“Keep me…from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.” Ps17.8 ESV
As I look out my window, I have no enemies surrounding me this morning. I sit secure in my comfortable suburban home. Yet, the Spirit reminds me that the words of this prayer hold true for thousands of others in the world. Unspeakable horrors in places like Darfur, where thousands have been driven from their homes, teenage girls fear being raped every night and boys live under the threat of slavery. For them this prayer expresses a plea for mercy and protection from dangers which most of us can only imagine. So let us imagine it and pray with and for them as we may. And, if we pray as we should, there is no need to change the prayer from “keep me” to “keep them.” We are connected to them and they to us in the fellowship of all who look to God for mercy and grace. Let us be that trembling girl collecting firewood alone in the dark, that frightened boy hiding from the rebel forces that come at night and let us put on the shoes of sympathetic prayers. 3/10/2009 Conversations Within ts
Just me trying to be honest with God.
