Psalm 5: Start with Surrender (Featuring music by Hannah Yoo)

[Music] [Laughter] Well, hello and welcome to the Pastor Patrick podcast. My name is Patrick Daly and I am the pastor of Ontario Community Church. I'd like to welcome you to this podcast. If this is your first time, no matter who you are, where you are, or when you're listening to this, or where you're watching this, I'd like to warmly welcome you to this podcast. This podcast has just been kind of a way of really just expanding the ministry and having this as an extension of Ontario Community Church and also going just deeper in the word of God.

We've been going over the book of Psalms, going through one chapter each week. We are today we're going over Psalm five. And so that's going to be a very exciting psalm as we're going through. This psalm is known as the morning prayer. And today we're going to have we're going to feature a song by Hannah Yu.

Her song Into Your Hands. So I'm very excited about that as well. And the theme for this day is about starting the day with prayer and confidence in God's justice and mercy. It is the knowing that God is constant in our lives and that God is always there for us and he is good. He is a good God.

He is holy. He is just and he is righteous and God extends mercy for us. And so it's just wonderful to be here today and I hope that for those of you who are watching or listening that you had a great Easter or for that is a celebration that you do. I hope you had time to uh really just reflect on the reason, right? The reason for the season.

I know that's a Christmas thing, but thinking about resurrection Sunday, that is the essence of our faith. When we think of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have to consider the fact that Jesus is risen and he is not here. One of the things that I went over in the sermon on Sunday is this fact that Jesus walks alongside us every day and comes with us where we are at. So, not only does God extend an invitation in our lives, but he also walks alongside us and he calls for us to the table of plenty as it were. And it's just kind of a wonderful time when we think about that resurrection Sunday or that Easter Sunday.

So, it's just a really exciting Sunday that um I got to spend with my family, the church congregation, and also I got to open in a word of prayer at Grace Assisted Living. So, it was just a wonderful uh wonderful time and celebration. And all that to say that I hope that you had a great Easter as well or a great Sunday um whatever it is you do or celebrate. And so let's go ahead and open in a word of prayer and we'll go ahead and read from God's word. Read Psalm 5 and then we'll just get right on to it.

As always, we use the OIA method, observation, interpretation, and application. So let's begin in a word of prayer together. Dear Lord and heavenly father, we are so grateful for you sending your son Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. that you changed the course of history by sending your son, the word made flesh. We're grateful for the salvation that is offered through Jesus Christ, the invitation that is sent to everyone, and also the fact that Jesus Christ meets us where we are and allows for us to not only know him, to be saved, receive the gift of salvation through belief, but also to journey with him.

And I pray, Father, for everyone who is watching and everyone who is listening to the podcast today. I pray that no matter where they are or where they're at at life's journey, may they be on a journey to know your son, Jesus Christ, to receive that free gift of salvation. And upon that salvation, may they grow in you. May they be on a spiritual journey of learning what it means to live and love like your son, Jesus. And we pray and I pray, Father, that everyone will be moved to grow more, but also be moved to act right to live out the faith and engage culture, engage the community or engage church through service or whatever that looks like for each individual person.

And I pray, Father, that you bless this time as we are going through this Psalm 5, this morning prayer. Just bless this time. And I pray for every listener. I pray for every person that is watching or viewing that you that they know that they are loved by you. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray and we all say together, amen.

And so I'm going to I got my Bible here. Uh we've been reading through the NIV version just kind of just a you know, you can read from whatever translation that you wish and we'll go ahead and get started here. So it starts off in Psalm 5. It's I love how um sometimes you have little footnotes. It says for the director of music for pipes, a psalm of David.

So it says, "Listen to my words, Lord. Consider my lament. Hear my cry for help, my king and my God. For to you I pray. In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice.

In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness. With you evil people are not welcome. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong.

You destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful. Um the bloodthirsty and deceitful you Lord detest. But I by your great love can come into your house. In reverence I bow down toward your holy temple.

Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness. Because of my enemies, make your way straight before me. Not a word from their mouth can be trusted. Their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave.

That's a really descriptive language, right? With their tongues they tell lies. Declare them guilty, oh God. Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you be glad. Let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Surely Lord, you bless the righteous. You surround them with your favor as a shield.

And that is Psalm 5. I'm going to take a sip real quick here. But it's a beautiful psalm that we're reading, right? Where he's saying here, the the psalmist, right, David is saying to listen to my words, right? Listen to my lament.

And he is bringing he's making his requests known to the Lord. One of the things that's very very um important for us as Christians is to recognize that we are to come forth to the Lord. Whether in in every season of our life, right? Whether it is a lament or it's it's a request, a cry for help, whatever it is, coming to the Lord in prayer, coming into his presence and seeking him is critical. It's so important for us.

