Prayers

"Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart have multiplied;
free me from my anguish.
Look upon my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
See how my enemies have increased
and how fiercely they hate me!
Guard my life and rescue me;
let me not be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope is in you."

I think that tonight will be much shorter than usual. I didn't realize it had gotten so late.

I think we've all had that moment of "oh crap, nothing is going to fix this." It's one of the worst feelings, when you are just certain that there is no other place for you to go than to sink further into a pit of your own making. And then not only have you sunk into something that single-handedly you could not escape, but the snowball effect proceeds, and before you know it, you are drowning in the proverbial sea of misery, of problems. David addresses this in the Psalm."The troubles of my heart have multiplied, free me from anguish. Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away my sins." Essentially, this last portion of the psalm is a plea, a prayer to the Lord. But even in the plea, in the mention of loneliness, anguish and affliction, you can see the trust, the love and the hope that is evident and available. Though we are struck by all sides with powerful forces, we take our refuge in the Lord. Though the storm comes, we will trust Him in this. We are protected by His very loving nature. It isn't a promise that "nothing bad will ever happen to us," because that's just the way life is world that is filled with sin, a sin that is the direct cause of the separation from God. The passage probes much deeper than that. We have a gracious God, one who we will always be able to take refuge in from the storm, "even when our heart is torn." Especially when they are torn. Especially when they break. When we are lonely and afflicted, where will we turn? Where do you turn?