Praying the Psalms- Psalm 17

Jenny has begun a journey of praying her way through the Psalms that I have decided to join. Each weekend, we will pray through one psalm and post our prayer and/or meditations on that psalm as the Lord leads. Check out her journey and join us in Praying the Psalms.


Psalm 17


I am involved in a small group of women from my children's school who meet every other week to discuss issues of faith.  The purpose of the group is to provide a safe forum for discussions about God and Christianity.  From what I have gathered from these discussions, there is a mix of women who are believers, non believers and women who are seeking God in this group.  It has been a wonderful experience for me as I have gotten to share my faith with mothers from our school whom I have known for years now but with whom I had not yet had opportunity to discuss the things of God.  Right now, we are going through Phillip Yancy's DVD series on Prayer.  In yesterday's session, Philip spoke of a friend who was an alcoholic that had been sober for some time.  However, every morning when he woke, his first experience was a desire for  Jack Daniels.  This man had been praying fervently for God to remove this desire from him for some time.  In frustration, He cried out to the Lord and asked Him why He had not done so.  This man then heard God clearly tell him that He had not removed the desire because it was precisely that struggle that caused the man to stay in constant communion with Him!  


I was blown away.  I have been thinking much lately about why God has not given me complete victory in some areas- areas that I have been praying fervently about for some time.  I will be posting more about these things soon so I won't get into detail here but the idea that God leaves us with some of our faults and temptations so that we will continue to depend on Him and seek Him out spoke volumes to me.  


It was in this frame of mind that I came to read Psalm 17 this morning.  I love the fervency and desperation of David's prayer.  

Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea;
       listen to my cry.
       Give ear to my prayer—
       it does not rise from deceitful lips.May my vindication come from you;
       may your eyes see what is right.

I love his raw honesty, how he reminds God of His promises, 

I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;
       give ear to me and hear my prayer.
Show the wonder of your great love,
       you who save by your right hand
       those who take refuge in you from their foes.
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
       hide me in the shadow of your wings

how He reminds God how he has been faithful in following His ways, 

As for the deeds of men—
       by the word of your lips
       I have kept myself
       from the ways of the violent.
My steps have held to your paths;
       my feet have not slipped.

how he points out the evil of his enemies. 

from the wicked who assail me,
       from my mortal enemies who surround me.

They close up their callous hearts,
       and their mouths speak with arrogance.

They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
       with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.

 They are like a lion hungry for prey,
       like a great lion crouching in cover.

I believe God loves David's prayer, too.  He loves when we come to him honestly- pouring out our hearts to Him without trying to hide or gloss things over.  He loves to commune with us.  He knows that often we will only come to Him faithfully and fervently in prayer when we are in desperate situations and so He will leave us there for a season.  Not to harm us but to prosper us, to give us a hope and a future.  


Lord, help me to come to You in prayer in honesty and fervency and faith.  Help me to accept the season You have placed me in, knowing that You are doing a good work.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.