Psalm 5
July 23, 2023
Yahweh, Yahweh, please hear our prays this morning. We need you. Be our help and our comfort.
In Psalm 5, we see that David is seeking your attention due to the weight of whatever is burdening him, and we see him carefully acknowledge that you are a God that is just, righteous, and pure unwilling to share your integrity with any evildoers.
We admit that when we come, we most often come to have our needs and wishes met, and those are many. For we live in a world that is crumbing and fragile. And although we live in relative comfort, the brevity of life is evident and continually pressing in upon us. Some of us know this firsthand in recent weeks and are grieving. Others in our congregation are looking for employment and some are confronting broken social relationships that are draining our emotions and energies from within.
Yahweh, as we pray to you, we gingerly and humbly want to come further into your presence. Yet, we know that you are a God that does not tolerate malicious behavior, and that even before we take an action you know the intent of our hearts, and that if that intent is to do harm you see that as an abomination.
It seems so harsh to us that when you spoke to Moses and said, “I will not declare innocent the guilty.” You went on to say that you would “bring the iniquities of the father on their children and grandchildren to the 3rd and 4th generation.” We find this hard because in our culture we think of ourselves so individualistically and don’t think our actions have such wide ramifications.
We want you to be God, and do what you do, revealing your glory far and wide.
You know us well and it seems trivial to tell you things that you already know. But we come as adopted children, and we come boldly because Jesus taught us to speak to you as our father. This is an amazing break for us, allowing us to talk directly to you, as priests did in times past, and then we can watch and wait, for you, in anticipation. Knowing that you are also faithful and complete all that you start.
Because of your loyal love, we come to you asking you to shepherd us, and lead us, showing us how we can best live WITH you, reflecting your glory to those around us. Stir us to shine your light in this world in which we live. Give us reason to sing for joy and exult your holy name.