Eugene Peterson recalls and experience in his
book Five Smooth Stones, “She came to
see me at the recommendation of a friend.
She had been troubled for years, seeing psychiatrists seriatim and not
getting any better. The consultation had
been arranged on the telephone so that when she walked into my study it was a
first meeting. Her opening statement
was, ‘Well, I guess you want to know all about my sex life – that’s what they
always want to know.’ I answered, ‘If
that is what you want to talk about I’ll listen. What I would really be interested in finding
out about, though, is your prayer life.’”
Just as sex is (or should be) a deeply
intimate experience between husband and wife, prayer is a deeply intimate
activity between a person and God.
Prayer is not always private as sex is (or should be), but it always
goes to the heart and deals with needs, emotions, fears, hopes, doubts, and
faith. That the psalms lay out the
prayers of saints who have gone before us is a gift and blessing from God!
Once again we get to learn from David’s
prayer. He did not write this to teach
us. He wrote it because he was pouring
out his heart to God in the midst of danger, enemies, and betrayal. He prayedbecause he trusted that God would
keep His Word to make David a king.
David wrote Psalm 54 while he was in
hiding. King Saul was seeking him and
trying to kill him. The king knew God
had appointed David to be the next king, and he was doing everything in his
power to make sure it never happened. David
was hiding in Ziph, in the southern region of Judah, among his own clan. To curry favor with Saul, the Ziphites had
sent him a message: “Is not David hiding
among us?”
Imagine David’s emotions. Put yourself in his shoes. You can’t go home. You are not safe. Even in a place where you thought there was
relative security you find betrayal. What
emotions run through your heart? What
thoughts run through your mind? How
would you pray at that moment? Is it
hard to come up with the right words?
David prayed, “O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.” He
reminded himself, “Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my
life.” He looked forward in faith and
said, “He has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph
on my enemies.”
It is not easy to make such a confession or
to pray such a prayer. Only by the power
of the Holy Spirit at work in us can we see everything going wrong around us
and cry out to God in both fear and faith.
Too often we read these prayers as calm
words, placidly spoken, and stoically offered to God. I wonder if that has left our prayers
emotionally lifeless, hindering our intimacy with God. Yet these are the cries of heart that is
breaking and has naught to cling to but God alone. All David has is God’s Word.
In truth that is all we have, and it is good
and right when our hearts cry out, “O God, remember Your Word! Recall your promise! Do not forget Jesus, the Word who became
Flesh! Because of His suffering, death
and resurrection save me from all the evils that assail me! Sickness, troubles, pain, injustice, and
wickedness are all around me! Rescue me!”
God’s grace is sufficient for all our needs. We can rightly say that Jesus, “has delivered
me from every trouble.” We live, now and
always, in victory because of the Word of God and His promise in Christ.
Lord God, fill me with faith that I might trust You and pour my heart out
to You in all my prayers. Amen.
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