Focus
Prepare yourself to discern what is and what is not of God today. Still yourself so you can hear how God is calling you.
Read
Psalm 102
Prayer to the Eternal King for Help
A prayer of one afflicted, when faint and pleading before the Lord.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call.
3 For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass;
I am too wasted to eat my bread.
5 Because of my loud groaning,
my bones cling to my skin.
6 I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like a little owl of the waste places.
7 I lie awake;
I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
9 Indeed, I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,
10 because of your indignation and anger,
for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like a lengthening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
12 But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
your name endures to all generations.
13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to favor it;
the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants hold its stones dear
and have pity on its dust.
15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
16 For the Lord will build up Zion;
he will appear in his glory.
17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute
and will not despise their prayer.
Reflect
I remember once when I was a young boy, I was out shopping with my mother, and I reached over and hugged her legs. Except I quickly discovered it was not my mother; it was a complete stranger. I looked up and saw an unknown face on the body I was hugging. I immediately pulled my arms away and took a step back. In a moment of panic, I frantically called out and looked around, searching for my mother’s face atop all the pairs of legs I saw. Honestly, it was probably only a couple of seconds that passed before I found my mother, but as a kid, that moment felt like forever.
What a terrifying moment it is when you can’t find your parent. You wonder if you’ve been abandoned, left all by yourself in an unknown place. I wonder if that’s how the Psalmist felt, calling out and searching for God’s face. I’m sure it’s a feeling we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives, when we can’t find our Comforter in the midst of strange, unknown circumstances. Perhaps you are experiencing it right now. Well, rest assured, friend; God hasn’t gone anywhere. God remains near and hears our calls. It’s a sentiment that the Psalmist concludes with, and it’s a sentiment echoed throughout various stories in both the Old and New Testaments. God never abandons us. Thanks be to God.
Pray
O God, our Comforter, at times we lose track of you, like a kid loses track of their mother in a store. In our times of panic and desperate searching for you, Lord, draw near. Hear our call and calm our weary, worried hearts. Remind us of your promise to never leave us. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Go with God!
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