Prayer – Page 16 – LOVE | ACCEPT

Psalm 43 – Send Forth Your Light and Truth

Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. (vv 3-4)

The Psalmist groans in the face of continued persecution, much as he did in psalm 42. [N.B. Psalm 42 and 43 form a single prayer unit and should be read together.] He begs to be restored into an audience with Yahweh who he will praise. The hope that colors this brief prayer applies now as it did then; praise does not require peace. Praising God requires the long view. We must look beyond our immediate circumstances, whether morass or exultation, and know that in the eternal blueprint that God has for the world he works all things for good.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (v 5)

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Psalm 42 – My Soul Thirsts for God

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (vv 1-2)

Being oppressed by the enemies of God is a theme that abounds within the Psalter. The purpose of the repetition is to give voice to the question that continues to nag us to this day; where is God as trouble closes in around us. Has He abandoned us, do we no longer enjoy His favor? Foolish thoughts, but thoughts we must admit to entertaining.

To fill our minds with the joy of our moments of worship brings comfort and a reminder that God does not forget us. We can be assured that He is always near and worthy of our hope and belief.

These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. (v4)

Meditation on this truth brings the psalmist and us to the same conclusion:

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God , for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (v5)

The oppression and suffering that the psalmist refers to is not of the random type. He recognizes that God’s hand has allowed it, if not brought it upon him. His allusion to the flow from above that washes over him.

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. (v7)

The ultimate goodness of God’s totality does not escape him. Ultimately and despite current suffering, praise is the only response to the hand of God.

By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life. (v8)

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Psalm 42 Have Mercy On Me

The first collection of prayer poetry in the Psalter closes with David’s repeated plea for healing from a serious illness. He does not wait until the healing is complete before effusively praising Yahweh.

But you, O Lord, have mercy on me; raise me up, that I may repay them.

I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.

In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen. (vv 10-13)

David has walked over this ground many times, penning a prayer for relief from whatever ailment was causing his distress. The preceding handful of psalms were similar pleas for mercy while acknowledging that his illness was directly related to his sin. Stepping outside of himself, he looks in through the eyes of those who are enjoying his travail.

I said, “O Lord, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die and his name perish?” (vv 4-5)

To whom are we going to give our attention? It is all too easy to allow the feelings and actions of others to influence our relationship with God. Their malice may even convince us that God has given up, that he has turned his eyes away from us. When we are in the midst of our battles, when our pit of despair seems to grow deeper by the day, when we may even feel as though all is lost…we must praise. We must flip to this psalm and raise our voices to the heavens and declare that despite current circumstance, we say “Praise to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.”

Amen and Amen.

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Psalm 40 Many Will See and Fear

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.

Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll.

I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. (vv 6-8)

Before even opening the door to our prayer closets, the first thing we should do is evaluate the attitude that we have carried to that point. An idea that is repeated throughout the whole of scripture is the importance to God of our obedience over our offerings and actions. Sadly, the emphasis on holiness has lost out to the church of felt needs and community services. We have replaced obedience with activity.

It appears that two different prayers were concatenated within this psalm. In verses 1-10, the liturgist expresses contrition and recognition that the troubles we face are of our own making and the result of our sin. The voice of gratitude uses very familiar language to express thanks for the innumerable times that the Lord has pulled us from the pit.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and hear my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. (vv 1-3)

The closing verses of the psalm are a plea for help once again. Though he recognizes his part in the creation of these troubles, the psalmist does not hesitate to reach out again (and again) for the help of the Lord. We need never question our trust in this deliverance but we should always turn back to the highlighted verses in our bibles (get your pen right now) in verses 6 through 8. Obedience is the core of the psalm and obedience is to be at the core of our lives.

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Psalm 38 – Come Quickly to Help Me

For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me.

I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.

May are those who are my vigorous enemies; those who hate me without reason are numerous.

Those who repay my good with evil slander me when I pursue what is good. (vv 17-20)

Modern readers are tempted to dismiss this psalm as the product of ancient superstition and ignorance of the source of bodily infirmities. The psalmist attributes the overwhelming pain and agony of his suffering to a personal attack by God due to his sinfulness. We understand disease and the decay of body from a scientific perspective but we should be slow to allow this knowledge to color our understanding of God’s hand on our lives.

O Lord, do not rebuke me in you anger or discipline me in your wrath. (v1)

Our actions have consequences, good and bad. Should the Lord prevent us from suffering the consequence of our choices because of his deep love for us? We do this for our children, more often than not. God wants us to grow and mature in our holiness and sometimes that requires pain to enter our lives. The pain reminds us of the choices that we made and gives us an incentive to make better choices in the future. On the other hand, there are numerous pains that are significantly disconnected by time and distance from their original source and we can mistakenly attribute them to chance or label them unexplainable. Anger with God can mount: why God, why? Why would you allow this into my life now? These moments, when we most desire to understand, are the times when our knees should hit the floor as we seek understanding.

O Lord, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God.

Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior. (vv 21 –22)

Photo by Patrick Denker

Psalm 37 – Turn From Evil and Do Good

I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil, but he soon passed away and was no more;

though I looked for him, he could not be found.

Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace. (vv 35-37)

Psalm 37 presents a compilation of wisdom regarding the clear differences to be noted between the righteous and the wicked. It voices a warning against succumbing to the temptation of taking the easy way out that might involve gray areas in our behaviors. The first verses set the tone:

Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. (vv 1-2)

Every day we see those around who are not followers of Christ but who seem to be blessed. They have money, possessions, and good health while members of our own church are suffering. They may even boast of how they gamed the system or gained their fortunes in illicit ways while those who walk the narrow path scrape by, month by month. Two temptations present themselves; the invitation to follow them in their unrighteous behavior and worse, the temptation to abandon the narrow path because we do not see God correcting the unrighteousness in His world.

The psalmist addresses these issues, knowing the attraction of turning one’s face from the goals. We must remember to consider all things in terms of God’s time rather than the limited perspective of our few years here in this world. We tend toward demanding immediate action and justice whereas God is more expansive in his timekeeping. He views things eternally, knowing that His perfect justice will be visited upon every human being.

A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.

But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace. (vv 10-11)

This psalm is a great soul-strengthener when you have moments of temptation. Keep the eternal in mind and refuse to succumb to the fleeting moments of this life. Trust in Him and and His righteousness.

The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever. (v 18)

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Psalm 35 Vindicate Me in Your Righteousness

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.

Take up shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid.

Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me.

Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” (vv 1 – 3)

New Testament Christians (those whose main reading is done in the NT) encounter a violent plea such as this from the psalmist much differently than those who spend equal time in both testaments. The psalmist—and the psalter—calls for violent retribution on a divine scale from Yahweh against those who would persecute him. Again, our modern ears trouble us. Is it right to call down fire and destruction on our enemies in the light of Christ’s instruction to love our enemies and to offer the other cheek to insults?

Perhaps we read the psalm too literally as an imprecatory piece. In the same way that we may use a journal or even our prayer life to ‘vent’ and release our personal frustration at whatever our current situation might be. The cry for justice softens a bit to seek vindication in the verses that follow.

May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay.

May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away; may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. (vv 4-6)

So maybe Yahweh, you don’t destroy them with the Javelin but just chase them away and shame them for their false accusations. David claims innocence to the charges that his enemies are bringing against him. He has done nothing to deserve the troubles that have come his way and asks that Yahweh resolve this. He promises praise in return,

may ruin overtake them by surprise—may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.

…then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation.

My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, O Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.” (vv 8-10)

The danger of schadenfreude leaps to mind. Shall I praise the Lord for the misfortune of others? They have fallen into their own trap after all. This is a psalm to consider carefully. It may not be one of our favorites because it raise such an uncomfortable quandary for us but those moments and hours of discomfort ultimately strengthen our bond with God. Take the psalm to Him in prayer and allow the Spirit to search your heart to discover both the right and wrong reasons that exist there.

Photo by Richard the Lyin’ Hearted

National Day of Prayer

Though the folks who usually read these posts are already men and women of prayer, I hope everyone will make a special effort to focus their prayer today on things that are good for the nation in which we are blessed to live. For guidance on specific areas of attention, click over to the National Day of Prayer website.

I’m adding a special prayer for my fellow pastors. More and more each day I see them succumbing to the lure of celebrity and their ministry is becoming less about God and more about themselves. Service to God and His church was never meant to be an avenue to personal glorification so my prayer will be for more humility and less limelight.

Psalm 34 Taste And See That The Lord Is Good

I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. (vv 4-5)

As we often see, the psalms are intensely personal. Starting as the voice of one man, through the centuries these magnificent poems have created the foundation for countless prayers. You may read and use the psalter in such a manner. What is more important is the reason that we are attracted to the psalms and that is that we see our own experiences played out in the lives of others. We have faced danger and the Lord has delivered us. We have been surrounded by enemies and the Lord has delivered us. Our story, as we see David’s, is of value to those around us whether they know the Lord or not.

Our greatest purpose is to live lives that invite others to taste the glory of God. Our words and actions should be so winsome that others cannot resist asking their source. In the wisdom component of this psalm, David voices these imperatives.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. (v 8)

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (vv 12-13)

Let’s make it our mission this week (and beyond) to be purposeful in our joy and peace. Let is radiate from us and extend the invitation to come and taste…

Photo by Michele Cat

Psalm 33 ~ May Your Unfailing Love Rest Upon Us

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.

From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth —

he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. (vv 12-15)

A praise psalm for everyone.

The psalmist insists that praise should ring out for the Lord from all, from the nations to the individual hearts of those in the nations. God does not see us in the collective, his eyes roam the planet in search of you and me. Following psalm 32 which described the joy of the person who has confessed his or her sin and has been restored. To unroll the scroll and speak the words of this psalm to life is a reaction sourced deep in the heart of the forgiven.

No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. (vv 16 – 19)

The psalmist helps us to arrange our thinking properly. We praise God less for his actions such as delivering us from our enemies ( which can cause us moments of unease when He doesn’t ) and more for his God’s attributes. If we recognize the source of the deliverance as being rooted in His unfailing love, moments of question are quickly dismissed. Even if we face temporary setbacks, God’s unfailing love is unfolding all around us and we see that even our struggles can be a sign of His love.

Photo by David Ohmer