# 25 2022 Dev. Psalm 141:1. A Urgent Prayer! Read all of Psalm 141 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.
Psalm 141:1 “I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me; hear me when I call to you.”
Intro. Ps.138-145 are eight Davidic Psalms of Prayer/ Praise leading close to the end of the Psalter. The series is framed by two praise Psalms, Ps.138 praising God for answered prayer and Ps.145 praising God for His care of all of creation.
Psalm 141 is a prayer for deliverance from the wicked and from wicked ways. The center of the prayer is v5, Let the righteous direct us, punishment is a kindness, “rebuke…is oil on my head.”
Vs.1,2 “I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me;” This prayer is an urgent plea: “come quickly”. The Psalmist appeals to current (Old Test.) worship practices: “May my prayer…like incense” stand before you. May lifting my hands “be like the evening sacrifice.” May our prayers identify with worship today!
Vs.3,4 “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;” Our mouths speak out of our hearts. Guard our hearts, Lord, control our speech and our actions. May evildoers not prosper.
V.5 The center of the prayer is very personal: “Let a righteous man strike me- that is a kindness; let him rebuke me- that is oil on my head.” The Psalmist prays for physical intervention, for verbal correction, he will not refuse it. In other words, in the time of the author and hopefully today, he/she will listen to correction. Are we listening to the ultimate correction, God in His Word? Are we accepting the love and grace of Jesus? Are we responding to the guidance of the Holy Spirit?
Vs.6,7 These two verses give us insight into the consequence of doing evil. The world makes light of God’s justice, after all, where is God? Well, there is a God and He is a God of justice but not only justice, He is also a God of love, mercy and of grace. God is in control of history, He has a plan, a purpose for mankind. Thank you, Lord Jesus!
Vs.8,9,10 “But my eyes are fixed on you.” This is the bottom line at the time of this prayer and for our time today, “in you I (we) take refuge.” Keep us safe from the evils of the worldly and the world. There are traps and snares all around us, like, online gambling, casinos, availability of drugs on line and in the streets to mention a few. There are too many pitfalls to list here but we all are responsible to trust God to protect us. But my (our) eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord; in you I (we) take refuge…” Trust God for the future!
© cgvanwyk, all rights reserved.
Heavenhigh 