Tag: Pray

Ep.159: Psalm 70: Seekers, Rejoice!

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

Psalm 70 is a short, sharp and passionate cry for help, with only five verses. The first and last verses ask God to come quickly to help. Verses two and three ask God to reverse the fortunes of the writer’s enemies, replacing their power and success with failure and disgrace.  And verse four is an amazing affirmation of those who seek God. It says,
  May all you seek you, God
      rejoice and be glad in you;
  may those who long for your saving help always say,
    ‘The Lord is great!’ (v. 4).

I like that. “May those who seek him rejoice in him.” Often the picture I see in the psalms is a fearful believer, hiding in shadows from his enemies, hoping they won’t attack, crying desperately to God to save him before it is too late.  

In this psalm, the poet counters that fearful view with the strong remedy of faith. May those who seek God rejoice and be glad in him, may those who wait for his salvation say, “The Lord is great.” The writer’s focus is: 

  • not on the enemies, but on God
  • the mood is not desperation, but hope
  • the scene is not fearful hiding, but public praise
  • the speech that was formerly a desperate plea has turned to confident assertion. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we pray first for ourselves. When we cringe because of COVID, when we dread the disintegration of society, when we are dismayed by violent police and protesters, we look to you for salvation. We rejoice in you. You are great, Lord, in your rule over creation. Great in your kingship over the nations. Great in the salvation you bring to your people.

We think of Brazil, where the president is in COVID-denial, not believing the devastation the pandemic wreaks in his country, suppressing the statistics of death, desperately imagining a quick return to normal. Oh Lord, as your people in Brazil see mass graves, as they seek you and pray for your salvation, sustain them in faith and hope. 

We think of Yemen, torn by years of civil war, as Saudi Arabia indiscriminately bombs the Houthi-held territory, as the infrastructure is destroyed and the pandemic runs unchecked. O God, may those in Yemen who seek you and pray for your salvation cling to the faith that you are great. 

We think of Russia where 74 years of Communism failed to extinguish the Orthodox church, and of China where 72 years of Communism coincides with growth in the house church movement. O Lord, may those who seek you under repressive regimes everywhere find joy in your help and salvation.

We think of America, where the T-shirt says, “Don’t mess with my faith, my family, my firearms, my freedom”. Where many Christians have a fatal attraction to authoritarian leaders. Where the myth of freedom enslaves the country to violence and the myth of exceptionalism breeds the sin of arrogance. O Lord, may all who seek you in the culture of firearms and freedom find you and rejoice in you and trust in your salvation. 

We think of Canada, adrift in a sea of moral and spiritual relativity. We are tolerant of everything, except clear moral values and righteousness. We pride ourselves on social progress, but we are progressing toward anarchy where everyone does what is right in their own eyes. We pride ourselves on a multi-ethnic society, ignoring the racial prejudice that simmers below the surface. May those of us who seek you here find joy in your presence and hope in your salvation. 

Our father, this is your world of which we are stewards. This is our world in which we live. Be present and powerful in it. Come quickly to help us. We seek you with hope and joy. 

Amen.

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

Ep.158: Ripping Off the Master?

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

After the story of the prodigal who wasted his inheritance on wild living, Jesus tells another story about wasted wealth. In Luke 16, a rich landowner summons his manager and says, “I hear you’re wasting my wealth instead of managing it. You’re fired!” 

The manager doesn’t know what to do. He has no unemployment insurance. He could try begging, but that’s way below his social status. He’s not strong or humble enough for manual labor. And he certainly doesn’t want to tend pigs like the prodigal.

Then he gets a brilliant idea! What he really needs to tide him over is not money, but friends. Friends who will supply bed and breakfast, take him for a leisurely lunch, and open a bottle of wine in the evening. But where can he find friends like that? “Perhaps among my master’s tenants,” he thought. “I just need to reinvent myself as a helpful friend instead of a hard-hearted rent collector. “ 

So the manager made friends by writing off part of every tenant’s debt. He gave the first one a 50% discount on the olive oil he owed. And the next one a 20% discount on the wheat he owed. And so on, down the list of tenants.

