November 30 2005 Psalm 7
November 30, 2005 Psalm 7
For the PodCast of this devotional click here
Psalm 7:9 “O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God.”
When I first read Psalm 7 in preparation for this meditation, I thought to myself, “This sounds like the prayer of someone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Most of us have been in that mood at sometime, some with more justification than others, perhaps.
David, the author of many of the Psalms, spent years as a wanted man, probably with a price on his head. The king just didn’t like him and saw him as an insurgent. In this Psalm, and others like it, he vented his frustration to a God he trusted and he knew loved him. Someone recently asked me how to pray correctly. It seems to me that the key to any effective communication is speaking honestly and without pretense. Certainly that is what God seeks of us too. What safer place can there be to vent. The gift of Christ shows us that God loves us; we honor that love when we trust him to love us when we are stressed as well as when we are at peace.
Just about the time that I was mulling over these ideas, I received an e-mail with a “Pastoral Prayer” which seemed to bring this Psalm into the 21st Century. With the permission of Rev. T. Barnhart, NECC Chaplain and Pastor of Laddonia Baptist Church I’d like to share that prayer with you.
L ORD, we are tired of the headlines.
We are tired of the newscasts.
We are tired of angry voices.
We are tired of the war.
We are tired of high prices at the gas pump,
And soon to be much higher prices on our gas bills.
We are tired of putting our money into wallets with holes in them.
We are tired of conflicting economic opinions.
We are tired of broken dreams.
We are tired of addressing you quietly
While mobs of angry Moslems shout their prayers.
We are tired of being hated,
Just as our enemies are tired of hating.
We are tired of fear, tired of guilt, tired of conflicts.
LORD, what should we do with our weariness?
Turn off the TV?
Stop reading the paper?
Sign-off the world-wide-web?
Blame the Muslims?
Elect a new president?
And what do we pray for?
That the Moslems’ prayers won’t be answered?
That ours will?
What do we pray for?
Our justice?
Or theirs?
LORD Jesus, we pray for peace,
For liberation from our fears,
For release from prejudice,
For mercy,
For compassion that we do not have,
For grace that we do not deserve.
We pray that your kingdom will come,
And your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Contributed by Judy King
For the PodCast of this devotional click here
Psalm 7:9 “O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God.”
When I first read Psalm 7 in preparation for this meditation, I thought to myself, “This sounds like the prayer of someone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Most of us have been in that mood at sometime, some with more justification than others, perhaps.
David, the author of many of the Psalms, spent years as a wanted man, probably with a price on his head. The king just didn’t like him and saw him as an insurgent. In this Psalm, and others like it, he vented his frustration to a God he trusted and he knew loved him. Someone recently asked me how to pray correctly. It seems to me that the key to any effective communication is speaking honestly and without pretense. Certainly that is what God seeks of us too. What safer place can there be to vent. The gift of Christ shows us that God loves us; we honor that love when we trust him to love us when we are stressed as well as when we are at peace.
Just about the time that I was mulling over these ideas, I received an e-mail with a “Pastoral Prayer” which seemed to bring this Psalm into the 21st Century. With the permission of Rev. T. Barnhart, NECC Chaplain and Pastor of Laddonia Baptist Church I’d like to share that prayer with you.
L ORD, we are tired of the headlines.
We are tired of the newscasts.
We are tired of angry voices.
We are tired of the war.
We are tired of high prices at the gas pump,
And soon to be much higher prices on our gas bills.
We are tired of putting our money into wallets with holes in them.
We are tired of conflicting economic opinions.
We are tired of broken dreams.
We are tired of addressing you quietly
While mobs of angry Moslems shout their prayers.
We are tired of being hated,
Just as our enemies are tired of hating.
We are tired of fear, tired of guilt, tired of conflicts.
LORD, what should we do with our weariness?
Turn off the TV?
Stop reading the paper?
Sign-off the world-wide-web?
Blame the Muslims?
Elect a new president?
And what do we pray for?
That the Moslems’ prayers won’t be answered?
That ours will?
What do we pray for?
Our justice?
Or theirs?
LORD Jesus, we pray for peace,
For liberation from our fears,
For release from prejudice,
For mercy,
For compassion that we do not have,
For grace that we do not deserve.
We pray that your kingdom will come,
And your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Contributed by Judy King
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