Ep043: Psalm 13: How Long, O Lord, How Long?

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

Psalm 13 asks “How long, O Lord?” Here are the first two verses:
    How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
      How long will you hide your face from me?
    How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?
      How long will my enemy triumph over me?

The poet feels that God has forgotten him, that God is hiding. He feels alone with his troubles and sorrow. He has a relationship with God based on the God’s law and God’s promises. But God has forgotten the relationship. God has stopped watching and caring.

The poet’s experience suggests some lessons for our prayers.

First, it is good if prayer expresses feelings instead of theology. Many good Christians would tell the poet that this prayer is wrong-headed. They would say, “Don’t ask God foolish questions like ‘How long will you forget me?’ and ‘How long will you hide from me?’ Don’t you know that God sees everything? He’s not hiding. Get over your immaturity. Ignore your feelings. Show some faith and optimism.”

Helpful advice? Not really. Because the psalms teach us to pray our feelings to God. The poet’s prayer does not start in his head with clear thinking. Nor does it start in his doctrinal statement with carefully defined beliefs. This prayer starts in the emotions. If you feel like God has abandoned you, don’t hide from him until you get those feelings fixed. If you are sinking into despair and sorrow, don’t quit praying until things improve. If you doubt God even exists, don’t avoid him until you figure out the meaning of the universe. Pray your doubts and unbelief to God, tell him you heard that the meaning of life is 42 (Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), ask him what he thinks of that.

The poet has a second lesson on prayer. He says, “Look on me and answer, O Lord my God” (v. 3). After accusing God of hiding and forgetting, the poet remembers a past relationship with God. He calls the Lord “MY God”. Surely God wants to keep up his part of the relationship, doesn’t he? The poet reminds God that they are in this together. Even in the darkness, God is “MY God.”

As the psalm concludes, the poet’s experience changes. He says to God:
    I trust in your unfailing love
    My heart rejoices in your salvation
    I will sing to the Lord
    For he has been good to me.
Somehow, the process of praying and waiting turned the poet’s heart from despair to trust, from unhappiness to rejoicing, from doubt to praise. God has come out of hiding. God is present again in the poet’s experience and feelings.

Let’s pray.
How long, O Lord, how long?
How long will our rulers manipulate and kill?
How long will nations and ethnic groups hate and disparage and dominate?
How long will cancer and depression and bipolar disorder afflict our friends?
How long will our leaders create division and hatred through politics, economics, race and gender?
How long will the rich lobby for tax breaks while the poor cry for help?
How long will we pollute our rivers and oceans?
How long will millennials be stuck in the gig economy and the debt we pile up for them?
How long until our churches love the sinners and prostitutes and outcasts?
How long until we love you more than we love ourselves?
How long until the earth is filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea? (Isaiah 11:9)

Our father in heaven, the pain and dysfunction overwhelms us. It crushes our optimism, infects our relationships. All creation groans with us (Rom 8). Everywhere your enemies experience victory.

We bring it all to you — our hurt, our sadness and defeat. But you are still our God, we trust you to do your job. And when you do, we will rejoice in your salvation, we will sing to you because you are good.

Amen.

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

Ep042: Miracle Prayers

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me.”

When Elijah the prophet was ready to move on from this troublesome world, he went across the Jordan River with his disciple Elisha where they saw a chariot of fire drawn by horses of fire. Elijah rode up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elisha picked up his master’s cloak, and began a ministry of miracles that surpassed even Elijah’s astounding record.

What kind of miracles did Elisha do? He helped a widow fill many large jars of oil from one small supply jar (2 Kings 4:5). He prayed over a widow’s dead son and brought the son back to life (2 Kings 4:35). He multiplied food, feeding a hundred men with twenty loaves and some ears of corn (2 Kings 4:42). He healed Naaman of leprosy (2 Kings 5:14). Jesus must have been inspired by Elisha, because he repeated may of Elisha’s miracles.