And David is bringing f forth his requests, his deep inner groanings as it were, right? How many of us we've groaned to the Lord before. But there are times and I think it's very important for us to know that it's not just asking God for things, but it's also letting the Lord hear your pain or whatever it is you are going through. You know, in life, there's a lot of situations that we all go through. It's not uh situations.

Life happens not only to the Christians but to every single one of us. And it's how we are going to respond. And for us as Christians, we can respond by going to the Lord in prayer. Prayer is simply it is not a performance. It is us coming to him in his presence as we are in our current state, in our current situation and in our current circumstance.

Right? It is the desire of our heart to reach out in communication to him. An example that I like to think of is how um we have our cell phones in in our hands, right? We have all of these um text messages and emails and ways to communicate and ways to be connected with other people. When you think about it, if you want to call your friend or your family member or whoever it is, they're literally just a phone call away and they answer the call and and they're able to talk to you.

And in the same way, we don't need a cell phone. We don't need technology. We don't need emails to communicate with God that it's kind of like a spiritual cell phone as it were. We have the ability to connect with the living God. God is not a dead God.

He is living. He is active. And he is here with us. God is right. He's omnipotent.

He is omnipresent. Just meaning that God is transcends all of time and space. And he's there for us. And we can reach out to him. We can pray to him with our intentions and the desires of our hearts, our groaning, so to speak.

Even a time, maybe there's a time for you to just be thankful to the Lord, right? It doesn't always have to be lamenting. It can be gratefulness. It can be gratitude. It can be thankfulness.

There's so many ways in which we can pray for others with praying for healing, praying for transformation, sometimes praying for intervention as well. And so that's kind of that first beginning part where it says, right, listen to my words, Lord. Consider my lament. Hear my cry for help, my king and my God. For you I pray.

And David is recognizing here, right? As David has cried out to the Lord. I mean, that's the premise of Psalms, right? Where we're seeing cries, right? Laments.

Um, it's it's reaching the raw human emotions that David is experiencing. Hear my cry, Lord, right? He's acknowledging that God is king, right? He is the ruler of all, but also my God, the Lord and Creator, right? For you, I pray.

What a wonderful recognition of the power of who God is. That leads us into verse three where it says, "In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning, I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly." What's so interesting about this is we've gone over Psalm 3 and in Psalm 4. Right? Um I'm going to turn over there for a second here.

Right? In Psalm 3, we were going over Psalm 3:5. I lie down and sleep and I wake up again because the Lord sustains me. where we were talking about the sustenance of who God is. And then in Psalm 4, it was the same thing.

Um where it was talking about in verse um Psalm 4:8, in peace I lie down and sleep for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. So those were more towards the evening, right? The idea that David was going to sleep despite all of the uh wickedness that was going on, enemies that were going up against him, right? And here we're talking about the morning, like the next day as it were, where it's saying, "In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice." Right? In the morning, I lay my requests before you, showing the devotion that David has for the Lord.

Right? It's an intentional rhythm. Now, for some of us, I know we live in this culture where it's kind of hard to be in a rhythm with constant uh text notifications, right? Or or friend requests or messages, whatever it is. But we can still use technology or even just uh standard uh discipline, right?

Disciplining ourselves to be a to be intentionally in prayer to the Lord. And that's that's between you and the Lord on uh it's a question that you can ask yourself is how is your prayer life? And you know, how's that going? Do when is the last time you've prayed? You know, do you pray um every day?

Is it once a week? Maybe the Lord is saying, "Hey, you need to start praying, you know, when you can." Or maybe you're the kind of person that identifies with being able to pray all the time. You know, there's a um a family that I I know of really well who they pray all the time, right? They play they pray in the morning, they pray before their meals, they pray in the evening, showing their devotion and dedication, and that's their conviction. That's how they connect with the Lord.

And um all of this to say that what your rhythm is is entirely up to you, right? But be intentional when you are praying to God, right? And it's saying here, right, that D, it's showing that David is starting his day with prayer, right? Trusting that God will respond, right? What it says in the morning, I lay my request before you and wait expectantly, right?

It's knowing that God is going to um be there for him and to trust that God is going to respond. And and that's that's really um that's devotion to the Lord. when we ask the Lord or we're praying to the Lord, it's kind you've you've probably heard this before um that God answers prayer in three different ways. He might say yes, he might say no, he might say not yet. And one I know one of the most uh frustrating things for us when we do pray is when God is saying not yet, right?

When we're having to wait upon the Lord for his answer, right? Um and God's saying not yet, but I'm going to answer it pretty soon here, right? or we're waiting for the yes or even we're waiting for the no. It's that waiting that sometimes can be um very difficult for us, but it's certainly um important for us to know that God will respond in his own timing, right? And so, look, this isn't random.

This is showing again David's devotion, his dedication to the Lord, right? It's um kind of his uh structure for the day, right? And it's this expectation that God will respond. And it's an expectation that we can have for the Lord that he God being constant will answer our prayers, right? And it's kind of a a consideration that you can think about that how do you begin your day?

