to us. A good friend of ours, quite a bit older friend of ours, Dr. Ed Nelson, has a biography by that title. I think it's A Sinner Saved by Grace. And it's a very good read, excellent book. But what a great perspective on our life. You know, that's all we are, is only because of the grace of God and his goodness to us. All right, Psalm 141 is where we're at in our Bibles. If you want to turn there, Psalm 141. Some of you know, I think everybody knows, Wednesday night my wife had a wee fall back at the church property here. And so it was nice, Tommy and Brenda helped her home and hobbled into the house. And look at her ankle, you can tell it's swollen up so much, whether it's sprained or broken, and hopeful that it wasn't broken. So we contacted the NHS, got an appointment to go in and to the minor injuries there at the Royal. So I think we've been there maybe one other time, Logan broke his thumb. And so we're getting there, you pull down in by A and E, and you've got those port-a-cabin type places that are there. And so my wife can't walk at this point. I mean, it's Thursday morning, she's very much not getting around. And so she gets out of the car and it says no parking. And so I'm like, what do we do? You know, I've got my wife, got to get her into employment. It's time for the appointment and traffic was bad getting there. And so I go to try to find a wheelchair. Well, I got to walk 100 meters around these port-a-cabins into the building, no wheelchair. So I follow the signs for minor injuries, and it's like a 300 meter walk. I get there, there's a wheelchair. I say to the lady, can I get it? And I mean, that took me about maybe three minutes. I get out there, there's another man with a wheelchair that's saying to my wife, you gotta get your car out of here, and all this stuff. And he saw me with a wheelchair, he went in with his wheelchair. And then I said to her, well, what do I do? I can't just wheel you into the hospital because it's not the kind of wheelchair that you can move yourself. And so, unless you go backwards and kind of scoot, you know, and it's 300 meters. So I get her into the building. I'm like, it won't take that much longer. I just walk her down there. I'm walking very fast. I get back, you know, and I see the man there in my car again. And I go up to him and I said, look, I said, this is crazy. You know, I'm very thankful for the NHS. I'm thankful for the good doctors, the good nurses, and the good medical care. And they were very helpful in that situation. But you know, it's minor injury. If somebody can't walk in, you know what the guy said to me? It's not my problem, okay? I'm like, okay, it's not your problem. But you know, you face a situation like that in life and you think somebody needs to do something about this. Somebody needs to consider this and understand this is a real problem that I've got and I want you to help me with my problem. To get it sorted, You need someone that's in a position of authority, that cares enough, that can do something about it. And if you got somebody like that, it would be best if you know that person, you can go to them and say, well, you know, this is my complaint, this is what is going on. I said to my wife, we're sitting in the, you know, they're waiting for the, the nurse this year, and I said, you know what, I think I'm gonna tell Owen Thompson about this. Owen Thompson is a MSP, I don't know if he's the best one, or MP, I'm sorry, down at Westminster, and I know Owen from Lone Head, and you know, I think I'm probably gonna write him a letter and let him know that this happened, and this is the situation, and if you got people with leg injuries, what are they to do? And you know, the weather was nice, but what if it was bad? And you know, these type of things. I wanna share my complaint with him, and I hope that maybe, he'll have compassion and maybe look at that and maybe help other people out in that situation. Today, praise God, when we have a problem in life, and that's a little bit silly and it was okay and it worked out and it's fine, but sometimes in life we've got real problems. And there's something that is just so tough, and we kind of feel like, hey, nobody cares, nobody's interested in what's going on in my life, but praise God today that there is somebody that we can share our complaint with. And again, it's best if we know him personally, that we could go to him and share that complaint with him, and of course, this morning, I'm speaking about our Lord. that we have the opportunity to go and say, God, this is what is on my heart, this is what is burdening me, this is the problem that I am facing. In Psalm 95 verse one, another Psalm, David said, oh come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. It's amazing to think that the glorious supreme being of the universe is a God that is ready to have us come before him and speak to him about our problems. And so again, our text is Psalm 141, another Psalm of David. And the title of my message this morning is my prayer, my prayer. And the context they think is that it's obvious that David is in a place of extreme danger and difficulty, and likely it's from a season of his life just after kind of what we're looking at in the story in our Sunday school lesson. And that is when King Saul is hunting the life of David and David's being pursued in the wilderness that sometime there he penned this psalm saying his only hope was that God would hear his prayer. And so verse two he says, let my prayer be set