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[0:00] All right, that was fantastic. Ladies, I'd love to hear you sing too, but a men's trio is pretty special, isn't it? That's pretty nice. You know, music and psalms or poetry and singing exist because God made us with emotions and not just thoughts.

[0:16] Sometimes a song like that can really communicate a great truth for us today, a great picture. Turn with me, if you will, back to Psalm chapter number 5. Before we get too far into it, I'm going to give you the outline this morning of some truths that we learn from Psalm chapter number 5.

[0:31] At the beginning of the inscription above it, we learn some things often. The pastor told us the chapters before we knew that David was dealing with Absalom, his son. We don't have that in chapter number 5.

[0:42] The inscription above it speaks about what kind of instrument would be played with this song. And some would say maybe a flute or maybe an oboe because that would be a sad sounding instrument.

[0:54] If any of you ever had a middle schooler play a clarinet in sixth grade, that's a pretty sad sounding instrument. That's what I'm imagining is a middle schooler, middle school band with a clarinet would be the background for a sad psalm here.

[1:06] But it doesn't end sad, not at all. It has got such a wonderful truth that really spoke into my heart this week looking at it. So here's the question. Who is fit to be a guest in God's house to share in worship in the temple?

[1:19] And we're going to see God says, not these people, not these people, and then David says, here I am. I'm coming into your temple and I'm going to worship. And so David says, hear me. Those of us who truly call him king are heard by him, not because of the volume of our voices, but because of who he is so we can watch and pray.

[1:37] Beginning part of the chapter, we're going to see that he communicates in prayer in many different levels, meditation, crying clearly in his voice. But that isn't why God hears us, because we don't have, it isn't because we speak in some kind of fancy language or we beat our bodies to get his attention, but because it's who he is, his nature is our heavenly father and king.

[1:56] He listens to us. Lead me, O king, our king welcomes us into his house to worship, even though we are not worthy. Just like everybody else, we should not be able to go into his presence. We should not be able to speak to him, but due to the multitude of his mercies, we can.

[2:11] We can call him Abba. We can call him father. We can know him in a personal way. Protect me. God cast out those who only honor him with their mouth. There's places that David could go that his enemies couldn't go.

[2:22] We're not talking about just hiding in caves. We're talking about into the presence of God. Sometimes you need a reprieve. You need a break. You got to get away from it. Enter into the presence of God and you can leave a lot of things behind you.

[2:33] And then bless me. Those who find refuge in God will rejoice in his name. And so this chapter ends with rejoicing in who he is and what knowing him does for our lives. It's an incredible psalm.

[2:45] I love it. We had a wedding here yesterday and the bride was from Northern Ireland, as you know, Hannah Neely. And so there's several people here from Northern Ireland. And I picked up a few words from them. The wedding yesterday was lovely.

[2:56] Just lovely. That's some word. You know, that word just fits a lot of times. And this psalm is just, it's just lovely. It's great. It's brilliant. All right. In the meal we had yesterday, they said the meal was gorgeous.

[3:06] You know, I feel like we could expand our vocabulary a little bit, hanging out with them. I don't think they understood any words I said. I'm certain of it. All right. So let's jump. Before we jump into this, Acts 13, 22 tells us that David, the son of Jesse, was a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.

[3:25] That was said about David, that he was a man after God's own heart. Before you bring up all the objections and all the things that he did, can I remind you that God did not define him by his sins and his wrongdoings, but God defined him by the mercy that was shown to him.

[3:41] And I wouldn't want it brought up in my life that God sees us like that. And that's how we get to enter into his presence. And which means today, no matter how much you've messed up in the past, that you can still have a heart for the things of God, that you're not beyond repair, that you can, that God could do this work in your life.

[3:56] You could come to know him. So let's jump into it. Verse number one says, give ear to my words. Here we're going to see that no matter how he said things, it didn't matter the volume that God was going to hear him.

