Psalm 17
August 11, 2024 Hear us this morning, o Lord;
Shape us as we learn, practice, and acquire the language of the Psalms.
Our lives are continuously busy doing what seems best to us.
We generally think that what we do is not deliberately going against your intentions.
But we also know, that what we do, is tainted by our own ambitions, that are self-serving.
As we come before you,
we desire to throw ourselves in front of you,
setting aside our wishes,
admitting our hidden agendas,
placing before you the angst we have about the days ahead,
seeking relief from experiences of the past that plague us,
crying for mercy over the pain we are experiencing right now,
in situations we cannot control.
Some of us are in really dark places.
Listen to us, not only the words we say, but to the longings of our hearts,
to the parts of us that ache, and to the parts of us that long to create,
and become something other than what we are at this moment.
Father, listen to us and respond.
Be God, and do what you do,
in our time as you have done in the past.
We know verses from scripture that tell us that you are near.
And we believe them, or at least we conceptually embrace them.
Yet our world presses in around us.
Some people ignore us, others appose us, and every day we live in a partially isolated state because
we feel as though no one around us is attempting to see the world from our vantage point.
Show yourself to be near us, even in the ordinariness of our lives and give us reason to be confident
in you, so that we start learning to live now, in your way, as we will in heaven.
It is our desire to be satisfied with your likeness.
Help us in our quest to stay on your trail,
keeping the testimonies of your heritage forever,
for they are the joy of our hearts.
Incline our hearts to perform your statues to the very end.
And God’s people said, Amen