forth before thee. And I want to encourage us this morning to set forth our prayer before God, and to really just go to God and take our burden to Him, just like we've sung the hymn this morning, written by John Moore. I'm blanking right now. Burdens are lifted at Calvary. And to be able to go to God and say, God, I'd just like to set this burden upon you. Are you going to the great authority? Who cares? Asking for his intervention. Let's pray and ask God to bless our time around his word. Father, we're grateful for the word of God. It is what we need. And Father, what a great example you set before us in Psalms. And Father, there's maybe no better place to learn how to pray than by meditating and reading through the Psalms because of the devotional heart of the hymn writer and hymn writers. And Father, we thank you for David. And Father, I pray today as we look at his prayer, setting it before you, I pray, God, that you teach us to set our prayer before you. And Father, encourage us. I know many in our church are facing difficulties and trials and need the encouragement of God. And Father, there might be an unbeliever that's listening in and thinking, you know what? I've got problems in my life too. I don't have anybody that's interested, nobody cares, but Father, praise God, we can tell that person today that there's a God in heaven that designed them and made them and that is interested in knowing them personally through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, his death on the cross for them, that they could be forgiven and be brought into a position where they can set their prayer before God. And Father, I can't speak without your enablement and I don't want to try. And so I pray that the Spirit of God would enable me. I pray that the Spirit of God would guide me as I speak. I pray that you would touch the hearts of the hearers this morning. And Father, that you'd strengthen us in our walk with you. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. And so set your prayer before God, set your prayer before God. Pray with David, and we're gonna consider six things, and kind of six summaries of his prayer here. And the first is, Lord, hear me. Pray with David, Lord, hear me. Ambrose Pierce, and I've researched this, I think he's not a godless, a godly man, I think he's a godless man, but he has a great statement about prayer that I learned some 20 years ago, and that's this, prayer, is to ask that the laws of the universe be annulled on behalf of a single petitioner, confessedly unworthy. Let me just say it again, because it is a great statement. A prayer is to ask that the laws of the universe be annulled, be set aside on behalf of a single petitioner, confessedly unworthy. It's amazing to think of the privilege that God has given us in prayer, that we can go to God and say, God, would you intervene? God, would you work? And so, Lord, hear me. Hear me personally. Hear me personally. Look at verse one. It says, Lord, I cry unto thee. David picked up his phone and he dialed heaven. He wanted to talk to God. He said, I cry unto thee. That's a personal aspect of what we're considering. Imagine your shock if you came into my study at my house and you saw a red phone sitting on my desk, what kind of official, kind of important, and you asked what that was. And I said, well, that is a direct line to number 10 Downing Street. All right, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's on the other end and I just, you know, he had this installed for me. That Downing Street has been the home of the Prime Minister since 1735. That's amazing, isn't it? And to think that in my office that there's a direct line that I could just pick up my phone and call. You know what? My wife would testify that this is probably true. If I could, I would. If I had a direct line to the prime minister, I think I'd take advantage of that. I think I'd pick that up occasionally, maybe even with a situation with the hospital and say, I just have something that I wanna share with you because I've got that personal access to him. Have you ever paused to reflect on how amazing it is that God desires to listen to us? It's greater than having a direct line to the prime minister that we can go directly to God through Jesus Christ and have that access where it is God and it is me and we are connected. Psalm 40 verse five says, Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. It's amazing today that God is interested. Don't ever think, well, God doesn't have time or God's not interested. God is very interested, so much that the Bible says that he thinks about it so often that it's innumerable. That's incredible to consider. Again, if you had a personal line to Downing Street, you'd be a fool not to use it. And if we're born again today, we've received Jesus Christ as our personal savior, then we've got access at that moment of salvation. And for the rest of our lives, we've got access directly to God. And so David cries out, Lord, hear me personally. I cry unto thee. And then hear me speedily. Hear me speedily. It says, make haste unto me. You know, David didn't need help in the future. He needed help right now. As he went to God, he wasn't saying, Lord, it'd be really okay or it'd be really great if in the future, God, you'd see fit to do this. There was an urgency in his heart that was, God, I'm here right now because I need you right now. Again, back to the number 10 Downing Street illustration, if I, you know, I picked up that phone, I dial