Marketplace Monastics

Do, Father!  Do strengthen the hearts of those we love.  Strengthen our own.

I remember ________________________ today, wounded, disappointed, fainting.

In Your mercy and by Your grace, give us the strength of joy in Christ Jesus.  Give us the ennobling of a righteousness not our own.  Give to __________________ to look for the very last time at their own unworthiness and see Yours, in the sacrifice of Your Son.

Your steadfast love is for us and for them, and Your unwavering desire that men should know You and appropriate Your merciful judgment is here and now.  It is revealed here and now, that God was in the world in His Son, reconciling us to Himself.   (2 Corinthians 5:19)

¹⁷ O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will strengthen ________________’s heart; you will incline your ear
¹⁸ to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, YOU HEAR AND YOU SEE THE OPPRESSION THAT HAS WOUNDED AND TERRORIZED ____________________ (MY FRIEND, MY CHILD, MY SPOUSE, MY NATION;)

 May men, who are of the earth, strike terror no more,AND MAY THOSE WHO OPPRESS SPIRITUALLY BE TURNED BACK AND PUT TO SHAME, ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD. 

(Psalm 35:4)

¹⁷ O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
¹⁸ to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. (Psalm 10:17, 18, ESV)

Crying Eye, muffintop04, Jordan, by permission, Wikipedia

We say again, and we will keep in mind, that it is not easy for any of us to properly assess our victimhood.  For some, the mention of the word is the end of the conversation, because they aren’t buying, and that’s a good thing, unless we fail to realize what the devil is selling to those you love, and sometimes to us if we’re not really careful.  For others, there are devils in every door post.  Which is it to be?  Which is the proper mindset?  Are our Dear and Desperate Little Friends under siege, afflicted, oppressed … or merely the makers of bad choices?

I don’t think there is one proper mindset until we recognize that, just as the Scripture tells us, “… we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  So then, there is a battle.  We take part.

• We wrestle
• Not against flesh and blood
• We wrestle against principalities
• We wrestle against powers
• We wrestle against the rulers of darkness of this world
• We wrestle against spiritual wickedness
• We must wrestle in high places.

A false step, a bad decision, a string of them, can happen and can lead to ruin, but some are perverted and destroyed before they are old enough to side-step the danger.  Abandonment, cruelty, isolation, deeply wounding criticism or reviling, these can damage a child before he’s ten years old, and he can embrace wickedness though fear, resentment, loneliness, rejection, false guilt, unforgiveness, and much more.

Whose fault?  It makes no difference whose fault if we can help through our deep caring and our fervent prayers.  Then counseling and help can come.  Perhaps we can speak words of wisdom, words powerful to heal, perhaps someone else will speak.  O Lord, send Your Word and heal them and deliver them from their destructions!  We pray for children and parents, governments and peoples, husbands and wives; we pray against their enemies and their effect.

Even if we ourselves were the perpetrators, there’s no time to wallow in the mire.  With a nod to the Doors, let our love become a funeral pyre for the carcasses of our failures.  We’re not failing now!  We are praying and we are trusting and we are filled with hope.  We are supposed to be.

In the Psalms, David’s enemies are flesh and blood, but his fight, like ours, is for a kingdom and for the glory of God.  It is, like ours, ordained of God.  It is, like ours, a real life-and-death battle that must be won.  His fight, like the Israelites’ passage through the wilderness, is a twice-told tale; he conquered those who fought against the God of Israel, and he won for our instruction.

We fight.  You in your place, me in mine.  Quietly, unobserved, but watching and waiting and above all, hoping.  How MANY do you know today who are under siege, locked away, even tormented?

Why does the wicked man revile God? 

WHY DO WICKED SPIRITS SEEM TO GET AWAY WITH TORMENTING SO MANY PEOPLE IN OUR TIME?
    Why does he say to himself,
    “He won’t call me to account”?

THERE ARE PLENTY OF WICKED PEOPLE OUT THERE, AND PLENTY OF US HAVE DONE OR SAID WICKED THINGS AT TIMES, BUT WE PRAY AGAINST THOSE THAT INCITE WICKEDNESS, EMISSARIES OF DARKNESS THAT PREY UPON WEAKNESS AND WOUNDEDNESS.  CALL THEM TO ACCOUNT, FATHER!  SAVE THE VERY ONES THEY HAVE TROUBLED!

