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

The poet begins Psalm 73 by stating his traditional belief that God rewards the good. But he soon introduces a shocking new perspective. When he sees how successful the wicked are, he decides that maybe God isn’t so good after all. 

Here’s what the poet sees when he looks at the wicked. May you sometimes see the same things.
– The wicked have robust health (v. 4)
– They have fewer troubles than the righteous (v. 5) 
– They speak arrogantly against heaven, advocating violence and malice, but God does nothing (v. 6)
– They are popular. People flock to their rallies and praise them (v. 11)
– They say, “God doesn’t see or care” so we can do whatever we want (v. 13)
– And they just keep getting richer and richer. Their stocks go up and mine go down. 

Their success breeds shocking arrogance.
  Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
      and their tongues take possession of the earth (v. 9). 

Now compare that with me, says the poet. I keep the covenant, I avoid evil, and what does it get me? God sends me trials every day and threatens punishment if I disobey. He doesn’t make me healthy or wealthy. This is no way to live! Maybe, like the wicked, I should declare my independence from God. Maybe I should quit paying his taxes and observing his rules. 

But then the poet worships in the temple, where he finds God’s presence and begins to see things differently. 

First, he gets a new perspective on himself. He says, “I’ve been thinking like a donkey”:
    When my heart was grieved
        and my spirit embittered,
    I was senseless and ignorant;
        I was a brute beast before you, God (v.21). 

The writer also gets a new perspective on what happens to those he envies. He says:
    . . . then I understood their final destiny (v. 17)
    Surely God places them on slippery ground;
        he casts them down to ruin.
    How suddenly they are destroyed,
        completely swept away by terrors (v. 19).

And finally, the poet gets a new perspective on what goodness is. Goodness is not the stuff we accumulate or the independence we fiercely defend. Rather, goodness is found in relationship with God. The poet says to God,
    …I am always with you;
            you hold my right hand.
            you guide me with your counsel . . .
      Whom have I in heaven but you?
            And on earth I desire nothing beside you (vv. 23-25). 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, like the poet we have envied the wicked.
– those to whom dishonesty and wealth come easily, while we work hard for a bare living.
– those who are rich and popular, while we are socially awkward and poor.
– those who have good looks and robust health, while we are sick, depressed, and hurting.
– those who live comfortably with the status quo while we struggle with issues of righteousness and justice.

With the poet we are tempted to say,
  Surely in vain we have kept our hearts pure
      and have washed our hands in innocence.
  All day long we have been afflicted,
      and every morning you correct us (vv. 13-14). 

As we come into your presence today,God, we invite you to change our perspective. Thank you that: 
     …you are always with us,
            you hold us by our hand.
      You guide us with your counsel
            and you will take us into glory.
      Whom have we in heaven but you?
            And earth has nothing we desire besides you.
      Our flesh and heart may fail,
            but you are the strength of our life
            and our portion forever  (vv. 23-26). 

It is good to be near you, O God, our help and our refuge (v. 28). 

Amen.

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

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

Psalm 72 is a royal psalm, a psalm about the king of Israel. Part of the king’s job was to represent God to the people by keeping God’s covenant and by creating a just political and economic system. The psalm uses hyperbole to express the king’s greatness: he is compared to the sun and the moon and mountains and rain. The poet prays that the king’s rule will extend from sea to sea, and from the River (v. 8, probably the Euphrates) to the ends of the earth. He prays that the king will reign as long as the sun and moon rule the skies.

One of the king’s responsibilities was to show God’s heart for the poor and needy, for the disadvantaged and the oppressed. His God-given goal was to create a government that constrains the greedy rich and sustains those without resources. God’s desire, expressed through the king, was a socially responsible economy, not a free market where the rich lobby the government to protect their acquisitive greed, leaving the poor defenceless and fending for themselves. The king was not to be a power-hungry, narcissistic, self-promoting despot. He was supposed to be God’s servant for the well-being of the country. 

How far ancient Israel strayed from that vision. How far our world has strayed from that vision of good government.

Let’s pray. 

Our father, with the poet we pray:
    May the mountains bring peace to the people,
        and the hills the fruit of righteousness (v. 3).
The majestic Rocky Mountains with their green foothills and emerald lakes watch over our land, reminding us that you watch over our lives, bringing peace and prosperity. Be our guard, our guide, our source of beauty.

