Psalm 141
In the last Psalm there was a list of people who David wanted to avoid too much contact.
This Psalm, also attributed to David, is a bit of the opposite - where a rebuke from a righteous person is actually a blessing.
If memory serves, verse 2 of this prayer forms part of a daily office said by those in holy orders.
"My my prayer be set before you like incense, may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice"
Personally I don't go in for "bells and smells" at church, but there is a really nice image of how God finds prayers in the picture of rising incense here in this Psalm.
The next bit of the Psalm is interesting to me - If I am honest with myself, I probably need to pray this more often.
Set a guard over my mouth, LORD, keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies
What would you do if, for example, the Archbishop of Canterbury were to hit you? Or the Pope? or Mother Theresa of Calcutta? Would you regard it as a kindness? - David did.
Let a righteous person strike me = that is a kindness, let them rebuke me - that is oil on my head.
In my daily bible reading I'm currently reading the letter of St Paul - his letters contain their fair amount of "knocking heads together in a metaphorical sense. How would I have felt if I received a letter like that? Hopefully as a blessing and a challenge to live better
The end of the Psalm talks about the wicked leaders being thrown over cliffs and their broken bones scattered as if by a plough
David's prayer is that he keeps his eyes fixed on God , and asks God to be his refuge and to keep him safe from traps set by wicked people and more that the wicked would be caught in their own traps, while he passes by in safety.
In the last Psalm there was a list of people who David wanted to avoid too much contact.
This Psalm, also attributed to David, is a bit of the opposite - where a rebuke from a righteous person is actually a blessing.
If memory serves, verse 2 of this prayer forms part of a daily office said by those in holy orders.
"My my prayer be set before you like incense, may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice"
Personally I don't go in for "bells and smells" at church, but there is a really nice image of how God finds prayers in the picture of rising incense here in this Psalm.
The next bit of the Psalm is interesting to me - If I am honest with myself, I probably need to pray this more often.
Set a guard over my mouth, LORD, keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies
What would you do if, for example, the Archbishop of Canterbury were to hit you? Or the Pope? or Mother Theresa of Calcutta? Would you regard it as a kindness? - David did.
Let a righteous person strike me = that is a kindness, let them rebuke me - that is oil on my head.
In my daily bible reading I'm currently reading the letter of St Paul - his letters contain their fair amount of "knocking heads together in a metaphorical sense. How would I have felt if I received a letter like that? Hopefully as a blessing and a challenge to live better
The end of the Psalm talks about the wicked leaders being thrown over cliffs and their broken bones scattered as if by a plough
David's prayer is that he keeps his eyes fixed on God , and asks God to be his refuge and to keep him safe from traps set by wicked people and more that the wicked would be caught in their own traps, while he passes by in safety.
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