Prayer to My God (Psalm 140)

This sermon was preached on 4/8/2013

In this psalm, David provides a song that is concerned about life in a very evil world. It is evident from the contents that David is under great personal attack from powerful opponents. Perhaps the psalm was written during the period of exile before he became king when Saul and his soldiers were trying to kill him. Or maybe the psalm was composed after he became king during one of the occasions when groups of evil people were rebelling against him. What did the psalmist do in such circumstances? He prayed to his God and also provided his prayer in a form that others could use in their situations. In this prayer, David modelled for us several appropriate prayer responses when we face situations of trouble and distress caused by wicked people. So what lessons can we take from David here? I would suggest three, although others can be found in the psalm.

Reality as we pray

The first lesson is that prayer should reflect real situations. David was in great danger, therefore he prayed very earnestly. There is a big difference between praying vaguely for protection when nothing untoward is happening and praying desperately for protection when danger is very real. The latter type of situation usually brings great reality and clarity to our prayers.

We can extend this principle to every aspect of the Christian life. The times when we will pray earnestly about them are when something is wrong with them. Perhaps we sense our love is not what it should be, so we begin to pray intently about it. We discover that our lack of love becomes a burden and we find ourselves praying more importunately about it. Or maybe we sense that our indwelling sin is becoming stronger. This sense leads to spiritual alarm and we pray urgently about it. Something similar will happen with other areas of our Christian lives when things go wrong there.

David found the presence of those evil men very distressing. He wished they were not there. Yet they were there and had been allowed to be there in the providence of the God to whom David was praying. One reason why God allowed this difficult set of circumstances was so that David would pray earnestly. God does this in our lives on numerous occasions. Clearly David could have made a different response and rebelled against the Lord’s providence and instead of praying he could have sulked. But he prayed and his example says to us, ‘When things are not what they should be, remember that perhaps the God of providence is leading you to pray earnestly about an issue.’

Remember your relationship as we pray

A second lesson we can take from this psalm is that when times of difficulty come, remember your relationship with the Lord. In verse 6, David turns to the Lord and says, ‘You are my God.’ What does it mean to be in this relationship?

We all know that in order for a partnership to work or for a friendship to flourish there has to be honest dedication between the individuals. The individuals may not be equal in ability, but it is not the inequality that will hinder the relationship. When we come to the relationship we have with God it is obvious that there is great inequality – he is far greater than we are in every way. Yet the Lord never uses our weakness as a reason for preventing the relationship from developing. If we are disloyal and pursue sinful things, then he will deal with us as those who are misusing his grace. But if we are depending upon him for his help, he will provide it. David was in a state of weakness when he wrote the psalm, yet he knew that he could obtain the Lord’s help again.

This relationship between God and his people is a reciprocal one. It begins with what we can call a peace treaty. Although we have rebelled against him he sent his ambassadors to inform us that he had provided a basis on which long-term (eternal) peace could be based. The basis is what Jesus did for sinners in his life and death. His life can become our righteousness and his death provides us with forgiveness. When we accept the terms of the gospel, we enter into a relationship of peace.

The relationship then becomes a family one. We are familiar with the attempts of nations who are at peace to develop their friendship into a longstanding partnership in which provisions and protection are given by the stronger to the weaker. In a far higher way, God gives provisions and protection to his people. One of the blessings that David had in his current situation was his memory that was full of previous occasions when his God had helped him. And the reason why God will help his people is because they are now his children, members of his family, about whom he has made wonderful promises that he will fulfil.

The relationship is a gracious one. It can never be annulled or broken. This is surprising because, although God never breaks his part of the arrangement, his people often do what is forbidden and sin against him. Yet he has promised that when they do he will restore them, sometimes through a process of trials sent as chastisement, and they continue with the relationship. David himself experienced such restoration from God.

Moreover the relationship is an eternal one. When God begins it, he will never bring it to an end. Circumstances will change but the relationship remains. David entered into the relationship when he was a young shepherd boy. Later he became a powerful king, but the relationship with God continued. Eventually David became an old man, but the relationship continued. Then he died, but the relationship went on, although for him in the new location of heaven. And the relationship us still continuing, although thousands of years have passed. For David, there are many great blessings still to come because the relationship is endless.

All this is contained in the little word ‘my’. David confidently stated to the Lord, ‘You are my God.’ And so can we when we find ourselves needing consolation and comfort. It is an interesting study to look through the Bible and note where God’s people called him ‘my God’. It is a way of expressing this wonderful relationship that maintains its unique personal element while saying clearly that it is a common experience for God’s people. All the occasions are examples and encouragements to us to do the same.

There are two important details that David stresses as he speaks to his God and each of them contribute to the consolation he desires. The first is his plea for mercy. Such a plea reminds us of the greatness of God, because we only implore mercy from such a person. But it also reminds us of the grace of God because only such a person will be merciful. The plea for mercy further reveals that David recognised that any deliverance he would receive would be undeserved.

The other detail concerning David and his petitions is the use he makes of his memory. He reminds the Lord of past deliverances in verse 7: ‘O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.’ As Spurgeon noted, here David reveals that he ‘had obtained a deliverance in which the strength of the Omnipotent was clearly to be seen. This is a grand utterance of praise, a gracious ground of comfort, a prevalent argument in prayer.’ It is very important to use our memories when we pray because we will find encouragements from what the Lord has done in the past.

Offer reasoned arguments as you pray

Several times in the psalm David offers reasons as he prays. One argument is his own helplessness against the variety and number of the attacks of his opponents (vv. 1-5). The fact of the matter is, if God does not come to his aid the psalmist will be defeated. But he knows that Lord does not want his people to be defeated, therefore he uses this knowledge as an effective argument in prayer.

Another argument concerns the Lord’s providence. What would happen if the Lord did not prevent the aims of the wicked? They would be exalted! (v. 8). David knows that the Lord would not approve of what they would do in such a situation. It would not only be David who would be harmed, but the Lord’s cause in general. So the psalmist used that possibility as an argument for God to hear his prayer for protection.

A third argument is based on his knowledge of the character of God: ‘I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy’ (v. 10). It is inconceivable that God will act inconsistently with who he is. We discover what the Lord’s character is like from the statutes, stories and promises of the Bible. God repeatedly acts as he should and never acts in another manner. This reality should cause great confidence in the heart of a praying person and he can use it as an argument in prayer. David was afflicted and David needed his God to act justly on his behalf. The Lord’s character told his servant what to expect in answer to his prayers.

A fourth argument is connected to the future. If David’s prayer was answered, then the righteous in the land would give thanks to God (v. 13), probably when they met at one of the annual feasts in Jerusalem. They would hear about his deliverance and join together in praising God. This is also a powerful reason for prayer. We can remind the Lord that he will be praised for showing mercy to his servants, whether in helping ourselves or in aiding others who are in need.

 So we can see three important lessons for our own prayer lives from this prayer of David when he was in trouble. We need to earth our prayers in reality, we are to remember the wonderful relationships we have with God, and we are to use reasonable arguments as we pray to the God who can answer us far above what we can ask or imagine.