[4:08] David is dealing with problems on every side. Somebody said, I only pray when I'm in trouble, but I'm in trouble all the time, and so I pray all the time. That may be where some of you are at. You only pray when you're in trouble, but you live in trouble.

[4:19] So David, at this time of his life, there's so many different things that could be going on. I mean, it could be Saul. It could be Absalom. It could be Shemiah. It could be Hithophel. It could be Doeg.

[4:29] There's a lot of people that are always coming after David, just nonstop. On every turn, he is being spoken against. There's these things that are being said about him. He's being falsely accused.

[4:40] Even when he's living in integrity, things are being said about him. And David says, I got to be heard by my King and my God.

[4:50] A sense of urgency. I have to be heard. I know you've prayed prayers like that before. You know, you pray sometimes, you're with family devotions or it's before a meal, and you don't often think about, will this prayer be heard? But there's other times where you say, God, I have to be heard from you.

[5:04] I need you to know what's going on in my life and my heart, and I don't believe I can move if you don't hear me. So David knew to whom he needed to take his request. He said, my cry, my King and my God.

[5:16] My God, it was personal. It was him that he knew, but not the God of his fathers or of anybody else, but it was his God. And then he said, my King. Those two things brought together. We see that a lot in the Bible.

[5:28] In what we call the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6, 9, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And then it says, what's next? Thy kingdom come. So we see that picture of him being a father to us, but also being a king.

[5:41] He's so great that one picture, word picture there, would not be enough. He is our father. He is our king. One of my favorite verses in Luke 12, 32 says, fear not, little flock, for it's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

[5:54] There we see him as a shepherd and as a father and over as a king. So David is addressing him as a God and as a king, which is amazing because he is a king himself, isn't he? He is the king over a nation.

[6:05] And he says, I may be over all this and I may have all this authority, but God, you are over me. You are the one that dictates what I should do. You, I live according to your rule in life.

[6:15] And so David's appeal will come upon many levels. Verse 1, give ear unto my words and consider my meditations. We're told in the Bible, in the New Testament, that there's a time that the Holy Spirit takes our inner groanings.

[6:26] When we don't even know how to speak to God. When we don't even know what to say. I said that the psalm is good because oftentimes it will put words to those feelings that we have in our hearts. And then my cry, this crying out to God.

[6:39] And then my voice in verse number 3. So a meditation, a cry, and my voice. All different types of levels. All different types of communication happening. And David comes here believing that God is going to listen to him because of his character.

[6:53] Verse 4 says, for thou art not a God that. And then after you read that, you can just pause for a second and say, okay, if somebody says that you are not a God that, whatever comes next is going to be talking about what David knows to be the character and nature of God.

[7:09] Knowing that David had said that he's a man after God's own heart. That's what we want. Isn't that, Brother Lamar? That's what we primarily want when we come to the Bible is we want to know God. We're not just looking for a list of things to do or a list of things to avoid.

[7:20] But we come to the Word because we want to know God. Who is he? And that's the most important thing we'll ask. That's the most important question that will be asked today. Some kid in children's church may ask, who is God?

[7:31] And that's the most important question that you'll ever ask with your life. And then David's going to give some things about the character of God. He says, you're not a God that. And then he says, you're not a God that has pleasure and wickedness.

[7:43] And so these are people that cannot come into his presence. Neither shall evil dwell with thee. So he's making a list of people that he has no pleasure in. They can't dwell in his presence. The foolish, they can't stand in his sight.

[7:54] Verse 5. He hates all the workers of iniquity. He hates those and destroys those that speak leasing. He hates lying. God hates lying.

[8:06] God hates the deceitful. Verse 6. The Lord will pour the bloody and the deceitful man. And we look at those characteristics and we say, you know, it can be said of me at times that I'm all those things, that I'm those people.

[8:18] You're not, you've never killed anybody, but you've thought with hatred upon somebody. And these are all descriptions of people that can't dwell with God. Evil cannot dwell with him. But David, knowing this about God, it says in verse number 3, that in the morning I will direct my prayer unto thee and I will look up.