This brings us to an important and troubling question: Why was Elisha’s prayer life so powerful, and ours is so weak? Here are some possible explanations:

1. Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive.” Elisha asked for miracles, and he got them. Maybe we should start asking. But I have asked, and it hasn’t worked for me.

2. Perhaps Elisha had more faith than we do. If we had more faith, would God do miracles for us too?
Maybe, or maybe not. I think there’s a spiritual mystery in the space between faith and miracles. It’s not a simple formula like like “more faith equals more miracles.”

3. Here’s another explanation. God tends to work more miracles in times of crisis and change. In Elisha’s time, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was besieged by foreign powers, so they needed more miracles.

Maybe. But Elisha lived long before the final crisis when Assyria conquered Israel. He lived in the middle ages of the Northern Kingdom, when the people vacillated between God and idols, between military competence and military disaster. Ours is a similar age as western civilization fragments and decays. Much of the Christian church in the west aligns itself politically and culturally with godless leaders, exploitive policies, and unjust economics. If Elisha’s time was ripe for miracles so is ours! But where is the prophet who can bring them?

4. Here’s another possibility. Perhaps it is God’s fault, not ours, that miracles aren’t happening in our culture. Perhaps in some ages God chooses to deliver his message with miracles. Maybe in our age God wants a different kind of miracle.
– Perhaps he wants people who are free of pornography
– Perhaps he wants people who value inner beauty above fashion
– Perhaps he wants communities who renounce the culture of individualism and learn to live together
– Perhaps he’s looking for a remnant to worship him in spirit and in truth
– Perhaps he’s looking for churches that preach less and love more, that listen to his Spirit

God shares his power freely for the tasks he assigns us. But how can we know what he wants us to do? We can listen to him in the stories of Scripture, in the fellowship of Christian community, and in the witness of his Spirit in our lives.

Let’s pray.
Our father,
We live in an age of advertising, but your public relations department is silent.
We live in an age of spectacular sports events, but you don’t compete in the Super Bowl and the World Cup.
We live in an age of entertainment, but you aren’t challenging Disney and Fox News for market share.
We live in an age of celebrities, but you aren’t vying with Johnny Depp and Emma Watson for popularity.

What are you doing, God? And what do you want us to do? Help us shut out the clamor of the world and wait quietly to hear your voice. In the silence prepare us to do your work in the world.
Amen.

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

Ep041: Psalm 12: Words, Words, Words

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

Psalm 12 differs from the psalms before it. Here’s how: Most of the first eleven start with doubt or fear and end with hope and praise. Surprisingly, Psalm 12 ends just like it starts. The first verse says, “Help, Lord, for the godly are no more!” And the last verse says, “The wicked strut about on every side.” Is there no movement in this psalm? Is the poet stuck? Is he unable to climb out of his pit this time?

The heart of Psalm 12 describes what the wicked say and what God says in response. It’s a poem about how God and people use words, about how they speak.

First, the poet describes the speech of the ungodly.
– They lie to their neighbours (v. 2)
– They flatter deceptively (v.2)
– They boast (v. 3)
– They say, “We will triumph with our tongues” (v. 4)
– They say, “We own our lips, who is our master?” (v. 4)

The speech of the wicked escalates from simple lies to a world-conquering claim, “We can say whatever we want, we have no master who can tell us ‘No!’”

But the poet has a surprise for the wicked. They did not notice that God, the master of all, is eavesdropping on their arrogant speech. He says, “I think I’d better do something. I will protect the needy from those who speak against them.”

And then the poet gives a moving description of God’s words: “The words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.” (v.6). The heat of the furnace shows God’s words to be beautiful, pure, valuable, and masterful. But the furnace annihilates the arrogant words of the wicked. The last word and the words that last, belong to God. These are words shape our lives.

Yes, Psalm 12 does differ from other psalms because, God’s words are the light at the centre, standing out from a dark beginning and a dark ending.

Let’s pray.

