Title: "In the Prayers of David: Psalm 5 - The Steadfast Love of the Lord" (This combines the sermon series title with the specific Psalm being addressed, highlighting the central theme.)

Summary: This sermon, part of a summer series on "the prayers of David," explores Psalm 5, emphasizing the steadfast love of the Lord (HESED) as its central theme and crucial for understanding salvation and life. David, in distress and facing opposition, suffering, and danger, serves as an example of how to respond. The Psalms remind believers that life is warfare and that they face a personal, powerful, and determined enemy.

The message highlights David's earnest seeking of the Lord in prayer, which involves not only spoken "words" but also "groaning" (things too deep for words) and a "loud and desperate crying out". David reasons with God based on God's righteous and holy character, acknowledging that God "does not delight in wickedness" and "hates all evildoers". This reasoning leads to a crucial realization: humans themselves are guilty of evil, making their only hope for approaching God the "abundance of your steadfast love" (HESED). This HESED is defined as God's "sovereign covenantal undeserved abundant favor and kindness", enabling entry into God's house and leading to humble, reverent worship.

The sermon clarifies that the primary opposition for Christians is not human beings but Satan and his minions, against whom imprecatory prayers (prayers against enemies) should be directed, while human enemies should be loved and prayed for. Regardless of specific prayer answers, the most important thing is to find refuge and rejoice in the Lord, trusting Him in all circumstances, including suffering, opposition, and trials. The message concludes by cautioning against three common mistakes regarding the enemy: complacency (thinking one has no enemy), mistaking human beings for the real enemy, and living in fear or dread. The ultimate truth and refuge is that Jesus fulfilled Psalm 5, faced undeserved enemies, and defeated the enemy at the cross, providing an effective refuge for believers.

Brief Outline: The sermon presents Psalm 5 with a chiastic (X-shaped) structure, revealing its heart in the middle stanza:

• I. Stanza 1 (Verses 1-3): Earnest Seeking of the Lord in Prayer
• David asks God to "give ear," "consider," and "give attention" to his words, groaning, and cry.
• This includes preparing prayers "in the morning" and watching for God's answer.
• II. Stanza 2 (Verses 4-6): God's Character and the Opposition
• David reasons with God based on His righteous and holy character, emphasizing that God "does not delight in wickedness" and "hates all evildoers".
• III. Stanza 3 (Verses 7-8): The Heart of the Psalm - The Steadfast Love of the Lord
• David's only hope to enter God's house is "through the abundance of your steadfast love" (HESED).
• This grace leads to humble worship and a prayer for God to "Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness".
• IV. Stanza 4 (Verses 9-10): The Opposition and David's Plea for Divine Justice
• Describes the enemies' deceitful character.
• David asks God to make them "bear their guilt" and "fall by their own counsels," prayers directed against the spiritual enemy, Satan.
• V. Stanza 5 (Verses 11-12): Finding Refuge and Rejoicing in the Lord
• Encourages those who "take refuge in you [God] rejoice" and "ever sing for joy".
• Emphasizes that God blesses and covers the righteous with favor as a shield.
• The ultimate refuge is in the Lord, not necessarily in specific answers to prayers.