Quick Prayer

Dear God,

Please intervene tonight on behalf of the least of these and block the republicans who are trying to vote on a very bad bill regarding healthcare and the protections for the least of these. Healthcare has become a VERY personal matter for me. Please do not let the republicans get away with murder. 

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name, 

Amen

Psalm 52

The Steadfast Love of God Endures

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.

But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, "See the man who would not make God his refuge, but insisted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!" 

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

Dear God, 

What would You have me learn from this passage? The evil will be broken down forever. I will take comfort in that. The monsters who are trying to take healthcare and resources from the least of these will be broken down forever. 

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name, 

Amen

Psalm 51

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in your right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar. 

Dear God, 

What would You have me learn from this passage? Mercy. Steadfast love. Cleanse me from my sins. Wash me whiter than snow. Create a clean heart in me. Restore to me the joy of salvation. 

Psalm 50

God Himself Is Judge

The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. 

Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest. He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: "Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!" The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge!

"Hear, O my people, I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. 

"If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."

But to the wicked God says: "What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers.

"You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

"Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!" 

Dear God, 

What would You have me learn from this passage? You are judge. You and only You. 

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name, 

Amen

God Is Your Life

"...loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your father's, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." - Deuteronomy 30:20

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. - Zephaniah 3:17

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him, God is a refuge for us. - Psalm 62:8

Dear God, 

Help me to stay close to You all the time. Listening and loving are important to all relationships. Help me receive Your love fully. Don't let go of my hand. You are refuge. 

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name, 

Amen

Psalm 49

Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?

Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together! My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. 

Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. 

For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.

This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. But God will ransom my soul form the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.

Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed,—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish. 

Dear God, 

What would You have me learn from this passage? That men like Trump who boast in their riches and try to gain more riches at the expense of the least of these will end up going down to hell in the end. And that the least of these will actually one day rule over men like Trump. I take some comfort in that.

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

Psalm 48

Zion, the City of Our God

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress. 

For behold, the kings assembled, they came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight. Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor. By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so we have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever.

We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments! 

Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. 

Dear God, 

What would You have me learn from this passage? That Your love is steadfast. I will grab that now and ask again that You continue to intervene on behalf of the least of these with regard to healthcare and budgets in this country. Now the republicans are again threatening full repeal of the Affordable Care Act. What they don't understand and what the CBO is not reporting to them is the number of people who do not buy insurance through the exchanges and buy insurance directly through insurance companies. A repeal would have the effect of over 300 million people being negatively impacted rather than just 22 million. God, these republicans are making me sick to my stomach and I am sorry I ever voted for republicans at any point in my short voting life. They claim to be prolife yet are more than happy to throw people in need off their insurance plans! And yes, for some of us, we would die if we did not have insurance. Because the drug companies have priced their products so high that those of us on life sustaining medications would never be able them without insurance! Mom says, "we'll find a way." But the way is impossible with limited income. We would have to lose our home and everything in it to have the way to afford the medicine every month if I lost insurance. The republicans are pissing me off, God. And I know that word is a strong word, but sometimes strong words are needed to drive the point home. Every delay on the votes for the worse than the ACA bills. Every no vote. Every failed vote. Every not going to happen vote. Those are answered prayers to me God. Because I pray for You to intervene on behalf of the least of these in this matter. I am praying Your heart that I read about in the words of Jesus and in the Bible. I hand this over to You again. 

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name, 

Amen