The Prayer That Keeps You Out of Trouble | Psalm 141:1–4

Show Notes

Episode 787: 
In this episode, we delve into Psalm 141, which serves as the foundation for our discussion on prayer and holiness. We explore David's urgent plea to God for help in avoiding temptation and maintaining control over his words and actions. We emphasize the importance of guarding our hearts and lips, as our words reflect our inner desires.

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You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Morning Morning, we time, good morning, good morning to you and you and you. Wow. I added the and you and you. I liked it. Yeah, because it's not it's not the it's not the it's not on the song. I know, but I usually help you out with that. And I and every time I sing that, By the way, I think Reynolds. You think of Debbie Reynolds. Yeah, because she's the one that stays the same. Yeah, She's like, it's morning, Okay, hey, good morning everybody. Year the Bible Guys, we want to welcome you, and we thank you for tuning. In today and now that everybody's delighted that you sang to them. Yes, I just can't imagine how good the rest of this day it's going to be for everybody. It sets the day in motion. Y. Yes, it does, Yes, it does. It does for me it does, and well no, not really, but it's a good morning. I'll just I'll say, you know what, it is fun to be happy. It is fun to be happy, and happy is a choice. Happy as a choice. I agree, and so. Which is different than joy. God gives joy. Yeah. I was just reading about this idea in a book called The Gap and the Gain, and it was talking about the fact that a lot of people hope that their achievements will make them happy, or that their their acquisitions will make them happy. And it's exactly the opposite. When you choose joy, When you choose to be happy, everything else is better. But most people that think that one more accomplishment or one more acquisition will make them happy are never happy. They're never happy. Right. It has dependent on circumstances. That's right. So happiness, joy is an outlook that we choose. We choose it, and it comes from contentment. This is why Paul says contentment is great gain, right, right, and being satisfied with what we have, being happy with what we have, then it makes the people were around the things we're doing just so much more enjoyable because we've chosen to be happy. Good morning, good morning. Right. That's a choice. Yeah, And it's not pulling a you know, a mask over your face and not paying attention or whatever. It's just it's a choice to decide, Hey, I'm not going to let the circumstances around me pull. Me down, that's right. Yeah, and then all your accomplishments are more fun, all your acquisitions are more fun. This is bonus material. It's extra, yes, extra. There's no charge for that. That is extra today. Yeah, it's free everybody. Yeah, it's good. So you choose to be happy once a week when you sing good morning to us. That's right. Yeah, it's a choice. And by the way, I told my daughter that joke this morning, the freebie, Oh, you know. From last week in our dad jokes. Yes, And I loved my freebee joke. And the joke was something like, I asked for twelve bees, but the beekeeper gave me thirteen, and he said it was a freebie. Yes, And I told her and she. Laughed so hard. She is so cute, she is adorable, and she thought that was the funniest thing ever. All right, anyway, Hey, here's the segment that we now have three less minutes to do, which is called advice booth. I don't know how to do this one. This one's a hard one. I don't either, but I think I have answers to these, Okay, think I do. Okay, here's what it says, This is a brand new segment. We've never done this before. It says you'll each give your advice on a topic and let the listeners vote to see who has the better advice. Okay, advice booth in vision having a little booth and you come in and you just ask us any question, remember and from the wisdom, the deep well of wisdom that we both have. Well, do you remember Linus and Lucy and Charlie Brown. Didn't Lucy have a booth? It was advice? Okay? Was it something like that? Maybe I thought it was. It wasn't a kissing booth. No, No, I don't think so. I don't know. But anyway, here's the first one. Okay, Desrae wants us to give advice on this. How do I convince my dog to stop stealing my socks? M that's a good question. You currently have dogs? We have two dogs? Yeah, yes, I. Don't have dogs, and I have not had dogs since I was in high school. However, I do have an answer for this. You do you do? And that is spray it with cleaner. Oh yeah, spray your socks with cleaner, because then if it's a if it's the right kind of cleaner, then if it's you know, not harmful to skin and things like that, your socks will smell fresh and your dogs will not want to. But they might just like to chew fresh socks. No, no, no, not with cleaner, I would say, ertastes spray. And with hot sauce. There you Yeah, you might ruin