in and there's a cabinet meeting that's taking place there at number 10 and the cabinet's there and Boris Johnson gets a phone call and he says, I'm sorry, man, I just, I gotta go. Ben, sure. on the line here and he's got something important I just need to go and I need to take the time to speak with him and see if we can resolve his needs. Now again that'd be amazing but I could tell you it ain't gonna happen. It's not I mean, there's no connection like that. There's no interest on his part. And I'm not saying he's not a good man or a nice man and doesn't care about some people, but the fact is he doesn't really, he doesn't know me. He doesn't understand me. He's not gonna say, well, government business is not as important as what's taking place in the life of Ben Shore. But again, as we think about it. God is the God of the universe. God has everything in the world taking place right now. It's all going on. He's got the angels in heaven that he's marshaling, but to think that, again, I could pick up the phone and I could say to God, God, hear me speedily, and God is there. He's listening on the other end. During Lincoln's presidency, just after the Civil War, there's a story that's told, and it's this. A dejected Confederate soldier sitting outside the grounds of the White House, a young boy approached him and inquired why he was so sad. The soldier related how he had repeatedly tried to see President Lincoln to tell him why he was unjustly deprived of certain lands in the South following the war. On each occasion, as he attempted to enter the White House, the guards crossed their bayoneted guns in front of the door and turned him away. The boy motioned to the old soldier to follow him. When they approached the entrance, the guards came to attention, stepped back and opened the door for the boy. He proceeded to the library where the president was resting and introduced the soldier to his father. The boy was Tad Lincoln. And so the soldier had access, why? Because he had the son and the son had access at all times to go there. And I imagine that if you get to see the president, the president's going to meet your need. And it's this today for us, we have access through the son of God, Jesus Christ, into the presence of God immediately. And as we have access immediately, he's a God that will as quickly meet our needs. Luke 18, verse seven, Jesus said this, shall not God, And a lot of times that's us going to God, we're praying about it, and there's a desire for God to answer, but it's kind of like it's a far off idea. And I was kind of rebuked of this in my own spirit last night. And that is this, it would be good for us more often to pray, God, we are in need right now. How much, Jesus said, he will avenge them speedily. And there ought to be an expectation in our heart as we go to God, God, please, I pray, hear me speedily. Hear me personally, hear me speedily. And then hear me continually. It says, give ear unto my voice when I cry unto thee. As often as I lift my voice, God, hear me. You know, I pick up the phone, dial heaven, God, please just be there every single time I need you. You know, help is no good if it's not available when you need it. We've got NHS 24. And that's a blessing. And the blessing is this, it's whenever you need it, right? 24, 24 hours around the clock help. If you got a problem, you pick up the phone and you call NHS 24 and hopefully they'll get you through. And they did great work for us this past week and getting the scheduled appointment there for Katie. But it's great because troubles don't only come during business hours. You know, there's gonna be times where it's just an inconvenient time, maybe for anybody else, but praise God, if it's the middle of the night, everybody else is asleep, that there is access for us to help immediately, and that access is God. Psalm 63, verse six. When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee, and the night watches, because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. You know, if you got a burden today, praise God. The Bible says, casting all your care upon him for he careth for you in that you and I can go again and again. Look, I've got problems maybe in the morning. I've got problems during the day. I've got problems in the evening. I've got problems during the night, but praise God, I can go continually to God. And so David prays to God and he says, Lord, hear me. Hear me personally, hear me speedily, and hear me continually. All right, so pray with David about that. Set that prayer out before God, Lord, hear me. The second idea or aspect of his prayer is pray with David, Lord, accept me. Lord, accept me as I come before you. Accept me. You remember the story of Esther as she's there in the king's palace and he doesn't know her heritage that she's a Jew. Haman hates Mordecai, Esther's uncle. He's drafted a law with the king's signature that says that all the Jews are gonna perish. And so Mordecai says to Esther, Esther, you gotta go before the king and let him know about this. And Esther spake unto Hathak, the servant that was with her, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai. All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces do know that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who's not called, there is one law of his. to put him to death. Accept such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter that he may live. But I've not been called to come in unto the king these 30 days. And so if she tried to go into the king and the king didn't accept her, then she would perish, she'd die. And they told to Mordecai Esther's words. Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, think not with thyself that thou shall escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place. But thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, go gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also and my maidens will fast likewise. And so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law, and if I perish, I perish. And she's got to go before the king and she's very interested that the king accept her because if the king didn't accept her, that was it. And so they're praying and they're fasting and that day comes and she enters in and the golden scepter by the grace of God comes down and she's accepted by the king. As David is praying here, there's a sense in his heart that he wants to be accepted by God. He wants his prayer to be something that pleases God, that is acceptable to God. And so accept me in my petition. And so accept me as you would the sweet incense, the sweet incense. It says, let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense. David's saying, God, I want my prayer, when I pray, to be like that refreshing smell that delights the heart of God. Many of us have had COVID, and those that have had COVID understand that you might lose your taste, you might lose your smell. A lot of people have had that symptom with that. You know, it could be dangerous if you can't smell. Your house could be on fire and you wouldn't know it. It could be dangerous for your family if you're the cook and your meal could be on fire and you not know it, right? I mean, our smell is very important. You kind of take it for granted until it's missing. But on just a smell level, all right, just on the fact of odors, that could be good or that could be bad, you know, depending on what the smell is, if it's a bad smell or offensive smell or refreshing smell. Last year, close to our house there, where I run, I run up that kind of slip road that goes down to Ockendenny. Right there, there's a badger's den that's there. A badger crossed the road and met his end. Some vehicle hit this badger and actually ended up on the pavement where I run. That was okay for about maybe a week, week and a half. But then it just got worse, and it got worse, and it got worse. And every time I ran past that odor, I thought to myself, I very much wish I had taken care of this right after the event. You got it out of there, because that would have been much better. So this past week, a badger was hit on that same slip road. It doesn't probably surprise you that my boys dutifully went up there. They dug a hole. They got ready for a little, you know, funeral for this poor departed badger. And then they went to find the badger. The badger was already gone. I think some other runner had seen that the badger had died. No, I don't know what took place. But if you've run past it, you wouldn't want to run past it again. It was a very offensive smell. There's also refreshing smells in life. And praise God for that, right? Shortbread baking. Very nice, you know, that aroma. Nature, you know, outside you got the fresh cut grass or the pine trees like by our house, the pines that came down, they had to cut them up yesterday because of the storm that came through. A thunderstorm, that ozone, you know, that really fresh oxygenated smell. Flowers in bloom. Things like that just kind of refresh us. In fact, the Bible says about man-made perfume that it is refreshing on the inside. Proverbs 27, verse nine, ointment and perfume rejoice the heart. All right, so there's something about it that God made us that way. Oh, you know, that's a refreshing smell. Now in the Bible, in the Old Testament, in worshiping God, there would be incense. and ointments that were used in worship that would be delightful to God. And there's a lengthy passage that speaks about this in Exodus chapter 30, but I'm just gonna read a part of it. And the people were told back in chapter 25 to bring ingredients for these ointments. And so it said, bring oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense. In chapter 30, verse 34, The Lord said unto Moses, take unto thee sweet spices. I don't know how to say this, stacked, anika and galbanum. These sweet spices with pure frankincense. Of each shall there be a like weight. And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection, after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy. And thou shalt beat some of it very small and put of it before the testimony and the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee. And it shall be unto you most holy. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof, it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord, whosoever shall make like unto that to smell thereto shall even be cut off from his people. So God says this is only for worship. But I'll say this, I'd love to smell it. I'd love to smell a perfume that was mixed together according to the ingredients that God said to mix together. I mean, that must have been a wonderful aroma that God accepted. You know, prayer can be like that to God. It's like that sweet incense, and that's what David's praying about. God, accept it like the sweet incense. Revelation speaks about that in chapter eight, verse four, and when the incense was going up, the prayers of God's people were going up in the Old Testament, and the Bible says in the New, and the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angels' hands. And I just wonder today, is our prayer sweet incense to God, a mixture of thanksgiving and praise? and honor, and worship, and petition, and all those things blended together, we would certainly say to God, God, accept it. As I bow my, you know, I'm gonna get up, I'm gonna have my prayer time, as I pray, God, make that a sweet aroma to God. Accept me as you do the sweet incense. Accept me as you would the evening sacrifice. It says in the lifting up my hands as the evening sacrifice. You know, one of the prayer postures in the Bible is this. is lifting up holy hands, as the Bible says, without wrath and doubting. You know that story of Moses in the battle. The Bible says as his hands were lifted up, they won the battle. His hands came down, they lost the battle. Moses is the great intercessor. Aaron and Hur come and they stay up the hands of Moses. And in that praying posture, God's people succeed. Solomon prayed with uplifted hands. 1 Kings 8 verse 22. Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel. He spread forth his hands towards heaven. Again, just lifting up his hands to God. Jesus prayed with uplifted hands in Luke 24, verse 50. And he led them out as far as to Bethany. And he lifted up his hands and he blessed them. Okay, so again, the Savior blessing God's people. He lifts up his hands, he blesses them. And In our text, David is saying, God, accept this, like the evening sacrifice. Well, the evening sacrifice was the formal worship that was taking place, and David couldn't be there. David couldn't be there for the morning sacrifice. He couldn't be there for the evening sacrifice. It's taking place, and he's saying this, God, accept this as you accept that. Just like that's pleasing to you. Now, what did that represent? They had a sacrifice that would take place at nine in the morning, the third hour of the day, in Bible times, and at three in the afternoon, which is nine o'clock, the ninth hour of the day, okay, in their timetable, they had an evening, or a morning and an evening sacrifice. That sacrifice pictured Jesus. And God accepted that sacrifice as it pictured the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what's very interesting to me, and I think maybe I've seen this before. But it's this, Jesus was crucified at the time of the morning sacrifice. He was crucified, the Bible says in Mark 15, 25, and it was the third hour when they crucified him. Well, that was the time where the priest would enter in, they'd offer the morning sacrifice. Jesus died at the time of the evening sacrifice. Luke 23 verse 44 tells us it was about the sixth hour, noon, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. And the truth is this, yes he was, as we looked at in depth on Wednesday night. And because of that, his sacrifice was accepted. When? At the evening sacrifice. So there's a morning sacrifice, an evening sacrifice. Jesus was crucified at the third hour of the day. At the sixth hour of the day, it got dark. At the ninth hour of the day, which was the hour of the evening sacrifice, God accepted the death of the Lord Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ himself says, it is finished. Now think about it. David didn't say, accept my prayer as the morning sacrifice. He said, accept my prayer as the evening sacrifice. Why? Because that picture is the acceptable sacrifice of our Lord. And for us today, as we go to God, and if we've accepted again Jesus Christ as our Savior, when we get on our knees to pray, it's a remembrance before God of the sufficiency of Christ, which he accepted on Calvary. And so it's good for us to go and say, God, accept my prayer, like that evening sacrifice, that precious death of your son, Jesus Christ, for me. And so we can pray with David, Lord, hear me. Lord, accept me. And then pray with David, Lord, guard me. Lord, guard me. David is gonna pray here for God's protection in two areas, in his words and his thoughts. And we see this in other scripture as well. In Psalm 63, I'm sorry, Psalm 19, verse 14, David wrote, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. David understood that in two areas of his life, these are particular areas of danger. In the things that I say, in the things that I do, my heart, my decisions, God, I need you to protect me in these areas. Lord, guard me. And so we see first of all, Lord, guard my mouth from transgression. Guard my mouth from transgression. Verse three says, set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. All right, you read that, set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. And I can see a young person reading that and thinking, you know, what's that speaking about? And it's not speaking about a watch like we think about, but it's speaking about a guard that would be there. Just like in the story of Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter four, verse nine, nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God and set a watch against them day and night because of them. They put a watch out there that would be active and eyes alert and aware at all times and protecting at all times and intervening as necessary to guard them. As David thought about his lips, David understood that my lips can transgress very easily. And so God put something right there. God help me to speak correctly. Think about how many ways we can err in our speech. Just to list some, flattery, boasting, lying, cursing, exaggerating, complaining, coveting, scorning, slandering. You