holy mercy. God's holy mercy. Yes, absolutely, the Lord is holy and just and intolerant. Yet praise be to him. He is merciful. He is merciful. It is his mercy that makes the difference for David.

And it's his mercy that makes the difference for sinners like you and like me. For like David, how do we fit the mold of his description of the wicked in verses four through six? How do we fit this mold that he gives for us?

Do we not take pleasure in wickedness? Do we not let evil dwell with us? Are we not boastful of ourselves and of our own abilities and our strengths? Do we not speak lies, act deceitfully, and perhaps not commit physical murder?

But look with hatred, unholy hatred, wrong hatred in our hearts toward our neighbors and commit murder of the heart. The word of God is clear. We are workers of iniquity. We are sinners. And God is right to be intolerant of the sinful entertainment of this word, of dirty politicians, of Planned Parenthood, and of you and of me.

He is right to be intolerant of us. Yet he is also merciful. He grants grace, unmerited favor that we do not deserve by our own strength or merits. We cannot achieve his mercy. We cannot reach it in our own self.

But he grants us grace. And where is God's mercy and grace most clearly seen? At the cross of Jesus Christ, where God's mercy and God's intolerance meet. Here is Christ, our holy mercy. By his personal work, he grants us access to God.

Not as guilty criminals, but as forgiven sons and daughters. We come to God by his holy mercy. Here, we see that we were dead in trespasses and sin, guilty criminals. Yet God, who is rich in mercy when we were dead in trespasses, have made us alive together with Christ.

By his grace, you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, lest anyone should boast. Through faith in Jesus Christ, by trusting in him to be your sufficient mercy from God, you will be saved.

Repent and believe, repent and believe. And may you be able to say with David, but as for me, but as for me, the Lord is my salvation. Salvation in Christ means newness of life. It means that we can come boldly before the throne of grace through the multitudes of mercies found in Jesus Christ.

We heard this morning the passage from Ephesians. In Jesus Christ, we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. A multitude of mercies in Jesus Christ. Now we are free to worship in fear of God.

Now we are free to seek God's will, not our own, according to our flesh, according to our old lusts, according to the word or the devil. But we get to seek the Lord's will for us. We get to act like he would have us act.

Live as he would have us live. Now like David, we can come before God in prayer and ask, not my will, but thy will be done. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness. Make your way straight before my face.

What marvelous grace do we have through the mercies of God found in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone? When faced with evil, do you think of God's character? What elements of his nature come to mind?

Whatever evil you face in these days, whatever trials or difficulties, pray. Pray with confidence in God's holy character. Know that he is intolerant of evil, that he is altogether good, altogether righteous.

Know that he is merciful. Know that he is merciful. We see both of these at the cross of Christ. May the cross be your confidence and your comfort in prayer. And now may you pray with me to end the service.

Father God, we acknowledge that you are holy and we are not. We acknowledge our need for a savior found only in Jesus Christ. We acknowledge your intolerance of sin, your goodness. We acknowledge that we are sinners, we are workers of iniquity, Lord.

And we acknowledge your mercy granted to us most clearly in Jesus Christ. We thank you for your son in whom we have every spiritual blessing. We thank you for providing us everything we need, Lord, as a good father.

Not because we deserve it, but because you are merciful and gracious. Thank you for being a good and merciful God. In this coming week, Lord, may we apply, may I apply what David did here in Psalm 5. When faced with evil, pray with confidence in your holy character.

May we pray with confidence, Lord, and trust you every step of the way. For we know that you are sovereign in the big picture concerning the United States and this world. And you are sovereign over the small picture, over each of our lives and every detail.

You know the number of hairs on our head. You are truly good God and merciful. And we thank you in your son's precious name. Amen. Thank you.