We’re reading through, and with intentionality, praying through the Psalms during this school year. There are 150 Psalms, divided into 180 different readings. See this post for more info.
Here is today’s prayer, preceded by the text from the Contemporary English Version, copyright 1995, by the America Bible Society:
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I praise you, God! Don’t keep silent. Destructive and deceitful lies are told about me, and hateful things are said for no reason. I had pity and prayed for my enemies, but their words to me were harsh and cruel. For being friendly and kind, they paid me back with meanness and hatred.
My enemies said, “Find some worthless fools to accuse him of a crime. Try him and find him guilty! Consider his prayers a lie. Cut his life short and let someone else have his job. Make orphans of his children and a widow of his wife; make his children beg for food and live in the slums.
“Let the people he owes take everything he owns. Give it all to strangers. Don’t let anyone be kind to him or have pity on the children he leaves behind. Bring an end to his family, and from now on let him be a forgotten man.
“Don’t let the Lord forgive the sins of his parents and his ancestors. Don’t let the Lord forget the sins of his family, or let anyone remember his family ever lived. He was so cruel to the poor, homeless, and discouraged
that they died young.
“He cursed others. Now place a curse on him! He never wished others well. Wish only trouble for him! He cursed others more often than he dressed himself. Let his curses strike him deep, just as water and olive oil soak through to our bones. Let his curses surround him, just like the clothes he wears each day.”
Those are the cruel things my enemies wish for me. Let it all happen to them! Be true to your name, Lord God!
Show your great kindness and rescue me.
I am poor and helpless, and I have lost all hope. I am fading away like an evening shadow; I am tossed aside
like a crawling insect. I have gone without eating, until my knees are weak, and my body is bony. When my enemies see me, they say cruel things and shake their heads.
Please help me, Lord God! Come and save me because of your love. Let others know that you alone have saved me. I don’t care if they curse me, as long as you bless me. You will make my enemies fail when they attack, and you will make me glad to be your servant. You will cover them with shame, just as their bodies are covered with clothes.
I will sing your praises and thank you, Lord, when your people meet. You help everyone in need, and you defend them when they are on trial.
We look to heaven and we ask you, Father, to check our hearts: “Are we good, you and I?” That is what is most important today.
a prayer from Psalm 109
Here is today’s prayer from Psalm 109:
God. Abba. Father.
We praise you! Today we thank you that we can run to you when our enemies attack. Even when others spread lies and speak maliciously against us, we can trust in your unfailing love. You are the just judge. You know what is truth.
We look to heaven and we ask you, Father, to check our hearts: “Are we good, you and I?” That is what is most important today. Even when we find ourselves in times where other relationships are fraught with misunderstanding, we bow before you to be reminded that you are in control. Bring peace to hearts where there is angst.
When people speak ill of us, sometimes we begin to believe them. We might wallow in self-pity, wondering if what they have said is true, even when we know it to be false. Sometimes we let the words of others make us feel like we are like insects who crawl in the dust. Forgive us. Forgive those who speak things that are false against us.
Today we speak what we know to be the truth. We are children of the most high, God! You have great plans for us. You keep your promises. Nothing will ever be able to separate us from your love!
You alone have saved us through the cross of grace. Ultimately your blessing is all we care about. And we will rejoice! Yes, you will make us glad. We trust in the relationship we have with you, the One True God.
And we thank you for Jesus, who makes this relationship between you and us possible.
Amen.
(c) 2021. Rich Ronald.
RichRonald.com 