know, in our heart today, is there anything that says, oh God, set a watch before my lips. Guard me, I don't want to transgress with my mouth. It's such a vital area in my Christian life and experience that I need to guard my tongue, guard my lips. James 3, verse 2 says, and many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Now I know this, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. So if my mouth's right, by God's grace, my heart's right, but I need God's help with that. And I ought to be somebody that can get on my knees in my prayer time and say, God, you got to help me with this. I often speak unadvisedly in ways that displease you. God, please set a guard about my mouth. Guard my mouth from transgression. Secondly, guard my heart from transgression. Guard my heart. Verse four, David knew the appetites of his flesh were often contrary to the appetites that God desired him to have, and he said to God, God, please put a guard there. God, don't let my heart go down that path. Don't let me desire to eat what the wicked are practicing and seeking after. God, take that appetite. from me, incline my heart after you. You know, have you ever followed somebody and they're driving the vehicle up in front of you and you got to get to wherever they're taking you and you're trying to keep them inside and it's so nice when you've got somebody up there that's watching in the rear view mirror, right? and they're observing you and they're driving aware that you're following them. And you might've said to them, be very careful, please. Keep me on this path. Help me to be able to follow you. Be aware of where I'm at. And I think it's a little bit like that with David. He's just saying to God, God, I wanna walk on the path of righteousness. God, keep me in sight. Keep me right there where you're keeping an eye on me, making sure that I don't depart right or left, but just keep on following you. You know, it's biblical for us to pray about this. And Jesus said in the model prayer, he said, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. It ought to be part of our daily prayer life to say to God, God, don't let me be inclined to wickedness. God, guard my heart. Help me, oh God, to follow you. Jesus said in Gethsemane, even to his disciples. Mark 14, 38. Watch ye and pray. Lest ye enter into temptation, the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. And I would say this, as Bible-believing Christians, it's our desire to obey God, but we need to go to God and say, God, guard me. Guard me. Lest I transgress with my lips, lest I transgress with my heart. And so are you praying with David, Lord, guard me. Lord, hear me. Lord, accept me. And then fourth, Pray with David, Lord, correct me. Lord, correct me. You know, I praise God that I grew up with godly parents. And that mom and dad didn't spare the rod and spoil the child, but that they were faithful in areas of discipline. It's tough sometimes for a parent to follow through and under words say you can't do that. If you do that, there's gonna be consequences and then the consequences come. But I say praise God for that. That was such a blessing to me to have their loving correction. You know, David was wise enough that He didn't fight against God's correction. David was wise enough that he embraced God's correction. And so his prayer was kind of like this, correct me with the hand of the righteous. God, just correct me with the hand of the righteous. If you discipline me through them, it's your kindness. Verse five, let the righteous spite me. It shall be a kindness. It's okay, God. I'll take it. You just let him do that, Lord. Let him do that. I need that. And I love this about David. David was just like, get in there. Don't let me go down that wrong path. God, correct me. And if it's a righteous, hey, that's great. It'll be a kindness to me. And if you reprove me, it's like a blessing of anointing. It says, let him reprove me. It shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head. You know, David knew the sweetness of anointing oil and the blessing of that oil put upon him. And he says, man, if they tell me and correct me, that's okay, because that's exactly what I need. Proverbs 9, verse 8 says, Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man. and he will love thee. A wise person is going to embrace that correction and say, that's exactly what I need. Good on you. Thank you for having the courage to confront me. That's great. I embrace it. I'm going to follow God. That's good. back in the day when it was okay to discipline. And very sadly in our day, we've got these laws on the books here in Scotland about discipline and whatnot. We got to honor God rather than men. But the truth is this, back in the day, we understood the idea of the woodshed, okay? And we understood the idea of the switch. And so you got the woodshed and the switch. And if a parent said to their son, son, boy, you're in trouble, go cut a switch. What are they gonna get? They're gonna get something about five inches long and really probably like a leaf. Here, dad, have at it. Give me your worst. Why is that? It's not natural to desire correction, correct? But David is saying to God, God, just take the gloves off, whatever it takes. Let the righteous smite me. Let him reprove me, why? Because I need that. And I hope in our hearts today that we can begin to pray this prayer that David prayed, God correct me, even if it's tough. God correct