To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David. 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. Psa 5:1-2
We are taught here some great truths concerning prayer.
I. True prayer is personal
“My words,” “My meditation,” “My cry,” “My King,” “My God.” David was a king, yet was he his own chaplain. We must pray for ourselves. A parent’s prayer, a minister’s prayer, will not do for us. No one can become deputy for us before the throne of grace. And in prayer we must realise our personal relation to God. He is “My Father,” “My King,” “My God.”
II. True prayer is profound and passionate.
1. It begins with words. “Give ear to my words.” Many have an idea that words are not necessary to prayer, that the finest prayer does without words. When Curran asked Grattan if he ever prayed; “No,” said Grattan, “but I have aspirations all the day long.” There is a subtle danger here. True prayer cannot indeed fully express itself, but it will labour to do so. If our sense of need is real and intense, we shall speak out in broken, burning words. Robert Hall, in his private devotions prayed aloud, lest his prayers should become vapid and wandering. If there is no audible, verbal prayer, the “aspirations” will become ever more shadowy and vague. “None of God’s children are possessed with a dumb devil.”—Spurgeon.
2. True prayer deepens into sighs. “O Lord, consider my sighs.” “Understand my sighing.”—Horsley. “Meditation—moanings of that half-uttered form to which deep feeling gives rise—groanings,” as Rom_8:26-27.—Jamieson. If language could express all we feel, ours could hardly be a true prayer; language breaks off into groanings.
3. True prayer rises into cries. “Hearken unto the voice of my cry.” It rises into a cry, and a cry has a voice which pierces heaven. Prevailing prayer comes from the profound of the bosom and is heard in the high places of the firmament.
III. True prayer is resolute.
“For unto Thee will I pray.” “There is a holy boldness here. God, as the King of His people, could not deny them His protection, and they asked no other. For to Thee, and Thee only, will I pray. As if he had said, it is in this capacity that I invoke Thee, and I therefore must be heard.” (Alexander)
I. True prayer is personal
“My words,” “My meditation,” “My cry,” “My King,” “My God.” David was a king, yet was he his own chaplain. We must pray for ourselves. A parent’s prayer, a minister’s prayer, will not do for us. No one can become deputy for us before the throne of grace. And in prayer we must realise our personal relation to God. He is “My Father,” “My King,” “My God.”
II. True prayer is profound and passionate.
1. It begins with words. “Give ear to my words.” Many have an idea that words are not necessary to prayer, that the finest prayer does without words. When Curran asked Grattan if he ever prayed; “No,” said Grattan, “but I have aspirations all the day long.” There is a subtle danger here. True prayer cannot indeed fully express itself, but it will labour to do so. If our sense of need is real and intense, we shall speak out in broken, burning words. Robert Hall, in his private devotions prayed aloud, lest his prayers should become vapid and wandering. If there is no audible, verbal prayer, the “aspirations” will become ever more shadowy and vague. “None of God’s children are possessed with a dumb devil.”—Spurgeon.
2. True prayer deepens into sighs. “O Lord, consider my sighs.” “Understand my sighing.”—Horsley. “Meditation—moanings of that half-uttered form to which deep feeling gives rise—groanings,” as Rom_8:26-27.—Jamieson. If language could express all we feel, ours could hardly be a true prayer; language breaks off into groanings.
3. True prayer rises into cries. “Hearken unto the voice of my cry.” It rises into a cry, and a cry has a voice which pierces heaven. Prevailing prayer comes from the profound of the bosom and is heard in the high places of the firmament.
III. True prayer is resolute.
“For unto Thee will I pray.” “There is a holy boldness here. God, as the King of His people, could not deny them His protection, and they asked no other. For to Thee, and Thee only, will I pray. As if he had said, it is in this capacity that I invoke Thee, and I therefore must be heard.” (Alexander)
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Treasury of David
Unto Thee Only Will I Pray
Treasury of David
Unto Thee Only Will I Pray
"Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray."
