Prayer Pattern in Psalm 54
Psalm 54 (ESV)
1 Save me, O God, by Your name,And vindicate me by Your power.
2 Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have risen against me, And violent men have sought my life; They have not set God before them, Selah.
4 Behold, God is my helper;The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.
5 He will recompense the evil to my foes; Destroy them in Your faithfulness.
6 Willingly I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 For He has delivered me from all trouble, And my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.
Reading the Psalms, I noticed a pattern that occurs. The psalmist starts his prayer by proclaiming the greatness of God before launching into his specific prayer request. God’s name and references to God are front and center in the prayer, not the specific problem or request. We see this pattern in Psalm 54.
In verses 1-2, David asks God to save him, to vindicate him, and to hear his prayer. But notice how these things are going to come to pass: by HIS [God’s] name and by HIS [God’s] power. In verse 5, David asks God to destroy his enemies by HIS [God’s] power. There is no mention of how David will bring these things to pass, but there is a declaration that God will bring about the necessary deliverance. Then verse 3 articulates the specifics: strangers have risen against him and violent men want to kill him. This is the only verse in Psalm 54 that articulates David’s prayer request. The rest of the Psalm is a declaration of God’s goodness and God’s power and of David’s confidence in and thankfulness for God.
In Psalm 54, David’s declarations about God are stated in the present tense:
God is my helper.
The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.
The Lord’s name is good.
In Psalm 54, David’s declarations about God are stated in the future tense:
He [God] will repay evil to my enemies.
In Psalm 54, David’s declarations about God are stated in the past tense:
He [God] has delivered me from all trouble.
God’s power and God’s goodness were evident to David in the present, they were evident to him in the past, and they would be evident to him in the future. Of God’s power and of God’s goodness, David is sure. As a result, David declares that he will willingly give thanks and sacrifices to God, for His name is good. Do you notice how he spends very little time on his need but a lot of time magnifying God?
Every verse in Psalm 54 mentions God; only one verse mentions the problem.
V. 1 Your name, Your power, God
V. 2 O God
V. 3 God
V. 4 God, Lord
V. 5 Your [God’s] faithfulness
V. 6 Your [God’s] name, O Lord
V. 7 He [God]
Perhaps we can learn something about prayer from Psalm 54.