¹⁴ But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
    you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
    you are the helper of the fatherless. 

WE SO DO NOT WANT TO THINK OF OURSELVES AS “VICTIMS,” WE DO SO WANT TO RISE ABOVE OPPRESSIONS, BUT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE TRIED AND FAILED, FOR ____________ and __________ WHO THINK ALL THEIR WRONG AND ALL THEIR FAILURE WAS SELF-INDUCED OR ALL THE FAULT OF OTHERS, FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT SEE THE TREACHEROUS ONES THAT WERE LYING IN WAIT AND SHOOTING AT THEM FROM THEIR HIDING PLACES, FOR THEM WE PRAY.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked man;
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out.

 YES, LORD! THOSE WHO MOST NEED TO BE SET FREE FROM BONDAGE ARE OFTEN THOSE WHO OFFER NO RESISTANCE TO THEIR CAPTORS.  THEY NEARLY CANNOT WHEN THEY FEEL THEY ARE MERELY WICKED THEMSELVES, OR THAT THE WICKEDNESS OF OTHERS IS MORE POWERFUL THAN YOUR LOVE.  MAKE IT RIGHT, LORD.  IN YOUR LIGHT, LET THEM SEE LIGHT AND REPENT AND BE MADE CLEAN IN YOUR SON.  LET THEIR ENEMIES BE PUT TO SHAME!

Person Wearing Sanbenito Hat of Shame During Spanish Inquisition

Goya, by Permission, Wikipedia, death of the artist

The power of this prayer is not in the description of those whose aim it is to bring down their prey.  No.  Look at the last verse.

Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
    Do not forget the helpless.

When we begin to see those we love as more helpless than evil or stubborn or faithless, we’re getting somewhere.  Evilis the bloodthirsty desire to destroy what God has brought forth, to abort what God has begun in a life – or the life itself.  Even the mother who aborts her own child, what led her to that decision? Fear.  Lies.  Pride. Confusion.

Fear of rejection.  Fear of failure.  Fear of lack.

Lies about God’s faithfulness.  Lies about the worth and the sanctity of life, living and unborn.

Pride in our sin, trying to make two wrongs into a right.  The pride of independence and of having all things, even life and death, our way.

Confusion.  What to do? How to go on?  Who will help me?  Will I be marginalized … the Word of God says He will help us when morning comes, and never, no not ever, will He forsake us.

Pray for those you love today, those confused, those endangered by pride and wounded for lack of strengthening humility.

FATHER, FORCES OF DARKNESS HAVE LIED TO _____________________.  THE DEVIL HAS WOUNDED _____________________ WITH TORRENTS OF UNTRUTH.

His mouth is full of lies and threats;
    trouble and evil are under his tongue.
⁸ He lies in wait near the villages;
    from ambush he murders the innocent.

FROM THE INNOCENCE OF YOUTH, FROM THE WISDOM OF SCRIPTURE, ________________ HAS BEEN AMBUSHED AND DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO ESCAPE.
His (the enemy’s) eyes watch in secret for his victims;
⁹     like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
    he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.

VICTIMIZED, WATCHED IN SECRET UNTIL LONELINESS OR BITTERNESS OR SELF-PRESERVATION BECAME A TRAP. ___________________ CRUSHED WITH THOSE HEARTBREAKING CONDITIONS, NOW FALLEN OR TOTTERING.
¹⁰ His victims are crushed, they collapse;
    they fall under his strength.
¹¹ He says to himself, “God will never notice;
    he covers his face and never sees.”

HIS ENEMIES THINK YOU DON’T NOTICE; THEY THINK YOU DON’T SEE.  YOU DO, AND YOU SHOWED ME.  MY FRIEND, MY CHILD, MY SPOUSE IS CAUGHT AND WOUNDED – I SEE BECAUSE YOU SHOWED ME, AND FOR THEM I PRAY!

¹² Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
    Do not forget the helpless.  SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST, O LORD!  THAT’S WHAT YOU DO, AND THAT IS WHAT WE NEED.

