Text: Psalm 119:169-176
Let my cry come before You, O Lord; Give me understanding according to Your word. Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your word. My lips shall utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes. My tongue shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness. Let Your hand become my help, For I have chosen Your precepts. I long for Your salvation, O Lord, And Your law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise You; And let Your judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.
Devotion
Such prayers of the saints God has had recorded for our sake. He wants to teach us that we should come to Him, and to show us how we should pray. When you have strayed and realize you are lost, you should not surrender to the devil, but cry out to the Lord, and He shall help you. And otherwise when you feel unhappy, you should not go and bear the burden of your heart, but “call on the Lord’s name in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.”1 Keep joy in your heart, when God gives it to you, and increase it by praising the Lord; but don’t keep sorrow, don’t bury dark thoughts in your soul; for God’s sake, don’t! God does not want that. He says: “Be anxious for nothing,” not for anything, “but in everything,” [note it well: in everything] “by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phi 4:6). God help us in this! Then we shall sing many hymns of praise and better understand the joyful sound.
Our Bible lesson teaches us especially three things that belong to the prayer of the seeking soul: 1) It will express your longing and lament with humble cry to God. “Let my cry come before You,” he says. “Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your word. … I long for Your salvation. … I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant.” 2) The prayer should contain the Lord’s Word and promises. “Give me understanding according to Your word. … Deliver me according to Your word. … You teach me Your statutes. … Your law is my delight.” This whole long psalm praises the Word of the Lord. Believe what He commands, incline your heart to His testimony. Not according to your own proud estimation, but according to the word of the Lord’s mouth. 3) The prayer should contain promises of praise and obedience. “My lips shall utter praise. … My tongue shall speak of Your word. … Let my soul live, and it shall praise You.” Lead me back, and I shall serve You, “for I do not forget Your commandments.”
Closing Prayer
Lord, teach me to pray thus. “Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness. The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Princes persecute me without a cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your word. I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure. I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law. Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments. Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble” (Psa 119:159-165). “Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes” (Psa 119:135). Amen.
Hymn
Ever is a peril near me,
Ever have I grace to cheer me,
Ever in my woes I sigh,
Ever see I Jesus nigh.
Ever do my sins upbraid me,
Ever Jesus comes to aid me,
Ever woes around me throng,
Ever am I full of song.
Now I seated am in gladness,
Now I fall and lie in sadness,
Often weary and distrest,
Ever find in Jesus rest.
Thus is grief linked to my gladness,
Sweet and bitter, joy and sadness,
Fill the cup that I must drain
In this life of joy and pain.
But, O Jesus, ‘mid life’s sadness,
Grant that faith’s true joy and gladness,
Over sin and grief that quail,
Ever, ever may prevail.
Kingo: Aldrig er jeg uden Vaade L 272 HCH 207 tr. C. Døving;
tune: Aldrig er jeg uden Vaade (HCH 207); alternate hymn: O God of mercy, God of might ELH 458