Today’s Lectio Divina: Excerpts from Psalm 5. (MsgB)
Listen, God! Please, pay attention!
Can You make sense of these ramblings, my groans and cries?
King-God, I need Your help.
Every morning You’ll hear me at it again.
Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on Your altar and watch for fire to descend.
And here I am, Your invited guest— it’s incredible!
I enter Your house; here I am, prostrate in Your inner sanctum,
Waiting for directions to get me safely through enemy lines.
Sometimes I wonder if ancient, timeless God gets a bit tired of my repetitious cries for help?
From His perspective, am I the dripping faucet that keeps Him up at night? To God, am I the little brat who asks Mommy for a drink (for the forty-second time!) before I go to sleep?
You know. Kinda like that parishioner who comes to the altar every week with the same prayer request. For heaven’s sake, lady, at least bring a new idea every now and then!
Maybe that’s how King David was feeling when he starts out this Psalm.
Is anybody up there, tonight? Is anybody listening? Am I making any sense here, God? Is it me, but does this prayer kinda sound just like the one I prayed last night?
But wait.
Let’s get a better perspective here. If I recall what the Scriptures tell us about this God we pray to, He never gets bored. Never gets tired. Never gets frustrated. Never gets P.O’d.
Never blows us off. Never ignores our smallest, most insignificant whimper for help.
God the Father, you see, is different from human flesh. He is Spirit. He is God. He is Alpha-Omega. Our Creator-King is made of something we humans can only touch from a distance.
God is made of pure, unadulterated, unconditional, unending, untiring, unrelenting love.
His ears are always open. Never closed for business. Never shut down due to tiredness or weariness. Unlike we humans, God has the capacity to listen to our prayers, however trite or messy, and interpret them using His heart of compassion and mercy.
Maybe that’s why David can say with certainty that he is an invited guest into the House of the Lord. Anytime. Anywhere. Any condition.
Come on in, My friend. Tell Me your worries. Spell out for Me your concerns. Spill your guts, My son or daughter. I never grow tired or weary when hearing you call out for My help. Don’t worry that your cries are a bit sloppy or grammatically incorrect. It’s your heart I seek, not just your words. Come in. Come in. My House is always open for you.
My prayer: Thank You, my dear Father, for never growing tired or weary of my cries for help. You know, from first hand experience, how hard it is to live a life for God in this God-less world. Enemies abound. But God, You are greater than all of them. I seek Your life in me so that my life can continue. For Your name’s sake. Amen.
My questions to ponder: Has my view of a gracious, loving God dimmed over the years as I continually come to Him, praying the same prayers for help? How can I let go of my human viewpoint which says that God might grow tired of my repetitive prayers, and replace it with a true biblical perspective that sees God, our Father, as One who always has His House open to me, night and day?
So what is God speaking to you today as you ponder the Psalms?
Over a 50-week period, you and I will take a deeper look at The Psalms: God’s Songbook of Prayers. In order to keep all the blog sessions organized, we suggest you bookmark our Contemplating the Psalms home page for ease of use. Keep in mind that one of the best ways to explore the on-going applications of this blog series is to walk alongside a biblically-based, Christ-centered spiritual director who is familiar with how to make material like this part of your overall spiritual formation in God. Many of our directors in our Sustainable Faith-Heartland network are available to companion you in your journey with Jesus. Click here for more info.
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