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

Psalm 126 begins, 

  When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
      we were like those who dreamed.
  Our mouths were filled with laughter,
      our tongues with songs of joy.
  The Lord has done great things for us,
      and we are filled with joy (vv. 1-3).  

The poet doesn’t tell us what recent disaster needed God’s intervention and restoration. But he does say how it felt to see God’s work: It felt like living in a dream! Who could believe God had showed up after the awful happened, and changed it all to good. 

And now the poet needs another miracle. He prays,
  Restore our fortunes, Lord,
      like streams in the Negev (v. 4).
Once again the poet’s circumstances require God’s intervention. “Like streams in the desert” he says–streams that most of the year are dry and dusty; but when the yearly rains come, they fill with refreshing water.

Then the poet gives another image of the yearly cycle.     
Those who go out weeping,
        carrying seed to sow,
    will return with songs of joy,
      carrying sheaves with them (v. 6). 

I have always wondered why anyone would sow with tears. I once heard a missionary say: As planting time approaches and the family food supply runs low, the father protects their precious stock of spring seed. Yes, it could be used to meet immediate needs, but the farmer resists the crying of his family, and in sorrow sows the seed in hope of harvest. 

When harvest happens, it is another example of God restoring the fortunes of the poor. The farmer returns with sheaves of wheat, singing songs of joy. He too is a dreamer, who can hardly believe that the long year has brought fruition to his dreams. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, my dreams of late have been anxious: I am late to class, unprepared, unclothed, and fearful. Where do these dreams come from? Restore my fortunes, drive out my anxieties, bring me back to peaceful dreams. 

Father, I have a small garden this year, with tomatoes I grew from seed and scarlet runner beans and a raspberry bush that has withered in the heat. I did not sow in tears, but I feel the power of the poet’s metaphor. There is a season for sowing and one for harvesting, and a time for weeping and time for joy. 

Be with us in these seasons of our lives. Tend us as we grow, remember us in your harvest at the end of the age.

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 125 moves between two visions of Jerusalem: one is the city destroyed by the Babylonians; the other is Jerusalem, the city of God–permanent, secure, protected. 

I think the poet navigates these two conflicting pictures by focusing on Mount Zion, the rather small mountain on which Jerusalem is perched. Unlike the city, the mountain is settled, unshakeable. It becomes a picture of God’s faithful people, who are also settled and unshakeable in his protection. Like the mountains surrounding Mount Zion, the Lord arranges himself around his people to protect them. 

The poet’s choice of images is instructive. We too want a secure city, a reliable world free of chaos and destruction. But we live in Jerusalem, the city of human culture and civilization, subject to devastation, disease, and decay. So we turn our eyes from the failing city of man to Mount Zion, God’s dwelling place. The earth below, the skies above, and the mountains around are enduring signs of God’s care and protection. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, on vacation in the Rockies, I saw mountains surrounded by mountains, and mountains beyond mountains. You surround your people like mountains–beautiful, breath-taking, permanent.

And yet, like the city of Jerusalem, our lives keep changing. We live in a pandemic that reorders society, the smoke of wildfires invades our cities, social order fragments, morality declines. Our bodies turn to dust.

We say with the hymn writer,
  Change and decay in all around I see,
      O Thou who changest not, abide with me. (Henry Francis Lyte. Abide with Me, 1847).  

With the poet we pray, 

   May the rod of wickedness not rest
      on the portion of the righteous (v. 3a).
    Do good to those who are good,
      to those who are upright in heart (v. 4). 

Yes, Lord, deliver us from evil. In our lives and in our world, replace the rule of wickedness with your reign of righteousness. Bring your kingdom to our churches, our cities, our world. Renew us with hope, revive us with life, do good to those who are good. 

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 124 talks about the Big If. It says,
  If the Lord had not been on our side
      when people attacked us,
  they would have swallowed us alive
      when their anger flared against us;
  the flood would have engulfed us,
      the torrent would have swept over us,
  the raging waters
      would have swept us away (vv. 1-5). 

That’s the Big If:
   If the Lord had not been on our side (vv. 1a, 2a).        

Occasionally, the Bible encourages us to imagine a different reality than the one we are experiencing. God did this before the flood, when he saw endless evil in his humans. He regretted he had made them (Gen 6:5). Clearly, he imagined a different reality, a reality where people would love him, honor one another, and respect creation. So God decided to start over with the righteous Noah to see if his imagined reality might become real. Sadly, it didn’t. The sin infection ran just too deep in the human race. 

In today’s psalm, the poet imagines a different life than the one he is living. What would have happened if God had not been on the side of his people? What if God had ignored their needs, or sided with their enemies? The poet imagines the disasters that would have come–swallowed alive, like a snake swallowing a mouse. Trapped, like a bird in a snare.  Swept away like a tsunami, destroying life and property.

Let’s pray. 

Our father, our lives are haunted by the Big If.
– What if we were born into poverty instead of riches?
– What if we were born to war instead of peace?
– What if we were born to drug addiction and homelessness?

And what if we had made different choices? Choosing
– Despair instead of faith?
– Hatred instead of love?
– Darkness instead of light?

Our father, with the poet we shift our gaze from the things we imagine to the things that are. You have watched over us so that: 

   We have escaped like a bird
      from the snare of the fowler,
  Our help is in your name, O Lord,
      maker of heaven and earth (vv. 7-8).

Thank you for being our helper and guide, for delivering us from evil that might have occured, for leading us to a place of peace, for promising us a place called home.

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”.

In Psalm 121, the poet said, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills.” Now, in Psalm 123, he says:
  To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens (v. 1). 

Then the poet prays to this God in the heavens: 
  As the eyes of slaves
      look to their master,
  as the eyes of slavegirls
      look to their mistress,
  so our eyes are on the Lord our God
      until he grants us mercy (vv. 2-3).

This is one of the quietest, most peaceful, most hopeful prayers in the psalms. It doesn’t reek of desperation, it doesn’t try to cajole God into action, it doesn’t petition God for help or advantage. Instead, it waits quietly and patiently for God to acknowledge the poet’s gaze and respond. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we are distracted people. We have business to conduct, food to prepare, news to read, and the internet to surf. Places to go and people to meet. Is it not your job to smooth our way and monitor our schedule and bless our activities?

But today, with the poet we take a break from our restless activity. We look to you, we wait for you. 

My dog waits patiently by the door, watching intently as I tie my boots, get a water bottle, put on sunglasses and hat. He knows that good things are coming soon–a walk in the smells of summer, the society of other dogs, a picnic table where he will share my muffin. But for now, he’s patient, waiting for my signal to go. 

Perhaps I could live with my eyes on you, God, waiting for you to look at me, waiting for your signal. Like the poet, I could be quiet and at peace with you. 

With the poet we pray,
  Grant us grace, O Lord, grant us grace,
      for we have been objects of contempt.
  Long have we suffered
      the ridicule of of the arrogant
      and the contempt of the proud (vv. 3-4).  

O Lord, we do not seek the riches of the stock market, nor the fame of Hollywood, nor the respect of politicians who game the system. Grant us your grace to lead humble, quiet lives, looking only to you.

Amen. 

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube