Psalm 77
But I can still pray for my personal problems sometimes, can't I?
I look at the world around me, the dark - stormy - shakey world. And I know my problems are insignificant when you look at the Big Picture...but oh, it hurts so bad and the tears are always so close to the surface. Sometimes they just start leaking out.
"I cried out to God for help - I cried out to God to hear me! When I was in distress I sought the LORD...at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted,
I remembered you, O God, and I groaned. I mused and my spirit grew faint..."
You can read the rest on your own if you like...I will read it when I get to work, and my eyes have cleared. Does it end in hope, like so many of David's laments? Are we supposed to find comfort in knowing that through out the ages, God has often treated his children like this?
Is there any reason for praying at all? His will shall be done, no matter what we do, no matter if we agree with it or not. Not mine, but Yours oh LORD...what choice do we have. Ah, but that's the main point isn't it? Do we have a choice? Let's not go there again.
9 comments:
Psalm 77 does end in hope as David reminds himself, and us, of all that God has done up to this point. Jehoshaphat did that, and so did every other OT man/woman who prayed a prayer of intercession. Even Jesus did.
Jeremiah answers David's questions in Lamentations.
Psalm 77:
8Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
9Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion? Selah
Lamentations 3:
22The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in him."
25The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
We do have a choice, i.e. whether or not to pray.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:
8”Do not be like them (the gentiles), for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
And also:
11”Give us this day our daily bread”
I may think I know what I need, but He actually knows what I really need. My prayer is not to change His mind or manipulate. It is to discover what I really need. All prayer, be-it corporate, individual, strategic, needs oriented etc. is intercession.
He knew before you were here what the need would be. If He is not truly omniscient, omni-present, and omnipotent, why pray to Him at all? I acknowledge by my prayer that He is the only one who can supply all my needs. Our hope is in a God who is already working everything out for our good. We should keep crying out like David did, and keep reminding ourselves of all that He has accomplished. He is sovereign, and He who began the good work in us will be faithful to complete it.
For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory, are His forever.
We are praying also.
I agree with Chris, and have commented similarly on this blog in the past. I believe I said prayer was saying, "Okay, Lord, I am listening. What would you have of me." (I don't recall if the previous address was metaphorical or suggesting you actually pray those words.)
Prayer isn't about pleading for God to do as we would have done. The only plea is that our minds and hearts might be open to understand where we go from here. To understand how and why our troubles will run their course and be lifted from us. The biggest reason for prayer is that it is a communion between us and our creator. A wonderful communion that helps set our hearts and minds at ease and strengthens our muscles for the toil ahead.
you two are my "yin and yang" friends...thank you both for your comments.
Let's see Wanderer agrees with me, and Maryellen is talking about yin and yang??? Can the end be far off?
:-)
BTW which one of us is the 'dark half"?
Chris - Me, obviously.
a true yin yang symbol has a spot of white in the middle of the black and a spot of black in the middle of white...i no longer believe that good and evil are equal forces in the universe...light always conquers darkness...and didn't Jesus say...well we all know what He said.
Maryellen - in truth, I am not sure what you refer to as far as what Jesus said on the subject. I am merely failing to make the specific connection. Undoubtedly if someone fills me in it will be one of those head slapping moments. (i.e. "That's right!") As for the Yin-Yang, I did recall the spots as you referenced. They aren't little. When done right they cover the same area as the opposing color on their half of the disk. Part of the equality and placement thought process. As for the reference to me being the dark side, I wasn't equating evil. Surely I wasn't claiming myself to be. Their is a difference between darkness and evil.
Starting in Genesis 1:3 the Bible is filled with references to the light being stronger than the darkness, abuot the light shining in the darkness (Isaiah 60:1-2) and about Jesus being the Light of the World - (John 1:4-5). You know that the Name of God is Yahweh? It can be translated as "I Am". (from Exodus 3:14 - the burning bush story. The Apostle John quotes many places where Jesus begins His teachings with the word's "I Am" which always got the pharises going because they understood that He was equating himself with God. In John 8:12, He said "I am the Light of the World.
I was not calling Wanderer evil when I went on about the light and the dark, the good and the evil. Everything in the universe is supposed to be balanced I guess, and when you look around, every thing seems to be circular. Cycles of life, the water cycle, the cycle of the seasons. The Universe dances in circles. Yin/Yang, Positive/Negitive, but in this balance, in this ever turning world, evil has tried to say that it is just as important and equal to good. I used the yin yang symbol with the same meaning of "two sides of the same coin".
Thanks for the comment Wanderer. It got my brain going in the right direction this morning, after a long sowworful night...the Bible also says "joy cometh in the morning" and I am waiting for the dawn.
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