me, if it's righteousness or as we see here at the end, no matter who it is, I'm gonna respond correctly. You remember David in the story of Absalom's revolt, he's leaving and there's this guy Shimei that comes out and mocks David. And Shimei cursed and came out and said, come out, come out thou bloody man, thou man of Belial. Remember he's talking to the king who's walking barefoot up the Mount of Olives fleeing Jerusalem. And the Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned. And the Lord hath delivered thy kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son. And behold, thou art taken in thy mischief because thou art a bloody man. Then said Abishai, the son of Zariah, unto the king, why should this dead dog curse my Lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. Now I like Abishai, all right? I kind of like to have Abishai with me if it's battle. You know, I'm just gonna go over, take off his head, that all right? And David's response, David said to Abishai and to all his servants, David looks at it and says, well, I'm just gonna accept that from God. even though the man's cursing, and he's willing to let God correct him even through that. And so in our text, it says this, for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. Whoever that is, whether they're correcting me, wicked or not wicked, I'm gonna pray for them. When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words, for they are sweet. David didn't get bitter against his enemies. King Saul, when King Saul died, he rent his garment, right? He wept for this man that had sought his life. Shimei and King Saul, David just committed them to God. God took care of them in his timing. Justice did prevail, but as for David's part, David took it and said, that's okay because I'll take that as from God. And so David could pray in his heart, God correct me. Whether it's the righteous or not the righteous, doesn't matter. God in your providence, just get me into that place of obedience. And so David's prayer, God correct me, guard me, accept me, hear me. And then let's pray with David, set out that prayer before God, Lord save me, Lord save me. Again, as my wife had that injury, we went into the waiting area there at the hospital and it said, no relatives may wait in this area. Sorry for any inconvenience. And you read something like that, it just, it makes you sad. And part of the heartache of everything that's taken place, not just that people have died from COVID, but that they've had to die alone from COVID. When they're in their time of deepest need, they desire that relative or that friend to be with them. Very sadly, because of the situation, that was kept from them. A believer in time of difficulty desires nothing so much as to know God's presence. And David is crying out to God, got him in a desperate situation, and he feels vulnerable, he feels in danger of perishing. The Bible says in verse seven, our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth. But mine eyes are unto thee, O God, the Lord, and thee is my trust. Leave me not my soul destitute. Destitute means empty, naked, poured out. God save me. I just feel empty. I feel like this is it, this is the end. And the poet David expresses it like a bone scattered about a grave as if somebody had been cutting wood and the wood chips had been flying and our bones are like that, we're right on the brink of death. But he's crying out to God for salvation. Last Sunday night at 5 p.m. in Arbroath, so up the east coast, there was a rescue that took place, a cliff rescue. And the article in the BBC said teams from Arbroath, Dundee, and Stonehaven were called to the scene at Dickmont's Den along with the RNLI lifeboats and a search and rescue helicopter from the Inverness. The man was about 32 feet from the top of the cliff and slipping when the rescue crew lifted him to safety. The crew had to perform a rope rescue on the cliff face after a helicopter rescue was deemed too dangerous due to the aircraft's downdraft. The crew said it found a cold and tired man in a desperate situation. They added that the man was a finger's grip away from plunging to almost certain death. David Kerr, Coast Guard Senior Coastal Operations Officer, said the incident was a close call. It goes to show how quickly a nice winter walk can turn sour. One decision and suddenly the man found himself gripping on for life. And life can be like that, sometimes spiritually and physically, where it's like, ah, it's just like I'm hanging on tenaciously. This is it, I'm gonna perish, and that's David. David says, God, I'm perishing, and he's crying out. He says, Lord, save me. Leave not my soul destitute. You know, I praise God, we could say to anybody that we're witnessing to, speaking to them about their sin, their sin that's destroying their life, the sin that's making them so empty inside, that unsatisfactory feeling that they have, that life is just empty, there is no hope, their soul is destitute, and yes it is, without God, but praise God, tonight, or today, they can cry out to God, Lord, leave not my soul destitute. Lord, save me. And for us as believers, we could cry out too, and physically, you know, salvation, biblically, when you read about it, it's not just always saving faith and salvation eternal, it's saving in life. And we might feel desperate, like David. We could cry out to God and say, God, I'm just hanging on for everything I got, but I'm praying, Lord, save me. Lord, save me. And so let's pray with David. Let's