Our father, how careless and arrogant are the words our leaders use.
– President Trump speaks disparagingly of “Crooked Hillary”, “Lyin’ Ted”, “low-energy Jeb”, “Sloppy Steve” and various “losers”.
– Prime Minister Trudeau talks about “different perceptions” — when the issue is not perception but truth.
– Innocent people killed in drone strikes are reported as “collateral damage,” not murdered fathers and mothers and children.
George Orwell said, “Political language . . . makes lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and gives an appearance of solidity to pure wind” (“Politics and the English Language”).

Lord, much of what we say and hear is wind. Our words are like chaff that the wind drives away (Psalm 1:4). O Lord, purify our use of words.
– Help us not to lie and flatter and gossip.
– Help us not to disparage others.
– Help us not to use words to conceal the truth
– Help us not to speak pretty pictures that cover dark motives.
– Remove anger and abuse and violence and deceit from our lips.

Instead
– teach us to think true thoughts and speak them clearly,
– teach us to feel deep love and express it generously,
– teach us to see much beauty and to share it with delight,
– teach us to see evil clearly and denounce it vigorously.

Your words, Lord, are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. Refine and purify our words, so they may share the beauty of yours.

Amen.

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

Ep040: Elijah in Earthquake, Windstorm and Fire

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me.”

We continue the story of Elijah after he won a contest with the prophets of Baal, by praying down fire from heaven. Queen Jezebel, who worshipped Baal, was not amused and she vowed to kill Elijah. Elijah became frightened and depressed, so he escaped to Beersheba where he went into the wilderness, sat under a broom tree, and said to God, “I’ve had enough. Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors.” God sent an angel to feed and refresh Elijah. Then Elijah travelled 40 days and nights to Mt. Horeb, another name for Mt. Sinai, where Moses had received the ten commandments.

Elijah travelled forty days and forty nights? Google Maps estimates the distance from the modern city of Be’er Sheva to the presumed location of Mt. Horeb as 261 miles, or 87 hours’ walking. That’s a three-and-a-half day walk, not forty. Either Elijah took the long way around, or forty days and nights is a metaphor for a long and difficult journey.The route from Beersheba to Mt. Horeb goes through the desert where Israel wandered forty years on their way to the promised land. The number forty connects Elijah’s wandering to the confused wandering of his ancestors. It also connects Elijah to Moses who spent forty days and nights on the mountain receiving the ten commandments.

Mt. Horeb was a mountain of fireworks. When God prepared to give Moses the ten commandments, thunder rolled, lightning struck, and a trumpet blasted. Exodus says that God descended on the mountain with fire, the mountain was covered with smoke and trembled violently” (Exodus 19:18-19). But after the commandments were given, God showed himself quietly to Moses and promised, “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest” (Exo. 33).

So what did Elijah find at Mt. Horeb? Did he find the thunder and lightning and fire and smoke and earthquake? The first thing he found was God, who said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah said, “I have been zealous for you, God. Your people have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too!” (Exo 19:14).

God replied, “Stand on the mountain. I am about to pass by.” Elijah stood on the mountain. First, he saw the old-time power and glory that Moses experienced:
– A powerful wind tore at the mountain and shattered rocks. But the Lord was not in the wind.
– After the wind, an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake.
– After the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire.
The signs of God’s presence came to Elijah. But God was not present in the signs.

Finally, a gentle whisper, a still small voice. That was God at last. He showed up for Elijah, and gave him instructions for what to do next.

Let’s pray.
Our father, we see may pictures of Elijah. Elijah the man of power praying fire onto the altar. Elijah, running in fear from Queen Jezebel. Elijah, sitting despondent under a tree. Elijah, in the wilderness, following the footsteps of Moses. We also see you, God, responding to Elijah. You demonstrated your power to him in windstorm and earthquake and fire. But the tumult was trivial, your still small voice was decisive.

Our father, we wait like Elijah waited:
– through the turmoil of our lives,
– through unhappiness, fear, and despondency,
– through wilderness journeys,
– through earthquake, wind, and fire.
Visit us with your still small voice, we pray.
Amen.

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

Ep039: Psalm11: Foundations are Crumbling. What to do?

