Reflections
“Turn
toward me, and have pity on me,
give
your strength to your servant.”
We
pray, as does our psalmist David,
for
the Lord to attend to the 'sound of
our
pleading.' We take refuge in the same
heavenly
Father that Christ did. Even
when
we are far away, the Lord has pity
on
us. Even though we forget Him, He
does
not forget us. He searches our hearts;
He
gathers us into His mansion
at
the end of the age.
He
empowers us to fight a good fight.
God
saves us from our enemies, and also
from
ourselves. All we have to do is
open
our hearts to Him and do His will
by
striving to be saved. For God gives
His
children good ground for hope, and
He
permits repentance for their sins.
(Wisdom
12:19, 1st reading)
Our
Psalmist never stops asking,
and
He is rightly sure,
that
God could never stop giving.
God
could scarcely resist our prayers.
Even
though we do not know how to pray
as
we ought, as St Paul says, the Holy Spirit
Himself
intercedes with inexpressible
groanings.
(Romans 8:26, 2nd
reading)
The
Lord is present to us;
He
listens; He pardons; He saves.
God's
goodness overwhelms us.
Even
nonbelievers will come to worship
God
and glorify His name.
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist is overwhelmed with the goodness of our merciful Lord.
Give an example of how God has attended to the sound of your pleading
and done a wondrous deed in your life.
2. The Psalm is a prayer that God will strengthen and empower His servant.
2. The Psalm is a prayer that God will strengthen and empower His servant.
Speak of how the Lord has empowered you to do His will.
Our psalmist affirms that our Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, and a forgiving God. That’s why we should turn to Him and plead for His mercy on us. God permits repentance for our sins whenever we turn to Him and cry out to Him with our troubles and pains. David knows how to pray and his prayer sustains him in difficult times, "There is none like you, Lord.”
ReplyDeleteAnd the Lord alone is worthy. It is true. I share David’s affirmation; there is no God like Him, always forgiving and listening to my prayers in times of desperation and spiritual darkness. God delivers me from my sins whenever I lift up my heart and glorify His name and praise Him for all the marvelous deeds He has done in my life.
When I pray I acknowledge the greatness and goodness of God, and if I pray with all my heart, He listens to my cry for mercy, and then I am able to walk in His truth with an undivided heart. Then God will strengthen my faith to do His will. Prayer is the channel to God that clears my doubt and confusion. For example, He always renews my spirit when I pray in tongues; He gives me a desire to have a right relationship with Him. He is truly a forgiving, gracious God. In this way He prepares my heart to be His servant.