The poet says of the king,
    May he be like rain falling on a mown field, 
        like showers watering the earth (v. 6).
Teach our rulers that true strength is not acquiring and hoarding power, but in building a nation of peace and justice. May our leaders be like showers that water the earth, not like acid rain that impoverishes and destroys. 

The poet describes the king’s care for the poor: 
    He will take pity on the weak and the needy
       and save them from death.
    He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
       for precious is their blood in his sight (vv. 13-14). 

Our father, in your sight the blood of the poor is precious. Every street person dying of fentanyl overdose, every indigenous person harmed by police violence, every pensioner killed by COVID, every woman scarred by domestic violence: each of these lives is precious in your sight, Lord. Rescue them from oppression and violence. Rescue our society. 

We remember those forced by COVID into unemployment. We remember immigrants and the poorly paid working in COVID infected meat packing plants. We remember the aged facing the pandemic in nursing homes.We remember the poor in India and Brazil in crowded slums without money or jobs or food. 

As COVID forces millions into desperate poverty, Lord, increase your care for them through wise leaders of the type our psalm prescribed for Israel.. 

We remember your promise to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3), which Psalm 72 applies to the king:
    All nations will be blessed through you,
      and they will call you blessed.
Our father, in our time, may the nations bless each other, instead of cursing and blaming and building walls. We look to that time when your king will reign, blessing every nation with wise and compassionate government. 

Amen.

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

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

In one of his books on prayer, Father Thomas Green said he expected as he grew older that faith would grow easier. As a younger man, he did not understand the older priests’ experience of new difficulties and new temptations. But, he wrote, his advancing age brought understanding. 

My experience has been similar. Things once simple and obvious when my beard was black became confusing and unclear as my beard turned white. I discovered that God accommodates many strange points of view I had dismissed, and that he is patient with many souls who drive me to impatience. I have lost my rigid approach to scripture, and I am moving into the mystery of living in partnership with Christ who lives in me. The God I worship today is bigger and wiser and more merciful than the God I worshipped when my beard was black. 

In Psalm 71, the poet shares the same experience. Keenly aware of advancing age, greying hair, and declining strength, he says,
  You have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,
        . . . since my youth (v. 5).
    Do not cast me away when I am old;
        do not forsake me when my strength is gone (v. 9).
And he also says,
    Even when I am old and grey,
        Do not forsake me, my God (vv. 17a, 18).

In Psalm 71 the prayer of aging is not a prayer of settled confidence and unshakeable hope. The writer is not rocking away his life on the porch, waiting for a sunset ending. Instead, he prays desperately while his enemies attack; he struggles toward hope and faith. He cries, “My enemies say that God has forsaken me” (v. 11a) They say,
        “We will pursue him and seize him,
        for no one will rescue him” (v. 11b,c). 

In his fear he says:
      Do not be far from me, my God;
          come quickly to help me (v. 12).

Let’s pray. 

Our father, in my senior years I reflect on 50 years of seeking you. Like the poet, 
      You brought me forth from my mother’s womb (v. 6b).
      Since my youth, God you have taught me (v. 17).
And like the poet,
      Though you have made me see troubles,
          many and bitter,
          you will restore my life again (v. 20a). 

Yes, Lord, I have not lived a hugely successful life, arriving at a pinnacle of wisdom and faith. Rather, my life has been dissonant and erratic. I have learned slowly, through many troubles. Sometimes, I felt your great love and care, but often I was angry and desperate and afraid. 

But you have been faithful since my youth, and I am confident your faithfulness will continue. As the poet says,
    . . . I shall always have hope;
        I will praise you more and more (v. 14).
    My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,. . .
        though I know not how to relate them all (v. 15a, 15c).
Somehow in the midst of the years, the habit of hope has grown strong. The clamor of complaining falls silent as the voice of praise grows stronger.

Our father, I feel the weakness that comes with age. My hairline recedes, my beard turns white, the wrinkle cream stopped working long ago, and my strength begins to wane. With the poet I pray,
      Even when I am old and grey,
          do not forsake me, my God (vv. 17a, 18)..
Give me strength against my enemies of criticism and gossip and complaining. Instead of reciting my medical history, may I recite your praises. Instead of despairing at the evil everywhere may I trust in you. Instead of disparaging the young for their shallowness and foolishness, may I pray them on the road to wisdom. As the poet says, help me to:
    Declare your power to the next generation,
        your mighty acts to all who are to come (v. 18b). 

May I finish the journey with confidence, with assurance that you care, with hope that you will welcome me into your presence forever.  

Amen.

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