Passionate Pleading

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
145    I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord,

    and I will obey your decrees.

146    I call out to you; save me

    and I will keep your statutes.

147    I rise before dawn and cry for help;

    I have put my hope in your word.

148    My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,

    that I may meditate on your promises.

149    Hear my voice in accordance with your love;

    preserve my life, Lord, according to your laws.

150    Those who devise wicked schemes are near,

    but they are far from your law.

151    Yet you are near, Lord,

    and all your commands are true.

152    Long ago I learned from your statutes

    that you established them to last forever. (Psalm 119:145-152, NIV)

 

REFLECTIONS:
In these verses we find the psalmist pleading passionately with God.  He cries with his whole heart, with all the psalmist is as a person, calling out to God (verses 145-146).  He is wholly-focused on one thing.  There is no division within him or distraction.  His heart-cry is being poured out to God.  My very first thought is of how often I try to fix things myself, rather than turning to the Lord and crying out for Him.  

The writer is completely committed to prayer (verses 147-148).  He rises before dawn and is awake through the night watches.  Morning, noon, and night he is praying, crying out to God, asking for His help.  Sounds a lot like Paul’s instructions to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), where we’re urged to be persistent and consistent in our prayer life.  There aren’t any real rules about how long to pray or how often.  Prayer is about us relating to our Father, getting to know Him better, expressing our dependence on Him.  Because of this, we’ll want to be praying all the time to God.  It will be a joy and delight for us.  

We go on to find passionate prayer from the psalmist because of the circumstances he’s facing (verses 149-150).  He asks God to hear his voice because he’s in trouble.  While we don’t know what kind of trouble he’s facing, the previous verses of chapter 119 tell us they are his foes (verse 139), cunning (verse 118), evildoers (verse 115), who persecute with falsehood (verse 86).  He’s clearly under attack—a pretty good spur to pray pleadingly.  

Guess what?  Things haven’t changed.  There are still those who attack the people of God.  Paul wrote to Timothy and said “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).  We may not face persecution like those in other times or other countries still today, but there will always be some level of persecution that we face.  The psalmist is facing this and instead of trying to sort it out himself, it drives him to passionately plead to the Lord.  And he can passionately plead and expect an answer because his prayer is built on permanent promises.  He finds hope in God’s word and he meditates on God’s promises.  His prayers are built on those things, and God doesn’t break His promises.  If the psalmist can rest so assuredly in God’s lovingkindness and justice, how much more can we, as part of the new covenant, rest in the promises from The Word (Jesus), who have the assurance of grace and mercy and communion with the Lord? 

Verse 151 reassures us that though trouble may be near, our God is nearer still.  And again, Jesus’ words can comfort us even further—He is with us to the end of the age; He will never leave us or forsake us; we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us; greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world!  Verse 152 expands on the permanence of these promises.  The word of our God endures forever.  We can build our life on it, pray according to it, and place our hope for the future on it.  


APPLICATION:
When was the last time you boldly and passionately pled with the Lord in prayer?  Where you’re seeking and expecting answers of salvation?  I know as I look back over my life I can think of a lot of times where I have prayed this way.  These are sweet times of focus between me and the Lord, and I always immediately feel Him lifting me up, reviving me in the midst of my turmoil.  But I have to admit that a lot of the time my prayer life is not a whole hearted cry to the Lord.  In fact, a vending machine comes to mind.  I’m busy and on the go, and I pop in with my prayer request and expect a comply to pop out.  Short and sweet.  No time for emotional displays.  God wants so much more from me, and has so much more for me!  I encourage you (as I’m encouraging myself) to be bold with God.  Be passionate.  Plead for the things on your heart and rest in His promises for you.  


WHO AM I?
I’m Jennifer Babb and I went snowmobiling for the first time in Montana this past February.  All of the 4 wheeling I’ve done here in Texas paid off.  It was a blast!  As summer is quickly approaching I’m sure I’ll spend hours looking at this picture wishing for cold and snow.