Psalm 34-Supplication

Last time we saw that Psalm 34 can give us some lessons for living a Holy Life and how, as Toby Mac says to ‘Speak Life’. Verses 15-18 are a reminder that God is close and will rescue us from any and all dangers when we ask.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
   and his ears are open to their cry.
The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
   to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears,
   and rescues them from all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the broken-hearted,
   and saves the crushed in spirit.

Back at the beginning of Lent I noted that this Psalm follows, to a certain extent, the ACTS model of prayer. This is one of the many ways to help keep track of ‘covering all the bases’ in our prayers. Starting with Adoration, then Confession, we move on to giving Thanks and finally offering prayers of Supplication for my needs and those of others.

Psalm 34 started out with David’s adoration of God (despite being on the run from 2 kings) and then moved to confession of his need for God and acknowledgement of God’s presence in his life. David then gives Thanks for the action of God in his life. In these verses he notes that the Lord hears the cry of the righteous. God hears our supplications and ‘rescues [us] from all [our] troubles.’

I invite you to look back over your Lent journey and perhaps you can summarize it in an ACTS format. What Adoration can you proclaim from this Lent? Did you find things to Confess that you had hidden? Give Thanks for the spiritual growth during these 40 days and then bring your Supplications to God. Or if you prefer, write a psalm about your journey this Lent. You don’t have to share it, but you could if you wanted to. Here is my prayer for each of you, my readers.

I Adore you O Christ and I Bless you for your presence with me each day, showing me your Love never ends. Dear Lord, I know that I fall short each day in many ways and I allow irritations and petty hurts to turn me from you. Forgive my sins.Thank you Lord for never turning your back on me and for casting each sin far away and letting me start anew.To you, dear and Loving Lord, I lift the needs of my friends and those who read this blog. Comfort and guide them as may be best for them. All this I pray in and through the Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.