your socks so and you might not want to wear them as well. So uh so let's let the let's let the voters vote. Yeah, hot sauce, hot sauces or cleaner, which, by the way, I know hot sauce is effective. I do know that, so uh and it's from a different animal. But my wife has bird feet in the backyard. She loves bird feeders, and the squirrels always want to come and eat all the all the seeds that she has out. Yeah, but if you if you put hot sauce on them, the squirrels won't eat it. But the birds can't taste hot sauce. It doesn't bother them at all. But the but the yeah, they don't, they don't have they don't taste like that. So hot sauce doesn't bother birds, but it bothers the squirrels. The squirrels won't eat it. It's a fact. So that's why I know. I know if you put hot sauce on your socks, your dogs will not chew them up. Wow yeah wow, But I don't want to wear socks with hot soace. I just don't spicy spicy. Hey, what color the socks? Mallow? An orange orange? Spotchy? Yeah? And then every every place here, everybody's but they're like, I think I'm hungry for Mexican right right? Right? Or that's grossty Okay, so our listeners have to vote on that one, yep, okay, all right. Number two, how do I convince someone to share their snacks without looking desperate? I can only think of one thing, but. Oh no, I was gonna say, I have no an for that one. I haven't figured it out yet. If I could crack that one, yeah right, I think it'd solve all my problems in my life. Oh, this is this is a you're you have a vested interest to exactly. I have no answer for this. So because I'm always desperate, can I have that? Please? Can't? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah? The only thing I could even think of to say is is somehow convinced them that you have great snacks later? Right, and and that, and that you'll share and that come. On, I'll share my amazing snacks tomorrow if you share your goodness. Yes, it's the only thing I think of, right, It's like, it's like, I want your snacks now, and I'm desperate to have your snacks now. That seems reasonable and so and so the only. Thing I could do is promise something I don't have in the moment, okay, right, and then and then follow through. Isn't that what Whimpy did in the in the comic books. That's exactly right. Gladly pay you Tuesday for a Hamburgers today. That's what That's what it's. Yeah, that's what he is saying. Was okay, yeah, that's hilarious. So now now you know. And by the way, we're showing our age in that one. What he comes from. I don't remember pop Popeye? Yeah, Whippy was the guy from Pompeye. Yes, yes, And by the way, Popeye is still a movie that I quote. Really I do with my kids all the time. In fact, Steven's listening. He listens every day. Is it an hour commute almost to work? Every day? Hi? Stephen? Yeah, hey, Stephen, keep you guys on the road, buddy, and he already knows what. I'm going to say, because Robin Williams starred in Popeye in nineteen seventy nine. And uh, and uh, there's a there's a I don't know why, but I always say lies lies. There's no buried treasure. I don't know why because that was just something I okay say it has no relevance today it has no relevance. I don't know why I say it. Yes, but it was just a great, great phrase. So there it is. So I just bored you with random trivia about me. I loved it. But I'm going to take advantage of the idea of promising better snacks later. Oh, they have to current snacks. They have to vote yet to vote on You can take advantage, but you got to come up with your own well, because the listeners have to vote. I'm just gonna concede that one. Really. Yeah, I'm going to concede that. I don't know. I don't know how to get people to share snacks with me without looking desperate. I would have more leverage your position. Yeah, threatened them, threaten them with firing them, because everybody I'm around I employ. So that's The only thing I can do is if you don't give me your snack, just pack up your stuff and go. So that's my advice. How about that. I think the voters are gonna side with me. Yeah maybe. Yeah, that's hilarious. That's so good. Do you know who I am? Give me your yet? Yeah, exactly. Do you know what you're talking to? Yeah, that's right. That seems reasonable to me. That's so funny. Well, hey, that's. Desperate times, desperate measures. There you go. Well, hey, you know, uh. That get me in trouble. Probably it would get you in trouble. And you know what that would not be that you would not be choosing holiness. I wouldn't be. And and today's prayer is all about keeping you out of trouble. Yeah, and choosing holiness. Yes, yeah, So it's a horrible transition. Psalm one is a psalm of David, and poor David, whenever you got in trouble, so instinct was the prey. So do you see at the top it has the topic of the day, the prayer that keeps you out of trouble. