Psalm 141
Psalm 141:2 brings about a
memory of one of my favorite liturgical songs.
Marty Haugen has a prayer service called Holden Evening Prayer, which is
a wonderful setting of worship for events like mid-week Lenten or Advent
services. Within that service he has
composed the psalmody in which the chorus reads: “Let my prayer rise up like
incense before you – the lifting up of my hands, as an offering to you.” It’s sung in a bit of a round, and it is
simply one of the most beautiful pieces I can remember singing liturgically.
Since hearing that song the
first time I have always been fascinated by this idea of our prayers being as
incense before God. It is as though God
dwells in heaven with our prayers surrounding Him. It is as though God is perpetually embraced
by our worship. But so far I have made
it sound as though it is all about us and what we give to God. I don’t really mean that at all.
Rather, I think it is
fascinating that of all the things that God could surround Himself with He
might choose to surround Himself with our prayers. He created the universe. He could surround Himself with the
magnificence of His creation. He could
surround Himself with images of the splendor of the work of His hands. But Psalm 141 leads me to think that He also
treasures our prayer – our communication with Him – so much that He loves
surrounding Himself with that very communication. What a blessed God we have!
This leads us into the rest
of the psalm. David asks God to set a
guard over his mouth. This makes sense
in the light of verse 2. If God treasures
our communication, we should want all of the words of our mouth to be pleasing
to Him! The same is true for our
heart. We should want God to keep our
hearts secure so that there is no danger of evil coming from out of our
lips. Again, it is true for our actions. Our actions should enable us to speak words
that are pleasing to God, so we should ask God to watch over and guide our
actions as well.
Psalm 142
Psalm 142 is a psalm of
begging and pleading for God. We can see
David in a time of trouble. David is
once again in a time where he is being pursued by those who would like to entrap
him. David does the only thing that he
can – he cries out to his God for help.
As I read through this
psalm, I was really struck by verse 5.
“You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” What an incredible statement for David – or
any of us – to make. Of all the things
that this world has for us to desire, David claims that His portion is God.
This word “portion” can
take on the meanings of share, inheritance, reward, or even legacy. God is our inheritance. That’s a cool thought today. Have you ever thought of God as
inheritance? I have thought of God a
good many ways and I have even known for a while that our inheritance comes
from God. But I don’t know that I have
spent much time thinking about how it is actually God who is our inheritance,
not just the source of it.
What about the idea of
legacy? What does it mean to say that
God is our legacy? Do you hear the
humble confession behind that idea? When
I die, nothing I have done will remain.
When I die, God will remain. My
works are only good and should only be remembered as they pertain to the work
of the Lord.
But there’s a deeper layer
than this. Fundamentally, this statement
of God being David’s portion is actually a statement of rejection for the
world. It’s as if David is saying to the
world, “As full as this world is of things to love, I choose God.” In a sense, it’s David’s throwback to Joshua
24:15. David has seen the stuff of this
world, and He has chosen God instead.
What an absolutely incredible pronouncement of faith from this Hebrew
king!
God is our deliverer. He is watching over our path. He is the source of our strength. He is the source of our inheritance and He is
our inheritance. Why not choose Him over
the world? Why not reject what the world
has to offer – which will fade or break anyway – and choose that which is
everlasting?
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