“O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you.” (Ps 5:2-3)
Did you notice? Not once, but three times, directly after one another, David prays in Psalm 5: “Listen to my words.” “Hear my sighing.” “Pay attention to my cry.” Why is this so important? Why does he keep asking? It reminds me of my little sister’s youngest lamb, who, during her first week of Grade 1, told the teacher – after the teacher had asked several times for the children to sit down and take out their colouring crayons – “Miss, you’ve already said that a thousand times!” The teacher probably wanted to reply, “Well, why didn’t you listen?”
It’s not that God won’t hear; it’s actually about what David wants God to hear. So, what is it that David so passionately pleads for God to hear? In verse 9, we find the answer: “Teach me what is right and help me to do Your will.” Do you see the parallelism David uses: teach me / help me; what is right / Your will?
Is our desire to be obedient to God’s will, and to be taught by God to live in dedication to Him, as high a priority as it was for David? Do our prayers sound like Bob Hartman’s translation of Psalm 5:
“Listen to my words, O Lord,
Listen when I sigh.
Listen to my prayers, O God:
Hear me when I cry.”
PRAYER: “Your will is so important to me. Let Your will always be done!”
MUSIC:
We look at the music recording of “Give Ear to My Words” by The N Crew.
From the lyrics:
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 prayer
Unto Thee and will look up