Lessons for Life with James Long, Jr.

Turning Panic into Prayer: Seeking God’s Steadfast Love (Psalm 5)

• James Long

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Episode Title: When Morning Feels Heavy: A Prayer for Clarity and Calm (Psalm 5)

Episode Summary

How do you begin your day when anxiety, betrayal, or emotional exhaustion hits before your feet even touch the floor?

In this episode of Counseling Through the Psalms, James Long, Jr. walks through Psalm 5—David’s honest, early-morning cry for help and guidance. This psalm begins with groaning and ends with singing, showing us how to move from desperation to devotion, even when surrounded by lies, fear, or confusion.

Psalm 5 offers a biblical pattern of prayer for the weary, the slandered, and the spiritually disoriented. If you are longing for direction, justice, or shelter, this psalm offers guidance and comfort.

Key Takeaways

  • Prayer is not performance, but preparation. It is a priestly offering of your burdens to God.
  • God’s holiness and justice give clarity in a morally confused world.
  • Our access to God is based on His steadfast love, not our moral record.
  • God’s righteousness leads us when life feels directionless.
  • God is our shield and refuge, even when the world feels hostile or uncertain.

Scripture Focus

  • Psalm 5:1–12
  • Romans 3:13
  • Psalm 121:4
  • 2 Samuel (context for David’s struggle)

Reflect and Respond

  • What emotions do you most often carry into your mornings, and how can Psalm 5 reshape your daily rhythm?
  • Are you carrying wounds from betrayal, slander, or misrepresentation?
  • What would it look like to prepare your prayers intentionally each day?
  • Where in your life do you need God to make a straight path right now?
  • Do you truly believe that God’s steadfast love secures your place in His presence?
  • Who in your life needs encouragement and refuge right now?

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ABOUT JAMES AND LESSONS FOR LIFE

Are you longing to find answers to the deeper issues of life? Join Dr. James Long, Jr., a pastor, counselor, and university professor with over 30 years of experience. Hear James as he tackles some of life’s biggest questions and helps us find God’s solutions to life’s struggles. Learn the power of living by God’s grace and for His glory. Experience the joy of forgiveness and freedom found in Jesus Christ alone. If you are in search of freedom, you will love being part of this conversation. Subscribe, and enjoy the show!

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Counseling Through the Psalms with James Long Jr, a special series from Lessons for Life. I'm James, and in each episode we will journey into the rich, honest and healing language of the Psalms to find hope, clarity and comfort for life's deepest struggles. Whether you're wrestling with anxiety, grief, anger or spiritual dryness, the Psalms offer us a path towards restoration and peace through God's Word. So, wherever you are right now, take a deep breath and let's enter into the heart of Scripture together. Well, welcome back. It's James Long Jr, and welcome to Counseling Through the Psalms. As always, do me a favor grab your Bible and a journal. If you have a pen and pencil, that would be great. Take down some notes. Feel free to pause the recording where you need to, and when we get to the reflect and respond section, clearly, you may want to write those questions down and process through them in your journal.

Speaker 1:

We are now at Psalm 5 in our counseling through the Psalm series, and Psalm 5 is a morning prayer for the weary, a cry for guidance amidst confusion, and it's a declaration of confidence even when evil surrounds us. It teaches us how to move from desperation to devotion, beginning the day not with fear but with focused trust in God's steadfast love. When morning comes with anxiety. Now the sun is barely up, the heart is already racing. There are days when the weight of anxiety presses us before the alarm sounds. Psalm 5 does a mourning like this. David writes in verse 1, give ear to my words, o Lord, consider my groanings. He doesn't begin with confidence or clarity, he begins with anguish. The word groaning here carries the image of an inarticulate murmuring, a sigh too deep for words. It's not a poetic prayer, it's a desperate one. David isn't just reciting a religious phrase. He's pleading for God to hear, to consider and give attention.

Speaker 1:

Verses 1 through 2. He refers to God as my king and my God. Now, this is language that expresses personal allegiance and dependency. These first verses reveal the heart that refuses to start the day self-reliant. David brings his emotion and his uncertainty directly to the throne. He models for us the kind of praying that integrates our real feelings with real theology. He continues in verse 3, o Lord, in the morning you hear my voice. In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you, and watch Now. The word translated, prepare, refers to arranging or setting an order. Like priests laying out the morning offering. David offers his prayer with the same intentionality. He doesn't rush, he doesn't throw up a flare. He lays his needs before the Lord and watches. This is the posture of expectancy.

Speaker 1:

Now the next section of Psalm 5, verses 4 through 6, may feel jarring in modern ears. Watch what it says, for you are not a God who delights in wickedness. A little bit later on it says the boastful shall not stand before your eyes. But this is not David's venting judgmentalism, it is David's anchoring himself in reality. Evil is not neutral. Lies are not benign.

Speaker 1:

In a world where morality is often blurred, david finds clarity in the character of God. Now we live in a culture of moral confusion. Therapy culture sometimes reinforces self-expression over self-examination. But Psalm 5 reminds us that not every desire is good and not every way is right. It says in verse 5, god hates all evildoers. It's a strong statement that highlights the seriousness of sin. Yet this is not about God's cruelty. It is about His holy character. God cannot be indifferent to what destroys his creation. For the believer, this truth does not breed arrogance but discernment. Now this passage gives language to those who have been wounded by evil. For if you've been lied to, abused, slandered or betrayed, you need more than just empathy. You need a God who sees, and a God, the steadfast love that leads the way.

Speaker 1:

Verse 7 is a pivot of grace. It says this David knows he doesn't stand before God because of his own morality or his own record. His access to God is solely because of God's covenantal, loyal and unshakable love. Now, this verse is a lifeline for those who are battling shame and spiritual discouragement. Perhaps you've wandered, perhaps you're carrying the burden of failure, but David reminds us that entrance into God's presence is never earned. It is gifted through mercy. We enter not as spiritual heroes, but as needy worshipers, welcomed by grace, and bow down towards your holy temple in fear of you.

Speaker 1:

Verse 7, second part there is no entitlement here, only reverence. And in counseling we often work with people struggling to hold together intimacy with God and awe before Him. Now Psalm 5 holds both. God's love invites us in, but his holiness humbles us once we're there. Then comes David's direct plea. Now we'll see it in verse 8. Lead me, o Lord, in your righteousness Because of my enemies. Make your way straight before me. This is not a vague request for inspiration. It is a cry for direction. When we are surrounded by confusion, betrayal or pressure, what we need most is a straight path. God's righteousness is not just a doctrine to affirm, it's a compass to follow when words wound and truth is twisted.

Speaker 1:

David describes his enemies in stark terms. There is no truth in their mouths. Their throat is an open grave. They flatter with their tongues Verse 9. Now Paul recites this in Romans, chapter 3. These are people skilled in deception. They're wearing masks of kindness while wielding weapons of slander. Now, many of us have felt the sting of this. Words that won't, half-truths that sabotage Relationships poisoned by gossip.

Speaker 1:

This psalm validates the emotional toil of relational conflict. It affirms that the confusion of being gaslighted or misrepresented. David doesn't sugarcoat it, but rather than retaliating, he prays. He says this make them bear their guilt, o God. He says a little bit later, let them fall by their own counsel. And a little bit later he says for they have rebelled against you Verse 10. Again, this is not petty revenge, it's an appeal to divine justice. David knows that those who twist the truth ultimately rebel against God and that God will not be mocked.