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and then she has just kind of a some one one one through four choosing it holiness in a corrupt environment. Yes, it's kind of like a summary of that has So we we cover both. We booked it. Yeah, yeah, yah, we cover both. Okay, So David always praise when he gets in trouble. His first instinct is the pray. Yeah, he's pretty good at that. He's really great. He's a big fan. Yeah, he's a big fan. So it's one forty one. We're going to read one through four. Uh, we're not going to read the rest of the chapter because he's really big on throwing his enemies off the cliffs. So we're not going to talk about that prayer. But the first part is says, Hey. To be fair, it was his assignment from God. Yeah, take got his enemies. It was. Uh, he was a harsh man. That's all I'm saying. David was a very harsh man. Why is a warrior? So he says this, Oh Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry listen when I cry to you for help. Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening prayer offering. Take control of what I say, Oh Lord, and guard my lips and don't let me drift toward evil or take part and acts of wickedness. Don't let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong. Well, there you go. Yeah, and so you can see how both of these topics are great. So the title is the prayer that keeps you out of trouble? Yes, right, So that's what he's doing. He's saying, like, hey, help me to not drift. Toward evil, help me to take control of what I say. Take control what I say. You know, I don't want to partake in the things around me acts of wickedness. And then the description next to some one forty one one through four says choosing holiness and a corrupt environment. And how relevant is that? Right? I mean, we find ourselves in corrupt environments all the time, and just because there are things around us. You know, if we're on mission and we're strong, were there in the power of God, we can we can be in corrupt environments. But dangerous is the fine line? Right? Isn't there a fine line with sometimes corrupt environments You're like number one, I don't need to be there if there's no purpose in you being there. And number two, especially if it's going to influence you to do corrupt things, right, And so one of the one of the most unwise things a lot of us can do is try to place ourselves in corrupt environments when we know we're going to struggle. Right right, Well, so I don't know that we always know that, right, we lie to ourselves. The art is deceitful above all things, and desperately with it. Who can really know it for sure? So most of the time we justify going I'm pretty strong, I'm just how many how many people do I know? I had a friend who was running our Celebrate recovery program and he had a friend who fell off the wagon. And the guy was like, how what happened? And the guy said, I don't know, Oh, I just it just suddenly happened. He said, well, tell me about it. So he starts talking about swell. After work, all the guys go down to the bar. He said, So, you know, alls I was having is just having a sprite, Yeah, right, for how long? Oh months? It's like, dude, you go to the barbershop. Long long enough, you sit in the barbershop long enough, you're gonna get your hair cut. Right, That's what happened. It's not a surprise. You put yourself in that position for months, and then of course you fell, right, so you got to stay away from those things. But he had it in his head. I'm strong now, I'm not gonna, but on any given day we can. Weakness takes over, temptation can take over. And so what David is saying here is God, take control of my words, guard my lips. Don't let me drift towards evil. And that's what we do. We don't usually fall into sin. We drift towards sin, right right, It's just this slow drift. You just don't even realize that happens, and bang, there you are, and then we seem surprised by it. It's very rare that we just go, oh, there's some sin, let's just swan dive into it. It very rarely ever happens. It's more like we just kind of drift into it. Yeah. Well, you know, it reminds me of the pitching your lot towards sodom. So so, oh lot, a. Lot, pitch your tent? Yeah yeah, yeah. Isn't that funny because a lot is another word and that's his name. That's so so it's it's interesting because in the Book of Genesis, there's that there's that sort of message that's that's right there in front of us, where it says that when that when they chose, you know, to divide the lands, that lot pitched his tent toward the wicked city of Sodom. And then all of a sudden, here, you know, a couple of verses later, we find out that he's in the city of and then we find out that he's a prominent member health society society in Sodom. And it starts with the fact that he, you know, has his tent, you know, toward that area. So every day when he gets up, what's the first thing that he sees, right, And so it's just that progression. And then it's also reminds me of what what psalm is it where it says, uh, where you sort of walk walk in the way of centers, you sit in the seat of the scornful. Oh yeah, you know