OUR LORD WHO IS HERE!
Opening Prayer
Father, open my eyes to what You want to say to me today.
Read Psalm 141
1 I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me;
hear me when I call to you.
2 May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil
so that I take part in wicked deeds
along with those who are evildoers;
do not let me eat their delicacies.
5 Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it,
for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.
6 Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
7 They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”
8 But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord;
in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.
9 Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers,
from the snares they have laid for me.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
A person’s measure is twofold: to whom do they call for help on the day of trial, and on what do they fix their focus?The first word of this psalm in Hebrew—the original lan-guage—clearly indicates where David’s strength lies. David’s first word is Yahweh (“the Lord”)—the unspeakable personal and relational name for God, first revealed in Genesis 2:4. So David’s first words are these: “Yahweh, I call to you…” David knew the one to whom he would call on the day of darkness. Three times in this searching prayer, David invokes this mys-terious divine name: as his first word in verse 1, again in verse 3, and perhaps most revealingly in verse 8 when David cries out literally, “But on you, Lord, my eyes…” The measure of David the man was that he called out to Yahweh first on his darkest days, and he riveted his eyes on Yahweh to find a refuge.
When God first revealed himself to Moses as Yahweh, it came with the explanation, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exod. 3:14). Many see in this name not only the eternal being of the Lord, but also his personal presence. Perhaps we may translate Yahweh this way: I AM HERE. Perhaps his personal name is an eternal answer to our most desperate prayer—“Lord, where are you?” I AM HERE.
Apply
How can you fix your eyes on Jesus today? What reminders can you place in your life today to train your thoughts back to God?
Closing prayer
Spend some time now praying the words of David in this profound psalm, calling out to our Lord in your need. God, stir my heart with wonder at You—our God who would
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