Cry Out to the Lord!
[Psalm 119:145-152]
In the spiritual life of a Christian, if there is an indispensable spiritual giant related to the life of prayer, it would likely be George Müller. He was known as a man of prayer whose prayers were answered more than 50,000 times. He is reported to have said about his faith: “My faith is like that of all believers. It is faith that walks in the way of the Lord and grows little by little each day. My faith is not a special faith” (Internet). Like George Müller, who cried out to God with faith and received answers to his prayers more than 50,000 times, we too must be people of prayer. We must be people who pray with faith.
In Psalm 119:145, we read the words of the psalmist: "I cry out with my whole heart; answer me, O Lord, and I will keep Your statutes." Based on this verse, I want to reflect on prayer under the title "Cry Out to the Lord!" and share three reflections on prayer that I believe the Lord is teaching us.
First, how should we pray? (Method of Prayer)
In Psalm 119:145, we see that the psalmist cried out to the Lord "with my whole heart." Like the psalmist, the more we face dangers, the more we must focus on faith and prayer rather than worry and anxiety (Park Yun-seon). What danger was the psalmist facing? Look at verse 150: "They draw near who follow after wickedness; they are far from Your law." The situation the psalmist faced was that those who did not follow the law of the Lord but pursued evil were drawing near to him. Since he loved the law of the Lord, those who hated it were approaching him. Why did the wicked approach the psalmist, who loved the law of the Lord? The reason is that they wanted to lead him away from the law of the Lord.
In such a situation, instead of being fearful, the psalmist believed that the Lord was near to him (verse 151) and cried out to God with his whole heart. He meditated on the Lord's word day and night (verse 148). He cried out, holding onto the truth of God's word with all his heart (verse 149). When he cried out, the psalmist relied on the Lord's lovingkindness (verse 149).
Just like the psalmist, when the wicked approach us, we must cry out to the Lord with all our heart. We must draw near to the Lord in prayer, and we must cry out to Him, trusting in His lovingkindness. We must also hold onto His truth and cry out to the Lord in full faith.
Second, what should we pray for? (Content of Prayer)
The content of the prayer that the psalmist cried out to God is expressed in Psalm 119:146, which says: "I cried to You; save me, and I will keep Your testimonies." In short, the psalmist cried out to God asking for His salvation. He pleaded with God to save him from the wicked who turned away from the Lord's law. What was the purpose of his plea for salvation? The purpose was to keep God's word faithfully. Look at the second half of verses 145 and 146: "...I will keep Your statutes" (145b), "...I will keep Your testimonies" (146b). Dr. Park Yun-seon said: "The purpose of a believer asking for salvation in times of distress is not to live long in this world, but to keep God's word even more faithfully." The purpose for which we ask God for salvation is to keep His word more faithfully. With this proper purpose, we must ask God to save us.
Finally, third, when should we pray? (Time of Prayer)
In Psalm 119:147, the psalmist says that he "cried out to God before the dawn." He offered an urgent and fervent prayer to God even before the dawn. He desired the Lord's salvation (146) and the Lord's word (147) so much that he prayed in such a way. With this same fervency, we must, like Jesus, go to a solitary place at dawn and cry out to God.
We must cry out to the Lord with all our hearts. We should cry out relying on the Lord's mercy and according to His word. As we cry out, we should pray for the Lord's salvation. And in our desire to keep God's word more faithfully, we must ask God with all our hearts for His salvation. We must also, like the psalmist and Jesus, cry out to God at the break of dawn. When we do so, we will come to realize that the Lord is near to us (151). And we will inevitably confess that all the Lord's commandments are truth (151). We will stand firm on the Lord's word, which is our eternal foundation, and live by keeping His word.
Desiring to be a person of prayer,
James Kim, Pastor
(Praying that we may enjoy even more the meditation on the Word and prayer during early morning prayer meetings in the Lord)