Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Psalm 122 celebrates the excitement of a pilgrim entering Jerusalem. The pilgrim rejoices in the majesty and tranquility of the city, and looks forward to worshipping at the magnificent temple. 

When Psalm 122 was written, Jerusalem was the capital of southern Israel, ruled by the house of David, home to the temple where God’s special presence resided. To a pilgrim, Jerusalem symbolized everything that was good–safety and security, political stability, just laws applied justly, and worship at God’s temple.

The name Jerusalem means city of shalom, that is, city of peace and well-being. But its history tells a different story. King David conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites (1 Chron 11:4-5), launching a three-thousand-year history of national and international violence. David’s son Absalom staged a coup against King David. His grandson Rehoboam implemented policies that split the kingdom. And so the story goes, until David’s line of kings failed when Babylon sacked Jerusalem. And then the city fell again and again:  Persia, Greece, Rome, Arabia, the Crusaders, and the Ottoman Turks. Israeli democracy today continues the problems: internal strife, and ongoing violence in Palestine, Iran, and Syria. Where is the peace of Jerusalem?

Let’s pray. 

Our father, with the poet we say,
    I was glad when they said to me,
      “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
    Our feet are standing
      in your gates, Jerusalem (vv. 1-2).
The psalm reminds us of glad times when we experienced your presence in church or conferences, when you revealed yourself in preaching, sacraments, and worship music. 

But the poet’s joy in Jerusalem reminds us how transient such experiences may be. When has Jerusalem lived up to its name: city of peace and well-being? Even Jesus cried, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill prophets and stone those sent to you. I have longed to gather your children as a hen gathers her chicks, but you were not willing” (Mat. 23:37). 

The poet urges us to pray for the shalom of Jeru-shalom, saying:
  Pray of the peace of Jerusalem:
      May those who love you be secure.
  May there be peace within your walls
      and security with your citadels” (v. 7).  

Yes, Lord, in our transient lives, we look for a city of peace. In our dangerous world, we want a place of security . . . in our conflicted world we look for community . . . in our unstable world we look for a firm foundation. O Lord, help us be instruments of your peace. Help us to create:
  peace in our families,
  harmony and good works in our churches,
  neighborliness in our communities,
  righteousness in our cities. 

O Lord, help us fulfill the promise of Jerusalem, to build a city of peace in a war-torn world, a temple of worship in a civilization of idolatry, a place of truth in a world of lies. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Psalm 121 is a favorite, perhaps second only to Psalm 23. It begins,
    I will lift up my eyes to the hills.
        Where does my help come from?
    My help is from the Lord,
        maker of heaven and earth (vv. 1-2). 

The poet is not hoping for help from the hills. He is looking beyond them to the hand that created them, the hand that is strong and present and willing to help. 

And what kind of help is on offer? That helper is God, acting as your bodyguard, or keeper. 

The poet celebrates the protection service God provides. Here’s his the menu of services:  – He watches you, guarding you round the clock, 24/7 (vv. 3-4).
– He protects you from all harm, or evil (v. 7).
– He protects you from burning daytime heat, and from night time crazies caused by the moon (v. 6).
– He guards your life (v. 7b).
– He watches over your travels–your coming and going (v. 8).
– He’s locked into a permanent contract, watching you forever. He doesn’t plan to quit or retire (v. 8). 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we lift our eyes to the hills, and to you who live beyond them. With poet we say,
    My help comes from you
        who made heaven and earth.
    You guard us with unsleeping vigilance,
        You watch us all day and all night (v. 2, 4).  

Lord, we sleep but you watch wakefully. 

We have attention deficit disorder, but you are always attentive.
We lose focus and get confused, but you multitask with ease. 

We forget what we are doing and lose track of our goals, but you are always there to guard and guide us. 

With the poet we believe that:
    The sun will not harm harm us by day
      nor the.moon by night (v. 6). 

This week’s heat wave in western Canada is setting record temperatures in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, burning up wheat and canola crops, baking those of us too cheap to install air conditioning. But we trust your promise, that the sun will not harm us by day 

You also promise, “The moon will not harm you by night.” Save us then from our midnight madness, from the anxieties that trouble us as we go to sleep, from the dreams that disturb our peace, from the darkness that invades our souls. Be to us a God of sunlight and sweet dreams. 

With the poet we say,
  You will guard us from all evil.
  You will guard our lives.
  You will guard our coming and going
            now and forevermore (vv. 7-8).

Guard us then, Lord, as you have promised. Watch our wandering wills and conform them to your will. Watch our wandering ways, and direct them on a straight path. Watch our wandering lives and teach them to bear fruit for you. Guard us with unsleeping care until we find our home in you.