[8:35] He says that I believe that I can talk to God. Even though knowing that he hates sin, I can talk to God. And not only can I talk to God, but I can come to him having an expectation. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up.

[8:49] He says he will direct his prayer to him. In the book of Job, he says, I will order my prayer is how it was said. A lot of times when this is used, he was talking about that the altar, when they would take the wood and it would be piled up and it would be laid out.

[9:01] And Job, or David here says in the morning, Lord, I'm just going to lay it all out there in front of you. Last psalm was a nighttime psalm. This is a morning psalm. He says, God, in the first thing in the morning, I'm just going to lay it all out there in front of you and say, God, this is who I am.

[9:17] This is what's on my heart. And God, I'm going to lay it out there before you. And then I'm going to look up. I'm just going to spend the rest of my day expecting that you're going to work. Isn't that a wonderful privilege?

[9:28] And I know I'm speaking in such simple terms, but that's not something that everybody has. David's already said that. A lot of people can't enter to his presence, can't go into that temple. But David said, I can go before this God who hates sin, and I can go before him.

[9:40] I can lay my life out in front of him. I can give my prayer, and then I can have the expectation that God is going to work on my behalf, what is best for me and for his glory.

[9:51] And then he says, David looked up. I will look up. Our overarching theme for psalms is lift up your eyes. And so he says, I will look up. David knew that God would do a work here in his life.

[10:03] He trusted that. Nobody else may be worrying about his problems. Nobody else may be caring about him. The whole kingdom may be turned against him. His whole family may be turned against him. He had nobody in his corner.

[10:14] But he says, I know that when I go to God that he is going to help me. And that will really help you, won't it? That will save your mind. That will save you from insanity. When you're carrying something that you just can't carry anymore, and you take it to God early in the morning, and you say, God, this is who I am.

[10:29] This is where I'm at. I lay it all out for you, and I expect, Lord, that you will help me. That will help you. So God who hates sin invites us to pray to him. And what an incredible privilege.

[10:41] Then verse 7, it says, but as for me, I will come into the house in the multitude of thy mercy. But as for me, all these other people can't do it. They can't enter it. This is how God feels.

[10:52] But for me, I get to enter into your presence. And what was the qualification for him to do it? He didn't say, because I was better than my enemies, because I lived uprightly, because I had done all these things for you.

[11:04] But he says, but as for me, I will come into your presence in the multitude of thy mercy. And the multitude of your mercy is the reason we get to come to him. Most Thanksgiving, pastor will teach a psalm, and at the end of every psalm, it will say, his mercy endures forever.

[11:19] What a great thing that ought to be constantly going through our heart and through our mind all the time. When you don't feel like you can go to God in prayer, when you feel like he doesn't care, when you feel like that you wouldn't be somebody that would be welcome into his presence, you just say, his mercy endures forever.

[11:35] And you say like David, but as for me, I'm coming in. I'm going in there. I'm going to go into the presence of God. In the New Testament, we're told in 1 John 4, 10, here in his love that we love God, but he loved us, and he sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins.

[11:52] Here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son. God loves us, and he sent his son to die for us. And so why would we not think that he would want us to enjoy his presence and to come before him in prayer?

[12:07] Could any greater thing be done to demonstrate his desire for us to be in his presence? You know, we were at a wedding yesterday. We knew that we were invited into that opportunity. We were invited into that special moment with that couple because they gave out an invitation.

[12:21] They said it. What did Jesus do to say that we are welcome now into his presence, that we were once aliens or once strangers or once enemies of the cross? He sent his son to give us access.

[12:32] Verse 7 says, And not fear will I worship toward the holy temple, and a fear and a reverence to God, which is the opposite of what the other people had, who they said they had rebelled against him.

[12:43] They found a place here that they could be accepted, and they were loved. So my first car was a 1983 Plymouth Reliant. And so I bought it from Waldo. I worked at the gas station, and Waldo had a siren on top of it.