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

Psalm 11 asks, “When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Wherever we turn, we see foundations crumbling and destroyed.
– society violates the ten commandments,
– politicians lie and scam,
– churches value relevance over godliness,
– celebrities celebrate evil,
– moral relativity trumps old fashioned values,
– standards of conduct yield to sloppiness,
– scholars sow confusion instead clarity.

Decay and fragmentation are overtaking western civilization, permeating politics and business and church life. We smell the rot. We see the weakness. What can the righteous do?

The first verse of Psalm 11 suggests, “Flee like a bird to your mountain” (v. 1). Is that the solution? Run away from the awful truth? Escape from it all? Go off the grid with our guns and all terrain vehicles and build a mountain hideout? Sit in safety while the world goes to hell in a hand basket?

The poet roundly rejects this solution. He has two responses to the escapist option.

His first response: God is still involved in the world. The poet says, “God is in his holy temple, God is on his heavenly throne, God watches the human race, his eyes examine the righteous and the wicked.” God continues to watch over the world. If God remains involved in a world with crumbling foundations, we his servants must also stay engaged. Escape is not an option.

The poet’s second response is to point out the true nature of our foundation. It is
not in rules,
not the ten commandments,
not right interpretation of the Bible,
not family values,
not a just society,
not an honest political system.

The only foundation is God himself. The poet tells us that God hates those who love violence (v. 5). He plans to deliver fiery coals and burning sulphur to the wicked (v. 6). But the righteous will see God’s face. He is our only foundation. It is our privilege to walk with him by faith through the evils of the world, until we meet him in a better world to come.

Let’s pray.

Our father, we hear from many sources of decaying and destroyed foundations.
– Preachers complain endlessly about slipping standards in Bible interpretation, in morality and civility and commitment and faith
– The media report mass shootings, corrupt politics, and salacious celebrity gossip.
– Scientists hypothesize, analysts analyze, philosophers philosophize, commentators opinionize, but wisdom has left the building.
– The wheels of western civilization keep turning, but the motor has seized and the vehicle is coasting.

We come to you, God, because we are frightened and we want to escape. Wouldn’t it be better to abandon this hopeless situation? But that would deny who we are and who you are. You are still God of our world, you work to preserve good and punish evil. We are still your servants. We represent you. Our job is not to preserve ourselves. Our job is to be courageous witnesses, to remind the world that you still care and judge.

We see the crumbling rot in all our systems: in theology, in moral codes, in our Judeo-Christian values, in our own lives. None of our systems can sustain us while civilization fragments and disintegrates. So we turn to the only foundation that is firm. Be our refuge and strength, God, in the midst of chaos. Come walk with us through change and violence, help us walk with you until we see you face-to-face.

Amen.

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

Ep038: Elijah on Climate Change

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me.”

Today, we look at the prophet Elijah. The New Testament uses Elijah as an example of prayer saying, “Elijah was man with a nature like ours. He prayed that it would not rain, and it didn’t rain for three and a half years. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit” (James 5:17-18).

Here’s the story. Elijah was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel when King Ahab and most of the Israelites had abandoned the God of Israel and were worshipping a local Canaanite deity called Baal. Queen Jezebel, Ahab’s Canaanite wife, encouraged this process. One day, out of the blue, an unknown prophet went to King Ahab and said, “The God of Israel is not happy. There won’t be dew or rain for the next few years until I say so.” Then Elijah the prophet went into hiding.

Sure enough, it didn’t rain for the next three-and-half years, creating hardship and famine in Israel. Finally Elijah came out of hiding, and he organized a competition with the prophets of Baal to see whose god would send down fire on an altar of sacrifice. The prophets of Baal spent all day asking their god to send fire, but it didn’t work. Then Elijah prepared his altar, prayed to God, and the fire of the Lord came down, consuming everything!

Then Elijah prayed seven times for the rain to start again. Soon the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, and the rain poured down.