Do you begin with prayer or do you not? I mean, uh there's not a wrong answer here, but it might be something for you to reflect on, right? And perhaps if you would like to have a challenge, maybe you could start um in the morning praying and and maybe thinking intentionally when do you pray? For some people, it might not be in the morning cuz you're just uh getting up and getting ready and out the door. For others, it might be the first thing in the morning.

I'm going to reflect and thank God. I'm going to make my requests known to him. I'm going to um have this uh sense of gratitude. Whatever it is, it might be that. It might be in the morning.

It might not be. It might be in the middle of the day when you're at your lunch break at work. Or it might be at the end of the day when you're putting the kids to sleep and they finally fall asleep and you have time to pray. Whatever that may be. Uh I know that's very specific cuz that's not what I do, right?

Um but that's it. It really just depends on you specifically, right? Um so think about for this next week, how do you start your morning, right? um do you start getting out of bed immediately or do you lay there letting your requests be known to God? It's up to you to decide and that's between you and God.

And so when we think about this, right, we're going on into that um um let's see, I mean, for you are not a God who is um pleased with wickedness, right? With you evil people are not welcome. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. Right? And and we we think about this, right?

Where we know that God doesn't like evil, right? Um it says here when I'm saying uh let's see, you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness with you. Evil people are not welcome, right? And when we think about this idea of wickedness or those who are in darkness or those who are in sin, God does not he doesn't delight in evil or in evildoers. Right?

When we think of um when God opposes the proud, right, he opposes the arrogant lies and and bloodshed as it's talking about in this context here, we can think for a moment that it's this idea that evil will not prevail. Now, when we're looking at us as Christians, we can think for a moment, well, amen. God wants us to have new life and to be fully restored unto him, right? To be um justified, right? to receive salvation and to be saved by grace through faith.

And there's also the idea that we continue to grow. We continue to be transformed by the word, by God's molding of us and knowing that God is going to and and this is part of divine sovereignty and human responsibility that we are to be molded, right? We are to continue to respond to God changing us every single day. And that's not to say that God cannot mold you by an event. He certainly can and he certainly does.

But it's knowing that when we think of evil and wickedness and sin, so to speak, that God does not um delight in it. So David is finding comfort in knowing this idea that evil will not prevail. And it's kind of one of the truths that we find in scripture, right? One of the truths that we find in this Bible. And it's a reality that when we have people that are doing wicked things, whether it's bloodshed, whether it's lies or deceit or arrogance, like I'm mentioning here, is that we think of this idea that they will reap what they sow, right?

And that's kind of a scary thing, right? It's a very like heavy thing for us to think about, but it's it's actually comforting knowing that those that are doing wrong, right? God's not going to delight in that. It's not going to prevail, right? Um, when we think of people who are doing the wrong thing, eventually it'll get back to them.

And it might not even be on this earth. It might be in well, their eternal life, their eternal consideration, so to speak. And it's just um I find it very comforting when we think of or when I think of people who are wicked, right? Those are those that are evil that God is not going to again, he's not going to delight in it. He is not going to let evil prevail.

Because as we just celebrated Easter, it is this idea that Christ is victorious over death, right? He is victorious over sin. Showing that the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is is showing this idea. It's the fulfillment of scripture. showing that um our Lord and our God reigns supreme over all and showing that just as Christ died for our sins, we can receive that salvation for us.

And that's why we share in the gospel, that's why we share in the good news of it, knowing that the word became flesh, that God sent his son down, right? It's the famous John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten or his only son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And it's showing that there's hope in God that you don't have to go into darkness or or go into evil, but rather you can go to the light. Right?

When we think of Christ's um when he says he is the way, the truth, and the life, that God is providing a way, right? that God is providing truth and life for us, eternal life for us, so to speak. And it's just uh it's definitely a lot in that. It takes us then into verse 7, right? So, well, excuse me.

We have verse four. You are a God who's not pleased with wicked. With you, evil people are not welcome. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence, right? Knowing that God convicts us, right?

God can convict the evil people as well. Um you hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lie, the bloodthirsty and deceitful. You Lord detest, but I by your great love can come into your house. I in reverence I bow down towards your holy temple.

Now we can think of the idea of the physical temple, right? Where you're wanting to be in the presence of the Lord in the Jewish context. But when we think of this idea for us as Christians, it's a welcoming invitation that by God's great love, we can enter his dwelling place. We can enter his temple, so to speak. We can come into his house.

And in reverence, right, cuz think about it, when David is saying, "In reverence, I bow down toward your holy temple," he's showing this sense of reverence to God, thanking God, and knowing about his justice and his mercy. Right? Because God is a just God, but he also is merciful and loving by extending the invitation for us when we think of today for us to respond to the invitation. We can say yes or no to the invitation much like how we can say yes or no to any invitation for that matter. It's just like when you get a um a letter in the mail, right?

