Week 36: Day 5
Pete opens up the Psalms and shows us how we offer our deep sadness to God.
Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord, detest. But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple.
Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies— make your way straight before me. Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies. Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you. But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.
Intro: Hello and welcome to Orbit, a short reflection to help you put God at the centre of your life from the team behind Satellites - I'm Pete Baker. Each weekday we share a little bit of the Bible with you, give you a chance to pray and think about it, and provide you with one practical way to put it into practice today.
Bible: Today's reading comes from Psalms chapter 5:
Listen to my words, Lord,
consider my lament.
Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.
But I, by your great love,
can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
toward your holy temple.
But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.
Thoughts: A lament is a deep sadness. I’ve been involved in Church all of my life and I know sometimes Church doesn’t always feel like a safe space to feel deep sadness. I want to say to you today that if there is some deep sadness in your life, if you need to cry out to God today then God hears you, the Bible even says that He weeps with those who weep.
I love v3 ‘in the morning, Lord, you hear my voice, in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.’ Today God wants to hear what’s on your heart, what’s on your mind, what’s bugging you, what is your request for God? I love the phrase ‘wait expectantly’ it shows us that we can give things to God, place our trust in God and have faith to believe that God isn’t forgetful or powerless but actually that God will do something about it!
There are some great images in this Psalm like taking refuge in God, God being a shield for us, rejoicing in God’s name, God protecting us and the path to God’s house being Love.
May you today experience God’s love, God’s protection, God’s joy and the peace that comes from God being our refuge, especially in times of trouble.
Pray: Lord God, I pray that even now we would place our hope and trust in you as we look to you as shield, protector, refuge. May you be our source of joy and may we walk the path of love that leads us to your presence. In Jesus name, Amen.
Silence: There's now just a few moments of silence for you to pray, reflect on these ideas, or simply sit and be still.
Action: Every day on Orbit we give you a simple practical challenge to help you put this passage into action in your life. Here's today's:
We live in a superfast, demanding world but there’s an ancient art of being still and being quiet that many of us have forgotten. My simple challenge for you today is to be still and spend time listening to God. Why don’t you give that a go, even just for 60 seconds.
Outro: That's it for today's Orbit. Thanks so much for joining us - we'll be back with another reflection soon.