The Prayer Of David

I’ve been reading the book of Psalms since the beginning of the year and I must say, I am fascinated by the character of David. Eeeeeee a poet and someone who loves journaling my thoughts, I can’t help but admire how expressive David is, and the honesty and vulnerability in his prayers. e

David is not one to come with “memorised speeches and verbose expressions” of what is supposed to be prayer. Rather he comes to his God with a sincere heart. He pours out everything; his pain, hurt, anger, and brokenness to God.  And I think this is how prayer should be. Raw, honest and vulnerable. Talking to our Father without any fear or shame; laying our hearts bare before him. We do this because we know we can trust him. God is trustworthy. Time and time again He proves that he can be trusted. He gave up his only son for us and he has put his Holy Spirit in our heart to assure us that we are His and He is ours. (Romans 8:32, Galatians 4:6-7). He knows every detail of our lives yet he is never tired of hearing them over and over again. God wants us to be open with him. He doesn’t want us to hide from him (not as if we can ever do that). He is a God who loves us and cares about us. David understood this and he wasn’t afraid to come boldly to God. We see this in the Psalms.

Let me share some portions of David’s  prayers in the Psalms 

“Answer me when I call to you, O God who declares me innocent. Free me from my troubles. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.”

Psalms 4:1 NLT

O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

Psalms 5:1‭-‬3 NLT

O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage. Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lormd, for my bones are in agony.

Psalms 6:1‭-‬2 NLT

O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I e3 Mn 3 my downfall.

Psalms 13:1-‬4 NLT

I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray. Guard me as you would guard your own eyes. Hide me in the shadow of your wings.

Psalms 17:6‭, ‬8 NLT

O Lord, I have come to you for protection; don’t let me be disgraced. Be my rock of safety where I can always hide. Give the order to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

Psalms 71:1‭, ‬3 NLT

And so many more. I cannot exhaust them all here. Some of these prayers were born out of his many sufferings and trials. Those times Saul was after David’s life (1 Samuel 21-23), his son took the kingdom from him and he had to run for his life (2 Samuel 15), when he sinned against God by taking Uriah’s wife and planning his death (2 Samuel 11) etc. But in all of these, David drew nearer to God. He had a walk with God. Now, everything he must have said about God’s character and nature during his grief might not have been true. For instance, when he asked God “why have you abandoned me?” God never abandoned David (Heb 13:5, Isaiah 49:15 ), but in that moment David felt abandoned and who else could he bring those feelings to but God. So instead of hiding our questions and feelings from God, we can bring everything to him in worship. Jesus Christ the son of God asked the same question on the cross where he embodied all of humanity’s loneliness and sin which made him feel separated from his Father (Matthew 27:46).

Despite David’s hurt and agony, he always ended his prayers with a note of victory, and his trust in God reassured. This is what happens when we come to God with a sincere heart in  prayer. Some examples are:

You can be sure of this: The Lord set apart the godly for himself. The Lord will answer when I call to him.

Psalms 4:3 NLT

The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer. May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified. May they suddenly turn back in shame.

Psalms 6:9‭-‬10 NLT

But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.

Psalms 13:5‭-‬6 NLT

Now I know that the Lord rescues his anointed king. He will answer him from his holy heaven and rescue him by his great power.

Psalms 20:6 NLT

The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.

Psalms 25:10 NLT

He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.

Psalms 18:16‭-‬17‭, ‬19 NLT

As well as the famous Psalm 23, and 27.

I encourage you to read some chapters in the Psalms today and feel the heartbeat of David in those words. Then let it motivate you to come to God with an honest and sincere heart in worship.

About the author.

Ebere Ezike is a Lawyer, author and a member of F.A Rubies. Her desire is that others will believe in the saving power of Jesus and come into this beautiful love story that is being written by God.