When the owner heard about the deals his ex-manager was cutting, he changed his mind and said, “That’s a creative solution to your problem. I like your style. Why don’t you stay on as my manager?”

What’s up with this? Wasn’t the manager ripping off his master by cooking the books? 

There are three ways we can look at this.

The first thought: maybe the ex-manager was not falsifying accounts. Maybe these were deadbeat accounts, and the master was glad to get any payment out of them. This view makes the bookkeeping in the story work out. But when did Jesus ever show concern for accurate bookkeeping? In another story, the master forgave a multi-million dollar debt with a shrug of his shoulders.

Here’s a second thought: perhaps the owner gave the manager a contract to collect rent. In this view, all the owner wanted was a fixed franchise fee. The manager could charge the tenants whatever he wanted–fair commissions or wild extortions–and he could keep the overage. If this is how it worked, then the manager was shrewd but not dishonest, because it was his own commissions he reduced to make friends.

And there’s a third way to look at this curious story: Perhaps the manager did indeed act illegally and immorally by reducing debts that were not his to forgive. The master’s response was completely unexpected and surprising. Perhaps he was a friendly, jovial, party-throwing type of owner, almost like the prodigal son’s father who didn’t complain that his wealth was wasted in a far country. Maybe this owner didn’t care that his manager was giving away bundles of money. Instead, he was pleased that the manager finally focused on building relationships instead of counting and accounting for all the money.  

Whatever interpretation you choose, here’s Jesus’ conclusion. He said to his hearers, ”Use the wealth of unrighteousness to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9). 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, your story points out that we are far too focussed on bookkeeping. We in the rich world have accumulated the “wealth of unrighteousness” and we hoard it to protect our lifestyle. 

We are the unjust manager. You gave us the world, and we waste its wealth to make our lives comfortable. We rip off your tenants all over the world to maintain our standard of living. We pollute the atmosphere, oppress migrant workers, and treat the poor like slaves. We are hard managers, proudly self-sufficient and independent. In the economy we have built, the man robbed by thieves or choked to death by police is “Not Our Problem.” 

O Jesus, help us be like the manager in your story, to use the wealth you give us for good, to share it with every tenant who works on your land in the world.

May we gladden the heart of God by using his resources to make friends for this life and the next. 

Amen.

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

For interpretations of the parable see: 

Beavis, Mary Ann. Ancient Slavery as an Interpretive Context for the New Testament Servant Parables with Special Reference to the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-8) in Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 111, No. 1 (Spring, 1992), pp. 37-54. Found at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3267508?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=luke&searchText=16&searchText=1-8&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dluke%2B16%253A1-8%26amp%3Bfilter%3D&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search%2Fcontrol&refreqid=search%3A2272f7cd05dbb56c7c242b2363b3d17e&seq=15#metadata_info_tab_contents

Gachter, Paul. The Parable of the Dishonest Steward after Oriental Conceptions in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 2 (April, 1950), pp. 121-131. Found at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43720193?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=unjust&searchText=steward&searchText=oriental&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dunjust%2Bsteward%2Boriental&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search%2Fcontrol&refreqid=search%3A2c508063082f61a10cb2640420da4f1e

Capon, Robert Farrar. The Parables of Grace. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988. pp. 145-151.

Ep.157: Psalm 69: The Song of Drunkards.

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

Psalm 69 opens with a disturbing picture of a drowning man. The writer says,
    The water is up to my neck,
    My feet are sinking in the muddy bottom,
    The flood is going over my head (vv. 1-3).

The poet tells God that this situation, caused by his enemies, is dangerous and that it might become embarrassing both to God and to his people. The writer says,
      Lord, the Lord Almighty,
            may those who hope in you
            not be embarrassed because of me.
      God of Israel,
            may those who seek you
            not be put to shame because of me (vv. 6-7).

The poet describes his vulnerability saying, 
      Those who sit at the gate mock me,
            and I am the song of the drunkards (v. 12). 

Surely, says the poet, if I drown in the scorn, shame, insults, and mocking of my enemies, it will look as if you, God, are powerless to save me. It will look like trust in God is ill-founded. It will look like only dreamers hope for your salvation. Surely you can do better than that, God. Surely you are offended that the idle mock me and drunkards sing about me!

