Psalm 5: A Prayer for Our Country and World
Franklin Graham has called for a day of prayer and fasting tomorrow, October 25, for all believers to call on God for His help with the upcoming election. I hope all believers will humble themselves before God, calling on Him for His help not just with the election but with everything - the moral condition of our country, the breakdown of our society, the fear that haunts us all, the brokenness all around us as we humans implode and race towards wickedness and destruction, etc. Everything is going wrong all over the place, and we need more than ourselves to fix it. We need God.
Anyway, as I was reading Psalm 5 this morning, I realized what a fitting prayer it is for our country, our world, right now. And so I am writing it here, altered slightly to be a prayer from all believers.
Sadly, I think we are past the point of repair. I think our world has broken down so much that the only real hope left, unless God chooses to intervene wildly and miraculously, is that Jesus comes back again soon. And so my prayer is usually not much more than "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." (I think God's allowing this breakdown to get people off the fence, to force them to choose a side, precisely because Jesus is coming back soon. And if He's not, then God help us all!) But still, I found this Psalm to be very fitting for desperate times like these. Pray it out loud with me:
Give ear to our words, O Lord, consider our sighing.
Listen to our cries for help, our King and our God, for to You we pray.
In the morning, O Lord, You hear our voices; in the morning we lay our requests before You and wait in expectation.
You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with You the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors.
But we believers, by Your great mercy, will come into Your house; in reverence will we bow down toward Your holy temple.
Lead us, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of our enemies - make straight Your way before us.
Not a word from their mouths can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.
Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against You.
But let all of us who take refuge in You be glad; let us ever sing for joy.
Spread Your protection over us, that we who love Your name may rejoice in You.
For surely, O Lord, You bless the righteous; You surround them with Your favor as with a shield.
(And for those unbelievers who get angry about this prayer, remember that you don't believe in or care about God anyway. You don't think there is any power in prayer. So why should a prayer to God bother you?)