set that prayer out before God. Lord, save me. Lord, correct me. Lord, guard me. Lord, accept me. Lord, hear me. And then finally, this morning, let's pray with David. Lord, help me. Help me. It says in verse nine, keep me from the snares which they have laid for me and the djinns. Okay, the djinns, it means a noose for catching animals. Keep me from the noose of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I with all escape. One of my favorite games in my teenage years, and we need to play this with our teens, get a little bit better weather, but Capture the Flag. We'd play Capture the Flag, and I remember Camp Clearwater had a big activities field, and surrounded by woods and forests, and it's out, there's no lights out there, and we'd play after dark, and we'd have flower bombs. What a flower bomb is, it's a two-ply tissue that's taken apart, so it's just one ply, and you put flour in the middle of it, you wrap it up and put a rubber band around the top or something to tie it at the top. And rather than tagging people, it's a lot more fun, you hit them with a flour bomb. Okay, you got the two sides, you got to go in, you got to infiltrate into the enemy side. They've got a flag, you've got to get that flag and get back to your side without getting hit by a flour bomb and thereby captured or destroyed. It's a great game. And so what you're trying to do, you're trying to evade. And so if you're fast and small and quick turning, that's a good thing. And you're trying to escape. You're trying to get back to your side. You see those two aspects in David's prayer here. He's trying to evade. I mean, there's trouble that's out there and he's trying to get past it and he's praying to God, God help me to evade and God help me to escape. Whilst that I with all escape. Let them perish. Let them be taken in that, but God, deliver me. You know, when David was fleeing Saul, again, as we go back to that time in his life, So many times he would go to God and say, God, what do I do? We're gonna get to the story of Keilah, where David goes in and defends this city and he saves this city, but then King Saul hears that he's in Keilah, and David goes to God and he asks God, will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, he will come down. Then said David, will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, they will deliver thee up. And David and his men, which were about 600, arose and departed out of Keilah and went with her so that they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah and he forbade her to go forth. And so David just got on his knees to God and said, God, what's going to happen here? God says, this is what's going to happen. And David got out of there. The Bible says that we have an enemy. It's not flesh and blood. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. We have an adversary, the devil, that has a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. He absolutely wants to trap us. He absolutely wants to destroy us. We better get on our knees and say to God, God, show me the way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10, 13. There is no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted, above that you're able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it. so that we can say to God today, no matter what I'm at, what I'm facing, what I'm struggling with, God, there is a way of escape, and I'm coming to you, and I'm asking you, Lord, help me. God, set me free from this. Today, as we conclude, I don't know whether Owen Thompson's gonna do anything about the situation I found myself in or not. I may contact him. But I praise God today, no matter what our problem is that we're facing, no matter what the difficulty, how serious it is, how heavy it is, that there is somebody that cares about us and has the power to intervene. And so if we're to pray like David, it's Lord, hear me. It's dial up heaven, it's get on that line that we've got connected personally to God and to say to God, God, I need you to help me speedily. Lord, accept me. Lord, let it be, when I get on my knees, let it be like the incense, let it be like the evening sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ himself, whom you accept. Lord, guard me, guard my mouth, guard my heart. Lord, correct me, whatever means necessary. Lord, save me, I'm in a precarious position, whether eternally or physically. And Lord, help me, help me evade, help me escape. Praise God, we've got a problem, but we've got the answer too, don't we? We've got a God who cares, let's pray. Father, I praise you for the grace that you give. And Father, there's great needs that I know are in our hearts this morning. Father, it could be physical, financial, relational. It could be sin. It could be eternal. We need the Savior. But Father, help us to come like David. And Father, we pray that you would hear us, that you hear us personally and speedily. And Father, we praise you that you're interested in us, you understand the need. And Father, how greatly we need you to protect us and guard us and guide us and help us and save us. And I pray, Father, that the spirit of God this week, as we enter into it, would often bring these prayers to our mind. And Father, that prayer like sweet incense and like an evening sacrifice would go up before you and be found acceptable to you. Father, would you bless your word to our hearts? It's in Christ's name I pray, amen. Amen, our final hymn this morning is 335. Lord, I'm coming home, 335.