Let's go to Psalm chapter 5. As we have here, the Hey Psalm. Hey Psalm. This is the fifth letter. And the Hey is, you see on your handout there, that is the letter that means to behold. To behold. And it means that when it is used as the first letter of a word in the Hebrew. So it's beholding something, whenever you have that as the first letter. It makes a definite article, the, at the beginning of a word. So it's the something, you know, when it's used there as the first letter. And it has to do with breathing out. The breath of God, or the Spirit, or understanding, revealing something, or looking, or seeing something, that is that word, hey, or the letter, hey. It's used in many creation words like Genesis 2-4, where it talks about Him speaking it into existence. It's that word, breathe out. is the word there. And so that's that word, that's that letter, hay. God breathed life into Adam, for instance, that's that hay, the breath there that he gives. And hay translates what comes out of. And when it's used, As the last letter of the word, it makes that Hebrew word a feminine word. Or when the word, when that letter hey is at the end of the word. And we see hey here, the beholding and the breathing out and so on. That's what we're looking for when we look into chapter five here to see that letter illustrated for us in this passage. David is the author of this psalm, and chapter four, the fourth psalm, was to be played on Neganoth, which is stringed instruments, which we talked about last, on Wednesday. This one is to the chief musician upon the Hyloth, Hyloth, and it's, most likely wind instruments, because the word in the high loft means to bore, as in bore a hole into something. Your wind instruments like your flutes and so on would have the holes bored into it in order to make the sounds that you would want to get out of it. This is the reason many believe that this has to do with wind instruments, flutes and so on, those instruments that are breathed in. The hay song here comes into play. Others believe it's a particular melody. that is to be played while still yet others believe it means inheritance, declaring that only the redeemed are to sing this song, which I don't know That's kind of the general idea of all the songs of praise is the redeemed singing those songs. So most likely it is to do with the wind instruments is what I guess most believe. Drawing that contrast between four and five, the Neganoth or the string instruments there and then the wind instruments here in chapter number five. And here, David does draw, however, distinction between the righteous and the wicked in this chapter. And he calls on God to hear his prayer. It reminds us of the prayers of our Lord and how He would cry out with the utmost sincerity and sorrow even to bring His petitions to His Father. And knowing, as He says in John chapter 11, knowing that He's always heard, of the Father. And yet, there was no less, knowing that He would always be heard of the Father, there was no less passion in the heart of our Lord as He brought those prayers to the Father. In other words, He did not take it for granted that He was coming into the presence of His Father to be heard of His prayer. And so there's no less sincerity, no less passion knowing that he was always heard of the Father. We see that same kind of petition here even from David as he cries out to the Lord to end this prayer. It begins in verse 1. He says, Give ear to my words, O Lord. Consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, And my God, for unto Thee will I pray. My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning. O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayers unto Thee, and will look up. For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with Thee. The foolish shall not stand in Thy sight, Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing. The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into thy house in a multitude of thy mercy, and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. Lead me, O Lord. in thy righteousness because of my enemies, make thy way straight before my face. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth, their inward part is very wickedness, their throat is an open sepulcher, they flatter with their tongue. Destroy thou them, O God. Let them fall by their own counsels. Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against Thee. Let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice. Let them never shout for joy, because Thou defendest them. Let them also that love Thy name be joyful in Thee. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous with favor. Let me read that again. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous with favor, wilt thou compass him as with a shield. Now here, as David writes, particularly here in verse 1 and verse 2, David desires to be heard of the Lord to begin with. His words were, give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for unto Thee will I pray. Here David desires to be heard of the Lord, his words and even his weepings before the Lord. The Lord sees everything about us. He knows the deepest recesses of our hearts, that which we don't even fully know. He knows all about us. He knows everything there is in our hearts, in our thinking, and as David said, even consider my meditation. Even our medication can be worshipped and can be praised to our God. as we consider His Word, as we meditate on it, as we mull it over in our heads trying to figure it out, even in that seeking after that bit, whatever it may be, that small part of His Word, even in that seeking after that is a praise unto our God. Because it's people seeking after Him. Brother Steve, you had a question right before church. I enjoy those questions. I enjoy looking into that stuff because that's another way in which we are able to worship our Lord, to consider His Word, to delve into it, to desire the understanding of it. He is glorified even in our meditations of Him. David says he desires to be heard even in those things. Give ear to my words, O Lord. Consider my meditation. He goes on to say, hearken unto the voice of my cry. Why? Why should he answer? Why should God be concerned? The cry of David. Why should he be concerned with David's words or David's meditations? Why is it that God would care about those things? Because of that very next phrase, my King and my God. Why is it that God cares about our prayers? Why is it that He cares about our meditations? Why is it that He hearkens unto the voice of our cries? Because we're His. Because we belong to Him. We're not foreign to Him. We're His children. made so by His grace, made so by the sacrifice of our Lord for us. And having made that for us, having made for us that salvation possible and worked in us such grace and such wonder on our behalf to give unto us His righteousness, He is concerned with our hearts. He is concerned with those things that are upon our minds, those meditations that we are concerned about, those things that plague us, those things that hurt us, those things that we are rejoicing in. He is concerned about those things for us, because we belong to Him. We are His children. And so because we are His children, He is concerned. He cares for us. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for unto Thee will I pray. He says in verse 3, My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord, In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee." And we'll look up. His voice will be lifted up in prayer, he says. And he knows, David knows that he is heard before the throne of God. But we see in it that it is specific prayer. It is purposeful prayer. David has a set time for it. He says, in the morning, Lord, my usual prayer time, I'll be coming to you. It's specific. It's set. It's purposeful. It's devoted to that time of prayer. We should have that in our lives as well. We need both kinds. We need that purposeful devotion time that we can come to the Lord and it's good to have it in the morning. Simply because if you have it in the evening, you're going to go to sleep before you get done. So it's good to have it in the morning. Spend that time devoted. Spend that time in prayer. Spend that time in the Word of God that we can spend those moments with Him every single day at the same time every day coming before His throne. That's good to have that time. We also need those times of instant prayer as well. And we're to be doing that all day long. That's not as intentional as what David is talking about here in verse number 3, but yet it's still just as powerful. It's still just as necessary. It's still just as important. It shows forth in those times of prayer as we go through our day. I often do that kind of praying when I'm driving, when I find that I It's when those kind of thoughts come through my mind. It's when I run them red lights and stuff. It's because I'm focused on something on my heart and my mind that I'm bringing before the Lord. It's just as powerful. It's just as real for the throne of God. It doesn't take anything less. Doesn't make it anything less than any other type of prayer. It's just that we should have time every day devoted to spending that time in the presence of the Lord. And then throughout the day, we're going to be praying otherwise. But we need that time of prayer devoted. to spend that time in His presence, to be specific and purposeful. He says, therefore, He will direct, He says, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee. I will direct my prayer unto Thee. That means, by the word, that word direct means to lay the sacrifices in order. to lay the sacrifices in order. And he says that he will look up. He will look up. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look. Will look up. Make sure his aim is true. As he's bringing his prayer before the throne of God. Verse 4, he says, for thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing. The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man." But David here in these few verses declares the destruction of the wicked. That they have no place before God. They have no place before His throne. He sees himself, by grace of course, in a different place. We all are unworthy. We are all sinners that have come short of the glory of God. Every last one of us deserve that hatred that is reserved for the workers of iniquity that he describes there in verse number 5. Every one of us deserve that. Every one of us are worthy of such hatred from the Lord. For we've all broken His law. We've all come short of His glory. We've all sinned against Him and we do so every day. So we all deserve that. But David sees himself in a different place. And that is the reality for all of us that are the children of God. Because by grace through faith, by grace in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ in our stead, because of that work He has done for us and the grace that is extended to us that puts that very work upon us and makes us the children of God by that work that our Lord Jesus did for us, That puts us, though we deserve very much that hatred that he speaks of there in verse number 5, that puts us in a different place. That puts us in a different place before the throne of God. And David recognizes that there. He recognizes that the righteous are separate from those that are wicked, that he has been set apart. from the wicked that were out there, because there is a destruction that is coming upon them, David speaks to. For thou art not a god that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight, thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing or lying, is that word, the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. The righteous, they dwell before and with God. We're put in a different place by that salvation that we have in Christ. We have a different standing now. A different standing. Oh, we still fail. We still come short. We still sin against Him. But we have a different standing now because of Christ. Made righteous in Him. Verse 7, he goes on to say, But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy. And in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. The righteous are welcome in the presence of God. And we are moved, as David says, we are moved with reverence and fear because we know all too well our failures. We know all too well our sin. We know all too well the reality of God's grace on us because without it, we are unworthy of any of His blessings. And so we still move with reverence and with fear, as David says here, and yet, As Paul would tell us there in Hebrews chapter 9 with great boldness. Or Hebrews chapter 10 rather. With great boldness. Beginning there in verse 19. On down through verse number 24 and 25. That we're to come in boldness into that throne. That's only made possible for us by Christ Jesus alone. It's only made possible by that reality of who we are in Him, being made the children of God. He says, but as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy, and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. Lead me, O Lord. to thy righteousness, because of mine enemies make thy way straight before my face." David asked the Lord to lead him in that righteousness. David's desire is to be in the presence of the Lord. His desire is to be fellowshipping with the Lord. His desire is to be in prayer, to be heard of the Lord, to be in the presence of the Lord. But at the same time, I understand he needs to be led in that way of righteousness by the Lord. We can do nothing without Him. We need Him every day for everything. Therefore, lead me in that righteousness that my path will be right. My path will be right before you, O Lord. Lead me, he says, O Lord, in thy righteousness. Because of my enemies, he says, make thy way straight before my face. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. And here we see those distinctions that he's drawing between the righteous and the wicked. Between those that are on the Lord's side and those that are on their own side. Those that are following self. There's no faithfulness in their mouth, he says. Their inward part is very wickedness. Very wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulcher. They flatter with their tongue. The wicked are not faithful. They are full of wickedness. Paul quotes this verse in Romans chapter 3. And verse number 13, and he accounts it here to all of us in our lost condition, how it applies to us. It says there in verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understand it. There's none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. And then he says, their throat is an open sepulcher. And their tongues, they have used deceit, with their tongues rather, they have used deceit. The poison of ass is under their lips. Paul is accounting this to all of us here without Christ. That is our place without Him. And here David is accounting this to the wicked here, that this is the state that they are in. There is no faithfulness again, he says, in their mouth. Their inward heart is very wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulcher. They flatter with their tongue. They entice, they track, they lie. They do their best to make evil look good. Verse 10, he says, Destroy thou them, O God. Destroy thou them, O God. Let them fall by their own counsels, Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against thee." Now we are to forgive those who are enemies against us. We are to seek to live peaceably with all men, the scripture tells us. We're to even love our enemies, the scripture says. But we cannot forgive anybody on the Lord's behalf. We can forgive them on our behalf in the sense of how they have trespassed against us. We can do that for them. We can love them, but we cannot love them for the Lord. That's His business. That's His business. And we read David's words there. David sounds pretty fierce there in verse number 10 as he speaks to this, "...destroy thou them, O God. Let them fall by their own counsels, cast them out in the multitude of transgressions, for they have rebelled against Thee." This forgiveness must come only from God. And so this song is a plea to the sinner to repent and turn to God, for God is going to destroy the wicked. He hates the workers of iniquity. Verse 11, he says, but let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy because thou defendest them. Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For the child of God, the righteous, they are filled with joy. And they rejoice because they have grace. They've been forgiven. They belong to God. They are no longer counted with the wicked, but now we are counted with the righteous in Christ Jesus our Lord. Not because of anything we have done, but because of what our Lord has done for us. What He has bore in our stead, we no longer belong to that group. Now, we belong to the righteous. And so He says, but let all those that put their trust in Me rejoice, Let them ever shout for joy, because Thou defendest them. Let them also that love Thy Name be joyful in Thee. Oh, that the world would see the joy of God in us. that it would see that in our daily lives. For thou, Lord, he says in verse 12, for thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous. With favor wilt thou compassion as with a shield. He's made us heirs of blessedness. heirs of blessings, that even in our sorrows and our trials and our troubles and our sicknesses, even in those times of trying, the children of God can see the sovereign hand at work for us. I mean, I fully understand it. We might not have it all pieced together, But we can say, I trust You, Lord. I know You're the one in control. I know it's in Your hand. I know that it's by Your working that this has come to pass. And I trust You, Lord. We have that ability as the children of God, but the world doesn't have that. The world doesn't have that hope. They don't have that understanding. They don't have that promise given to them. This is promise for the children of God. And we can know our Lord has it all in His hands. And we can trust Him. We can trust Him. He is our provider. He is our protector. He is our Savior. He is our King. This shield that he's speaking of here, he says, with favor wilt thou compass Him as with a shield. This shield is a shield or even a crown of glory. But it's only for the righteous. It only belongs to them. Again, not because of anything they've done. But only because of what God has given to them in Christ Jesus our Lord. At the choice of God. At the choice of Him. the righteous, no more deserving in self, no more deserving than the wicked, but made so by the glorious grace of God, that we can dwell Well, first of all, that we are heard by Him, that our prayers are brought before Him, that He's concerned with our hearts, that we can dwell with Him, that we can have that multitude of mercy, that we can worship Him, that we can We can know that He is working in our lives. We can trust Him. We can rejoice. We can be filled with His joy because we are made, we are made righteous of God. Made the righteous of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Are you righteous? Are you righteous? Is Jesus your Lord? Is He your Savior? Are your sins washed in Him? Without Christ, it's only those things concerning the wicked that apply to you. It's only with Christ that those things concerning the righteous apply to you. It's all in Christ Jesus. Are you righteous? Do you have Christ Jesus as Lord? Believe on Him this day. Let's all stand. as we are dismissed today.