His mouth is full of lies and threats;
    trouble and evil are under his tongue.
⁸ He lies in wait near the villages;
    from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
⁹     like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
    he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
¹⁰ His victims are crushed, they collapse;
    they fall under his strength.
¹¹ He says to himself, “God will never notice;
    he covers his face and never sees.”

¹² Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
    Do not forget the helpless.

Child running and falling

Jamie Campbell, by permission, Wikipedia

We are praying for the lost, the desperate, even the rich and powerful desperate ones whose lives touch upon ours, whether close at hand or in seats of power.  Let’s choose someone today whose life demonstrates this boastfulness, this spurning of the majesty of God, and pray for all we’re worth, and while we do, let’s remember one another, that our own residual arrogances would melt into gratitude and humble trust in the God who saves.

It strikes me how wonderful it is that, if one considered top Republican leaders to be the boastful, scheming ones, prayer would be the best antidote.  If one considered top Democratic or Socialist leaders to be the boastful, scheming ones, prayer would be the best solution.

Brilliant.  Simple, too. What’s more, we would not have to be torn asunder as a nation and in our families.  Psalm 10:1-6 …

Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?  FATHER, WE KNOW YOU ARE NEAR, WE KNOW YOU NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US, BUT IT’S SO HARD TO SEE SO MANY CARRYING OUT SUCH WICKED WORKS, KNOWING THAT YOU HAVE THE POWER TO UNDO THEM AND THEIR TERRORS.

² In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
    who are caught in the schemes he devises.  THEY ENSLAVE THE WEAK WITH FALSE PROMISES AND LIES ABOUT YOUR NATURE, LORD, AND WE KNOW YOU SEE IT.
³ He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
    he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
⁴ In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
    in all his thoughts there is no room for God.  THERE ARE THOSE, TOO, WHO CLAIM TO KNOW YOU, CLAIM TO HAVE RESPECT FOR YOUR WAYS AND YOUR TRUTH, BUT YOU KNOW THE TRUTH, LORD.  WE WANT THAT TRUTH, WHEREVER IT TAKES US.
⁵ His ways are always prosperous;
    your laws are rejected by him;
    he sneers at all his enemies.
⁶ He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
    He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”  EVEN FOR THE WORST OF THE WORST, WHOEVER THEY MAY BE IN YOUR SIGHT, THE HYPOCRITAL AND DECEITFUL, THE LIARS, AND THOSE WHO SEEK TO DESTROY, WE DO NOT WISH TO SEE THEM HUMILIATED BEFORE YOU.  MAY GRACE COME TO US IN THIS HOUR, THAT WICKEDNESS WILL BE CAST OFF, THAT LIARS WILL BECOME TRUE, THAT DECEPTIONS WILL BE UNCOVERED, AND THAT YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL BE THE ONLY RIGHTEOUSNESS WE OWN, IN OUR NATION, IN OUR FAMILIES, AND IN OUR TIME.

Matt Wade photo, U.S. Capitol Rotunda, from behind statue of George Washington

Matt Wade, by permission, Wikipedia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I hesitate to admit … how often I’m uncertain whether something in my life is a test to be endured, a temptation to be avoided, a tribulation to be overcome, or a torment to be undone.

Personally, and intellectually, I would hate it if I were going through something patiently that I was supposed to rebuke faithfully. I don’t want to call a temptation a tribulation; rather, it might be something I should destroy by the Word of the Lord.

It helps all the time to remember that in our lives we face not only circumstances and difficulties, but enemies and snares.

We face not only difficulties but enemies and snares, traps and detours and wicked tour guides, utterly devoid of mercy, truth, or conscience. Meanwhile, I don’t even like unhappy endings to the movies I watch!

Be that as it may, if they have destruction and shame as their end goal, and they do, I will pause, consider prayerfully; I will ask of God, for His wisdom comes generously and peaceably, not with an upbraiding finger wagging at me, scolding me for everything I’ve failed to get right so far. (James 1:5). If they want to see the ruin of those for whom I pray, I will believe my Lord when He says their ruin is determined, and I will pray accordingly.

