Salutation
... in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen. Through the prayers of our
holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King: Prayer to the Holy
Ghost
O
Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill
all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and
cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in
the cave.
I cried to the Lord with my voice. With my voice
to the Lord I made my supplication. I
poured out my complaint before Him. I showed
before Him my trouble.
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
then You knew my path. In the way where
I walked have they secretly laid a snare for me.
I looked on [my] right hand, and beheld, [there
was] no man who would know me. Refuge
failed me. No man cared for my soul. I cried to You, Lord. I said, “You [are] my refuge, my portion in the land
of the living.
Attend to my cry: for I am brought very low.
Deliver me from my persecutors: for they
are stronger than I. Bring my soul from
prison, so that I may praise Your name.” The righteous shall circle about me: for You shall
deal bountifully with me.
________
If you have been
blessed or helped by any of these meditations in Psalms, please repost or share
all of them.
[1] David
is at Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1; 2 Samuel 23:13; 1 Chronicles
11:15), or his prayer analyzes the lessons of Adullam.
In the first paragraph David announces his
prayer formally: possibly as a Todah. It
was probably delivered aloud and officially, in public. It is a celebration of victory over his
enemies who plagued him when he was camped at Adullam: either Saul, or later
the Philistines.
The report of the content of the prayer
follows: short, sweet, to the point. Lord,
I’m over my head. You know the
situation. I can’t leave Adullam without
being ambushed. How appropriate for
modern life. Lord, I’m over my head. You know the situation. I can’t leave the house, go to work, church,
or the grocery without being ambushed. I
can’t even get a drink from the town well.
David surveys the situation looking for a helping
hand, and outside of his little band can’t find anybody willing or strong
enough to drive off his enemy. In his
desperation he turns to God for help.
David is being brutally honest here; he pulls no punches; he spares
himself no dignity. When all else fails,
we turn to God. Is David suggesting that
he and we would be better off, had we turned to God to begin with: this is very
likely the case, in that, David, the man of prayer, is teaching his nation, how
and why to pray. “Lord, Teach us to pray.”
David finishes his prayer in the present tense. The lessons learned at Adullam have eternal
applications. Wherever David is,
probably at Jerusalem now, in the temple, he encounters discouraging depressing
time; he still has powerful persecutors; he still feels trapped, as he was at
Adullam. He does not ask for deliverance
for personal benefit, but so that he may worship Yahweh. His life is completely fulfilled in the
worship of God, with the congregation worshipping around him. This is the bounty, the love of his
life. Is that the way we feel about
going to church?
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