“The voice of my cry.” In another Psalm we find the expression, “The voice of my weeping.” Weeping has a voice - a melting, plaintive tone, an ear-piercing shrillness, which reaches the very heart of God: and crying hath a voice - a soul-moving eloquence; coming from our heart it reaches God's heart, Ah! my brothers and sisters, sometimes we cannot put our prayers into words: they are nothing but a cry: but the Lord can comprehend the meaning, for he hears a voice in our cry. To a loving father his children's cries are music, and they have a magic influence which his heart cannot resist. “My King and my God.” Observe carefully these little pronouns, “my King, and my God.” They are the pith and marrow of the plea. Here is a grand argument why God should answer prayer - because he is our King and our God. We are not aliens to him: he is the King of our country. Kings are expected to hear the appeals of their own people. We are not strangers to him; we are his worshippers, and he is our God: ours by covenant, by promise, by oath, by blood.
“For unto thee will I pray.” Here David expresses his declaration that he will seek to God, and to God alone. God is to be the only object of worship: the only resource of our soul in times of need. Leave broken cisterns to the godless, and let the godly drink from the Divine fountain alone. “Unto thee will I pray.” He makes a resolution, that as long as he lived he would pray. He would never cease to supplicate, even though the answer should not come.
Though he was himself a king, yet he acknowledged his subjection to God as his supreme Ruler, and looked up to Him to protect him in his dangers, and to restore him to his rights. He was, at the same time, his God - his covenant God - to whom he felt that he was permitted to come in the hour of trouble, and whose blessing he was permitted to invoke.
For unto thee will I pray - He had no one else to go to in his troubles, and he felt that he “might” approach the living God. It was his fixed purpose - his regular habit - to pray to him, and to seek his favor and friendship, and he felt that he was permitted to do so now.
Psalm 5--Maranatha singers
https://youtu.be/nmLrjnzzIcw?si=zRz8hk7Xg24Rb0TY
“The voice of my cry.” In another Psalm we find the expression, “The voice of my weeping.” Weeping has a voice - a melting, plaintive tone, an ear-piercing shrillness, which reaches the very heart of God: and crying hath a voice - a soul-moving eloquence; coming from our heart it reaches God's heart, Ah! my brothers and sisters, sometimes we cannot put our prayers into words: they are nothing but a cry: but the Lord can comprehend the meaning, for he hears a voice in our cry. To a loving father his children's cries are music, and they have a magic influence which his heart cannot resist. “My King and my God.” Observe carefully these little pronouns, “my King, and my God.” They are the pith and marrow of the plea. Here is a grand argument why God should answer prayer - because he is our King and our God. We are not aliens to him: he is the King of our country. Kings are expected to hear the appeals of their own people. We are not strangers to him; we are his worshippers, and he is our God: ours by covenant, by promise, by oath, by blood.
“For unto thee will I pray.” Here David expresses his declaration that he will seek to God, and to God alone. God is to be the only object of worship: the only resource of our soul in times of need. Leave broken cisterns to the godless, and let the godly drink from the Divine fountain alone. “Unto thee will I pray.” He makes a resolution, that as long as he lived he would pray. He would never cease to supplicate, even though the answer should not come.
Though he was himself a king, yet he acknowledged his subjection to God as his supreme Ruler, and looked up to Him to protect him in his dangers, and to restore him to his rights. He was, at the same time, his God - his covenant God - to whom he felt that he was permitted to come in the hour of trouble, and whose blessing he was permitted to invoke.
For unto thee will I pray - He had no one else to go to in his troubles, and he felt that he “might” approach the living God. It was his fixed purpose - his regular habit - to pray to him, and to seek his favor and friendship, and he felt that he was permitted to do so now.
Psalm 5--Maranatha singers
https://youtu.be/nmLrjnzzIcw?si=zRz8hk7Xg24Rb0TY
