1 O Lord my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,
2 or like a lion they will tear me apart;
they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.
Lord,
This is a dangerous world with forces that threaten our very lives. I am grateful to live in a place where personal enemies and competitors are less likely to physically threaten. I walk the streets in relative safety. I prepare to vote without fear of political violence. I engage in theological and moral debate with no fear of being burned or flayed as a heretic. I know that there are places in our world where violence of every kind is used to assure moral and religious uniformity and political acquiescence. There are streets not safe to walk or even to drive. For the safety and security that we have, thank you. Grant us wisdom to protect the institutions that grant the security with freedom that we now enjoy.
Lord, grant your safety to all who live in perpetual danger. Grant the wisdom and courage and resources that are necessary to create safe places where you’re your people may thrive and where the children may grow to become the women and men that you intend in their births.
Yesterday, I visited with ladies whose very lives are being pursued by cancer. Please take care of them. I pray for their healing, both for physical healing and for the healing of soul and spirit that will embolden them to face whatever must be faced with the sure hope of your grace in all things, in all places and in all times.
Lord, in you I take refuge. I seek your refuge for those of your people who are in danger.
PERSONAL PRAYERS
Ask for God’s deliverance for those whose lives are being threatened in unfair and unjust ways.
Ask God for help with that which may be a threat to you.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “Thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my ally with harm
or plundered my foe without cause,
5 then let the enemy pursue and overtake me,
trample my life to the ground,
and lay my soul in the dust. Selah
6 Rise up, O Lord , in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake, O my God;a you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you,
and over it take your seatb on high.
8 The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord , according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous,
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God.
10 God is my shield,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who has indignation every day.
12 If one does not repent, Godc will whet his sword;
he has bent and strung his bow;
13 he has prepared his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 See how they conceive evil,
and are pregnant with mischief,
and bring forth lies.
15 They make a pit, digging it out,
and fall into the hole that they have made.
16 Their mischief returns upon their own heads,
and on their own heads their violence descends.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and sing praise to the name of the Lord , the Most High.
[1]
a Or awake for me
b Cn: Heb return
c Heb he
[1] The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1996, c1989. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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