Psalm 5
June 19, 2022
preached by Pastor Ryan Bouton
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“For prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted.”

“For most of us the prayer in Gethsemane is the only model. Removing mountains can wait.”

~C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

“We need prayer because this is how God’s benefits reach us.”

“We see that nothing is set before us as an object of expectation from the Lord which we are not enjoined to ask of Him in prayer, so true it is that prayer digs up those treasures which the Gospel of our Lord discovers to the eye of faith. The necessity and utility of this exercise of prayer no words can sufficiently express. Assuredly it is not without cause our heavenly Father declares that our only safety is in calling upon his name…”

~John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion

“Ironically, many attempts to teach people to pray encourage the creation of a split personality. You’re taught to ‘do it right.’ Instead of the real, messy you meeting God, you try to re-create yourself by becoming spiritual… So instead of being paralyzed by who you are, begin with who you are. That’s how the gospel works. God begins with you. It’s a little scary because you are messed up.”

~Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life

Sermon Passage

Psalm 5 (ESV)

¹ Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my groaning.
² Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
³ O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
⁴ For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
⁵ The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
⁶ You destroy those who speak lies;
the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
⁷ But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
⁸ Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
⁹ For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.
¹⁰ Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
¹¹ But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
¹² For you bless the righteous, O LORD;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.