Prayer

Father, we hear your servant David long ago seeking your face in these words. We pray that as we meditate upon them, as we think on them, Lord, that you would unite our hearts and our minds to praise you right, to seek your face as we ought, and to know that you answer us. This is our prayer in Jesus’ name.

A Call to Seek God

I want to ask you a question. What prompts you to earnestly seek the face of God? What pushes you to pray, what urges you? What forces you to pray? You know, it’s tragic that I have to ask these questions of myself and you. Because our Father, who loves us, who sent His Son to save us, longs to hear your voice. He longs to hear you speak to Him, to present your needs before Him, to present your petitions, to seek His face. It’s tragic that we have to be commanded to pray, and yet the scriptures command us to pray. Because sometimes, unless God commands us, we seem not to get around to it, to earnestly seek His face.

So, what prompts you? What urges you? What impels you to pray? I dare say that one thing that’s true of most of us is that when trouble comes, when we are distressed, when we are suddenly confronted with needs that we cannot satisfy, we pray, or we ask others to pray. We then seek the face of God. May God so move in our hearts in the contemplation of His word. Then instead of having to be pushed to pray, we’ll just learn to make it a pattern of life, that every day we’d be crying out to God in worship, in praise, in thanksgiving, in confession, in petition.

Maybe sometimes you think, well, I just have this laundry list of things I keep asking God for, I need to ask God for. It surely gets tired of me. God does not get tired of you. He wants you to seek His face. And it’s okay if you have a list. He wants us to learn that He is a God who delights to hear your voice and who’s ready to answer your prayers.

David’s Example

In today’s scripture, we have the prayer of David. David presents himself before God, and he has a deep need. We don’t know exactly the circumstances that prompted David to seek God in this way. We can guess, because David many times was confronted with danger, trouble, and distress that pushed him to seek the face of God. But David was also one who didn’t need to be pushed very often to seek the face of God, except when he was caught up in sin. He was known as this sweet psalmist, singer of Israel, because he loved to praise God, he loved to pray to God. And God used him to calm the troubled soul of King Saul for many years.

We could think about Goliath who came, and David goes forth fearlessly to meet him and that could have been his end. But he looked to almighty God, and he knew that God would vindicate His name. It could be in all those times when his father-in-law, Saul, sought his life, one time throwing a javelin at him in the dining room. My guess, and it’s simply a guess because the scripture doesn’t tell us, I believe what prompted this prayer of David was the great heartbreak of his own son, Absalom, who rebelled against him and who was intent on killing his own father to take over his kingdom. We read about that in 2 Samuel 16 and 17.

Whatever the problem, it was a big problem for David. But it’s interesting, as we look at the text of this particular prayer, he doesn’t dwell on it. We only get a hint of it in verse seven, where he says, in the day of my trouble, I call upon you for you answer me. I take heart from that. David has absolutely no doubt that God will answer him.

Trust in God’s Answer

Now we must not settle with the idea that He will always answer us exactly the way we ask Him to. Many times, He does, but sometimes He answers us in unexpected ways. And sometimes the answer He gives us is greater than the answer we actually were seeking. Other times it’s totally different. And yet at the end, we’re grateful because of what God accomplished. In the day of my trouble, I will call upon you because you answer me. I think that’s the first lesson we need to grasp from this word of God, is that we can call upon Him in our day of trouble and know that He will answer.

Verse 14 is the only time we’re really confronted with what David is confronted with. Listen to him. He says, O God, insolent men have risen up against me. A band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them. Or this translation: God, arrogant people have attacked me. A gang of ruthless men intends to kill me. They do not let you guide them. That’s David’s problem. He has people who are seeking to snuff him out. They’re intending to track him down and kill him. I think if that was your situation, it would urge you to prayer just like it urged David.

Structure of David’s Prayer

Let’s notice his prayer. There are at least three good movements in the prayer. The first is verses one through seven. Incline your ear, O Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly. Save your servant who trusts in you, you are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you I cry all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Yahweh, to my prayer. Listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble, I call upon you, for you answer me.

Incline your ear. An easy translation is to say, listen, Yahweh, but take hold of the picture language. We have a little dog, Felicity, you all know her. If you’re talking to her, sometimes you’ll see her, she’s inclining her ear. She doesn’t do it enough, let me tell you. But she’s inclining her ear. Sometimes when you can’t hear your parent or your friend say something to you, you’ll sort of cock your head. Why are we doing it? Because we want to get the sound waves better. He’s picturing Yahweh, the living covenant God. And he says, bend down your ear, turn your ear toward me and answer me. Listen, listen Yahweh. That’s his first request. God, I’m asking you to please listen, listen to me and answer me.

