December 10
“Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up. For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man,” Psalm 5:1-6.
In Psalm 5, David records what is regarded as being a morning prayer spoken before worship in the temple. In brief phrases, the psalmist speaks of prayer in various ways: “Give ear to my words,” “Consider my meditation,” “Give heed to the voice of my cry,” “To You I will pray,” “My voice You shall hear,” “In the morning I will direct it to You,” and, “I will look up.” In each of the phrases, you have the same definition of prayer: Prayer is a heart-to-heart talk with God. As Christians, we address God as our heavenly Father.
In the introduction to the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Our Father who art in heaven.” In his explanation of these words, Dr. Luther wrote, “God would by these words tenderly invite us to believe that He is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that we may with all boldness and confidence ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.”
In the worship service, God speaks to us, and we speak to God. This is symbolized during the Liturgy by the pastor. When God’s Word is being spoken to the congregation, the pastor faces the congregation. When the congregation is praying and speaking to God, the pastor faces the altar. Normally, when we pray, we bow our heads in humility. In this psalm, the psalmist speaks of prayer as looking up to the Lord, which would symbolize that we are looking up to the Lord from whom all blessings flow, expecting to receive an answer to our prayer.
In our prayers, the psalmist reminds us that we are addressing the almighty, holy, and just God. He has no pleasure in wickedness. No evil dwells with Him. Proud, impenitent, boastful sinners cannot stand in the presence of His holiness. His judgment will be visited upon all of the ungodly unbelievers.
Indeed, Christ died to save all people, and God desires the salvation of all. In Scripture, we are told, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways!’” Ezekiel 33:11. “(God) desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,” 1 Timothy 2:4. “The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance,” 2 Peter 3:9.
Why then are not all people saved? In unbelief, they reject the one true God, and they reject Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the only Savior, who suffered, died, and rose again to redeem all people.
”Come, my soul, thy suit prepare,
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He Himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay.
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and pow’r are such,
None can ever ask too much.
With my burden I begin:
Lord, remove this load of sin;
Let Thy blood, for sinners spilt,
Set my conscience free from guilt.” Amen.