The nations AND ALL THOSE WHO HATE THE ONES I LOVE have fallen into the pit they have dug;
    their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.  HOW I REJOICE IN YOUR SALVATION, FATHER, FOR MY LOVED ONES, FOR ________________, AND HOW I CELEBRATE YOUR TRIUMPH OVER EVIL!
¹⁶ The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
    the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. LORD GOD, WITH YOU AND IN CHRIST, WE ARE BECOME THE ARMY OF DESTRUCTION THAT DESTROYS THE DESTROYER!
¹⁷ The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,
    all the nations that forget God.  YET WE RISE UP, PROCLAIMING TRUTH AND WORSHIPING THE LORD WHO REIGNS ON HIGH!
¹⁸ But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.  YOU WILL NEVER FORGET MY DEAR ________________ AND YOU WILL CAUSE THEM TO HOPE AGAIN!

OH, HOW WE THANK YOU!  REMEMBER TODAY THOSE WE LOVE, OUR DESPERATE FRIENDS, OUR FRIENDS DECEIVED, DUPED, DESTROYED, WOUNDED, WORRIED, WONDERING WHERE YOU ARE.  WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, AND WE BRING THEM BEFORE YOU!
¹⁹ Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph;
    let the nations be judged in your presence.  IF MORTALS SHALL NOT TRIUMPH, HOW MUCH MORE CERTAIN IS IT THAT THOSE WHO LEAD THEM WILL BE UNDONE, THROWN INTO CONFUSION, AND DEFEATED.
²⁰ Strike them with terror, Lord;
    let the nations know they are only mortal.  LET YOUR PEOPLE LEARN, AT LAST, THAT WE ARE NO LONGER MERE MEN; WE BELONG TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND WE BEAR HIS KIND, HIS MERCIFUL, HIS INTERCEDING IMAGE.  (Psalm 9:15-20, NIV)

The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
    their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
¹⁶ The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
    the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.^[c]
17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,
    all the nations that forget God.
¹⁸ But God will never forget the needy;
    the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

¹⁹ Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph;
    let the nations be judged in your presence.
²⁰ Strike them with terror, Lord;
    let the nations know they are only mortal.

 St. Anthony, Tempted by Devils, Schongauer, between 1480 and 1490, public domain, Wikipedia

The Lord remembers us.  In the affliction of those for whom we pray, when nothing seems to be moving, the Lord remembers.  He has not forgotten their tears, the injustices that have been perpetrated against them.  It is so difficult for most of us to look evil in the face; we weren’t designed for it, but we are equipped for it.

We were designed for life in a garden with no weeds, walking with God.  We were designed to accomplish a work that would have been satisfying to us and without pressures and with no risk of failure, except failure to heed the word of God, but even in that garden, there was an enemy.  There was there a wicked enemy, wicked because he suggested that God was unfaithful, unfair, and untruthful.  Those who dwelt there could have silenced him with a word, could have banished him in the dominion they had been given.

Today we do what we can do, now that we cannot return to that paradise.  We remember the Lord who remembers our Desperate Little Friends, who will avenge them in ways that we cannot.  As we prayed last time, even the memory of those who have persecuted and afflicted those we love will perish.

We cannot live in the world before the enemy was granted access, but we can walk with God.  His Word still accomplishes every deed that may be done, that every battle may be won.  Psalm 9:7-14 …

We sing Your praises, Lord, You are enthroned in Zion;
    We proclaim among the nations what You have done.
¹² For You avenge blood, and You remember the evils that have overtaken those wounded in their hearts and in their bodies;
    You do not ignore the cries of the afflicted.

¹³ Lord, see how enemies persecute those I love!
    Have mercy and lift them up from the gates of death,
¹⁴ and I will declare your praises
    in the gates of the Daughter Zion,
    and there rejoice in your salvation.

Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;
    proclaim among the nations what he has done.
¹² For he who avenges blood remembers;
    he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.

¹³ Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!
    Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴ that I may declare your praises
    in the gates of the Daughter Zion,
    and there rejoice in your salvation.

More worship today!  More praise!  King David taught us how to do this, for ourselves and for others, if we will.  We worship the God Who rescues us from dangers, from enemies spiritual and mortal.  We worship with gladness, with songs of proclamation, with assurances that ring in the heavens. 