David’s Humility and Trust

And then David gives his qualifications. For I am poor and needy. Now he’s not talking about physical poverty. He’s not talking about being destitute without anything to eat or clothes to wear. After all, he is a king. But he’s poor and needy because these words carry with us what Jesus will later capture in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. And so, the words poor and needy carry the concept of afflicted. I am the afflicted and oppressed one in great need of your mercy. Incline your ear, listen and answer me, O Lord, because I need you. I’m afflicted and oppressed.

Preserve my life or protect my life, for I’m godly. Now did that suddenly startle you? David said, “I want you to pay attention to me, Lord, because I’m godly.” And you say, “whoa, you’re gonna say to the almighty God that you’re godly?” Well, yes. What does he mean by this? Well, he means I am your faithful servant. I am your child by means of the covenant that you’ve cut with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am yours because I belong to the people that you set aside for yourself to be your witness in the world and through whom the Messiah will come. In fact, David may not have fully been aware of it, but he bore in his own loins the seed that would bring forth the Christ born of Mary thousands of years later.

Preserve my life because I belong to you. You have set me apart. You’ve made me your own. That’s what he means when he says, for I’m godly, for I’m faithful, for I’m in relationship with you by your own grace and mercy. Save your servant who trusts in you. I trust in you, Lord. I trust in you, God. I look to you, I seek your face because I trust in you. I am spiritually, emotionally, mentally, sometimes physically needy. But I belong to you by your own mercy and grace, and I trust in you. You are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord. For it’s you that I cry all the day. All day long, I call out to you.

David’s Persistent Prayer

Now that doesn’t mean David is in a posture, a particular physical position of prayer. I’m sure he had those at different times of the day. But even when he’s on the run, he’s calling out to God in his mind, in his heart, in his soul. All day, I cry out to you, O Lord. Bring joy to your servant’s life. Gladden the soul of your servant. For to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. What is your soul? Hard to put your hand on it. Hard to put your finger on it. We talk about soul or spirit. It’s us. When we talk about our soul, we’re talking about our very being. Whatever constitutes us as a person, our life, our thoughts, everything that we are. Gladden the soul of your servant. For to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear to my prayer, listen to my plea for grace. I want you to look at the text. He says, for, who, speaking about himself, for, for, for to you, for you, O Lord. Every time there’s a "for," it’s a reason. Preserve my life, for I’m godly. Save your servant, who trusts in you. You’re my God. Be gracious, for to you I cry all the day. Gladden my soul, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. And all of this is grounded in the revelation of God.

God’s Revealed Nature

You see, he’s quoting in verse five from God’s remarks to Moses when He revealed Himself on Mount Sinai. When Moses asked to see God’s face, God says, you can’t see my face and live. No one can see my face and live. But I tell you what, Moses, I’ll hide you in the cleft of the rock. I mean, it’s just like a little place. You’ll have some of the stone protecting you. And I’m gonna go by and I’m gonna proclaim my name Yahweh, Yahweh. And I’m gonna declare my nature. I’m steadfast, abounding in steadfast love. I’m good, I’m forgiving. I show mercy to thousands. I’m gonna let you see my backside while I proclaim my name and my nature.

We know what God is like because God has revealed Himself to us. He revealed Himself in history to people. He reveals Himself in the words that He calls those people to write under the inspiration of His Holy Spirit so that we have a true record from God Himself about His own nature of who He is and what He is like. Our prayer life must be grounded upon the very nature of God, because He’s our hope. It’s because of who He is and what He’s like that we can have confidence to pray to Him, that we can seek His face and know that He will hear us and that He will answer us. Because He’s good, because He’s forgiving, because His love is steadfast. It never wavers. And so, we can say, give ear, Yahweh, hear my prayer. Listen to my cries for mercy. You will answer me.

So, in verse six, he repeats what he said in verse one. Incline your ear, give ear, listen, hear my voice, hear my cry, and answer me. But notice in verse seven, in the day of my trouble, I call upon you for, for this reason, you answer me. That’s how we can seek the face of God, knowing confidently that He will hear us and He will answer us.

