A Prayer for Guidance and Protection
Original Psalm 5 LEX
1 Hear my words, O Yahweh. Give heed to my sighing.
2 Listen to the sound of my pleading, my king, and my God, for to you I pray.
3 O Yahweh, in the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I will set forth my case to you and I will watch.
4 For you are not a God who desires wickedness. Evil cannot dwell with you.
5 The boastful do not stand before your eyes. You hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy speakers of lies. A man of bloodshed⌋ and deceit Yahweh abhors.
7 But as for me, through the abundance of your steadfast love. I will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.
8 O Yahweh, lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies; make straight before me your way.
9 For there is not anything reliable in his mouth; their inner part is destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.
10 Treat them as guilty, O God; let them fall because of their plans. Because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take shelter in you rejoice. Let them ever sing for joy, because you spread protection over them; And let those who love your name exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous. O Yahweh, like at shield you surround him with good favor.
There are several themes in this psalm that I’d like to speak on:
- In verse 3 King David puts forth his case to the Lord and trusts that the Lord will hear his voice. How many today can say the same with the psalmist: Can any of us say we have a relationship with the Lord and trust He listens as we place our case before Him? Another point here is that he places his case before the Lord: This case is like lawyers going before a judge to present their arguments. This case is about seeking justice from the Lord and not some fluffy fill good request as a stocking stuffer. This is a serious prayer that the psalmist is placing before the judge of all creation. I pray that all of us who claim to follow Yeshua that we can have such a relationship with Yahweh: And, as the end of the age approaches, this sort of relationship and prayer will be needed.
- Verse 5 speaks of arrogance where their boastfulness is counted as evil. 1 Samuel 2:3— “Boast no more so very proudly, do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed.” Or Psalm 31:18–“Let the lying lips be mute, which speak arrogantly against the righteous with pride and contempt.” High-minded individuals fall into a trap where their words exude arrogance and reeks of pride. There are many individuals in church leadership that fit what the psalmist is communicating: And, with such an attitude of prayer or calling on the Yahweh becomes nothing more than spitting into the wind. In these last days we all need to humble ourselves before the judge of all creation and repent of any such characteristics. We are to be one in Christ just as Christ is one with the Father. Remember John 14:9—”Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has known me has known the father. How can you say, ‘Show us the father’?” We also being one with Christ should be able to say to someone who says ‘show us Christ’ you who have known me has known Christ. This is how we should be. This is how we should represent our LORD and KING. This is how we should represent the Kingdom. We should not be seen being like everyone else regarding how we act, speak, and interact with others. If the love of the Lord is in us, we should be able to be like Jesus.
- Verse 11 is all about trust in the Lord. We rejoice that the Lord is our protector, or shelter during times of trouble. We sing with joy-filled hearts praising the Lord for His protection over us and we exalt the Lord’s name because of our love for Him. This is a mind and heart attitude that is missing today. Everything is about self, about being entertained, about feeling good about the once-a-week Christian experience. Everything that the psalmist reveals is a life of total commitment and surrender to the sovereignty of Yahweh and not some made up idea of Him. Idols have been formed in the minds and hearts of many of us as to what and who Yahweh is. We seem to have a very distant, if not confused notion concerning Jesus: It almost seems as if the physical building where people congregate becomes the body of Christ, the temple of God, instead of accepting that we are the temple of the Lord. There is truly little commitment and surrender to the Lord: Instead, the commitment and surrender is to the organization, the pastor, the evangelist, to self rather than Christ.
Prayer based on Psalm five:
Worship before prayer: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory forever, amen.”
Prayer: Lord, as the end of the age nears, teach us to become fully dependent upon you. Teach us to be fully committed and surrendered to you so we can become more like you instead of playing as if we are like you. Lord, help us understand that during troubles you are our only hope, our true shelter and protection from all that comes against us. Lord, help us to abandon any arrogance or high-mindedness that is still with us. Help us to fully trust in you no matter what situation we may find ourselves facing.
Mike
23 February 2022
The Christian Underground Journal
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