You get the envelope, you open it, and are you going to go to the birthday party or not? Are you going to go to the feast or not, so to speak? It's very real and and very um human, right? We can identify, we can uh relate to those kind of things, right? And so we think of God's love, we also think we think of those that know the Lord and we also think of the wicked, the ones who have rejected the Lord, right?

Those that have evil in their hearts, right? David knows that he is welcomed. He's welcomed to the house. He is welcomed to the temple. He is welcome to God's presence and the wicked are not.

And so when we think for us as Christians, it's those who have responded to God's call, right? God's invitation for salvation, God's call for our life. The wicked, on the other hand, have not responded and they have rejected the Lord. And that's kind of the thing that we have to think about is there are people who are yet to believe who may not have heard of the gospel, but then there are those here we're talking about people that they have evil in their heart and they've blatantly rejected. They love their evil more than they love God.

They love darkness more than they love light kind of thing. And so what's also interesting is that David is referencing here that God's love is not by his own merit. And that's something that's very important, right? That God is extending his mercy and love to him, right? Um, and we can think for us today on how, you know, in Christianity, it's not about what you do.

And I know there's other different faith traditions and and even different denominations that kind of go by this notion that it's about the things that you have to do, how many prayers you say, what direction you pray in, etc., etc. Um but in Christianity it more has to do with what has been done for you. And what has been done for you is God sending his son Jesus Christ, right? Performing miracles, teaching in parables, right? Um walking on water, right?

Um turning water into wine. But most importantly, the fulfillment of prophecy, talking about his death, burial, and resurrection, the three days, right? um that when we talk about Holy Week, which is such a really important time where um we think of Palm Sunday, we think of the last supper or um Monday Thursday, right? We think of um uh Good Friday where he is crucified. There is uh I think it's called Holy Thursday or excuse me, Holy Saturday where he's buried and then Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday where Christ is risen, right?

He is not here. He is risen. let's go tell the world the good news kind of thing. And it's just kind of a wonderful thing in that. Um but all of this is to show the consistency of God that he is just, but he is also love.

So there's um it's kind of it can be hard for us to understand because a lot of us either gravitate to um God being a just God and the wicked are going to they're going to have it coming. But there's also the other side where God is love and he loves everybody but somehow there is a balance between these kind of two um aspects these two um pieces of who God is. It's much like how we as Christians are to balance this idea of grace and truth. Right? We have the grace from God, right?

The love of God and the truth of his word. That's something that I preach all the time, but it's something that's very important for us, right? Um and so wanting to know in in this, I hope that this encourages you to think for a moment that how important it is for you to recognize that God loves you. And it's the question of if you're going to respond to the invitation or not, right? Have you responded to that?

Maybe you haven't, right? And I pray that all of you, right, um those who are listening, whether you've been a Christian all your life, that um your relationship with God is good. And if you don't know the Lord, I pray that you come to know him, knowing that it's about believing in the Lord and being saved, right? It's not about what we do. It doesn't even matter who you are or what you've been through.

What matters is that you believe in Jesus Christ specifically right it's 1 Corinthians um 15:es 1-4 believing in the death burial and resurrection of Christ that is the most um important thing that is the fundamental that's the foundation of our faith that we have got to consider right and so I challenge for you come to the Lord sometime during the day right whether that's in the morning or at night in reverence and in gratitude for who God is that he loves you, that he made you, right? Um we know that in scripture where it talks about um knitting together in our mother's womb, right? Or we think of how um God knew us before we were born, which is kind of a wild thing. What does that mean to be uh be known before we're born? But also the fact that um God knows who you are, that you're made in the image of God.

And it's a call for you to respond. Whether that means responding to the invitation for the first time and receiving that gift of salvation or even for some of us who might have been hurt. For some of us who might have um felt distance, we might have been hurt by the church, we might have been hurt by people. It's a great reminder for us to know and and I I hope that through this study of Psalms, we recognize that God does not fail you. man will fail you.

We I'm not perfect. Nobody is perfect. But God on the other hand, he is constant. He will never fail you. And that's just a a remarkable uh attribute of who God is.

And this leads us now into that verse 8 where it's saying, "Lead me, Lord, in in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before me." Right? when it's talking about um where David is asking for uh direction, right? He's not asking um for a way of escape, but he's asking for alignment as it were, right? Um and and when we have our own um our own enemies, our own struggles or our own battles, whether that's literally like like it's mentioned before, thousands are rising up against David, right?

knowing that David's trusting in God despite all of the enemies. We have our own battles. We have our own struggles. We have our own moments and and and things that just happen in life that's just, you know, we have the good and the bad and and even the ugly at times. And it's a good prayer right there in the verse, right?

