Mensa Otabil - An Urgent Prayer
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We are in Psalm number five, and I start from verses one and two. 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. I like the way this psalm begins because it starts directly talking to God, with a direct appeal, and you get the impression that this is an urgent prayer. It begins by saying, «Listen to me, Lord,» or «Give ear to me, O Lord.»
Unlike many of the prayer formulas we learn, where people say you have to start with thanksgiving, praise, and worship- as if you have to go through all these protocols before you start talking to God — there is a place for protocol in prayer. But when it’s an urgent matter, then you pray like David and go straight to the topic and talk to God. In prayer, we sometimes speak directly to God. There are phrases that he uses in this psalm, in these two verses, that I want to draw your attention to.
There is a progression of thoughts that come in. First, he says, «Give ear to my words.» The words of David were very important in prayer, and our words are very important in prayer; David prayed to the Lord using clear, understandable words. Words play an important role in prayer. You can’t just say anything anyhow in prayer. Your words have to be scriptural. Your words have to be appropriate. Your words also have to express exactly what you want to say. At this level, David shows us the importance of using clear, understandable words in prayer. Give ear to my words, O Lord. Then he moves on a little and says, «Consider my meditations.»
Consider my meditations. Meditation is not just a word; it is a thought. It uses our thoughts, our sighs, our hopes — our inward feelings, more or less. We will call that our meditations. When David talks about words, he says, «Listen to my words.» When he talks about meditations, he says, «Consider them.» In other words, he’s saying, «Lord, there are things I’m not even saying. There are things you don’t hear me talk about, but I want you to consider them; let them also be part of my prayer.»
I’m not only praying when I use words to God; I’m praying even when in my thoughts, my sighs inwardly, I have things on my mind that I’m talking to God about. He says, «God, consider them.» So God gives ear to our words in prayer; He also considers things we don’t say -things that are internal to us. Our meditations, our sighs, our hopes, our intentions — all of these God considers.
The third thing he talks about is, «Give heed to the voice of my cry.» He talks about my words, my meditations, my cry. My cry is a bit more intense than meditation and voice because cry here means loud sounds of agony. He’s talking about when he screams to God or makes a loud noise; he says, «Lord, listen to it too.» So God listens to our words, our meditations, and our cry. That is how David positions his prayer to God in Psalm five. Then he addresses God as my King and my God. God is the sovereign ruler over his life. I pray that these thoughts will help you as you learn to pray and bring your requests before the Lord.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, You are my God and King. Listen to my prayer and hear the cry of my soul, and help me in Jesus' name.» Amen.