What comes to mind when you hear someone mention drawing near to God? Maybe a sense of shame settles in your heart as you reflect on your past attempts in this pursuit. You’ve heard that Bible reading and prayer are key, but after giving it an honest attempt, you still feel clumsy and confused. You might have come to the conclusion that there is something deficient in your spiritual abilities. If you have ever had these kinds of thoughts and frustrations, I want to assure you that you are not alone. I also want to assure you that if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit has made your body His temple, then you can draw near to God, because God has drawn near to you (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
If we pay attention to how the Spirit moved David and the other writers in the Psalter, we may be surprised to discover that one of our biggest problems in drawing near to God is the fact that we over complicate how it’s done, and tend to fall into a performance-based mindset. It’s easy to forget that the place God has established for His children to draw near to Him is called the mercy seat (Exodus 25:22), or the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). God’s mercy and grace open the door and are the basis for our communion with Him (Psalm 5:7). Let’s look together at Psalm 5, and see how David seeks to draw near to God.
Speak
The first thing we notice about David’s approach is that he simply speaks to God. When we read Psalm 5, it doesn’t seem like David is busy trying to find just the right words, or falling into a rote prayer that is his go-to safety net. When it’s time to approach God, David simply speaks the things that are on his heart. He wants God to listen to him, so he asks Him to listen (vv. 1-3). He needs motivation to boldly approach God, so he meditates on how God’s character relates to his need (vv. 4-7). He needs God’s help, so he asks for it (vv. 8-10). Perhaps his faith needs to be strengthened, so he speaks truth to himself, about the one who defends and protects him (vv. 11-12). It is interesting to note that out of the twelve verses making up Psalm 5, verse 8 is the only petition. To spend twelve verses on one request seems inefficient, doesn’t it, like a waste of time? It is never a waste of time to share the thoughts and burdens of our heart with our Father, who loves us, and is attentive to our words and thoughts (v. 1).
Meditate
The second thing we see is that David mediates on God’s character. In verses 4-6, David speaks to God about His holiness. David knows the God he is praying to, and His character informs the way he prays. David understands that God is holy, and that He hates all workers of iniquity (v. 5). He doesn’t simply take that truth and use it to prove that he is theologically sound. David’s theology is actively shaping the way he speaks to God. He is about to ask God to destroy his enemies (v. 10), which can sound like a self-righteous request…but it’s not. David hates what God hates, and his enemies are God’s enemies. David would never have known this had he not spent time meditating on the character of God, and the truth of who He has revealed Himself to be. We will never speak to God the way we see modeled in the Palms, if our understanding of the doctrine of God is shallow. David’s boldness comes from his understanding of God’s character. We can learn to come to God boldly as well (Hebrews 4:16), as we grow in our knowledge of who He is, and what He is like.
Next, we notice that David has meditated on his own struggles and circumstances. One of the reasons we have such a difficult time in prayer is that we come to God with circumstances and struggles that we haven’t seen or understood with very much clarity. We have a difficult time communing with our own heart upon our own bed, and being still (Psalm 4:4).
Communing with ourselves is an active exercise. We are considering, weighing, and interacting with our thoughts, motives and beliefs. For instance, based on what David prays in Psalm 5, we can speculate that he was struggling with fear, frustration, and anxiety. But notice that you don’t find a reference to any of those words in the Psalm. We find instead that David is communicating the specific fears, frustrations, and anxieties that are weighing on his heart.
Why do you suppose David spends two verses (1-2) asking God to hear him? It is likely that this is not David’s first time to pray about these things, and out of frustration (due to impatience) or fear (due to a sense of urgency), he asks God to hear him. Notice in verse eight, as David sheds light on his request—Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies—David’s request that the Lord would lead him seems to be out of fear that he will somehow be influenced to go astray because of his enemies. David knew himself, and his struggle enough to know that he needed the Lord to lead him in righteousness. If we would draw near to God, we must take the time to commune with our own hearts.
Fight
David is actively fighting to trust and rejoice in the Lord. David knows that God hears him (Psalm 65:2, Psalm 69:33), and yet it seems that he is having to fight in order to embrace this reality. In the first two verses, David asks God to hear him three different times, and in three different ways. In verse 7 he reminds himself that he is coming to God in the multitude of His mercies, and in verse 12 he reminds himself that God will bless and surround the righteous as a shield of protection. David is rehearing things that he knows to be true, in an attempt to embrace the joy and comfort that comes with trusting these realities. Friends, we must follow David’s example. More often than not, we are going to have to actively fight, reminding ourselves and rehearsing to ourselves the precious truths of God and Scripture.
I hope you are able to see that drawing near to God takes place in the context of real life. It doesn’t happen through some kind of formulaic language or being caught up in an ecstatic heavenly experience. It happens as we approach the God of the Bible, with the issues of our hearts, in a way that is informed by His Word. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost (Romans 15:13)