Lead me Lord in your righteousness, right? Uh because of my enemies or it could be because of my battles or because of my struggles, right? Make your way straight before me. Asking God for direction. When is the last time you have asked God for direction in your life?

Something definitely to think about, right? And when enemies surround you, when there are storms in life, when there are the valleys of life, when you're going through a dry season, a spiritually dry season. I pray that never happens. But whether you're going through any of these kind of things, seeking God, right, and seeking the comfort that comes from him is so remarkable. We should look for God's path and God's clarity and God's direction, knowing that no matter what happens to us, no matter what people say or even what people do, it's not going to change the love that God has for us.

knowing that God is there with us. And that's just it's powerful when we think about it, right? And and then that leads us into um verse verse nine here. Not a word from their mouth can be trusted. Right?

We think of wicked people, those that have done us wrong. You don't want to trust what they're saying. Their heart is filled with malice. Right? And I I love when it's saying um this this next one where their throat is an open grave, right?

Very descriptive language, right? With their tongues they tell lies. You know, when we think of those that are lying, you don't you don't trust them, right? You don't trust their words, right? And when they're saying their mouths is an open grave, it's like everything that comes out of it is death, right?

And I think I think it's in Proverbs where it says uh death death and life are in the power of the tongue, right? And it's or it might be James. It's it's I know it's found throughout scripture, but the idea is that, you know, we have to think about not only the words we speak to other, right? We think about the words we speak, the actions that we do, but also the power of words that get directed at us, right? When you have um you know the naysayers, the mockers, right?

People that uh make fun of you, people that are discouraging you on your um your journey in life, but also your your your walk with Christ kind of thing. That's another thing for us us to think about, right? Um, so maybe in this it might be good to be mindful of who it is you're listening to or what it is you're listening to. Um, that could be from music and and you know it's not you can listen to whatever you want but it's just being mindful of what it is you are listening to, what it is you're consuming cuz let's face it, especially here in the United States, we live in a very um consumer mindseted um culture, right? And so, yeah, it's it's we have to be careful of who it is we listen to.

Are they um building us up and encouraging us? Are they challenging us or are they intent are they wicked and trying to bring us down and and and bring us to the lowest point kind of thing. Which then takes us into verse 10 here, right? Um declare them guilty, oh Lord. Let their um intrigues be their downfall.

Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you. Right? And we're we're talking about the the nature of the wicked, right? The destructive nature of the wicked, right? And and that David is trusting God.

And this is a challenge. The the ability to trust in God to he's going to do what he's going to do regarding the wicked. And not taking revenge is oh man, that's a tough one because there's a lot of us here when someone does wrong to us, we want to take revenge. Um, but yet when Christ says to turn the other cheek, that's very countercultural even today back then as it is now. And it's the same thing of God handling enemies, right?

God handling the wicked people, right? Um, banish them for their many sins. So, I mean, it could even be a prayer where saying like, "Hey, look, um, God, I I'm going to trust that you're going to take care of my enemies kind of thing. They have rebelled against you." So, that's kind of an interesting thing, right? And it's kind of knowing that when people are rising up against you, ask God for comfort, but also it's all right to pray to God for his justice to prevail, right?

Um and pray for changed hearts, right? Pray that the wicked can have a um a metaninoia moment, right? The changing of mind or a metamorphosis, right? Right? We think of that word metamorphosis, the changing of the heart, the changing of the mind to see their wicked ways.

That's that's a prayer that um praying for your enemies is not a very common thing. Let alone um trusting in God to take care of uh justice and not us seeking revenge is a very difficult thing for sure. It's it's yeah, it's not an easy thing with that. And this leads us then into verse 11. Let all who take refuge in you be glad.

Let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them that those who love your name may rejoice in you. And that final verse, surely Lord, you bless the righteous. You surround them with your favor as with a shield. Right?

And so there is joy that comes from those who trust in the Lord, right? We can think of the peace that surpasses all understanding. Look, when we know the Lord, when we believe in him, the death, burial, and resurrection, we receive salvation from him. But that's not the only thing that we receive from him. The, for example, when the Apostle Paul is saying, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It's learning the ability to persevere through the highs and lows in life, right?

Or when we when scripture talks about the peace that surpasses all understanding that I mean a peace that is beyond all human understanding right those people that they have a sense of calm there's something about them that some even if something tragic happened to them there's that peace right um or the joy from the Lord right knowing that again there's something about them that you're just you know there's something different about them. Right? So, when it's saying in here, there is joy for those who trust in the living God. That's something that's so important, right? It's something that's so beautiful in that even in hardship, even in seasons of pain or in suffering, right?

We can trust in the living God and we can rejoice in his covering, right? Knowing that God is there with us. In that verse 12, then God is God's promise of blessing. Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous and you surround them with your favor as with a shield. And what's so interesting, it it it's speaking of the protection of the righteous, right?

