Psalm 5:1-3 God hears our Groanings of Prayer

Please read Psalm 5.

Today, we begin a three day journey into this blessed Psalm. The majority of this Psalm is written as a contrast between the righteous, who are saved by God, and the wicked, who will suffer His wrath. However, the first three verses are simply a plea for God to hear David’s prayer. This is such a beautiful plea that we will spend today’s lesson focusing on it (you may want to reread verses 1-3 now).

Charles Spurgeon wrote: “There are two types of prayers: those expressed in words, and the unspoken longings of silent meditation. Words are not the essence but the garments of prayer.”

Paul wrote in Romans 8:26-27: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Have you ever had this kind of experience? Where you desperately want to communicate with God, but just can’t make any sense? You know what you want, but can’t find the words to say it?

That is how David is describing his prayer time in this Psalm. He uses words such as ‘groaning,’ and ‘cry’ to describe his efforts to speak with the Lord. He is filled with emotion, and doesn’t know how to express it, but he pleas with the Lord to ‘Give ear,’ ‘Give attention,’ and ‘hear my voice.’

What wonderful news we are given today to know that the Holy Spirit helps us in this weakness! We may not always know what to say, but God knows our hearts. The Holy Spirit will intercede on our behalf with the same emotional groanings that we cannot fully express, and He will do so in such a way that the exact essence of what we are feeling is conveyed to our Heavenly Father.

Notice that David, in his groanings, still calls God ‘my King and my God.’ He knows that his Heavenly Father loves him and cares for him. If God could only hear and understand that which David was trying to express, then God would answer!

But, God does hear! God does understand! And God does love you so much that He will do something about that which is troubling you so deeply.

When you pray to the Lord, even when you don’t know what to say—perhaps especially when you don’t know what to say—have confidence that God hears and He will answer.

That is the expectation of David in this Psalm. He concludes verse 3 by saying that he will ‘prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.’ He has resolved that he will pray to the Lord, and then he will watch to see what God will do.

Your prayer time is not ended until you actively look for the answer! God will hear His children’s cries. And God will work all things out for the good of those who love Him. “whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (Matthew 21:22). So don’t forget to look up from your prayer, confident that God has heard you, understood you, and He will answer you.