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

Psalm 29 is a thunderstorm bookended in gifts.  It starts with our gift to God, saying,
“Give to the Lord the glory due his name
  Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”  (v. 1). 

And it concludes: 
“The Lord gives strength to his people;
        The Lord blesses his people with peace” (v.11). 

Between our gift of praise to God, and God’s gift of peace to us, the psalm describes God’s power in a storm. It is much like that passage in Job where God speaks in a thunderstorm. Elihu said, 

“Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
        how he thunders from his pavilion?
    See how he scatters his lightning about him,
        Bathing the depths of the sea” (Job 36:29-30). 

One summer our family vacationed on the eastern edge of the Rockies. We stayed at a campsite in our thin nylon dome tent with matching blue nylon rain sheet. The made-in-China tent was supposed to sleep six, but the four of us filled it up. The gravel pad under the tent bent regular tent pegs, so we substituted 12-inch nails driven in with an axe. The tent floor had a small hole created by campfire embers from some forgotten expedition, but fortunately I had patched it with duct tape. 

One night after our evening walk to the running water and flush toilets at the “Trading Post”, the late summer twilight darkened quickly as black clouds hurried over the mountains. Large raindrops splattered on the dusty path so we crawled into our sleeping bags, zipped the nylon door, and waited. Heavy rain lashed our thin shelter and bursts of lightning flashed blue light through the walls. After each burst of light, a dark pause, then a rumble and an awesome crack of thunder. Water streamed down the flysheet and flowed in shallow rivers away from the tent. The duct tape on the floor held fast.

That’s probably the least protected I’ve ever been in a thunderstorm. It was beautiful and it was awesome, but in a  fearful and dangerous way. Like the voice of God.

Let’s pray the familiar verses of Psalm 29. 

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
    the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
    Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord strikes
    with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
    the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
    and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’ (vv. 3-9).

Amen.

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

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

Psalm 28 is a simple, classic psalm. It has nine verses. The first five are a cry for help. The last four give thanks for God’s help and deliverance. As usual in psalms of this type, the poet gives no clue about the event or experience that turned his desperate cry for help into grateful confidence.

Let’s pray some phrases from this psalm. 

To you, Lord, I call;
  you are my rock,
  do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent,
  I will be like those who go down to the pit (v. 1).

Lord, we have been in the pit and we do not want to go there again. A pit of depression, where our world is formless and dark. A pit of hopelessness, where life has no meaning. A pit of lethargy, where our efforts are futile. A pit of pain, where live in broken relationships. 

O Lord, when you are silent, we feel our feet slipping at the edge of the pit, we feel our heart hardening into fear, we feel our mind flirting with insanity. O Lord, be our rock, hear and answer us before we fall into darkness and chaos. 

As the poet says,
    Do not drag me away with the wicked,
   with those who do evil, 
who speak friendly words,
  that hide a heart of malice.
Repay them for what they have done,
  Give them what they deserve
Tear them down
    and never build them up again (vv. 3-4).

Lord, in the United States, the police handcuff perpetrators and march them past TV cameras on the way to court. O Lord, don’t make us do the perp-walk, don’t drag us away with the wicked, don’t send us in handcuffs to be judged. 

The wicked hide malicious hearts behind friendly words and smiles. Help us to see through their facade, help us identify the self-promoting televangelists, the dishonest telemarketers, the preachers greedy for their own glory. Help us resist those who try to control us with manipulation, fear, deceit. They have no regard for your work . Lord, we regard your work. You have taught us to wash our hands and cleanse our hearts and come to you in prayer and praise. Help us resist those who entice us back to our eating disorders and shopping obsessions and feelings of entitlement, greed and anger.

As the poet prayed,
    Praise be to the Lord, 
  for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield,
  my heart trusts in him and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy
  and I praise him in song (vv. 6-7).

O Lord, you have come to us as light dispersing our darkness. You have come as strength, enabling us to resist our fatal attractions. You have come as a shield, protecting from the evils that tempt us. You come as a rock of salvation, and our slipping feet at last stand firm. 

We sing to you songs of praise. You fill our hearts with joy and hope. We lift our hands, we shout your name, we trample the forces of evil. 

As the psalm says,
    The Lord is the strength of his people,
        a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
    Save your people and bless their inheritance,
      Be their shepherd and carry them forever (vv. 8-9). 

Yes, Lord, be our strength. Rescue us, bless our inheritance, carry us in your heart, and be our shepherd forever.

Amen.

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

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

Psalm 27 starts, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” It is a favorite psalm, brave, hopeful, encouraging, uplifting. The poet faced foes attacking, an army besieging, war breaking out, oppressors and accusers spreading false news, malicious lies, and hatred. 

In this dangerous situation, the poet expresses deep trust in God. God is his light and salvation, God will hide him from his enemies, God will keep him safe and bring him goodness.  

Let’s pray some of the best known phrases from the psalm. 

Lord, we walk in the dark, in a world filled with strongholds of evil. We pray with the poet,
  You are my light and my salvation,
    Whom shall I fear?
  You are the strength of my life,
      Of whom shall I be afraid? (v. 1).

As America and Iran rattle sabres, as the Taliban destabilizes Afghanistan, as the bloody war grinds on in Yemen, as Syria lies in ruins; we place our confidence in you. Our hope is not in America policing the world, nor in the United Nations brokering peace, nor in Europe showing a civilized way forward, nor in China and Russia implementing their version of legitimate and stable rule. Our confidence is in you, Lord, that you will protect us in the midst of conflict, that you will light our way through a conflicted world.

Psalm 27 resonates with our world today:   
  Though an army besiege me,
      My heart will not fear.
  Though war break out against me,
      Even then will I be confident (v. 3) 
   In the day of trouble
      You will keep me safe in your dwelling;
  You will hide me in the shelter of your tent
      And set me high upon a rock (v. 5). 

O Lord, we live distracted lives, we hear real news and fake news from all corners of the earth, we face pressures at work, we deal with endlessly people problems, we receive conflicting advice from a thousand voices. Even our own feelings and doubts assault us.

With the poet we pray,
  One thing I ask of the Lord,
    This only do I seek:
  That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    All the days of my life,
    to gaze on your beauty,
  And to seek you in your temple.

We turn our eyes from the turmoil of the world to the beauty of your temple, from places of evil to the house where you dwell. 
   My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord I will seek.
  Do not reject me or forsake me
      God my Saviour.
  Though my father and mother forsake me,
      You will receive me (vv. 9-10).

Show us your face, Lord. The Bible is empty words until you speak through them. Our songs are noisy distractions until you reveal yourself. Our sermons are irritating lectures until we hear your voice. Our prayers are vain repetitions until we feel your heart

Lord, our life is a labyrinth, our relationships a puzzle of difficulties, our motives a well of uncertainty. Show us the straight and simple way. 
   Teach me your way, O Lord;
      lead me in a straight path
      because of my oppressors.
  Do not hand me over to the desire of my foes. (vv. 11 – 12) 

Lord, we set aside our consternation, our anxious activity, our endless fretting, and constant distractions.  We, pray with the poet:
   I remain confident of this:
      I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
    Wait for the Lord;
      be strong and take heart
      and wait for the Lord. (vv. 13-14). 

Yes, Lord, we wait.

Amen

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