The protection of David, right? The protection of those that love the Lord, right? When we think of this um in previous psalms where David is feeling overwhelmed by the wickedness and surrounding of his of enemies that are rising up um we can think in the same way that God is going to surround us and protect us kind of thing right um you surround them with your favor as a shield right that language here is that a surrounding favor what an interesting choice of words that the blessing that we receive receive from God, right? It may not change the situation, but it's knowing that um it changes us in how we respond to the circumstance. And that's kind of an interesting thing.

It's something that um because we think that God's favor means it's going to change the situation. It may not always be the case, but our ability to handle these situations, that's where it's at. And that's something that is really remarkable. You bless the righteous, right? And that blessing we can think of spiritual blessing, right?

Like I was mentioning the peace that surpasses all understanding, our ability to rejoice in the Lord. And then also knowing that God, he surrounds us, right? That God's favor is with us. And we are transformed in our ability to handle people, situations, and circumstances. And that's not the only thing, right?

It's it's continue inner transformation so that we can become more like him. Going from darkness to light, right? And and just knowing that we are that work in progress. And we should live if you know the Lord, right? Live knowing that God is surrounding you.

He is covering you, right? We think of his presence being there with us, right? Um but maybe you have lived a life where you think that someone is covering you that's not of God. Well, there's a more powerful surrounding. There's a more powerful presence and that's in the living God.

And so as you pray, as you connect with the Lord, I want for you to rejoice in the Lord, right? Be glad, thank him. Know that God comforts us. God is there for us, right? Um when we go to sleep and in the morning, we should thank him.

We should have this sense of gratitude, but we should also rejoice in God's protection and God's blessing. And so that's just something that is really powerful. Absolutely powerful. And and you know, we've been going through this Psalm 5. This is the observation portion of the text.

And we're now going to go ahead and shift over to the psalm the song into your hands by Hannah Yu. And you know Psalm 5, it is kind of showing David's surrender to God, right? That David doesn't he doesn't wait until life gets calm, right? He is seeking God. He is starting his day by laying there.

Right? You can imagine him laying in bed before the Lord and trusting that God will hear him and respond. And we should have that kind of faith that we can lay and and we should lay and be able to trust that and know, not just trust, but have the sense of knowing that God is there for us and he's going to respond accordingly. And so this song by Hannah Yu is a song that captures the heart of David's surrender in a simple and yet in a reverent manner. It's called Into Your Hands.

And when she sings this song, she uses the lyric, "All I am is yours." And I think about David's heart, right? When it's mentioning in that um in that verse three, in the morning, Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. Right? That's very powerful.

Right? Where David is praying, where David is waiting expectantly and trusting in God with everything that he is. And that man, that's where it's at. And so as you listen to yourself, ask yourself this question. Listen to the words, listen to the melodies, the chord progressions, all these things.

and ask what do what do I need to place into God's hands today? Is it a situation? Is it a circumstance? That's a question for you. So again, what do I need to place into God's hands today?

So I'm going to go ahead and play this song into your hands by Hannah U. [Music] Narrow is the way. Keeping my heart close to you, I will go my own way to the mountain of me. [Music] Holy in all things in all things. It is my offering.

Offering [Music] into your hands. I commit. Hold is yours into your hands. I commit. All I yours preious to you is a heart of obedience.

[Music] I will keep my way pure. There's a fountain [Music] so deep in all things. in all things. It is my [Music] offering. Into your hands I commit.

[Music] All I yours is to your hands. I commit. All I yours into your hands I commit. All I am is yours into I make it. All I am is yours.

Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat.

Heat. [Music] for you. I [Music] heartship you into your hands. I commit again. All I am is yours.

[Music] into your hands. I commit again. All I am is yours. [Music] All right. Well, welcome back.

That was a beautiful song by Hannah U, the song Into Your Hands. Um, I'm going to put uh Hannah U's uh social um down in the description of the podcast and also those who are watching as well. Um, it's just beautiful music and beautiful lyrics. And I definitely love when it's saying, you know, um, I will go to the mountain of my holiness in all things, right? Into your hands I commit again.

All I am is yours. So just remarkable um lyrics when we're thinking of David, right? when he's um talking about just kind of his dedication to the Lord when we're when we're thinking about that. I'm I'm going through my notes right now. Um but it's just this idea, right, about David's heart, right, where he is laying there, where he's praying and waiting expectantly for God to respond in his own time.

And so I think that's just something that is uh remarkable. Um, you can again you can check out Hannah on her Instagram and uh if you choose to follow and stream her music just let her know that she was featured here on the Pastor Patrick podcast and Hannah if you are listening to this really loved your songs and and and the or your song and the lyrics and um definitely just beautiful um raw emotions towards that. And you know, that's something that's really good when we're thinking about uh the psalms, right? Is that a lot of them were turned into songs, right? They were used with uh their instruments, their um their symbols and all all the things with that.

