Psalm 130
March 26, 2023
Father, Son, Holy Spirit. We thank you that our prayers can start with simply pouring our hearts out to you God. Thank you for Psalm 62:8 that says Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Guidelines and structure are helpful, but oh what a relief that that prayer is not complicated. Thank you that we can pray without ceasing within the walls of our church, or within the windows of our car as we driving down the road, or we can take a moment to pray as we take a deep breath (or take a gasp of breath) before the next thing we say to our children, or our parents, or our boss, or our teacher. We are simultaneously in awe of your majesty, and your approachability.
So we get to pour out our hearts to you this morning, we cry out to you. We see suffering and injustice all around us. Around the world today, there is war and rumors of war. There are nation-level catastrophes every day. There is human trafficking in every part of the word including our very own cities. We plead for relief. There is illness all around us, relentless bacteria and viruses that plague us. Our quest for comfortableness and happiness continue to elude us. We need a different mission.
The Psalmist waits for the Lord and hopes in the word of God, more than the worker waits till they can punch-out the clock for the day. Forgive us for watching the clock to punch-out for the day or for retirement more than waiting on you Lord. This psalm tells us to hope in the Lord because there is steadfast love and plentiful redemption. You continue to forgive our sins, and your love redefines how we approach life. We so easily forget your unconditional love and fall into performance mode. Our performance mode prevents us from resting in your love and being replenished by you. We fall into the “rat race” and feel like we never do enough and have to do more. We’ve forgotten that we can never do enough. Period. The solution isn’t to do more, the solution is Jesus, who has done more than enough. We cannot praise ourselves, we can praise you Jesus. Our hope is in you, forgive us for putting our hope in ourselves.
Lord, your love for us is unconditional and it is over-whelming. Fill us with your love, overflow us with your love, let us overflow this love to others through our actions, our words, our smiles, and our joy in you. And let us share this good news with those around us. May we see lives transformed as we put our hope in you God. Amen.