Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

I GOD HEAR ME - 1-3

“Come with great power, O God, and rescue me! Defend me with your might. O God, listen to my prayer. Pay attention to my plea.” (1,2)

In his opening prayer David asks God to come and be a ‘hero’ to him. “Defend me with your ‘gib- bor’ …” or hero-like strength. In Psalm 52 he uses the word negatively in describing Doegs terrible crime: “You call yourself a hero (gibbor), do you?” Scroggie says of this opening verse: David ‘looks at his en- emies through God, and not at God through his enemies 2 .’ Prayer is an admission of human weakness that immediately attracts God’s strength and might.

“For strangers are attacking me; violent men are trying to kill me. They care nothing for God. Inter- lude [Selah]” (3)

When people care ‘nothing for God’ they have no care for the rest of mankind. The goal of the enemy is not to discomfort or discourage us but to kill us. When Jesus taught us to pray each day: “deliver us from evil” it was not a pretty formality, it was to extract us from any situation that would destroy our lives. This was life and death moment for David, it was a song-prayer of reality.

II GOD HELP ME - 4-7

“But God is my helper. The Lord is the one who keeps me alive!” (4)

The Holy Spirit has been given to the believer to be a ‘helper’ and sustainer of life. As we pray we learn to be guided and even warned by the Holy Spirit. The word ‘Counselor’ is also translated ‘helper.’ Our weakest prayer results in God’s help! • “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor (helper), who will never leave you.” (Jn. 14:16) • “But when the Father sends the Counselor (helper) as my representative–and by the Counselor I mean the Spirit–he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you.” (Jn. 14:26 • “But I will send you the Counselor (helper)–the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Fa- ther and tell you all about me.” (Jn. 15:26)

“May my enemies’ plans for evil be turned against them. Do as you promised and put an end to them.” (5)

Saul had organized an army to attack David and fulfill his evil plan but God turned the circumstances against him: “Just as Saul and his men began to close in on David and his men, an urgent message reached Saul that the Philistines were raiding Israel again. So Saul quit the chase and returned to fight the Philistines.” (1 Sam. 23:26-28) Saul’s reign of terror eventually ended because he insisted on de- stroying David.

Pro-Active Praise- 6,7

David is living under two covenant agreements and he makes offerings that fulfill the requirements of both and positions himself to receive God’s blessing and protection. 1. God’s Covenant (agreement) with Moses-

“I will sacrifice a voluntary offering to you:”(6)

Moses’ agreement with God was based upon the death of an animal and was pointing to the day the Son of God would die for our sins. The voluntary offering is described in Numbers 15: “When you finally settle in the land I am going to give you, and you want to please the Lord with burnt offering or any other offering given by fire, the sacrifice must be an animal form you flocks of sheep and goats or from your herds of cattle…this sacrifice will be very pleasing to the Lord.” (Num. 15:2,3,6) When we are in trouble we are reminded to give thanks to God for the sacrifice of his Son.

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