Read
(A special psalm by the clan of Korah and for the music leader.)
A Prayer for Help
1Our God, our ancestors told us
what wonders you worked
and we listened carefully.
2You chased off the nations
by causing them trouble
with your powerful arm.
Then you let our ancestors
take over their land.
3Their strength and weapons
were not what won the land
and gave them victory!
You loved them and fought
with your powerful arm
and your shining glory.
4You are my God and King,
and you give victory
to the people of Jacob.
5By your great power,
we knocked our enemies down
and trampled on them.
6I don't depend on my arrows
or my sword to save me.
7But you saved us
from our hateful enemies,
and you put them to shame.
8We boast about you, our God,
and we are always grateful.
9But now you have rejected us;
you don't lead us into battle,
and we look foolish.
10You made us retreat,
and our enemies have taken
everything we own.
11You let us be slaughtered
like sheep,
and you scattered us
among the nations.
12You sold your people
for little or nothing,
and you earned no profit.
13You made us look foolish
to our neighbors;
people who live nearby
insult us and sneer.
14Foreigners joke about us
and shake their heads.
15I am embarrassed every day,
and I blush with shame.
16But others mock and sneer,
as they watch my enemies
take revenge on me.
17All this happened to us,
though we didn't forget you
or break our agreement.
18We always kept you in mind
and followed your teaching.
19But you crushed us,
and you covered us
with deepest darkness
where wild animals live.
20We did not forget you
or lift our hands in prayer
to foreign gods.
21You would have known it
because you discover
every secret thought.
22 We face death all day for you.
We are like sheep on their way
to be slaughtered.
23Wake up! Do something, Lord!
Why are you sleeping?
Don't desert us forever.
24Why do you keep looking away?
Don't forget our sufferings
and all our troubles.
25We are flat on the ground,
holding on to the dust.
26Do something! Help us!
Show how kind you are
and come to our rescue.
Reflect
The ancient Israelites were storytellers. They were given a God directive to keep their history alive by sharing their stories. “These are things we learned from our ancestors and we will tell them to the next generation.”
The psalmist knew his history. He could retell those miraculous God interventions that would forever be etched in his memory. Of God’s faithfulness, he was rock bottom sure. But sometimes it is hard to make sense of the present.
Søren Kierkegaard once said: “Life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood backward.” Then was then and now is now! A new season unfolded, not of blessing but of pain. The nation was experiencing a brutal enemy take over and the psalmist is in a spiritual quandary. Everything that was built up was now destroyed. There were unspeakable human tragedies and atrocities to deal with. The psalmist could not make sense of it – the cruel invasion in his land, God’s seeming absence and their innocence.
Like Job, the psalmist could not connect any failure in the present to any sin on the part of his people.
When we have sincerely followed God and life seems to turn against us, bewilderment and anger grip us. Like the psalmist, we pray hard, questioning prayers. Pain is a hard teacher. It can cause even the strongest believer to question God’s purpose. But pain is also a lesson in surrendering and letting go.
“Do something! Help us!” We cannot walk away from God or stop praying persistently, because we know the faithfulness of God. If God was faithful in the past, he will be faithful in the future. We call and God works, in his time and in his way. He will come to our rescue.
Respond
Dear Father, Hold me steady in your ways. Don’t let trial and pain divert me from knowing that your purposes are being fulfilled even when I do not understand. Keep me focused on your faithfulness until you answer my prayer. Amen.
Margaret Gibb
Margaret has been actively involved in Canada with ministries to women for over 35 years, serving for 10 years as President of Women Alive. A writer and international speaker, Margaret has a passion to see women fulfill their God-given calling. In October 2011, she founded a new ministry organization, Women Together, that will engage professional Canadian women to come along side women in developing countries with skills development, leadership training, spiritual encouragement and support.