God, he says, you must intervene. You have promised to protect my reputation and my life. You also need to think about your reputation, God. You’re famous for loving your people and keeping your promises to save and deliver. Don’t let that slip.

Let’s pray. 

Our father, the flood water is up to our neck. Our feet sink into the muddy bottom. We are drowning.

…We see America descend into chaos with police brutality, race riots, curfews, and conspiracy theories. 

…We see the world shifting as it is pummeled with pandemic and social distancing, with churches closed and businesses failing, and the future all unknown. 

…We see forces of evil promote radical politics, alienation, violent protests, and violent responses. 

O Lord, your heart in this is not for law and order, but for justice. Your way of doing things is not to stop the pain of the world, but to redeem it through a Saviour you left helpless on a cross. We join with him in his protest against pain and injustice, as we hear his voice in Psalm 69:
    I endure scorn for your sake,
          and shame covers my face.
    I am a foreigner to my own family,
          a stranger to my mother’s children;
    Zeal for your house consumes me,
          and insults directed at you fall on me (vv. 7-9).
    Those who sit at the gate mock me,
          and I am the song of drunkards (v. 12). 

Where can we go for help and healing? Because:
        Scorn has broken our heart
            and left us helpless.
        We looked for sympathy but there was none,
            for comforters, but we found no one (v. 20).
        They put gall in our food
            and gave us vinegar to drink (v. 21).  

O Lord,
    Rescue us from the mire,
        do not let us sink.
    Deliver us from those who hate us. . . (v. 14).
    Do not let the floodwaters engulf us,
        or the depths swallow us up,
        or the pit close its mouth over us (v. 15). 

Then we will praise your name in song, and glorify you with thanksgiving (v. 30).
      The poor will see and be glad —
          those who seek you will live! (v. 32). 

O God, make a place for us, where
      . . . those who love your name will dwell in safety (v. 36). 

Amen.

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

Ep.156: Repent or Perish!

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

Do you ever read National Enquirer headlines while in line at the supermarket? Stories like “Housewife’s Death Reveals Hubby’s Corpse in Freezer” (Jan 10, 2020) or “Columbian Drug Lord. . .Plotted to Kidnap JFK Jr. . .” (Feb 20, 2020)?

Jesus didn’t have a National Enquirer subscription, but he had other news sources for his inquiring mind. In Luke 13, people told him about some Galileans who were making sacrifices to God in Jerusalem when the Romans killed them, mixing their blood with the blood of their sacrifices. That headline might have been, “Daily Devotions Go Bizarrely Wrong” or “Sacrificed on Their Own Altar”. 

In response, Jesus had his own headliner story, about eighteen men who died when a tower fell on them.

He said about the stories: “Do you think these violent deaths prove that the victims were worse sinners than others? Don’t believe it. Unless you repent, every one of you will perish.” 

“Unless you repent you will perish?” What did Jesus mean? Was he saying, “You are sinners like the people who died, and you too are headed for horrible and unexpected deaths if you don’t repent”? 

But everybody dies, whether they repent or not. Was Jesus offering a bonus to people who repent? Perhaps those who repent will be spared a horrible, violent  death that makes headlines. Instead, they will get a nice peaceful death?

Then Jesus told this story: A landowner’s fig tree didn’t bear fruit for three years. So he said to his gardener, “Chop it down. I don’t want it using up my good soil!” But the gardener answered, “Let’s give it one more year. I’ll dig around it and put on some manure.  Maybe it will bear fruit next year. If not, you can cut it down then.” 

Do you ever feel that God is a gardener in your life, digging around, and pruning and fertilizing and inspecting? And that his activity makes your life painful and difficult? 

If Jesus’ gardening story is his comment on the shocking news of the day, perhaps this is what he’s saying: Your life is God’s gift, it’s a tree where God wants to find fruit. Perhaps the fruit of love, or thankfulness, or faith. 

Jesus’ call to repent, to change your ways, might be God saying to you, “Quit complaining at me! Tell me some things you’re thankful for. Don’t blame and criticize me for everything that’s wrong in your life and in your world. Give me credit for the good things I do down there.”