[12:57] He had a bar of lights. And so he came in one day, and he said, I'll take $100 from my car. And I just got paid, and I put it on the counter, and I'll say, Waldo, I'll take that car, okay? And then he brought it to my house, and he took the siren off the top of it.

[13:09] And he said, You can't drive around with a siren on top of it. And I said, Waldo, you're a volunteer fireman. You can't do it either, all right? He wasn't supposed to have a siren on top of his car. But anyway, he took the siren off of it, and so the car wasn't worth near what it was.

[13:21] Well, I traded that one, and I got a Mercury Topaz. One time it was red, and now it was pink. And in that Mercury Topaz, David DeBoer will relate, I had an anti-shock CD player, all right?

[13:33] And because I was learning to shift gears, so I needed something anti-shock there. And I would listen to this song, and it would say, I found a place. And in my whole life, at different times, this song would come up.

[13:46] I want to read a little bit to you. I would sing, but we know I'm not allowed to do that anymore, all right? A few failed attempts at happy birthday has caused me not to be allowed to sing anymore. But this song would come up.

[13:56] Stephanie has heard me talk about it. I'll sing it sometimes in the shower. And it wasn't until I studied Psalm 5 that I realized that this song just really spoke to me on such a deep level. And it said, I found a place where I can go.

[14:08] I found a place that's holy. I found a place where you're no longer reaching for me. I found a place that's close to you. I found a place that's close to me. I found a place where you are, and that's where I want to be.

[14:19] And you'll find me at your feet, and you'll find me kneeling, and you'll find me near or far. You'll find me where you are. And I found a place I can hide. I found a place that gives me strength. I found a place where I'm servant, and you're the king.

[14:31] And I found a place that I call home, and I found a place that I know well. I found a place where I'm less, and you're everything. And last, I traveled far with tired feet, and ended here on bended knee.

[14:41] And I asked for some sympathy, and you rescued me. That line, I found a place where I can hide. I found a place that gives me strength. I found a place where you're servant, where I'm servant, and you're the king.

[14:52] As a teenager, that just meant so much to me. Because I'm driving from one place that seemed to have a problem to another place that seemed to have a problem. And I felt like at times, the whole world was coming down upon me.

[15:05] Things were happening in my life. But I could get in that Mercury Topaz, and I could spend time with God, in the presence of God. I could sing to Him. I could listen to sermons.

[15:16] I could listen to my Bible. And I just wanted to be in that car, because it was a place that I could find rest. It was a place that I could find acceptance, and I could find love. And it's an incredible place to be.

[15:27] And if you haven't found that in your life, you're always going to be running tired and ragged. If you can never find a place where you're just entering before the presence of God and knock on the door and say, hey, I know I don't deserve to be here like anybody else, because I'm just like all those other people.

[15:40] But due to the multitude of your mercy upon my life, Lord, I'm coming in. And I'm going to spend time with you. And I'm going to worship you. And I'm going to have my groanings, and I'm going to have my cries.

[15:52] And sometimes I'm going to speak in a way that makes sense. And then other times I'm not going to, but I'm going to be welcomed, and I'm going to be accepted, and I found a home. And as a Christian, if you're not taking advantage of that opportunity, I want to encourage you to do that, to find a place you call home, to find a place with our God and spending time with Him.

[16:14] So on what grounds do we get to come? So David's the king, and maybe it's David gets to go to him, because he's the king of Israel, and it seemed like the king of Israel needs to go before God, because he has a lot of important decisions to make, or maybe just the nature of David he gets to come.

[16:28] But what about this me and you, this average people? Should we get to have this same kind of relationship? But what does it tell us in Hebrews, when we're talking about who is permitted to come into your house? Hebrews 10, 19.

[16:40] Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Because the blood of Jesus applied to our accounts, we get to enter boldly.

[16:51] And why is this possible? By a new and living way, which He hath consecrated unto us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God. And what should this cause us to do?

[17:03] Let us draw near with a true heart, and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Have you ever been somewhere, and you weren't really sure if you were supposed to be there, and you didn't really feel all that welcomed?

[17:17] You're like, I thought, you know, I thought you invited me over to the house, but I don't necessarily feel so welcomed. That's never the case in the presence of God. How much did He do so we could enter His presence?

[17:27] By the blood of Jesus, through His flesh, He made it possible to enter into the holy of holies. Nobody in this world has ever had more access to the Father than us as New Testament saints, with the Holy Spirit living inside of us.

[17:43] And it's a wonderful thing, that we can go in and provide, find shelter. So Samuel Morse, you may know that name, in 1825, he was 34 years old.

[17:55] And he wrote to his wife, he says, I long to hear from you, but he never will, because in his absence, she had died of a heart attack. And tragically, news reached him too late, to even attend her funeral.

[18:08] Isn't that unbelievable? In 1825, you know, that something like that could happen, you could come back from a road trip, and there'd been a funeral for your wife. Some of you remember pre-cell phone days, you know, and you just found yourself waiting a lot, wondering if somebody was going to show up, or you had to find a pay phone.

[18:23] And so, you don't have that communication. And so, he said that because of this, that spurred him on, to make the telegram, to tell, he wanted people to communicate quicker, because it had been such a horrible thing in his life.

[18:38] And you could really feel that, right? What a sad experience for this man. Could you imagine the anxiety of our lives, if we could not go to God in prayer? If we couldn't go to Him, and speak to Him?

[18:49] And I say this with all love, but I fear that many of us do. We know exactly what life would feel like, if we didn't go to God in prayer, because we have chosen to live this way. Psalms 5.13 says, Is any among you afflicted?

[19:01] Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing songs. A distinctive mark of our lives, ought to be people of prayer, and singing unto God. Ought to be psalms unto God, because we have that opportunity to come to Him.

[19:15] And this is what he says in verse number 8, as when we're in His presence, this is what God will do. He says, Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, because of mine enemies. Make thy way straight before my face.

[19:27] David had an odd set of circumstances, but Saul and many leaders were always watching him. He was constantly in danger. He was constantly being pushed to do wrong, constantly being pushed to respond in a wrong way.

[19:38] But he said, God, you lead me. You make my way straight. You tell me what you want me to do. You help me control my emotions, and decide what I need to do moving forward.

[19:49] God wants to make your way straight today. If you're dealing with anxiety of life, you can come into His presence. And you can say, God, I don't want to move until you tell me what needs to happen. If you don't know Him as your Lord and Savior, and there's so many different things in this world pulling you in different ways, you have so many different thoughts about God and how you can know Him and how you can be reconciled to Him.

[20:10] Can I tell you, He wants to make the path straight. It's very clear that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father, but by Him. So time in His presence will let us know that our way to Him is straight, and it is clear.

[20:23] Then He goes on in verses 9 and 10. It tells us that God will cast those out that only honor Him with His mouth. Verse 10, Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against Thee.

[20:36] David went to a place where his enemies could not pursue. We see the same attitude in Jeremiah. We have a real hard time with these kind of prayers where David, he's so angry at his enemies, don't we?

[20:47] Because there's such tension between the New Testament understanding of Jesus who says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Then we see David so angry at his enemies and because of their sin.

[20:57] Jeremiah says it like this in Jeremiah 20, 12. But O Lord of hosts, why tries the righteous and seeeth the reins in the heart? Let me see thy vengeance on them, for unto thee have I opened my cause.

[21:09] See, their sin was against God. David wasn't simply just being vindictive towards his enemies, but he was angry towards the sinfulness and the rebellion against his holy God.

[21:22] Remember in the life of David in 2 Samuel, there were some people that came to him and they were throwing stones and a guy was kicking up dust and cursing at him and everybody says, you're King David, why won't you let somebody do this?

[21:32] And David said in verse 14 of 2 Samuel 16, and the king and all the people were with him because they were weary and they refreshed themselves there. See, David wasn't just mad at what was coming against him.

[21:43] Verse 10, it says, for they had rebelled against thee. David was taking great comfort on a king who did not change, a king that always hated sin, that was always consistent, who was always holy.