Confessing Faith

In verse eight, there’s a shift. If you notice in verses one through seven, in many ways, the emphasis David has, he focuses the light of his own self and on his need. I’m your child, God, and I really need you. And these are the ways in which I need you, the reasons why I need you. But now he’s contemplating the very nature of God that God’s revealed. And as he thinks about this wonderful, glorious God, the only true living God, he begins to confess his faith.

It is so important that we confess our faith, that we affirm what we believe, that we repeat what we believe, that we sing it, that we memorize it, that we state it, that we preach it, that we proclaim it. God told Israel, hear O Israel, Yahweh your God is one. They were to say that every day. This is what David’s doing. There is none like you among the gods, O Lord. Now, you say there’s only one God. Yes, there’s only one true and living God, but there are many gods that people worship. There are many gods people serve. In fact, the majority of the world serves idols, including in America.

We have our temples, and you can’t really recognize this secular temple by going at it and has a big sign on it saying secular temple, but we have it. It’s found in stadiums. It’s found on stages. It’s even found on advertising. We worship the God of mammon. And that’s an old word for wealth. That’s one of the most popular gods in India. His name is Ganesh. He’s the elephant-headed god. He’s very popular. And I hear the echo of him in religious circles in America, being transported all over the world. Preachers who spend all of their time telling you to send money because God wants to bless you with abundant wealth. Just invest, send your thousand here, God’ll give you 10,000. Serving the God of wealth and prosperity, we serve him in America. We don’t have an idol called Ganesh, but I’m afraid we still bow at the altar.

We must guard against the temptation because it can be tempting to all of us at all times. The apostle John writes in his epistle; little children keep yourselves from idols because he knew the danger of substituting other gods for the true and living God. David’s saying there’s none like you among the gods, O Lord. And there were many gods that people served in that day. And the gods that people serve in many of the religions of the world are gods that do make themselves known by some power displays. Yes, it’s pseudo, but nevertheless, there are works.

David’s Confession

David is making a true confession. There are none like you among the gods, O Lord, because you are the unique God. And there are no works like your works. Even Paul in Corinthians said that there are lords many and gods many that people serve, but there’s only one true God that we serve in the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.

Now, that’s not true, in a way, currently, is it? Or even to David’s day. There were many nations, many gods that people were serving, but this is a statement of absolute faith and assurance because God’s intention, God’s design, God’s predestination is that ultimately the whole world will be full of His glory and all nations, all people groups will serve Him, that He will be praised from the rising of the sun to the setting, from night to day, all over the world. And there is a sense in which that’s true even today.

It started coming to pass in the days of the acts of the apostles, through the acts of the Holy Spirit, as the gospel began to go out to all the ends of the earth. Because God, the God who revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who spoke with thunderous voice from Mount Sinai to Moses and the children of Israel, is the true and living God. And He has made Himself known in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus has come as the Savior of the whole world, all people groups. And so, to the remnant of Israel who believe is added all the Gentiles who believe. And so, the church is constituted, and the church grows, and the church is beginning to multiply around the world.

But we know that there’s a day coming when Christ Himself shall descend from heaven. And all opposition will be put down and all the people groups, all the nations God has made shall come and worship before our God and shall glorify His name. Why? Because you are great, God. You were great and you do wondrous things. But now it really hits David, and it should hit us. You alone are God. I don’t care how many people worship ever how many gods. There’s truly only one true and living God. You alone, Yahweh, I am that I am. You alone are God. Will you confess that with me? You alone are God.

David’s Boldness

David has bowed himself before God and he has let known how much he needs God. And he knows that in his own strength, God wouldn’t have any need to hear him or answer him, but God chose him. God has shown mercy and grace to him. God has made him one of His people. He knows that God will hear him. God will answer him. And so, he’s bold to lay his petitions before God. Preserve my life. Be gracious to me. Gladden my soul. Fill me with joy. Give ear, O God.

And as he thinks about God, there is no one like this God. You know, sometimes we are overcome with anxiety. We worry. We have things that gnaw at us, at our minds. What if? There are times when we are struck and hit, slammed against the wall with transgressions, the transgressions of others than our own transgressions. Because we let down our defenses, because we do not engage in the disciplines that God has told us is necessary for our maintenance of spiritual life and strength and to fight the good battle of faith. We let down our guard. The moment you let down the guard, the enemy will pounce. He does it in your mind. He does it by your desires. He stirs up that which you have found pleasure in evil before. He dangles it before you. And unless you have your armor on, unless you are alert, you will fall.