            Wicked enemies, those that have tormented and injured those we love, must turn back; they stumble and perish, and one day, even the memory of them will be lost forever.

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; UNTIL ___________________, (MY DEAR FRIEND, MY DARLING CHILD, MY SPOUSE, MY PARENTS, MY CO-WORKER,) CAN WORSHIP WITH ME.  I WILL SING OVER THEM, AND YOU WILL HEAR, LORD.
    I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
² I will be glad and rejoice in you;
    I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

I SING OF YOUR LOVE TOWARD THEM AND TOWARD ME; I SING OF YOUR FAITHFULNESS AND YOUR UNFAILING LOVE.

³ My enemies turn back … THEIR ENEMIES TURN BACK!;
    they stumble and perish before you.
⁴ For you have upheld ___________’s right and (THEIR) cause,
    sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.  THEIR RIGHT IS THE LOVE AND SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST, AND THEIR CAUSE IS THE RESTORATION OF ALL THAT HAS BEEN STOLEN BY THE DEVIL AND HIS MINIONS, BY THOSE WHO HAVE COME BUT TO STEAL, KILL, AND DESTROY.
⁵ You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
    you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
⁶ Endless ruin has overtaken  ______________’s enemies,
    you have uprooted their cities;
    even the memory of them has perished.

(Psalm 9:1-6, NIV, with annotated prayer)

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
    I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
² I will be glad and rejoice in you;
    I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

³ My enemies turn back;
    they stumble and perish before you.
⁴ For you have upheld my right and my cause,
    sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
⁵ You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
    you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
⁶ Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
    you have uprooted their cities;
    even the memory of them has perished.

King David Playing the Harp, Gerard von Honthurst, 1622, wikipedia, by permission

Here we go!  Psalm 8, full of worship and praise and proclamation. It’s time for that!  We have begun to war … the battle is joined!  Have you felt it?  I have.  I’m caring more, I’m praying deeper, and I’m seeing my shortcomings all too clearly!  That’s just part of the experience.  I see where I naturally incline every day toward something easier, something more superficial, less catastrophic.

But still, we are here.  Our Dear Little Friends, Our Desperate Little Friends, cannot have gone untouched while we have cried out.  Many of them have been living in catastrophy.

Corrie ten Boom told the story of ministering to a woman steeped in darkness.  Outside the room where they met sat a man, next to speak with Corrie, eager to meet her. He overheard enough to know that there was a spiritual conflict taking place; he prayed earnestly where he sat. He mentioned this to Corrie, and she wrote that when the woman came back the next day, telling the story of her deliverance as she stepped through her own front door, that she knew it was the intercession of the man in the waiting room that had turned the tide.

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory in the heavens AND I DO NOT WANT _____________             TO MISS IT!
² Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies, THE ENEMIES OF THOSE WE LOVE AND ARE LEARNING TO LOVE DEEPLY, AND THAT STRONGHOLD WILL silence the foe and the avenger, ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD!
³ When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

⁵ You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.

I, WITH THOSE FOR WHOM I PRAY, ARE MADE JUST LIKE THAT, AND I WANT TO SEE MY FRIEND(S,) MY CHILD, MY FAMILY, CROWNED JUST LIKE THAT.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

LORD GOD, O LORD MY GOD, LET MY DESPERATE LITTLE FRIEND(S) ______________________________________

BE GIVEN GRACE AND TRUTH AND FAITH TO RULE THEIR OWN SOULS IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, TO PUT UNBELIEF AND UNFORGIVENESS UNDER THEIR FEET!  HEAR ME, O LORD!

⁹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

LET ME PRAISE YOU TOGETHER WITH _________________, MY GRACIOUS GOD!

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
² Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
³ When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

⁵ You have made the a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 Melancholy, Andrew Mason, by permission, Wikipedia

Here is how we do this.  In this manner we pray for family members, friends, enemies, nations, those in trouble, those cast off, those for whom we care deeply.  From the words and the intent of Psalm 7 … fill in the blank …

Lord God, I bring my dear ______(friend, child, nation, cousin, co-worker)________ before You; save and deliver _______________ from all who pursue (him/her/them).  Don’t let ______________ be torn apart like a lion, ripped in pieces with no one to rescue.