[21:56] Remember the times that David could have taken Saul's life, but he didn't. He left it in the hands of God. He didn't take it into his own hands. And so we see David expressing his hatred towards sin and telling God, I'm so angry with my enemies and there's so much there, but he's always leaving that into the hands of God.

[22:13] And he's expressing it in terms of not him being the center of the story, not David-centric, but God. God, they've rebelled against you, a holy God. David's expressing a hatred for sin, which is something that we often don't have much anymore, right?

[22:30] Somebody's living in sin and what we hate is how that is causing us to be inconvenienced. Somebody's living in sin and we don't like the way it makes us feel or maybe it doesn't the way it makes us look. But what David's expressing is a true hatred for a rebellion against God because he's so loving, but he is holy.

[22:46] And last here, verse 11 and 12, but let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice. Hey, church, if you put your trust in Jesus today, I don't care what's going on in your life in regards to your ability to rejoice.

[23:00] It tells us that we can put our trust in him and we can rejoice. Let every shout for joy because thou defendest them. Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee for the Lord will bless the righteous with favor without compass him with a shield.

[23:16] David invites us to find this refuge in God. So when describing the evil people who said has no, he will not dwell with and he's not allowed in their presence, he talks about how they're boastful. He talks about how they're lying.

[23:28] But look how it describes those of us who are allowed into his presence. It says people that have put their trust in him, those that have loved his name, those that can enter into his presence because of his mercy.

[23:40] All the things that he has done in our lives, those are the defining things that allow us into his presence. The righteous may pray with confidence for deliverance from deceitful and malicious attacks because their God hates wickedness.

[23:54] Bible tells us in Matthew 5 in the New Testament, Jesus said, you shouldn't be surprised when evil people hate you because they hated me first. It says also in Matthew 6, 13 that we are supposed to be praying that God would deliver us from the evil one.

[24:09] And when believers pray for God's will to be done, we're turning such matters over to God to deal with him. I don't know what's going on in your life, but I know due to the nature of life, we live constantly under attack.

[24:21] We live constantly under attack from those from outside. We live in attack sometimes from those that are close to us. We live under attack from just simple thoughts from our past and from understanding from spiritual attack, things that are just being constantly said in your life and you just need a break.

[24:38] Have you ever just got in your car and drove off? Have you ever just looked at somebody and said, I need a minute. I got to walk away from this. You know, walking away from the problem is only going to give you an escape.

[24:50] But we can walk away from all that's being said and we can walk into the presence of God. We can communicate with him. He hears us when we pray. You know, that is the most important truth when it comes to prayer.

[25:03] I mean, we could talk about how we could say things differently and some of you may remember growing up in church and you might have thought of the day when you were going to be called on in prayer and that's how it was in the church I grew up in.

[25:14] The pastor would do a no-look prayer. He's like, I want to have you pray for me, okay? Or I want you to just never knew when it came at the end of the service who he was going to call on to stand up and pray. And as you get a little bit older, you start listening to the other men in the church and you say, all right, I know that guy ends his prayer like this or he starts it like this and you begin to mimic it and you get ready for it.

[25:33] You could take many classes on what it means to pray but what would really change our prayer life more than anything is to know that God welcomes us into his presence and that he really hears us when we're talking to him.

[25:45] That would absolutely change our lives, wouldn't it? That's what David says, God, I need you, my God and my King to hear me. And then he anticipates the joy of the believer whom the Lord protects.

[25:56] This coming into his presence or putting our trust in him, this causes us to rejoice but it also brings a protection to us. For the Lord will bless the righteous and favor what thou can pass him as a shield, as a full body shield at the things that were coming on.

[26:12] Praying to God will bring a shield and protection to us. So in the face of hate-filled, destructive attacks of his enemies, David has a renewed understanding of the steadfast love of God.

[26:25] That was the cause for rejoicing, for calling upon others to share in his joy and it still is. So David, with everything coming down upon him, he said, I can enter to the presence of God and it brings a protection to me.