The Necessity of Prayer

That’s why prayer is absolutely essential. It is not an option in the Christian life. And neither is the study of God’s word. These are absolute essentials. Neither is failure to be in the fellowship of God’s people worshiping Him. These are our defenses and also our areas in which we can grow. We must seek the face of God through His revelation. We must worship God privately and individually and in groups. We must seek the face of God. We must maintain the armor that God has given us. Failure to do so will result in a fall that’s a disgrace to God, a shame to you, to me.

Now David is contemplating God. His heart’s been filled now with praise because he knows who God is. He’s the true God. He’s the living God. He’s the powerful God. He’s the God of all gods. Teach me your way, O Yahweh. Teach me. Guide me. He said this in another one of his Psalms, Psalm 23. Teach me. Lead me. Teach me your way, O Yahweh. For what reason? That I may walk in your truth. Unless God teaches us, we won’t know the truth and we can’t walk in the truth. That’s a necessity of paying attention, immersing ourselves in His revelation.

Uniting the Heart

Teach me your way, O Yahweh, that I may walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name. I think this is the heart of the prayer. Unite my mind, integrate me. You know, tragically, we get piecemeal, we get parceled out. We let ourselves be parceled out. But we need to be united. Our minds need to be united. Our heart, our affections, they need to be united. United to fear God’s name. But my only hope for this is that God will do this work in me, that He would unite my mind, that He would so move in my heart and my affections will be taken up with God. Unite my heart to fear your name. Unite my mind to dwell upon the truth of your reality of who you are and what you’ve done.

O God, may I learn to love you and love you with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength. That is your desire. God, make that my desire. Unite my heart to fear your name. What’s the result? I give thanks to you, O Lord. Now the word Lord here means my king, my master, my sovereign, the word Adonai. Yahweh is God’s personal name, but here is His name as our king, as our sovereign Lord. I will give thanks to you, O sovereign, my sovereign Lord, my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Steadfast Love

This should be our daily prayer. O God, today, today, may I give thanks to you with a full heart. May I glorify your name, unending glory, glorify it with my words, glorify it in my attitudes, glorify it in my deeds. Why does he say this prayer? What gives him the impetus? Well, it’s for great. Say that word for again. For this reason, for great is your steadfast love toward me. Why do I love God? And I do love Him. Why do I love the Lord Jesus Christ? I testify that I do love Him. I don’t love Him enough. That’s true. Sometimes my heart is somewhat divided. It shouldn’t be. But the truth is, sometimes it gets divided. I’m still battling, you know, the sins of the flesh, the mind, the emotions.

It’s true of every Christian. We’re not yet glorified. That’s our destiny. We’re on the road, but we’re not yet there. And until we get there, there are gonna be moments when we’re not truly filled as we should be with the glory of God. And so, we have to make in our daily prayer to unite my heart, to fear your name, teach me your ways that I may walk in your truth. The reason I have the confidence to make such a request of you is because your steadfast love toward me never changes.

And the truth is that your love sometimes changes. Some days you feel more loving than others, right? Some days you act more loving than others. Some days we say we love, and at the end of the time we act a little differently. But God, steadfast, He’s steadfast in His love. He’s unchanging in His love. Whatever your problem, whatever your sin, whatever the difficulty, whatever your failure, God remains steadfast in His love for you. How did Paul write it? For I am persuaded I’m persuaded that He who began a good work in me will bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ. That is true. We may be disciplined. We may fall in a ditch, but God will not abandon us. He will draw us out. That’s our hope. And that’s our strength.

Remembering God’s Deliverance

Then David remembers what God has done for him in the past. We need to do this in our prayer. We need to remember. When we’re asking God for things, we need to remember what God has actually done for us in the past. We need to dwell on it and give Him thanks for it. We need to rehearse it to our mind and rehearse it to Him, rehearse it to others. God has delivered me. I could have died when I was an infant. Everybody thought I would die. I was in the hospital for months, struggling for breath, totally unable to move. But God delivered me through the prayers of my grandmother, I think. And I live to this day.

I went through hell on earth in many things that happened to me in my growing up years. But God delivered me from the one who would destroy me and kill me. I live before you today. Sin at times has overcome and knocked on the door and I’ve listened and opened the door. But God has brought me out, chased the villain away, reestablished. I bet you can add testimonies of like nature; God has rescued you more times than you know.

