A Prayer

Last Tuesday, at Home Group, Philip asked us to write a psalm, or a prayer. The Lord was incredibly sweet and merciful to me. Over the past few months, I have been reading Psalm 119, Job, and now Jeremiah.

I have not blogged in a while, so I was worried about how to put up all the amazing things the Lord has been mercifully showing a wretch like me. I think in one night, He let it all come out in this prayer. Almost all of this prayer is scripture. There are a few places that are my own words, or that I have changed. These are taken from the NASB.

This is my cry to Him.

MY SOUL CLEAVES TO THE DUST. REVIVE ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD!

My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to your word. Remember the word to your servant, In which You have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your word has revived me.

O Lord, do not let me wander from your commandments. Do not hide your commandments from me. My soul is crushed with longing after your ordinances at all times. Your testimonies also are my delight; they are my counselors.

My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to your word!

You are one, the Lord my God, and you formed me from the dust of the ground, and breathed into my nostrils the breath of life.

Oh, Lord, my soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to your word. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your word has revived me.

At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to you, because of your righteous ordinances. Make me a companion of all those who fear you, and of those who keep your precepts. The earth is full of your lovingkindness O Lord; teach me your statutes. Do not let me wander from your commandments. Oh, Lord, my soul cleaves to the dust, revive me according to your word.

Your hands made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.

The Lord has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death.

I know, O Lord, that your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. O may your lovingkindness comfort me.

Sustain me according to your word, that I may live; and do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Uphold me that I may be safe, that I may have regard for your statutes continually.

Oh, Lord my soul cleaves to the dust, revive me according to your word!

I cried with all my heart; answer me, O Lord! I cried to you; save me!

Let my eyes anticipate the night watches, that I may meditate on your word. Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness; revive me, O Lord, according to your word.

Oh Lord! Who are you? Who is like the Lord our God?

Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth? You raise the poor from the dust, and lift the needy from the ash heap. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory! You will bless those who fear You.

You are unique. Who can turn you? What your soul desires, that you do. You perform what is appointed for me, and many decrees are with you.

Therefore, dismay me so that they do not dismay me. I am terrified of you.

You have made my heart faint, and you, the Almighty, have dismayed me, but I am not silenced by the darkness, nor deep gloom which covers me.

For where can wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. The deep says, "It is not in me." And the sea says, "It is not with me."

Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? You understand its way, and you know its place. You saw it, and You declared it. You established it, and also searched it out.

And to man You said, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Oh, Lord, my soul cleaves to the dust, revive me according to your word!

The storm comes. Let me listen to the thunder of your voice, and the rumbling that goes out from your mouth. Under the whole heaven you let it loose, and your lightning goes to the ends of the earth. After it, a voice roars; you thunder with your majestic voice, and you do not restrain the lightning when your voice is heard. You thunder with your voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend.

You say, "Dress like a man, and get out here!" Where was I when you laid the foundation of the earth? Where was I when you set its measurements? Who enclosed the sea with doors when bursting forth, it went out from the womb, when you made a cloud its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and you placed boundaries on it, and set a bolt and doors.

And you said, "Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here your proud waves shall stop!"

"Do you not fear me? Do you not tremble in my presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it!"

Oh, Lord, my soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to your word!

Have I ever in my life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place? That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

Oh, Lord, who am I?

Let me stand in the ancient paths, and consider the wonders of You! Make us know! Make us know your power and might! And let us know that your name is the Lord!

Cursed am I if I trust in mankind, and make flesh my strength. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose trust is the Lord. My heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick! Who can understand it? Oh, Lord, you search the heart, you test the mind. I am nothing but clay in your hands.

Oh Lord! My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to your word!

Give me a heart to know you! Let me seek you with all my heart, soul, mind, body, and strength.

Oh Lord! Let me plead the cause of the afflicted and needy; is not that what it means to know you? Let me fear you, and plead the cause of the afflicted and needy.

Oh Lord! My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to your word!

Let me stand in your council and announce your words to your people. And let them turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. Let me stand in the court of your house, and speak to all those who have come to worship in your house all the words that you have commanded me to speak to them. Let me not omit a word! Let me seek the peace of my city.

Oh Lord! My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to your word!

Let the dread of you be in me, and dismay me, so that I am not dismayed by them. You have broken my yoke, and tore off my bonds, Oh Lord, let me serve!

Is this not the fast I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke? Is is not to divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into the house; when I see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide myself from my own flesh?

Then light will break out like the dawn, and recovery will speedily spring forth. Your glory will be my rear guard. Then I will call, and you will answer, I will cry, and you will say, "Here I am."

If you remove the yoke from my midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, then light will rise in darkness, and the gloom will become like midday. And you will continually guide me. You will satisfy my desire in scorched places, and give strength to my bones. I will be like a watered garden whose waters do not fail.

Oh Lord! My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to your word!

For I have seen a limit to all perfection: Your commandment is exceedingly broad. I cannot do this. My soul cleaves to the dust. I am a worm before you.

But I will not die, but live! I am not silenced by darkness, nor the deep gloom which covers me. I will not die, but live and tell of the works of the Lord.

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, you will take your stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God. Whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

Oh Lord! My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to your word!

Fix my hope on you, and purify me, just as You are pure. Remember the word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your word has revived me.

Oh Lord! My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to your word!

Amen.


Scripture taken from: Psalm 119, Genesis 2, Psalm 118, Psalm 113, Psalm 115, Job 23, Jeremiah 1, Job 38, Job 28, Job 37, Jeremiah 5, Jeremiah 16, Jeremiah 17, Jeremiah 18, Jeremiah 24, Jeremiah 22, Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 26, Jeremiah 2, Isaiah 58, Job 19, 1 John 3. This is roughly in the order they appear in the prayer, not showing repetition.