And perhaps, like the landowner and gardener in the story, God is conflicted about whether to cut down your tree. Part of him thinks, “I’ve given this customer all the time he needs.” And part of him says, “But maybe if I’m patient for another year, and dig a bit fertilize a bit, he’ll turn out OK.” 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, you have been waiting a long time for us to bear fruit. Thank you for your activity in our lives–digging and pruning and fertilizing and inspecting. Here is our repentance: 

…We confess that we are wrong to complain endlessly about you and others and our world. 

…We thank you for the opportunity to enjoy the world, to appreciate its beauty, and to build relationships with the people you have put here. 

…Thank you for time to correct our faults, to love our neighbors, to talk with you. 

…We pray, “Your kingdom come.” Fix what is wrong in us, in our church, in the world. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  

Amen.

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

Ep.155: Psalm 68: Rider on the Clouds.

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

Psalm 68 contains some of the most memorable and some of the most mysterious verses in the entire book of Psalms. It presents the complex personality of God. He is the God of war, the God of temple worship, the God of law, and the God who cares for individuals. 

The psalm opens with an imperative,
    Let God arise,
      his enemies be scattered.
    May you blow them away like smoke–
      as wax melts before the fire,
      may the wicked perish before God (v. 1a-1b).
I wish I could blow away my enemies like smoke.

In praise of the personal justice God gives to individuals the poet writes:
    Sing to God. . .
      extol him who rides on the clouds. . . (v. 4)
    He sets the lonely in families
      he leads out prisoners with singing;
      but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land (v. 6).
That’s what our God does: he rides the clouds of heaven, he sets the lonely in families, he leads prisoners on a journey of song and freedom.

For sheer poetic beauty, try these lines:
    Even while you sleep among the sheepfolds,
        the wings of my dove are sheathed in silver,
        its feathers are shining with gold (v. 13).
Not sure what exactly it means? Neither is anyone else, but it’s beautiful and mysterious imagery. 

In similarly beautiful and enigmatic imagery, the poet describes God, perhaps when he moved from Mt. Sinai where he delivered the law into his temple in Jerusalem. The poet says:
    When you ascended on high,
        you led captives in your train,
        you received gifts from humankind,
    even from the rebellious —
        that you, Lord God, might dwell there (v. 16).
Consider for a moment: Do you think of yourself as God’s captive, giving him gifts, inviting him to dwell with you?

One of the greatest comfort verses in the Bible is in Psalm 68:
  Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour,
      who daily bears our burdens (v. 19).
Think about yourself in this verse. Does God bear your burdens in the COVID crisis? In your troubled family?

The poet calls on God to defeat his enemies, saying:
    Rebuke the beast among the reeds. . .
        Scatter the nations who delight in war (v. 30).
Part of the horror of our age is the nations who take delight in war, who want to use their armaments, who look for excuses to kill and destroy. 

The psalm concludes with this memorable praise:
  You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary,
      the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people (v. 35).

Let’s pray. 

Our father, this psalm opens for us new ways of thinking about you, new images of your strength and activity. 

We praise your power that melts your enemies like wax and blows them away like smoke. 

We praise you that you ride on the clouds, that you shook the earth at Mt. Sinai, that you send abundant showers to refresh your weary inheritance (vv. 4, 8-10). We are your weary inheritance. Refresh us we pray.

We praise you for placing the lonely in families and releasing the prisoners with singing (v. 6). Lead us out of our prisons, prisons of fear and lethargy and despair. Place us in the family you are building. 

We praise you that you ascended on high, taking captives in your train and receiving gifts from humankind (v. 18). As Geroge Matheson wrote, “Make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free” (poem: Make Me a Captive Lord).

We praise you that you daily bear our burdens (v. 19). Bear the burdens of today with us: COVID-19, personal isolation and family troubles, a world in chaos. Defeat those who think that order and justice are born in war and anarchy. 

You are awesome in your sanctuary, God. You give power and strength to your people. We praise you God, you alone. (v. 35).

Amen.

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