And it's just really good to see that there is such um musicians today that are dedicated to the Lord and and they want to kind of offer their gifts and their abilities um in dedication and in service to the Lord. So, uh, yeah, once again, if you want to check her out, I'll have, um, her social, uh, down in the description. And we'll just go ahead now at this time, go into the interpretation part of the Pastor podcast, um, Pastor Patrick podcast. And, you know, what's so interesting is what I like to do for my sermons and for podcasts such as this is this idea that um, kind of going over the observation is going over the text. what is going on initially, right?

What can we see right away, right? And we consider the context and the connections, right? Uh the surrounding passages and how is this connected with other verses in scripture. We then go into the interpretation is what are the lessons that we can learn as Christians or what are just lessons that we can integrate in our life, right? And then finally is the application is how do we live this out, right?

Because we have to know the text. We've got to learn the lessons and grow spiritually, but we've got to be moved to act and live out our faith as ambassadors for Christ, putting on the new self, living and loving like Jesus Christ. So, we're going to go ahead and go into the interpretation. So, what are the lessons that we can learn here? Well, the first thing is that when we're thinking about prayer or in this case, morning prayer, it's not necessarily about the routine.

It's about getting connected with the Lord, right? It's about that spiritual alignment, right? Where it said in verse three here where it said, "In the morning, you hear my voice. In the morning, I lay my requests before you, right? I pray, right?

I I take that time before you and wait expectantly." Right? Waiting upon the Lord knowing that he will deliver in his time, right? So David is intentionally beginning the day with God and not um and in this case not his problems right he well I guess he is going with his problems right it it's basically instead of what I what I mean instead of panicking right instead of freaking out and instead of um planning it's taking a moment to pause reflect and pray to the Lord that's what I mean by that right the second thing that is that God delights in righteousness and not in ritual. Right? And it's kind of this idea, we find it a lot in Psalms, we find it a lot through scripture, is that e those people who are wicked and those who are evil may think that they have won, but in the end they will fail, right?

And it is knowing that evil, right, they think they've got it. They think they they look powerful for a season, but it will not last in the eyes of God because God is just and he is merciful. It is knowing that those that are wicked, they can have a change of mind, a change of heart, much like how it says in scripture, create in me a new heart, right? Um we can pray for God to create in us a new heart. And we can pray for the softening of the heart of those that are wicked.

We can pray for the changing of mind for the those that are wicked to see their evil ways and to go out of the darkness into the light. So that's very powerful, right? Um so that's a big thing is our dedication to the Lord. It's not about what we do, it's about what has been done. The third thing is that we can approach God by his love and his mercy.

Right? It's not our merit, right? It's not about what we do. Um but it's about what has been done in verse 7. But I by your great love can come into your house in reverence.

I bow down toward your holy temple. Right? It it's knowing about God's love for us and and when we think of it today, the lesson that you can learn is that you can approach God's love and mercy. It's not and I I'm how many times am I going to say this? It's not about what you do.

It's about what's been done for you, receiving the gift of salvation, right? Um, and that's we think of uh, right? God's faithful covenant love, right? You don't earn it, right? You don't earn the ticket, so to speak.

You receive it. That's why when we consider salvation, it is the free gift of salvation. Something that is freely given. It's the question of will you receive it or not. The next thing is that David does not want uh he doesn't just want to escape.

He wants to walk rightly with God. Right? And for a lot of us, we have situations where we want we want to escape immediately. But in that we have to ask him much like how David did. Lead me Lord in your righteousness.

Make your way straight before me. Right? So, it's not just praying for comfort in those crazy times in life, but it's also praying to be in line with the Lord, letting him mold you and transform you continually, making you more holy. And that that's a beautiful thing, right? And the the next thing then is that those who trust in the Lord, right?

those, you know, we think of um it's it's in a later psalm where it says uh there are some that trust in chariots, right? Talking about military strength. That's a big common thing that we see um in scripture. But it's also, you know, recognizing that we can find refuge, safety, and security in God. It's not trusting in things that are created.

It's not trusting in our own strength. It's not trusting in the strength of armies. It's not trusting even um in the things that we as human beings can accomplish, but placing our trust that which is above us, that which is higher, right? And so it says, "Those who take refuge in God find joy even in the midst of chaos, right? Even in the midst of chaos, we can find that safety in God." We think of verse 11 here.

Let all who take refuge in you be glad. Let them ever sing for joy and spread your protection over them that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Do you love the name of Jesus? Do you love the name of God? Right?

That's the kind of thing. And asking to spread protection over them, right? We certainly should pray for um our brothers and sisters in Christ that they are protected, right? In the same way. And so let all who take refuge and be glad.

We think of the fact about joy, right? We think of that peace that surpasses all understanding, knowing that you're covered by the God who is faithful, the God who can be trusted, the one who is faithful and true. And so those are the lessons, right? Those are the interpretations. What does that mean for us today, right?