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Psalm 120 is the first of 15 psalms, which each carry the title, “A Song of Ascents”. It is not clear whether these were songs for pilgrims ascending the road to Jerusalem, or whether it is a musical term, perhaps suggesting a crescendo. 

In Psalm 120, the poet has been the victim of vicious slander and reputational assassination. He says,
      Lord, save my life from lying lips,
        from tongues of deceit (v. 2). 

Then he laments,
    Woe is me that I am an alien in Meshech,
      that I live among the tents of Kedar! (v. 5). 

Meshech was probably in present-day Turkey, and Kedar probably far south-east in Arabia. While it’s doubtful the poet travelled to those distant places, maybe he’s telling us that slanderers and deceivers made him feel like an alien, an outcast in his home country. Hence, he raises his pitiful cry to God:
  Too long have I lived
    among those who hate peace.
  I am for peace,
    but when I speak, they are for war (vv 6-7). 

Those who love violence and make a living by it are unsympathetic to his call for peace. The world that made him feel homeless was a world fascinated by and addicted to violence. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, with the poet we pray,
    Save us from lying lips
      and deceitful tongues (v. 2). 

Where can we find the truth? The media is awash with pandemic deniers and anti-vaxxers. Conspiracy theories abound. Politicians obfuscate, corporations spin. O Lord, lead us to truth. To truth in science, truth in society,  truth in relationships, truth about how to grow healthy and wise. Lead us to truth in our hearts, for our hearts have led us astray, into futile attempts to justify ourselves, to exonerate our motives and defend our actions. Help us live in the light of your truth, letting it burn out the deceits we cling to.   

O Lord, help us understand and resist the spirit of our age: a spirit which polarizes people about politics and morals and race and religion. Help us understand when to defend the truth we know, when to change our opinion, and when to be at peace with ambiguity.   

With the poet, we say:
    Woe is me that I am an alien in Meshech,
      that I live among the tents of Kedar! (v. 5).    
Too long have I lived
      among those who hate peace (v. 6). 

This world is our home, the garden you gave us to tend, but some days we feel like strangers in our own country. We want to live in peace, but many oppose our vision, preferring the pursuit of violence and power. 

Help us build communities of peace, churches of caring, societies of love. Show us the path that leads through our violent world to security and hope. 

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

With 176 verses, Psalm 119 is the longest psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible. Though he doesn’t agree, Author Walter Brueggemann comments that this psalm is “notoriously rated to be boring, repetitious, and without plot development.” That’s how I have viewed the psalm; it’s never been one of my favorites.

But now, re-reading the psalm, I am struck by the author’s heart for God. Though almost every verse talks about God’s law or his word or his promises, the poet moves through and beyond the written word to touch God’s heart. 

The poet uses the word “love” 19 times in this psalm. Ten times he says he loves the scriptures, which he describes variously as God’s law, his promises, or his wisdom (vv. 47,48, 97, 113, 119, 127,140, 159, 165, 167). Eight times he talks about God’s love for people (vv. 41, 64, 76, 88, 124, 132, 149, 159). 

Surprisingly, the poet sees God’s law as a love letter, not just a bunch of rules to obey, not just an irritating collection of regulations, not just strictures that lock down his freedom. Rather, the law is a channel through which God’s heart communicates with his heart, and his with God’s. It is a pathway by which he approaches God and God approaches him. It is the messaging app of his soul that gives him constant access to God. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we have often found that your law nags our conscience, reminds us of our failures, creates expectations we cannot accomplish, and requires purity we cannot achieve 

Today, we receive your law as your language of love, in which we hear your heart, and respond from our hearts. With the poet we say, 
     The earth is filled with your love;
        teach us your decrees (v. 64). 

     May your unfailing love be our comfort,
         according to your promise to your servants (v. 76). 

We receive your law as our guide to a wholesome and complete and honorable life. With the poet we say: 
     Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
        and your servant loves them (v. 140). 

     Great peace have those who love your law,
        and nothing can stumble them (v. 165). 

Through the scripture, you show us the path of wisdom.
      Your word is a lamp to our feet,
          a light on our path (v. 105). 

We choose to walk in the light of your word, in the light of your presence, to live in dialogue with you, our God. With the poet we say,        
I have hidden your word in my heart,
            so I won’t sin against you (v. 11). 

Teach us to experience the circle of longing and delight that the poet finds in your word as he says:
    I long for your salvation, Lord;
          your law gives me delight (v. 174). 

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube