A Prayer When Overwhelmed
Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: i will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. For thou, O God; hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt prolong the king's life; and his years for as many generations. He shall abide before God for ever; O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.
Eight wonderful verses.
For the longest time, I didn't pay too much attention to the punctuation during my Bible reading. In college, while attempting to earn my English minor, I had to take a class called Advanced Grammar or as I loved to refer to it, "Angie Good's senior year thorn in the flesh." :) Oh, how this class vexed my very being. Day after day of journal writing (ummmm...now I have an online journal...my blog :)) and diagramming sentence after sentence (and now I diagram sentences in my head -- Aaaaaaaaah! Make it stop!). The very class/trial that brought me to my knees is something I use now all the time. Who would've thunk? [Wink, wink.]
So...where was I? Oh, yes...punctuation. Sooooo I hope this doesn't take away from the beauty of this Psalm, but as I was typing it -- I really pondered the "breaks" and where I thought they should be...the phrasing of God's word. Here's what I came up with...
Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.
From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee,
when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever:
I will trust in the covert of thy wings.
Selah.
For thou, O God; hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.
Thou wilt prolong the king's life; and his years for as many generations.
He shall abide before God for ever;
O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A couple of things that spoke to my heart...
v. 3 ~ I don't think that the word "shelter" here is implying a cardboard box. I have to believe that when God gives us a shelter that it's going to be a brick house. Stable. Sturdy. Weatherproof. He's a good God and too loving to not care about us.
Also in v. 3 - a strong tower ~ not made out of Jenga blocks. This tower will withstand the hollowing winds of our trials.
v. 4 ~ the tabernacle. I find great comfort being at church. Whether it's in the sanctuary singing hymns and praises or listening to God's Word being preached. There's also comfort being around God's people. I'm so thankful for my church family!!! They have showered me with love and support.
At the end of v. 4 ~ Selah. I like to think of this word as a closure word. It's makes me pause and re-read what I previously read to that one little word, Selah.
v. 7 ~ abiding before God for FOREVER...what a comfort. What a wonderful concept to wrap our brains around.
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