Let Your Light Shine Day 4
But I will call upon God, and the LORD will save me.
At dusk, dawn, and noon I will grieve and complain, and my prayer will be heard. He will redeem my soul in peace.” Psalm 55:17-19
I absolutely feel like grieving and complaining from dusk to dawn, and even at the height of the noon day sun! This situation seems to be growing more and more dismal by the day. The tragic escalation of deaths in Italy is heartbreaking to watch, and it is also a grim warning to the rest of the world. With so much sadness and fear flowing through the global air, it is only natural to grieve and complain. However, this Psalm reminds me that I need to grieve and complain to God. Why? Because “my prayer will be heard.”
God hears our prayers. The thousands of years worth of human history that is documented in the Bible recounts many times that God heard and answered prayers. One of my favorite passages which encourages me about the fact that God answers prayers is Jeremiah 29:12-14:
“When you call me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me—oracle of the LORD—and I will change your lot.”
Jeremiah was writing in a time of great political upheaval. His mission was to warn the people of their potential demise prior to the Babylonian captivity.
Jesus himself, several hundred years after Jeremiah, told His disciples that, “Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and it shall be yours” (Mark 11:24). What a tremendous promise from the Son of God! The caveat is that we must “believe that we will receive it” first before the prayer is answered.
Other ancient traditions outside of the Judeo-Christian religions also state that faith, or belief that you will receive what you ask for, is the first step in having prayers answered. Ancient Hindu Vedic sanskrit writings, the writings of Buddha, and mystical Daoism in ancient China all point to a need for faith first in the higher mind of God before a miraculous change can be seen in the lives of humanity.
That is what we see happening here in Psalm 55. First, the writer has unshakeable faith in God, “I will call upon God, and the LORD will save me.” No doubts at all! That doesn’t mean the psalmist isn’t upset at the trouble in his life. No. He grieves and complains-- to God, in prayer. It does not mention anything about complaining to the neighbors, or his spouse, or best friend. The psalmist complains directly to God. The answered prayer comes because he believes God “will redeem my soul in peace.”
The word “redeem” has many meanings, all of them positive. One definition that I particularly like for today is “to free from what distresses or harms.” If I rephrase the Psalm using this meaning of redeem, it could read something like this: “God will free my soul from distress and harm in peace.” That is a comforting promise in today’s uncertainty.
What would my day look like if I were free from distress and harm? How would I feel if in tiny moments of the day, if I could breath in the peace of God through prayer? It won’t stop the spread of coronavirus. However, it will stop the fear in my soul, even for a few minutes. In that way, I will be able to spread peace to those with whom I share my life and my home. I believe that every little bit of peace that I can spread will help protect me from harm. So today, I hope you will join me in this prayer:
“Holy Spirit, I thank you that for thousands of years, you have shown us in the writings of your people that you do hear and answer prayers. Thank you Holy God for having the strength of the whole universe that can absorb my grieving and complaining in this difficult time. Hear my prayer, and free my soul from distress and harm. Fill me with your abundant peace today so that I can share it with all those around me. Amen.”