we're talking about was that some one or. Something someone some oh someone, I know it's one of the psalms, but uh, but it's uh, it's uh it sort of talks about how you uh, how you uh you're you're you're walking by someone and then all of a sudden you stand with them, and then all of a sudden you're sitting with them the next thing, you know. Yeah, it says, oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They're like trees planned along the river bank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. But not the wicked. They're like worthless chaff scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly, for the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked least the destruction. What song is that? Someone? It's so funny, you know, because it sounds different than King James. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so uh someone uh in the King James is how you and I grew up memorizing things. So it says, blessed is the man that walks, not walks not it does not walk right. Well, I'm trying to do the I'm trying to. Avoid you reading King James just read it. I wish I had the new King James. Do I have the new King James? Not? Really? So blessed, okay, fine, blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners? Why why I just say, Walker stand stand in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And so again. Growing up in Bible College, you know, I loved the fact that this was a progression. Also, right, he's walking by, now, he's standing, now, he's sitting right, and so so yeah, it translates a little bit different. There's always a progression for sin, right, that's right. That it starts off pretty innocuous, and I'm strong and then I'll just flirt with a little bit, but I'm not going to let it take over next thing. You know, we're trying to recover from it, and it's just it's a devastate thing. There's the old preacher that you used to say, sin will take you farther than you want to go and will cost you far more than you want to pay. Yeah, right, And that's that's true. So here's in the Life Hapacation study Bible for the note for verses three and four says David ask God to guard his lips. What comes out of your lips is determined by what resides in your heart. Remember Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. That's right, right, the King James says, out of the abundance of heart, the mouth speaks. Speak if speak if yeah, sorry? Uh So, what comes out of our mouth is determined by what resides in our heart. Ultimately, word issues are heart issues. The same is true with our actions. Evil acts begin with evil desires from the heart. Isn't enough just to ask God to keep you away from temptation and make you stronger change your circumstances. You must ask him to change you on the inside, at the heart of your desires. And so this is why he's asking God, you know, don't let me drift, take control of what I say, guard my lips. So he's he's really talking the internal changes that need to happen in order to protect the external behaviors. And that is what he's asking for. So it's great. H So Verse one says Oh Lord, I'm calling to you. Please hurry listen when I cry for you for help. And I love the fact that there's an urgency to his prayer, right so please hurry means meet with me, give me strength, you know, grant my requests. So I love that. And so when we find ourselves in a compromising situation again, David's first instinct is to pray. And so God, give me the strength right now in this moment to not say what I want to say, you know, give me the strength right now not to react the way I want to react, or not post online. What I was Super relevant to our time, isn't it? It really is. And then first number two says, accept my prayer as incense offered to you. And it's interesting because most of us we don't burn incense for just about anything unless it's, you know, some house kind of a thing. But anyway, there's that note in my study Bible that says this each evening, the Jewish priest would offer a burnt offering on the brazen altar and also burn incense on the Golden altar. But God accepted David's prayers and uplifted hands as his offering. Frank Concense is usually included with the burnt offering. See Exodus chapter thirty thirty four, Leviticus two. Incense is a picture of prayer going up to the Lord Revelation five eight. Revelation eight four. David's hands were empty, but his heart was full of love for the Lord and faith in his promises. So David has no incense in this moment, but he's saying, accept my prayer as if they were incense. And so it's symbolic how he is able to connect it to an offering to God. And he's saying, let my prayer be an offering. Accept it because I'm offering my heart to you. I'm offering my desire, please hurry, giving myself to you. Just love that word picture and it also makes sense. It gives context that word incense too. Yeah. In James three, he talks about how our words are like a spark that can start a big fire, and incense is