Some observations:

1. James calls Elijah a man with a nature like ours. Elijah’s prayer stopped and started the rain, and called down fire from heaven. If that’s the standard for prayer, then my prayers are under performing. The only rain I’ve stopped and started is in the shower and my on/off technique isn’t exactly prayer.

2. We often wish God would send fire from heaven to demonstrate that he’s real, that our culture of consumerism is modern Baal worship, and that the prophets of Baal on Wall Street are false prophets and posers. But God seems reluctant to stage demonstrations like that. As Jesus said in Luke’s gospel, “they wouldn’t be convinced even if someone rises from the dead!” (Luke 16:31). Even the Christian vs atheist debates are unconvincing — they all end in stalemate. It’s almost as if God wants to leave room for doubt about whether or not he exists.

3. This leaves a problem for our prayers. Should we try to stage a big demonstration like Elijah, and hope God shows up? Should we pray like Elijah for rain to stop and fire to fall? Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. So why did this work for him, but it doesn’t work for us?

Let’s pray.
Our father, this story leaves an empty space in our hearts, wondering why our prayers are so powerless. Wondering what you really want from us. Wondering what to pray for next. We thank you that your word has done this work in us, emptying us of self-confidence, removing easy answers, creating questions and doubts. Our God, as you brooded over the waters of chaos at creation, so brood over this emptiness in our lives, and make us into your new creation.
Amen

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

Ep037: Psalm 10: God Goes into Hiding.

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

Psalm 10 starts with the question, “O God, why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” What a great question! Is this the God you pray to? A God who runs from trouble? Who retreats to his private hideout when things go wrong? A God who can’t face the evil we experience? Let’s call him the gopher god — hiding in his hole.

Where do you think the poet got this unflattering view of God? He got it by looking at the success of evil in the world. He tells us what he sees:
– Arrogant gangsters prey on the weak
– They boast about sex and drugs and money
– They get filthy rich from the income of violence
– They are so strong and successful they never give a thought for God
– Their language grows more and more arrogant, the F-word is always at hand
– They murder, kidnap, and crush the innocent
– They say, “God has forgotten, he covers his face and doesn’t see.”

Did you get that? The violent say, “God covers his face and doesn’t see.” This is exactly where the poet started, “Why are you hiding, God?” The psalm has come full circle. Neither the righteous nor the wicked believe that God is watching.

Perhaps. But the poet does not stop at cynicism and unbelief. He speaks to God who is hiding, he moves beyond the sour note of unbelief. He calls God to action, “Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand” (v. 12). He reminds God of his responsibility to help the fatherless, to encourage the afflicted, to defend the oppressed (vv. 15-17). He urges God to bring the wicked to justice: to expose their deeds, to break their arms, to stop them terrorizing the earth.

The psalmist has asked the classic question, “If God is loving, why does he let evil run loose in the world? Can’t he fix something?” Unbelievers say, “God, if there is a God, doesn’t see or care.” The poet responds by asking God to do something, and by affirming that God is active in the world, even when we don’t see evidence of what he is doing.

Let’s pray.

Our father, perhaps it is good that we don’t have your job. The things we try to fix end up more broken than when we started. We look with pain at our broken homes, broken marriages, broken society, broken churches, broken courts, our broken and violent world. Sometimes we see even our own brokenness. What happened to the people you created? What went wrong in the world you made? Why can’t you fix it, God? Are you hiding from us instead of answering our questions?

To you, the God in hiding, we speak our statement of faith:

We aren’t hiding our head in the sand, pretending everything is ok.
We speak to you, citing the evidence of rampant evil that makes unbelief so reasonable.
But despite the mountains of evidence, we refuse to believe that everything has gone wrong. We see the goodness when you answer our prayers, when you punish the wicked and reward the righteous. Your actions are not consistent and predictable, God, but we feel your spirit calling our world to salvation.
We refuse to believe that you have abandoned your creation. As sure as the sun shines and the stars come out, surely you will implement your program of love and justice. Surely you will set the world right.

Amen.

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

Ep036: Solomon Dedicates the Temple.

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me.”

Today we look at Israel’s third king, Solomon, who built a temple for God. The temple was about the size of a basketball court, and about 4 or 5 stories high. It was not large by modern standards, but it was very ornate with lots of gold and silver and brass. It had impressive cedar paneling and detailed sculptures of angels and palm trees and flowers and pomegranates. It took seven years to build.

When it was complete, Solomon held a big ceremony to commission the temple. He sacrificed thousands of sheep and goats and cattle. God showed up at the ceremony – his special glory came like a cloud and filled the temple. Then Solomon prayed one of the Bible’s longest prayers, a prayer suitable to the importance of the occasion. Let’s look at his prayer.

First, he gave God credit for being big and powerful, for keeping his promises and making good things happen. Solomon said, “There is no God like you in heaven above or earth below” (v. 23). “You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father” (v. 24).

Second, with a nice touch of irony, Solomon points out that the temple is too small for God. He says, “Will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” (v. 27).

The prayer’s longest section catalogs the sins Israel will commit and the punishments God will send. Solomon asks God to forgive the people every time after they forget God, get into trouble and then change their mind and decide it was a bad idea to sin. It seems odd that on this triumphant day of temple dedication, Solomon prays through a catalog of defeats. He says:

People will do wrong to their neighbours. When they do, God, punish the guilty and vindicate the innocent.
Israel will experience devastating climate change — rains will stop and crops will fail and famines will come. But when the people turn away from their sin and pray to you, send the rain and save them.
Israel’s enemies will defeat them and take them captive because of their sin. But when they have a change of heart, hear and forgive, make their captors merciful and bring the people home.

Solomon ends the prayer with a reminder to God: “You brought us out of Egypt and made us your people. Whenever we sin our way into disaster and start praying again, forgive us and keep bringing us out of captivity.”

Here are some observations:

1. In the most wonderful moments of our spiritual life, when the glory of God descends on the temple and all seems right with the world, we are probably not as spiritual as we feel. Sin is always lurking at the door.

2. Second, how ironic it is that Solomon reminded God of the great deliverance from Egypt, but he married the daughter of an Egyptian Pharaoh. Somehow he missed the connection between God’s past deliverance, and Israel’s current political situation. What was he thinking? That Egypt had changed? Learn from Solomon: it’s not a good idea to make alliances with things that have tempted or enslaved us.

3. Third, Solomon sees that Israel’s relationship with God does not move the people steadily toward goodness and life. Instead, he sees a merry-go-round where Israel serves God, then they turn from him and suffer consequences, then they repent and go back to God. Each time round the circuit, the people need new forgiveness and a new saving relationship with God.

Let’s pray.
Our father, Paul taught that we are the temples of God. Fill us with your glory. Help us journey faithfully round the circle of sin and consequences and forgiveness. May each circuit erode our love of sin and deepen our love for you.
Amen

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

Ep035: Psalm 9: Judge of the Nations

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

Today we look at Psalm 9. The most striking thing about this psalm is a vivid description of what has happened to the evil nations who were enemies of the poet and his people.

The nations stumbled and fell (v. 3)
They were filled with terror (v. 20)
They fell into the pit they dug (v. 15)
They were trapped in the snares they set (v. 15)
They were destroyed (v. 5)
Endless ruin overtook them (v. 6)
Their cities were uprooted (v. 6)
They went to the grave (v. 17)
Even the memory of them perished (v. 6)

It sounds like someone dropped a nuclear bomb on them, and there’s nothing left — not even a memory. So what caused this unhappy outcome for the nations? It was God. He was on his throne judging.

But wait, wasn’t the poet talking about the God of Israel, who only had one temple, located in Jerusalem? Wasn’t the poet writing in the ancient near east, where each nation had their own local gods? And weren’t these local gods competing with each other to protect their people and harm their enemies? Who is this international, world-judging God the poet praises?

Israel never saw their God as just a local deity. They worshipped the creator-God of the universe, the salvation-God of his people, the judge of all the earth. He chose Israel as his special nation, but he also judged Israel. In the end, he didn’t even bother to protect his temple in Jerusalem — he let invading Babylonians pillage and destroy it, which convinced the Babylonians that this God of Israel was just another ineffective local god. And it threw the Isralites into a crisis of confusion and doubt.

There’s another striking thing about Psalm 9: this nation-judging God takes special interest in people who are afflicted and downtrodden. He creates social justice for the disadvantaged, he raises them up with dignity and honor, he gives them their share of God’s creation resources, he protects them from evil politicians and corrupt judges, he provides a stronghold to hide them from military conflicts. The poet says, “The needy will not always be forgotten, nor will the hope of the afflicted perish” (v. 18). Part of our job on earth is to join God in his social justice initiatives.

Let’s pray.

Jesus, when you told us to love and pray for our enemies, we hoped that your insight you would set the world at peace and bring your kingdom of love. But we have discovered, as you discovered on your way to be crucified, that the haters go on hating, traitors betray the innocent, empires crucify the unlucky, religions suppress the truth, and the rich and powerful have their way.

With the poet, we call on you as the judge of all the world, as one who values justice in persons and in nations. As China persecutes the church, as Boko Haram terrorizes central Africa, as the Saudis bomb Yemen, as America withdraws from Syria, and Canada says a weak, “Peace, peace,” we ask you, God, to judge the nations. Destroy what must be destroyed, tear down the power structures and fantasies they have built, until the rulers stand naked before you, their creator-God and judge.

With the poet we say “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken the ones who seek you” (v. 10). We know your name, we call you the judge of all the earth. We seek you in our prayers and lives. When all the world around us seems chaos and injustice, we wait for you, God. Be our stronghold in times of trouble. Arrange our affairs with justice.

Amen.

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

Ep034: Are you Drunk or Praying?

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me.”

In our survey of Old Testament stories, today we look at the family of Samuel the prophet. Samuel’s father, Elkanah, had two wives. One was Peninnah who had sons and daughters. The other wife was Hannah and she had no children. This made Hannah very sad, even though Elkanah said to her, “Why are you so downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” For Hannah, the clear answer was, “Not really,” but she held her tongue, because there are some things men just don’t understand.

Each year when the family visited the temple in Shiloh, Peninnah provoked and irritated Hanna. One year, Hannah took her bitterness and anguish to God, weeping and praying at the temple. She said, “God, look at my misery. Remember me, don’t forget me. If you give me a son, I will raise him to serve you.” Eli, the priest, saw her praying and thought she was drunk. (Did I mention that sometimes men just don’t get it?) Eli said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

Hanna said she wasn’t drunk, she was praying. Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” Not long after, the Lord remembered Hannah: she conceived and gave birth to Samuel, which means, “God has heard.”

Some lessons on prayer from this story:

1. First, dysfunctional families are not a modern invention, though bigamy like Hannah experienced is not the norm today. Like Hannah, you may need to pray through bitterness and pain and irritation that attends your family relationships.

2. Second, the ability to have children is a gift from God, but he doesn’t give that gift to everyone. And not everyone who has received children from God is happy with the result. Whether you have no children, good children, or bad children it is important to bring your feelings on the topic to God.

3. Third, if your priest or minister misunderstands your situation and maybe even thinks you’re drunk, give the poor pastor a chance. They’re only human, but if they are true servants of God, they will see their mistake and bless you when they hear your prayer.

4. And finally, bookmark your Bible with Samuel’s name, with the promise that “God has heard”. Our God is a listening God. He hears your weeping and in his time he will bring you joy.

Let’s pray.
Our father, so often what we want most in life is something you aren’t giving us. Our comforters may say, “Am I not better than 10 sons?” but they do not understand the importance of what we ask. Others mistake our prayers for too much wine or for lack of faith. Give us grace to live patiently with our troubles, and to live graciously with those who don’t understand them. And give us patience to keep praying until you intervene, until we find the faith and wisdom and courage to change ourselves, or to receive changes from you.
Amen.

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