Ep.256: Who Had Faith?

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

Hebrews 11 says: 
  By faith the Israelites passed through the Red Sea as on dry land
      but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
  By faith the walls of Jericho fell,
      after the army had marched round them for seven days.
  By faith the prostitute Rahab,
      because she welcomed the spies,
      was not killed with those who were disobedient.
– Hebrews 11:29-31

The passage tells us the Israelites passed through the Red Sea by faith. And that the Egyptians, lacking faith, were drowned. 

This sounds like a different story than the Old Testament tells. Exodus highlights the Israelite’s fear and doubt, not their faith. They complained that Moses should have left well enough alone, instead of leading them to certain death, caught between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army. If there was faith, it was not the people, but Moses, who stretched his rod over the sea and parted it. And stretched it again to drown the pursuing army.     

Did Rahab have faith when she hid the Israelite spies? Her explanation was that she heard about the plagues God sent on Egypt, and about the military victories he gave the Israelites. She wanted to place her bet on the winners and their God, instead of siding with her local team. Which, judging from her occupation, wasn’t treating her all that well anyway. 

Did the Israelites have faith when they marched around Jericho? They were obeying Joshua’s instructions, but did they really expect the walls to fall down?

Let’s pray. 

Our father, our prayers often feel like an endless march around Jericho, but the walls we circle don’t fall in seven days. 

Our prayers often feel like Rahab. In uncertain times, we place our bet on the party we think will win.

Our prayers often feel like the Israelties by the Red Sea, caught between an impossible ocean and Pharaoh’s army.  

Lord, we invite you to accept our fears, our calculations, and our marching round and round. We do it in your name, trusting that you will hear us and answer our prayers. 

Amen. 

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.255: Psalm 122: Jerusalem, Jerusalem.

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

Ep.254: Psalm 121: Daytime Heat and Midnight Madness.

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

Ep.253: Psalm 120: Song of the Homeless.

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

Ep.252: The Pleasures of Sin.

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

Hebrews 11 says: 
By faith Moses. . .refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter.    
He chose rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God
  than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 
He considered abuse suffered for Christ
  to be a greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt,
  for he was looking ahead to the reward.
Hebrews 11:24-26

I offer three comments on this passage. 

First, it tells us that sinning can be a pleasure, though it warns the pleasure is fleeting. This differs from my religious education, which focused on teaching that “sin is not really a pleasure”. Methinks they objected too strongly. There is pleasure, although fleeting, in the drugs, sex, and rock and roll they feared so much and preached so admantly against. 

Moses’ experience as prince of Egypt offered him many pleasures–food, wine, leisure, wealth, servants and slaves, and a pompous Egyptian burial when he died.

My second observation is that Moses’ faith made him take a longer view and a harder road. He knew Egypt’s unjust system of politics, power,  and religion would crumble under God’s judgment. He knew his Israelite heritage was based on God’s promises that would outlast the empires of the world.  

My third observation is that yes, Moses was indeed looking for pleasure–but lasting pleasure, the pleasure of achieving something for God, the pleasure of living in community with God’s people, sharing their joys and their pain. And the hope of living in God’s presence in this life and the next. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, teach us to make decisions like Moses, to associate with the poor, the enslaved, and the despised people you have chosen, rather than the politicians and denominations and oppressors of this world. 

Help us to see beyond the fleeting pleasures of our North American luxury to the privilege of being citizens in your eternal kingdom. 

Help us to turn the princely education this world has given us to tasks other than acquiring wealth and pleasure. Help us to discipline our appetites, to walk away from power and privilege in search of the life you have promised.

Overturn our values. Like Moses, may we consider suffering with Christ of greater value than all the riches of the West.  

Amen. 

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube