Lent 2023 Day 37 “Deliver Me”

Daily Scriptures: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2031:9-16;%201%20Samuel%2016:11-13;%20Philippians%201:1-11

Psalm 31:9-16

⁹ Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
    my soul and body with grief. ¹⁰ My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.
¹¹ Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors and an object of dread to my closest friends— those who see me on the street flee from me. ¹² I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. ¹³ For I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against me and plot to take my life. ¹⁴ But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” ¹⁵ My times are in your hands;   deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me. ¹⁶ Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.

                                                                   Deliver Us

Have you ever been Under Attack? Have you ever lived life and Everything seemed “complicated”? Your best intentions and efforts are met with a snicker or a sneer. YOU smile and the response is a stare. YOU work overtime for underpay and everybody acts like that is what YOU were supposed to do. Life is filled with a constant barrage of Being under attack and that is frustrating. People are “going through” and looking for answers. We need a deliverer to deliver us from this turmoil we are in.

The writer in Psalm 31 is under attack. The whole Psalm is pointing to getting help from GOD. The writer speaks of rescue, refuge, and resilience. The writer, like us, is experiencing challenges and simply wants it to be over soon. feeling unjustly attacked,  the writer calls on GOD to come quickly and rescue him from the shenanigans of shame. The writer exclaims, ^{9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. 10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.}  The writer is in turmoil. The pain is evident and those who read this text can read and identify. With mass shootings, recovering from a pandemic, and increased mental health challenges, people are crying out, “LORD have mercy”. Like the Psalmist many of us are at wits end begging YHWH to cut us some slack and grant us relief. Whereas there are those who are playing the blame game I encourage you to know blame never fixed anything in the moment. Deal with the situation. Deal with YOUR feelings. As long as we can blame somebody else and ask GOD for help to defeat an enemy, we can easily overlook the enemy and the friend of me in the inner me.

Lent provides us an opportunity to be introspective and identify how we may be complicit in our own struggles and also take back our power by being honest with ourselves. YHWH already knows all there is to know about us so the only deception is of ourselves. Take the time today to look deep and ask GOD to deliver us from evil and shine down the light of endless love upon us. Friends we need mercy, grace, and and a whole lot of love.

Point to Ponder: How are you feeling. How are you dealing? What did you do today that you can celebrate?  What can we do to identify our traps and blind spots in our faith?