Psalms 5:1-10 NLT
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by the flute.
(Written after 1 Samuel 18 when Saul tries to kill David.)
O LORD, hear me as I pray;
pay attention to my groaning.
2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
for I will never pray to anyone but you.
3 Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD.
Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
4 O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness;
you cannot tolerate the slightest sin.
5 Therefore, the proud will not be allowed to stand in your presence,
for you hate all who do evil.
6 You will destroy those who tell lies.
The LORD detests murderers and deceivers.
7 Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house;
with deepest awe I will worship at your Temple.
8 Lead me in the right path, O LORD,
or my enemies will conquer me.
Tell me clearly what to do,
and show me which way to turn.
9 My enemies cannot speak one truthful word.
Their deepest desire is to destroy others.
Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their speech is filled with flattery.
10 O God, declare them guilty
Verse 3 ‘....I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.’
A time of expecting an event is so exciting. Although when we talk of expecting most times our minds go to babies, but that need not always be the case. It can just as easily be a holiday, a present, a new job, even that special phone call!
Babies of course are special, the birth of a baby heralds much more than whether the room should be painted blue of pink, there is the expectation in the eye of the parents of the potential of their beautiful child.
A Life of Expectation
Psalm 5 is very beautiful. It speaks of the life and existence of a child of God under the care and authority of the Lord. Here the role is reversed, it is the expectation of the child to the Father. Certainly expectation is a two way thing! (V3) ‘In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.’ It’s not that God only hears in the morning, He doesn’t have a morning and evening! That’s simply the expression of David, looking forward to God’s involvement in his life. It was David that was laying his agenda for that day before the Lord, It was David that woke and at that time saw not just a beautiful sunrise, but another day of potential problems from Saul. If you read 1 Samuel 18, this was the time when the Spirit of the Lord was withdrawn from Saul and as one commentator said, when there is a spiritual void, the devil loves to fill it.
But where was David coming from in all of this. He was the one who Samuel had chosen from all his brothers and had anointed him, yet all the anointing had achieved so far was the dispatch of Goliath, the adulation of the people and the anger of Saul. - There was much more to this anointing, more than one brief battle! Expectation is the exciting bit, waiting is the frustration.
Have you ever stood in a queue and found that it is always the queue next to you that moves the quickest? Then you change lanes!!!
Not waiting - just confidence.
We’re always in a hurry, always want the event instantly. Here in the Psalm the emphasis seems not to be so much on the waiting and impatience but it seems to emphasise David’s total dependence on God. ‘I .... wait in expectation,’ His emphasise is not so much on time as on the person he was waiting for. His God, the one he had total dependence upon! Sometime we can move with great agitation from queue to queue or lane to lane. Actually we have no control over the results, that’s in the hands of the teller or the traffic officer etc.
Throughout the scriptures the emphasis is not having all the answers and the timetable laid out before the person concerned. Timetable put to one side - faith rising to the surface of personal belief, in a God who is able. It would have been rather daunting if Noah realised he had 120 years of work ahead of him before the ark would be finished. ----! For us in this fast-lane world, we need to learn to wait on Him. There needs to be the same absolute certainty that he knows us, loves us, cares for us. Have the confidence in Him to know that our God is totally dependable! (Isaiah 64:4) ‘Since ancient times no-one has heard, no ear perceived, no eye has seen any God beside you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.’
Our Expectations in a messed up world.
The deceptions which Satan brings to this world is both frightening and sad. Of men and women who will readily give themselves over to gods and idols that are dead and unable to bring real life. The increase of godless religions and the dedication of so many to them is so sad. That alone ought to make the church of Jesus Christ sit up and look, ought to make us stop the silly squabbles which have divided, ought to make us reject that which is false and have an undivided mind for the things of God. - The words of Isaiah will be proved right in the long run; (Isaiah 64:4) ‘no eye has seen any God beside you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.’
Paul is presumed to have quoted Isaiah when he wrote to the Corinthians, (1 Corinthians 2:9) ‘However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"’ Therein lies the trouble of so many who are unwilling to see or to hear what God is saying to them. Blind eyes and stopped ears are the curse of so many who want instant access to the Father. How many time must God show the way and speak directions into their ears which frankly they refuse to either see or to hear because of their own agendas.
Don’t be deceived by your own false timetables, nor by the claims of those who worship false gods. Wait expectantly for our God. Live in his promises and be sure that He will move in your life! (Isaiah 8:17) ‘I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.’ They were in a place that they could not see God no evidence of Him being active on their behalf, but their trust was still in Him. - Go the NT and see the story of Simeon. He was an old man, a man who had the touch of God on his life and the promise of God in his heart. He would not die until he saw the Messiah. (Luke 2:29) ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, now dismiss your servant in peace.’
How confidant are you in God? - Very personal, you may have lost confidence in people who you should have respect in and for but God will never let you down, if you are faithful to Him.
Oral Roberts used to use a chorus that some detested, ‘Expect a miracle every day, Expect a miracle when you pray, If you expect it God will find a way, To perform a miracle for you each day.’ - Expectations may be high and in the right place but there are still times of waiting for His answer! Even when things seemingly go wrong, as His children we can still trust-delight-commit our ways to Him. He is our firm foundation!
(Ps 37:3-7) ‘Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your ways to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when
they carry out their wicked schemes. (Psa 5:12) For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with favour as with a shield.