David says, you’ve delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. That’s the grave, but don’t think about the shallow grave, okay? He’s talking about the depths of the earth, where the pictorial language of the Bible, that’s where the souls of the deceased go. He’s delivered me from the depths of the pit. Pass mercy. Think about Goliath. He could have killed little David. But God was in that era. God was in that stone. It hit its mark. Saul both loved and hated David. And when he hated him, he tried to kill him. He nearly succeeded. But God delivered him.

David was overcome by sin and that could have destroyed him, but God had mercy and restored him. And there’s Absalom, his beloved son, taken up with his own beauty and his own physical prowess, decided the old man needed to go. And he went on a rebellion against him, intending to destroy his life. But God delivered His servant. He delivered my soul, not just from the physical death, but from the depths of Sheol.

Facing Opposition

The past experience of deliverance can help us know to seek the face of God today. He says what it is. O God, insolent men have risen against me. A band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them. They have no regard for you. They are godless. But you, Lord, notice the contrast. These people and God. But you, O Lord, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

That’s the words that God uses to describe Himself in Exodus 34 and in many other places in the scripture. I challenge you to do a Bible study to take those words, look them up in a concordance and find out how many times God describes Himself as merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. And that’s your hope. That’s my hope. That’s our God. And so, I have confidence to turn to Him and say, turn to me, God, turn to me, not only bow your ear down to hear me and listen to me, but turn to me, be gracious to me, give strength to your servant, save the son of your maidservant.

Bold Petitions

Can you hear the rising crescendo? David is bold to pray. Turn to me. Show me your grace. Give me your strength. Because unless I have your strength, I cannot stand. Don’t try to go it alone. You cannot be a fruitful disciple in your own power. You cannot be a victorious saint looking only to your own strength of character. You must have the strength of God and He will give it to you if you ask Him. He says, ask of me and I will give you what you need. Turn to me and I will be gracious to you. Call upon me and I will save you; I will deliver you, I will rescue you.

He’s already done that. If you believed in His Son, He’s already rescued you from hell. But not only has He rescued you from the flames, He has brought you into the abundance of a life of relationship, of love and joy with Him. And we haven’t tasted hardly anything yet. I can’t wait till we shall be tasting it in Zion where God dwells.

A Public Sign

But notice David’s last request. Show me a sign of your favor. Now he’s not asking for some internal thing. Okay, I hear you son. That isn’t what he’s asking for. He’s asking for a public display. He says, show me a sign of your favor that those who hate me may see and be put to shame. I want you, Lord, to demonstrate publicly your favor toward me to deliver me in such a way that my enemies will be shamed. But you will be glorified and I will be delivered.

Why does he have the confidence to pray like this? Well, because Yahweh, the true and living God, my God, He’s helped me and comforted me. He’s done it in the past. I have no doubt He will do it again. He’ll do it now. He will comfort me. He will help me. He will deliver me.

Gratitude for David’s Prayer

Thank you, David. Thank you that you recorded this prayer, that you prayed many times, that you consolidated for our understanding, for our instruction, under the power of the Holy Spirit, that we can learn how to seek the face of our God.

Personal Application

So, as we think about this, I want to just ask you to think about your anxieties. What anxiety do you have that you need to present before God? Present it. Let Him hear your voice, speak particularly to Him, your fear, your anxieties. What confession do you want to make to God? Perhaps He’s shown you a greater picture of Himself, even by this contemplation of His word. Confess your faith, affirm your faith, declare your faith, sell it to others, speak it to God, speak it to yourself. Every day, confess who God is.

What divides your heart? What is it that siphons off your spiritual energy? What is it that trips you up? This you need to present before Him. Unite my heart, O God. Unite my mind. Make me a complete, whole person, seeking you with all my heart and soul. Tell God what you need. Tell your Father what you want. Tell Him why you want it. Tell Him why you’re asking. Let Him delight. And you, as His little child, as you look up in His Father’s face and you say, Abba Father, take me in your arms. Hear my cry for mercy. Comfort me. For I’m yours. I am yours.

Closing Prayer

Father, we come before you with a confession that we do not seek your face enough. Help us to learn from your word and from the experiences of the saints, the sinning saints that have gone before us, Lord. Unite our hearts, unite our minds to praise you with our whole heart, to love you with our whole being, devote ourselves to you. This is our request, Lord. This is our need. And we look to you for renewed mercy, for grace, in Jesus’ name. Amen.