[26:36] And all of you, everybody that's listening to me here in Psalm 5, everybody that will hear it, everybody in this room today, those of you that have put your trust in him, you can find refuge and safety for your mind with him.

[26:49] And I want to encourage you, I don't know where you're at today, but maybe you've been carrying something for far too long. And as a child of God, you have that privilege to enter into his presence. You have that opportunity just to worship him and to know him and to speak with him.

[27:05] We live in such a busy day, right? Everything was supposed to save us time, but it didn't work, did it? Everything that was created and maybe you've been living so busy in such a fast-paced life and trying to solve the problems.

[27:17] When I was a middle schooler, I lived my whole life always trying to come up with a rebuttal. I had a real strong speech impediment. And so people were always making fun of me. So I spent all of my quiet time thinking, what am I going to say if somebody makes fun of me?

[27:30] And so I would talk to somebody and I would always think, well, if this guy makes fun of me, I know exactly what I'm going to say about him. And so I took on that responsibility to protect myself. And that's a miserable way to live life.

[27:42] Aren't you just tired of the conversations? Aren't you just tired of the arguments? Aren't you tired of always trying to figure things out for yourself? If you're tired today, can I tell you there's a place you can call home? There's a place where he is king and your servant.

[27:54] Can I tell you there's a place of rest? And it's wonderful. And we are not made to live our Christian lives separate from that opportunity to spend time in worship. We come here corporately and we do that.

[28:05] As we sing songs together, it's supposed to remind us that our identity is found primarily in knowing him and worshiping him. That our lives are giving completely over to him. And in these moments, it's kind of easy, isn't it?

[28:17] Surrounded by people that think the same way. But throughout the week, it's often hard. And instead of doubling down and trying to solve our own problems, could you just find some time with God and know that he welcomes you?

[28:28] Don't you just love that confidence? Before I pray with us, just look at that one last time, how exciting it is that David says in verse number seven, with all that's going on and God's hatred towards sin and all these people that would not be allowed into his presence because of their sin, but me and you have been forgiven and we come in his mercy.

[28:46] But in verse seven, but as for me, I will come into thy house in a multitude of thy mercy. Most people live their whole lives carrying everything upon themselves and trying to take care of things on their own.

[28:58] But as for me, I will enter into his house. Would you make that your prayer of the day and say, God, I haven't been enjoying this privilege as a child of God, but I just come today and I just say, but as for me, I'm going to enter into your presence.

[29:12] As for me, Lord, I'm going to speak to you. You are my God. You are my King. Heavenly Father, thank you for a truth, Lord, recorded in Psalm 5 that is so relevant for us today.

[29:24] Lord, I don't know what is upon the hearts of my brothers and sisters in this room today, but I know that many of them could be carrying things that I don't even know about. Father, I know that just the way that everyday, average life is too much for us to handle on our own.

[29:42] Lord, we're not smart enough. We're not strong enough. We need a break. We need a place to go and to be renewed and to be refreshed.

[29:54] I pray that all your children here today will recognize that opportunity and that they will say, but as for me, I will enter into your house and that throughout this week, Lord, they will make decisions to guard that time and to come into your presence.

[30:10] with every head down and every eye closed. Because this church loves the gospel and Kristen plays the piano, because this church loves the gospel and they love you, I don't know if there's anybody in here today that doesn't know him as God and as King, but I give you the opportunity.

[30:25] What we do is we always have people at the back of the room. Today we have people in the back of the room and they'll take you to a place and just answer your questions. But as humans, we were not created to live separate than our Creator and life isn't made for this.

[30:38] You need to be reconciled on the God. You need forgiveness of sins. As believers, take full advantage of it. Spend time talking to him. Know that he's hearing you as you pray and that he welcomes you into his presence.

[30:50] He made it possible by the shedding of his blood for you to have communion with him. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Be with my brothers and sisters, Lord, as they speak to you.

[31:01]  When you're finished, we can stand and sing with Stephen.