We might marvel at the ways David and the other Psalmists “tell it straight” to God. They are bold in expressing their longings and desires. They seem free of self-censure, trusting God to be the one to sort through their many needs and wants.
This week, Claudia bravely shares her psalm with us. It echos the one David penned centuries ago.
+++
I have a friend who has very specific desires.
She knows exactly what she wants to eat tomorrow.
She knows the particular amusements she wants to participate in this weekend.
She has outlined the height, hair color and characteristics of the man she hopes to marry.
I have a mixed relationship with her specifics.
I admire, sometimes even long for the ability to know myself so well
that I could name my desires so precisely.
And I am incredulous at the audacity to specify the future when my heart
feels safer to just work on accepting what comes.
But I hear this conversation You’re having about who David is to you
and who You are to him.
And I hear my own tentative voice saying,
I want that too.
Surprised by my own audacity.
I want to hear –
I’ll keep My hand steadily on her.
I’m with her for good
I’ll love her forever
I’ll preserve her eternally in My love
I’ll faithfully do all that I promised
I will not remove from her My steadfast love
I will not lie to her
I want You to be the kind of god who says and means these things
to me
to everyone. Every single one.
I’d like you to protect me from whatever enemies I might have.
You don’t need to crush them.
Distraction will do.
For my children I’d like right and useful consequences to teach them life-giving ways, to show them it matters.
Rods and stripes might not be the method of choice, but I trust you to teach
them and pray they won’t need those lessons.
You and David have this thing going about generational kingdoms.
I don’t know what to make of that, time being what it is…..
I figure it’s not really mine to know.
But mostly I’m counting on your steadfastness.
Your steadiness to my hot and coldness
Your calm to my agitation
Your generosity to my fear
Your welcome to my isolation
Your home to my heart
Like the moon your steadfastness is established forever
a faithful witness in the skies.
+++
Go gently with your own longings and desires. If you can, be curious about what bubbles up in your prayer. See if it is possible to allow your wants and needs to be seen by One whose hand is steadily on you.
Psalm 89:20-37-ESV
I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
so that my hand shall be established with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
The enemy shall not outwit him;
the wicked shall not humble him.
I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my covenant will stand firm[a] for him.
I will establish his offspring forever
and his throne as the days of the heavens.
If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my rules,
if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with stripes,
but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.
I will not violate my covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
His offspring shall endure forever,
his throne as long as the sun before me.
Like the moon it shall be established forever,
a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah
For Reflection and Prayer:
Was there a word, a phrase, image, or feeling that ‘shimmered’ as you listened? Allow it to land in your heart. Stay with it. Savor it.
Reflect on what you heard. What effect does it have on you? What meaning does it hold for you? What does the Holy Spirit seem to be conveying to you? Talk it over in your prayer.
Perhaps you want to draw or color your prayer or journal the conversation.
As the time of prayer comes to a close, share some moments of quiet with Jesus, simply resting safely in his presence.
Psalm 89:20-37 The Message
A long time ago you spoke in a vision,
you spoke to your faithful beloved:
“I’ve crowned a hero, I chose the best I could find;
I found David, my servant, poured holy oil on his head,
And I’ll keep my hand steadily on him,
yes, I’ll stick with him through thick and thin.
No enemy will get the best of him, no scoundrel will do him in.
I’ll weed out all who oppose him, I’ll clean out all who hate him.
I’m with him for good and I’ll love him forever;
I’ve set him on high—he’s riding high!
I’ve put Ocean in his one hand, River in the other;
he’ll call out, ‘Oh, my Father—my God, my Rock of Salvation!’
Yes, I’m setting him apart as the First of the royal line,
High King over all of earth’s kings.
I’ll preserve him eternally in my love,
I’ll faithfully do all I so solemnly promised.
I’ll guarantee his family tree and underwrite his rule.
If his children refuse to do what I tell them,
if they refuse to walk in the way I show them,
If they spit on the directions I give them and tear up the rules I post for them—
I’ll rub their faces in the dirt of their rebellion and make them face the music.
But I’ll never throw them out,
never abandon or disown them.
Do you think I’d withdraw my holy promise?
or take back words I’d already spoken?
I’ve given my word, my whole and holy word;
do you think I would lie to David?
His family tree is here for good, his sovereignty as sure as the sun,
Dependable as the phases of the moon, inescapable as weather.”
print pdf