always a it's a it's something that's burning. Yeah, right, so you burn it in order to create a smoke, and so our lips can be used for good or, as James says in James chapter three, they can burn the start a force fire, right, And so this is what David is saying, is, Hey, God, moderate my language, moderate my words. Help. And then you have to remember he's in the middle of some persecution right now, he's being hunted. It's a difficult time in his life, and he's praying in that context that God would keep him under control and not do more damage. And I think that's really important for the average human. We open our mouth to talk seven hundred times a day, right, We say tens of thousands of words, but we we open our mouth to speak in conversation about seven hundred times a day. And so you think about that. The potential for incense as a prayer to God is great. The potential to burn down our life is even greater. And so this is why David is saying, God, on the first side, let the words be pleasing to you that come out of my mouth. And then God protect me, guard me from burning down my life from me because you know the pressure I'm under, and I think our society is under a lot of pressure right now, and we're really tempted to add more fire, to cause more of a wildfire, not to make things better, not to slow it down, but to burn it down, and you know, the only hope we really have is that God would help us moderate our language and moderate our words so that we're not doing more damage with our words. So yeah, that's really good. I was looking up as you were talking. I looked up. We're talking about the incense, you know, being you know, sort of like a sacrifice to God, and it reminded me of in the New Testament, it talks about how our sacrifices are a sweet aroma and a sweet fragrance for God. So Ephesians five to two says, walk in love, as Christ has also loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. And Philippians for eighteen Paul describes the Philippians gift to him as a sweet smelling aroma and acceptable sacrificing sacrifice well pleasing to God. And the Old Testament Leviticus one nine speaks of burn offering as a food offering with a pleasing. Aroma to the Lord. I remember doing a study one time on certain types of sacrifices. You know, there are sacrifices that are offered for the whole nation. There are certain sacrifices that are offered for families. Certain ones that are you know, represent different things, and there is one in particular, and it's really sort of the only one that is for the nation that is designed to for aroma, and it's actually referring to those kinds of saff sacrifices. So I think that that's really interesting. And so again, just know that David is connecting his prayer. He has no incense, he has no sacrifice, he has no aroma type things, right, he has nothing, but he has open hands and a willing heart, and he's saying, God, accept my prayer as a sacrifice, as an offering, and receive it that way and respond to it that way. Right, bless me in the same way, because I desperately and urgently need you to do these things. And I think that it's just a beautiful, beautiful picture. Thank's fantastic. So he ends up with and don't let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong. And you know, it's surprising sometimes to realize even the Bible admits that sin is pleasurable. Yep, right, it's pleasurable for a season. It's enjoyable for a season, and so it can be very attractive, and it doesn't always appear ugly or defiling or horrible in the moment, right, But once once we give in to sin, it only then after we give in, after we're deceived by sin, that's when we really begin to find out the ugly consequences of it. And so David is like, Hey, I recognize that it's very attractive for all all these things that the ungodly people around me are doing, they look very attractive, and so help me not get sucked into that, because I don't want to pay the unattractive price for this attractive temptation, right right, And that's true with you know, that beautiful person at work that you're attracted to, or that little extra money you want to shave off the side, or you know, there's so many things that look very attractive in the moment, but the price is not attractive. The price is very ugly and devastating. And so that's what he's asking is, God, I want my words to be pleasing to you, like a beautiful sacrifice of incense. And then God, I want to keep my life clean and keep that pleasing to you too. Don't even let me give into those things that look really nice and pleasing to me because the price is greater than I want to pay. Yeah, and let's not underestimate that word drift right. We said it before, But when you find yourself one step closer than understand that, that's the beginning of the drift right. So hey, that's a great word to end on. And what a great passage in those four verses. So hopefully we'll. See you tomorrow with another prayer of perseverance on the Bible. Guys,