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Central to this psalm is that the Lord is seeking that we further our trust in him, by bringing many petitions to him under the banner of his name and coming to him with our troubles.
Verse 1 and 2 says," May the Lord answer you when you are in distress, may the name of the God of Jacob protect you, May he send you help from the sanctuary, and grant support from Zion. “ This is talking about a prayer relationship that also includes on the spot aspects, where I need the help right in the moment, maybe I’m giving a speech and I need help right now for the delivery to reach this audience. The prayer support or help from the Lord extends into the future, but also back from the future to right now and right here.
This psalm has the overtones of a battle. In verse 1 David, is asking the Lord for a hearing in the day of distress, which commonly then would likely be a battle but the distress someone might be experiencing now could be just a tough day at the office. What you are doing, is identifying the situation you are in as disturbing, troublesome, and something you are basically trying to get a handle on and move on so that it is no longer identified as such. As applying to prayer today, you can tell the Lord that this is bothering me and you are looking for a type of help, the best help, that addresses this.
Verse 4 is specifying that God give to you according to the desires of your own heart. Obviously what you might want could or would differ from what somebody else wants. Everybody experiences desire, but not in the exact same way and for the exact same things. Advertising alone tells us this, as advertising tries to appeal to different markets. In prayer, you might want to emphasize, this is what I really want, this is my preference I think. What is your preference anyway?. One way to do this, is to consider if all pertinent obstacles were removed, what would be my priority. Most of us would think, I am going to have to work 40 hours a week, to earn money. But suppose you had all that money up front, then what would you be prioritizing? You need to think about these theoretical ideals and scenarios to get to what you are actually looking at if you get to that next window, too where you are actually looking in on what you really want.
A second avenue is just to try and decider your tastes as you go along. This would have some spontaneity as you are identifying what makes you pay attention and what makes you turn or turns you on in the moment. What song, painting, verbosity, makes you shiver or does it for you? People don’t see things with the same eyes as far as taste.
A third avenue is identifying what you could hang with. If I don’t want to be there, then that tells me something, even if I’m fading quickly or gradually in my interest in this, I just don’t want to hang. This is a degree of sovereignty with this as well, God’s sovereignty goes into your likes and dislikes therefore these likes and dislikes act for a guide as well when viewed together or individually, and come into the formation of my personal guidebook which is always only helped by prayer.
A fourth avenue is looking at what you would take. I would take this, if I got it. I would take this job, I would take this course, if I got the chance to do it, I wouldn’t turn it down. If someone offers me a paid trip to Ireland, I’ll take it. I think most people would, but not everybody. Look at what you’ll take, and that tells you also what you could consider as per planning and your discussion of plans with the Lord in prayer.
Then the idea of making plans succeed, goes along the lines of fulfillment. Here then, we want to discuss plans with the Lord, and say, for example, I need this as a piece for my plans. I plan on going to Australia, but I need the piece of an airline ticket, a booking in a hotel or some place to stay, information on how to get around, and a passport to legally enter the country. Each of these identifies as a piece of a plan, and when you pray, you can mention this as a piece to the Lord of an overall plan. Supplying of the piece then goes right into confirming the Lord’s presence to the plan.
Verse 5 is saying, that the Lord could answer all your requests or petitions. There is no leave out to this. I might say, I’ll leave out this prayer request, because I would be lucky to just get this other answer I really want. But if I get that answer, additional concerns come in about that. I got this date, now I have to take her to a good movie. But in the ongoing battle of prayer, you can bring all the battalions to the fore. You have a blank page on the petitions and you can write in anything you want and that page doesn’t reach an end, it’s a long lasting and never ending page.
Verse 6 thru 8 reads as," Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed, he answers him from his holy heaven, with the saving power of his right hand, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of our Lord our God, They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm."
Since this psalm is pointing overall to prayer and petition, we are more pointing our trust the direction of God by prayer rather than by prioritizing earthly means. I do need warm shoes in Alaska in the winter, but it is a mentality or mindset that this is talking about. We have to have goals that have earthly means even while we pray, but this is an invisible line that we are talking about, where for example I might start to obsess over earthly goods to the detriment or even the ultimately the exclusion of prayer on the very same issue. The line here isn’t visible, but I need to be aware of the idea of crossing the wrong way in my approach. What plays into this is drive, very necessary but often needing to be tempered by the realization of the Lord’s presence to the situation. I might be driving my chariot down the highway back then, but who was standing, not the ones totally focused on driving the chariot with great horses, but the one’s who first and foremost called up the name of the Lord.
Verse 6 is saying, now I know God is answering prayer. I might be in Chicago in a snowy winter and I pray for a balmy day and suddenly the temperature rises to 70 degrees in mid January. Now I know, that a prayer like this might actually get answered. I might have said the prayer almost partially in jest, not quite believing it, but here is the evidence and the answer and now I know.
The final verse, says, “ O Lord, save the king, answer when we call."
This is asking God for a swift response. Relating again to verse 1, where it is asking for the prayer also to be time logged where I am praying to the Lord and my prayer goes up 7.12 A.M. eastern standard time and gets logged in. Hey, God log in this prayer for today or this week for an answer of some sort, no rush but I could use a winning lotto ticket this week.
And of course, some answers have to be in the moment and quickly. If I’m in high force waves while pursuing my hobby of swimming in rough ocean surf and I’m caught in very dangerous currents that I’m just not getting out of, I need God’s help right now, and I can’t put a delay on this even if I want to make it a prayer saying God I hope you answer me now but I’ll also take this latter.
Verse 1 relates to the this, as the distress has a now aspect to it, like a distress call from a sinking ship, and it is going down in a matter of hours as it is taking in rushing water at the bow.
Thematic to this psalm also, is the name of the Lord. Verse 7 emphasizes this, as does verse 5 which says," We will shout for joy when you are victorious, and will lift up our banners in the name of the Lord." This is holding the name of the Lord high. I picture inscriptions on the top of a church, or maybe a banner in the sky itself. But this also could pertain to your mental imaging as well. A banner would mean also something that is so large it takes on greater closeness. If I’m meeting Jesus in person, somehow going back on a trip back in time, then I’m there to the banner to his presence, he is much larger that I would think about if I am envisioning him in the distant past, or on a faraway hill. When you see someone a mile away, it is different then seeing someone close up, and the banner is raised as he or she comes closer to you.
Then the shout for joy has an aspect of actually living it up. " Live it up", I heard this expression twice in the last week or so, one in relation to someone’s New Year’s resolution. I haven’t heard the expression in years, but when your raising the banner and shouting for joy, this has an aspect of letting go, of not holding back and finding sheer joy on the other side of answered prayer and now you know.
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