Speaker 1:

For those in counseling or pastoral care, this section invites honest lament and a gospel-centered lens. We do not deny the damage done by others, nor do we seek to control outcomes. We entrust it to one who sees the heart and rights all wrongs in his time, the Joy of Refuge in a Noisy World. The final verses of Psalm 5 offer a burst of hope and clarity. He says in verse 11, but let those who take refuge in you rejoice and let them sing for joy. This shift is stunning, from groaning to singing, from enemy to exaltation. What changed? Not the circumstances, but the center. David has moved from reacting to resting, from fear to focus. Refuge is not an escape, it's a stability. It is what the counselor longs for their clients to find, not just relief, but rootedness when God becomes the hiding place. We don't deny the threats, we just realize that they don't get the last word.

Speaker 1:

Verses 11-12 said this Spread your protection over them. You bless the righteous, o Lord. You cover him with favor as with a shield. This image is rich. God's favor is not flimsy, it's a shield. The word used here for shield implies a large, encompassing defense, a protection from head to toe. This is how God treats those who come to him not with suspicion, but with shelter. He doesn't just offer information, he offers a covering. And Psalm 5 begins with groaning but ends with singing, not because the battle is over, but because the worshiper is now grounded.

Speaker 1:

Now let's look at some of the doctrinal insights that we find from this psalm. The psalm is a prayer as a pattern for lament and guidance. Prayer is not performance but preparation. It is a priestly work of laying out our needs before God and waiting in hope. Then we see God's holiness and justice. God is not indifferent to the wickedness that is happening. His character demands truth and righteousness. We see steadfast love has said our access to God is based on His covenantal love, not our performance. Then we see divine leadership. God's righteousness guides us in confusing seasons, making His way straight before us. And then, finally, we see God as refuge. He offers joy and shelter and favor to those who trust in Him, even amid attack. Now let's make this practical. Let's take this theology and make it practical.

Speaker 1:

Psalm 5 speaks powerfully into the lives of those navigating mourning anxiety, because it models how to begin the day, grounded in God, not consumed by dread. Then we see those that struggle with verbal abuse or slander. It affirms the pain of being lied about and models a righteous response. Affirms the pain of being lied about and models a righteous response For those of us that are confused or betraying. It provides a prayer for guidance when paths are unclear, for those that are spiritually weary. It reminds us that our standing before God is not based on our merit but on His mercy and for those that are faithfully caregiving, you know, for counselors and for pastors. It teaches us to hold justice and mercy and guidance in balance when walking with those who are wounded. So, whether we're in the counseling office or a small group or personal devotion, psalm 5 invites us to turn panic into prayer and pressure into praise.

Speaker 1:

Now, grab that journal again and let's reflect and respond. And here are several questions I want you to consider. Number one what emotions do you most often carry into your mornings and how can Psalm 5 reshape your start of the day? Number two are there wounds caused by false words or betrayal that you need to bring to God honestly? Number three what would it look like to prepare your prayer like an offering each day? Number four where do you need God to make a straight path in your life right now? You need God to make a straight path in your life right now.

Speaker 1:

Number five do you believe God's steadfast love is your grounds for access and joy?

Speaker 1:

Why or why not? And number six how can you encourage someone today who feels surrounded or slandered? Well, let us pray, father, you hear my voice in the morning, even when all I can do is offer a groan. Thank you that I do not come before you because I'm good, but because you're full of steadfast love. And lead me today through the confusion, guide me away from the counsel of the wicked and give me discernment to walk in your righteousness. From the counsel of the wicked and give me discernment to walk in your righteousness. Cover me with favor as with a shield and help me to rest and to rejoice, even in adversity, because I am safe in you Through Jesus Christ, my refuge and my righteousness, amen. Well, thank you for being with us today.

Speaker 1:

You don't need to face your morning anxiety or relational confusion alone. Psalm 5 offers a rhythm of trust, truth and worship that can shape your day and your life. Join the free Navigator's level of Lessons for Life community at communityjameslongjrorg for devotionals, meetups and training that will help you walk in faith, or explore one of our full memberships at jameslongjrorg slash. Sign up now for deeper coaching and content designed to help you grow emotionally, relationally and spiritually wise. When the world offers noise, god offers direction. Begin your day with him. Be blessed everyone Take care.

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James Long, Jr.

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