Psalms 39:12-13 (ESV)
“Hear my prayer, O LORD,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.
Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!”
Although in the inscription of this psalm we know the author (David), Psalm 39 is quite unusual in this ending. In the content of David’s song we have some notable statements, typical of a psalm of David:
1. He recognizes his sin in his life:
Psalms 39:1 (ESV)
I said, “I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2. He recognizes his end of life:
Psalms 39:4 (ESV)
“O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
3. He recognizes his only hope is in God.
Psalms 39:7 (ESV)
“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
But in the closing lines, as typical, he cries out for God for hope, as God is his only hope. But then, in the last couple of lines, there is an ending that moves us in another direction:
For I am a sojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.
Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!”
He claims two things that should matter to us in this prayer:
1. He is a sojourner (an alien) to God. Despite what he said previously he recognizes that his relationship with God, is by God’s invite. He is a guest in God’s presence.
2. He asks God to look away from him. He knows that when we look at God we see our own shame and need for grace and mercy.
In our walk with God and in our prayers, we know that we are but human. We are but flesh. We need God’s grace. If we are even to see His face, His glory, like all, we would bow down in shame. David had a relationship with God like no other. But he also had a reverence for God and saw Him as also a consuming fire.
No comments:
Post a Comment