A Prayer of Faith
Introduction
- A Michtam of David
- Five other Psalms that are a Michtam
- Psalms 56-60
- No one knows what the Hebrew word means
- Each have a pattern
- They can be helpful in times of difficulty
- Look at the life of David
- A key characteristic of his life was faith
- He was a contented man
- A Psalm of David
- Quoted by Peter in Acts 2 at Pentecost
- Quoted in Acts 13 when Paul is preaching in Antioch
- Inspired by the Holy Spirit they saw this Psalm is all about the resurrection of Jesus
- Acts 2:25-31 [See below for text]
- Peter had not just a few days ago been a fearful man
- Had met the risen Christ
- The Holy Spirit had fallen upon him and the other apostles
- Peter addresses a large crowd
- He quotes from Psalm 16 by the illumination of the Holy Spirit
- 3000 people repent and are baptised
- Acts 13:26-35 [See below for text]
- We must see Jesus Christ in this Psalm
- It is not only a Psalm of David
- If we miss the prophetic, we miss the point
- Overview: looking at every single verse
- A prayer of faith
A Prayer for Preservation (v1)
- Jesus as a man put His trust in His heavenly Father
- He faced opposition and demonic attacks
- He was in constant communion with His Father
- We are given glimpses into His prayer life
- Isa 49:8 - "I will preserve You"
- Jesus needed to trust and depend upon His heavenly Father as He became a man
- If we pray this prayer, we can be certain that God will preserve our soul
- We face all sorts of temptations and we must remember this prayer
- We are not like the Lord Jesus and fail a 1000 times over
- We have a God who picks us up as we turn back to Him and preserves our souls
A Prayer for Satisfaction (v2-4)
- Jesus is satisfied with His Father (v2)
- Jesus cannot be separated from the Father
- The Son delights in the Father as much as the Father delights in the Son
- Jesus is satisfied with His people (v3)
- Would David say this of his company?
- Would we say that of every member of our church?
- Jesus has covered our sin and sees us as His excellent ones
- Jesus loves us as the Father loves Him
- Jesus looks at those who reject Him (v4)
- This is David saying he has a great disdain for idolatry
- Surely this is the Spirit of God saying that He abhors idolatry
A Prayer of Great Contentment (v5-8)
- Are we a contented people? (v5)
- The Lord Jesus Christ was utterly contented with His Father
- Food and drink gives us temporary satisfaction
- Jesus satisfaction was to do God's will
- Jesus was to die for us as an inheritance (v6)
- Jesus knew more grief that any man but was more content than any man
- Consider v7-8
- We must not minimise the sufferings of Jesus
- John 7:16
- John 8:28
- Isa 11:2-3
- He was a perfect teacher and counselor
- He has become our rock, refuge and high tower
- If you live a life of restlessness - God does not want us to be like this
- Paul learned contentment
- Have we learned to be content or are we restless?
- Oh that we could be like the Lord Jesus
A Prayer of Confident Joy (v9-11)
- v9 is a statement of confidence from David that he would see resurrection
- Resurrection is not a New Testament principle
- These verses are speaking about Jesus
- The mind of Jesus Christ before and on the cross - went beyond this to a time when He would be united to the Father with His people
- What is our mind on?
- If we think only of the troubles of this life we will become utterly downcast
- We must look to the cross and glory
- We must look to His presence where there will be fullness of joy
- We must meditate on heaven
- We are to measure things
Closing Remarks