 Lord my God, if (he/she/they) have done wrong
    and there is guilt on their hands—
 if they have repaid an ally with evil
    or without cause have robbed a foe—bring them to repentance before their enemies can       pursue and overtake them.  Have mercy, Lord!
Don’t let ___________________ be trampled to the ground and made to sleep in the dust!

Arise, Lord, in your anger;
    rise up against the rage of_________________’s enemies.
    Awake, my God; decree justice.

O Lord, I take refuge in you;
    save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
or they will tear me apart like a lion
    and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

 Lord my God, if I have done this
    and there is guilt on my hands—
 if I have repaid my ally with evil
    or without cause have robbed my foe—
 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
    let him trample my life to the ground
    and make me sleep in the dust.^[c]

Arise, Lord, in your anger;
    rise up against the rage of my enemies.
    Awake, my God; decree justice.

Japanese Rescue Diver

By permission, 100yen, Wikipedia

            Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
    or discipline me in your wrath.  ² Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;
    heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
³ My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?

⁴ Turn, Lord, and deliver me;   save me because of your unfailing love.
⁵ Among the dead no one proclaims your name.   Who praises you from the grave?

⁶ I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping
    and drench my couch with tears. ⁷ My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
    they fail because of all my foes.

⁸ Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping.
⁹ The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;  the Lord accepts my prayer.
¹⁰ All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
    they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

We looked together at the emotion and pathos of this Psalm. It is almost a little too much for us, wouldn’t you say?  From nearly cringing, begging for mercy, to the deepest imaginable expression of anguish to a cry for deliverance, and beyond. Tears, groaning, weeping through the night, and then … “Away from me, all you who do evil!”

Which of us has never known such distress, not even once? We can feel undone over the finisto an affair of love in high school!  We can want to tear our hair out over marital disputes and misunderstandings and disappointments!  Emotional conflict is as real as it seems when it overtakes us, in whatever condition it finds us, if we are unable to mount a defense.

What we are endeavoring to do together is to transfer some, at least some moreof our deepest emoting into care for others in their affliction, and we are learning to care deeplyin our prayers. We have identified those we know who are in real distress, in prison, facing a divorce, overcome by failure or financial insolvency, some sick, some mortally, some grieving the loss of a loved one.  We know that we know how to go deeper, but we have spent our lives training ourselves to care less!

There is just TOO MUCH!  We cannot care so much about so many so frequently, so continually!  We can see and hear David’s torment, and it brings into sharp definition the angst of those we love, those for whom we have decided to CARE.

Had we been on the scene, would we have prayed for King David, or with him in concert with his suffering?  Now that’s a good question!  I suspect I would have been too busy, too distracted, too unsettled with my own issues, unlessI had decided to care.

What a thought!  I might have prayed for a king, the King of Israel, man after God’s own heart, writer of Psalms, unifier, shepherd of the flock of God.  Perhaps, just maybe, it would have spared him some of the worst he had to go through, or at least sustained him through it.  Think of that!

Or … I might have considered it too great a burden to care THAT MUCH.

Choose with me a D.L.F. today, or remember the one you have chosen, and pray, as if your prayers mattered.  We might be praying for kings and priests in our generation!

Lord God, there are those we love who mistake their own foolhardy decisions for Your contempt.  Have mercy, Lord!

When You are angry, we know it is but for a moment, and Your great lovingkindness never ends: have mercy on them, Lord!  Lead them in the truth!

Where their bones are in agony, bring them comfort, and where their souls are in anguish, speak truth and healing.  Your mercies toward them, as toward us, are new every morning.

Turn and deliver ________________, save them, and to the uttermost!  They are crying, many of them without tears, and we are crying out on their behalf. Let them join those who praise You in this life.

Make all their enemies to be overwhelmed with shame and anguish; make
    them turn back and suddenly be put to shame.  Amen.

Sixteen Faces Expressing Human Emotion

Charles Le Brun, Wellcome Images on Wikipedia, by permission, death of the artist