And finally, we go into how do we live this out, right? All right. So, we're talking about uh the morning prayer and that God is delighting in righteousness and how we can come to the Lord as we are and be transformed by him and that uh God wants us to walk rightly with him, to walk alongside with him, as he's willing to walk with us. And those who take refuge find joy in the peace that surpasses all understanding. So, what do I do with this?

Well, the first thing is that um be intentional, right? As you start your day or or throughout the day, be intentional with how you pray, right? Um with how you pray to the Lord. And in in this psalm, it's talking specifically about the morning. So, maybe that is for you in the morning to pray to the Lord, right?

It's this idea that God's let God speak to God first. Don't worry about the world. Don't worry about what's going on in social media or all the crazy things that's going on in the news, right? Maybe what you could do is set five minutes, three to five minutes of praying to the Lord and laying out your heart before God, right? Give him your stress.

Give him your burdens, right? And your hopes, your desires, or what you're thankful or thankful for. That's important, right? And it's kind of this idea it it's just intentionally taking time for prayer. The next thing is stop trying to be worthy, right?

Go to the Lord and know what he has done for you. Right now, for even a person like me, I I I I know I'm a type A personality. I I love checking things off of the checklist and doing more. I know there's a lot of us that identify with that, but we it it's about how you approach God. Approach God boldly, right?

Think about that. Um and not because you're doing good or you're doing bad or you're doing horrible, but because God is faithful. You can come to God in whatever season in life. So whenever you feel distant or whenever you feel you're not good enough, go to the Lord. Go to him in prayer.

Take that moment. Right? The next thing is to pray for alignment. Right? That's maybe that's something you can um add to in your prayer life.

How can I align with you, God? So take time maybe this week to pray for that alignment, right? um when things are out of control, ask like what David did, God lead me, right? Trusting in him. And so we can even think of how in situations in our life where we have hard conversations, maybe take a few moments to pray before you have hard conversations.

Even if it's an interview at a job or having a hard conversation with a family member, that's a time for you to pray to the Lord. and take refuge in in God and and reclaim that joy. Right? That's another that's the next thing here. And here's the thing that I I I absolutely love when it talks about when we talk about the peace that surpasses all understanding or the inexhaustible, inexpressable joy that comes from the Lord.

Think for a moment that joy, you can be joyful when enemies are arising, when there's a storm in your life. Take advantage of that. Right? It's about the presence of God as your protector, as your rock, as your shield that you can still find joy regardless of what's happening. So take refuge in God and reclaim that joy in your life.

And so where do you take refuge in? Think about that as as you uh consider this. Do you go to your phone or do you go to God? And the final thing is well start your know God's favor. Live and declare God's favor even before you feel it.

Right? Start your day. Think of that final verse, that verse where it says in verse 12, you bless the righteous, you surround them with your favor as with a shield, right? Own it, right? Know the fact that um the Lord surrounds me with his favor.

So live that out knowing that God is surrounding you, right? Own it. Know that God is with you. Even if you don't feel it, know that the presence of God is with you. The Lord surrounds me with his favor like a shield.

That's something that is incredibly powerful for us. Right? So have that confidence. Trust in God's leading. Right?

That's a challenge for you to declare that final verse. Declare Psalm 5 verse 12 over your day. you, God, surround me with your favor as with a shield, a powerful declaration that we can use. And kind of it it's part of who God is. And when we think of Psalm 5, as we're closing here, Psalm 5 invites us to wake up, right?

When we think of Psalm 3 and 4, it was about going to bed and sleeping soundly. As we rise up every morning, may we focus on our faith in God, trusting in him and knowing that he will answer our prayers, which is a call for us to be prayerful, to be intentional in our prayer life. And prayer should be integrated in our life. Whatever that looks like for you, that's something that's powerful. And know, I want you to know that God listens.

He leads us. He guides us. He protects us and he blesses us abundantly. There is the newness of life. There's salvation.

There are so many just wonderful things that we receive from the Lord. And so I challenge for you to begin today or even begin to tomorrow to have confidence in God. No matter what it is you're going through or what it is you've been through, come to the Lord, trust in him, and know that he is always there surrounding you all the days of your life. Let's pray together and we'll conclude. And father, we thank you for this time and this opportunity for us to uh listen to um open your word, study it, reflect on it, and also to listen to this song and just observe the text, interpret it, and apply it to our lives.

I pray for every single person that's listening and watching today. May they be close to you and draw near to you and your presence, knowing that it's not about what they do, but what has been done for them. We ask that you bless this week and let there be comfort where comfort is needed. Let there be guidance where it is needed. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. Thank you all so much for tuning in to the Pastor Patrick podcast. My name is Patrick Daly and may you live and love like Jesus. Bye-bye. [Music] [Laughter]