Through all that’s scarred us, and in all the darkness we see before us…
Through all the pain and torment we are enduring in the present, through hell and high water –
Lord, we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.
Jehoshaphat said it, so am I. I’m no king, but I join the many I see around me, surrounded by one and many foes, trying to tear us down, trying to steal from us, trying to kill us, trying to destroy us.
We all cry out, in desperate unison to our God, our Father, and our King:
We do NOT know what to do. Our eyes are upon You.
Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
Psalm 102
The LORD’s Eternal Love
A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You.
2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily.
By the words of one king we cry, ‘our eyes are upon You.’
By the prayer of the shepherd king, so we also say: ‘let my cry come to You.‘
And indeed, we give thanks – I give thanks, because by the supplications of the kings that walked before us, we are reminded that through Christ, we not only behold God, but we find relief knowing that He sees us.
Through Christ, who said before calling Lazarus forth from the grave, ‘I thank You, because You have heard me‘; So by His Spirit we also find comfort, knowing that He hears us. He reads between the lines, and knows the words behind our sighs.
Some days we don’t know what to say… and some days, it all just flows out, just like this man prayed:
3 For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth.
4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So that I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the sound of my groaning My bones cling to my skin.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.
7 I lie awake, And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.
8 My enemies reproach me all day long; Those who deride me swear an oath against me.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, And mingled my drink with weeping,
10 Because of Your indignation and Your wrath; For You have lifted me up and cast me away.
11 My days are like a shadow that lengthens, And I wither away like grass.
Don Moen sings that this world has nothing for him… and by these words we also read this world has everything against us. Sin entered the world. The wages of sin is death. Death entered the world. Death is at every turn, an unstoppable pandemic as old as time, and we die slowly with each and every moment we exist in this corrupted reality, doomed to utter, ultimate oblivion.
But, look – we have twice plus one as much verses beholding on the glory of the Lord, and singing the praises of the Most High.
12 But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come.
14 For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, And show favor to her dust.
15 So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
16 For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory.
17 He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, And shall not despise their prayer.
18 This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.
19 For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; From heaven the LORD viewed the earth,
20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those appointed to death,
21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, And His praise in Jerusalem,
22 When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
23 He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.
24 I said, “O my God, Do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations.
25 Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed.
27 But You are the same, And Your years will have no end.
28 The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You.”
Faithful forever, the Lord endures forever.
He hears us and declares His name and praise upon us.
By Him we continue, and by Him we are established.
Thank You Father, for You are our very present help.
You are here. You are for us, and You are not against us.
We are weary, we are troubled; We are bitter, we are hopeless.
You endure forever. You are our Peace. You are our comfort, and You are our Hope.
Yes, You are the Hope that remains as an Anchor to our souls.
You keep us afloat, You keep us together, You hold us firm no matter how the winds blow, no matter how the waters rise, no matter how hard the waves rage.
Father, Son, and Spirit – our very present Help, our Rock and our Refuge.
Move in our midst, and help us.
Save us from the time of trial.
For the Kingdom, the power and the glory are Yours, now and forever. Amen.
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