01/26/2022 – Praying the Psalms Psalm 80 – 81- Praying both sides of the coin in one prayer. What’s up?
Praying the Psalms is all about getting closer to our God, following the Holy Spirit’s draw to “the deer that pants for water”. Again, it too is a gift. Did y’all see the movie “Apostle” with Robert Duvall years back.? Duvall was the main character “Sonny”, a real mess but I submit a redeemed mess. In one scene, he is causing a commotion with his loud audible prayers within the house. The scene is a little foggy for me, but his mother responds to a visitor’s inquiry plea by saying: “That’s just Sonny. Sometimes he sings to the Lord in praises, other times, he just screams at Him!”
Well, my example is perhaps too extreme here, so this shows how praying the psalms can bring out our own prayer dialogue with God, seemingly touching both sides of a coin in a single prayer. Let’s look at the two sides of the coin in this case:
- Psalm 80 12-14: “Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes? Boars from the forest ravage it and the creatures of the field feed on it. Return to us, O God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see!”
2. Psalm 81:11: “Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music strike the tambourines, play the melodious harp and lyre.”
So, even though I wasn’t screaming like Sonny, #1 did prompt me to inquire so to speak: “What’s up with this Lord, we are going though this again, just as Isaiah and Jeremiah” Nobody is listening! What’s up? ( certainly the “whining prophet” here)
Well the answer , the bridge between #1 and #2 is right in 81: 11: “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So, I gave tehm over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.”
So, by the grace of God I was appropriately “humbled’ before the Lord this morning and brought back to where I belong in (2) above , singing his praises. For , we are indeed suffering in the (1) scenario. But, the answer is “just obey”, for the fight itself is giving glory to God through full and complete trust in Him! The Lord, put us in this position so we could seize this opportunity just as Isaiah and Jeremiah today. Look at the comparitive results between Isaiah and Jeremiah vs. the Apostle Paul as far as how many people were converted to Him. But God sees what we can’t see. Do we obey and see it through as the messengers Isaiah and Jeremiah did. Or do we just keep our head down, and wait for the rapture? (“Beam me up Scotty”) Free will: Our choice! As I have noted before, heaven is perfect but we will never have this opportunity again. As for me, I do not want to view my life at the judgement, having selected the “safe” and “comfortable” option today.
So sing His praise amidst the scene today of this world’s carnage, even while we pray for deliverance and strength to see it through to our last breath…
Ephesians 6:13!
Soli Deo Gloria!
Your brother in Christ,
Jimmy