SONGS IN THE NIGHT
by Richard Winstead
At our Wednesday night fellowships we've been studying the
life of David. We've been following him
from the time Samuel anointed him the next king of
Understanding David's background makes the Psalms really come to life. These are not merely poems and songs on religious subjects, but heart-cries in the midst of the storms of life. Many times we can hear echoes of our own prayers in the words of David.
Have you ever felt like people or circumstances were ganging up on you, and threatening to overwhelm you? Have you ever felt like you might not exactly be at the top of God's list of priorities? If so, this Psalm's for you.
Psalm 5:1-3.
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing.
2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
Lately I've been re-learning the value of praying in the morning, before I set foot out my door. I pray for my job, and the people on my job. I feel that a lot of what God has been doing for me lately has been a result of these prayers.
Psalm 5:4-7.
4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.
5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong.
6 You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors.
7 But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.
It is by God's mercy that we have the privilege to come into His presence for prayer and worship. Those of us who are born of God's spirit have access to Him through Jesus Christ. This access is free for us because it was purchased for us with his own blood by Jesus Christ.
Psalm 5:8-9.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies-- make straight your way before me.
9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.
Have you ever wondered how people can have the gall, the audacity to knowingly tell the lies they tell, or speak the evil they speak, especially when they’re lies designed to hurt or destroy other people? Not everyone desires to obey God; not everyone desires to do His will.
Psalm 5:10-12.
10 Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.
11 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.
12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.
God is our source of protection. When we endeavor to obey Him and do His will, He shields us with His favor, His grace.
Psalm 6:1.
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
Notice that the prayer here is not that God refrain from disciplining the psalmist, but that He not discipline him in anger.
If you had a choice, would you rather be disciplined by God in anger, or in love? Most certainly you'd chose to be disciplined in love. Avoiding God's discipline altogether is not one of the choices, for God disciplines every son He loves. If you're not being disciplined by God, you'd better take a close look at your birth certificate, because that's not the way God deals with His children!
Psalm 6:2-3.
2 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?
Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever wondered what was taking God so long to answer your prayers? In our instant gratification culture, patience tends to be a problem. We have whole meals ready to pop into the microwave oven, so that they are ready to eat in a matter of minutes; and we watch the microwave impatiently because it takes too long to heat our food! Then we bring this same impatience to God, and expect Him to be moved and change His plans because of our inability to wait until He says the time is right. God's not going to work like that. He is not subject to our whims. He's going to do what He knows is right, at the time He knows is right.
Psalm 6:4-8.
4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.
5 No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?
6 I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping.
We don't usually think of crying as a form of prayer, but here and elsewhere it is presented as one. God answers our tears as well as our verbal prayers.
Psalm 6:9-10.
9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace.
I've watched this happen in my life. I've had people set deliberate traps for me on my job, even sabotaging things to assure my failure. Yet when I've gone to God in prayer, He has shown me again and again ways around the traps set for me, so that I have come through unscathed, and the work of those who plotted against me has come to naught.
Psalm 7:1-2.
1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
This is what can happen to you if you rely on your own strength, your own wisdom, or your own devices. Remember that the real enemy is not the one you see in front of you. Ultimately, you wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against your adversary, the devil, and his forces. However, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Psalm 7:3-4.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands--
4 if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe
In David's time, one of the benefits of going to war was that after you won a battle, you could take your enemy's property as spoil. An interesting point is made here: should you go to war just to take the spoils from your enemy? That seems to be what is meant by "without cause have robbed my foe." Going to war just to gain the spoils of victory is just a glorified way to steal; yet nations do this all the time.
Psalm 7:5.
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust.
This is a bold prayer on the part of the psalmist. He's not asking God to take his side, right or wrong. Instead, he's asking God to examine him, and to judge him for any evil or ungodliness He finds there. How many of us would dare to pray such a prayer?
Psalm 7:6-9.
6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you. Rule over them from on high;
8 let the LORD judge the peoples. Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High.
9 O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure.
When will God rule from on high over all the peoples of the
world? When will God judge the
peoples? When will God bring to an end
the violence of the wicked? When will
God make the righteous secure? When Christ returns to set up the
Psalm 7:10-14.
10 My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day.
12 If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows.
14 He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment.
It takes effort to design evil against someone. Here it is described as "being pregnant with evil" and "conceiving trouble." The end result of all this work, though, is disillusionment.
Psalm 7:15-17.
15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made.
16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head.
17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
It's not our job to make sure that everyone gets what he deserves. When someone digs a hole as a trap, it's not up to us to push them into it. God sees to all that. Our job is to give thanks to God, and to praise Him.
Let's skip to Psalm 10.
Psalm 10:1-3.
1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
It's hard for me to imagine anyone being this way. Yet, at one time, this is the way I was. Have you ever lived your life doing whatever you felt like doing, with no regard to what God did or didn't want? I did.
Psalm 10:4-11.
4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble."
7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims.
9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees."
It's especially hard to endure evil when it looks like the evildoers are not only getting away with it, but prospering as a result of their evil.
Psalm 10:12-18.
12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"?
14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.
17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
Remember that the appearance of evil overcoming is exactly that: an appearance. God has not turned His back on those who put their trust in Him.
Right in the middle of all these psalms about trouble and all these cries for help is a gem of praise.
Psalm 8:1-9.
1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise [2] because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [3] and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
This psalm reminds us that in the midst of all the trouble going on around us, in the midst of all the pressure we find ourselves under, we can offer God great praise. Recognizing God as God sets all our troubles in proper perspective.
Psalm 9 continues this theme of praise.
Psalm 9:1-10.
1 I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.
7 The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.
8 He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.
9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
When you're going through hard times, and things are looking bad for you, never forget that God never forsakes those who put their trust in Him.
Psalm 9:11-20.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in
12 For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
13 O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may declare your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
16 The LORD is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
17 The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God.
18 But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.
19 Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence.
20 Strike them with terror, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men.
We need to look at life from a proper perspective. We've been given eternal life by God through Jesus Christ our savior. That means that this life, and the things of this life, are temporary, no matter how tough they may seem. We need to weigh the things that confront us in this life with the glory and eternal life promised us; then we will see things as they really are, and will be able to make godly decisions about them.