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Sunday Inspiration from Pray the Psalms
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, September 16, 2007
Excerpt
There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.
Psalm 76:3
Click here to read all of Psalm 76
Prayer
O Lord, it seems sadly ironic that this psalm celebrates Your vanquishing the weapons of war in Jerusalem. Even today, this city You once chose for Your dwelling place is in the center of tension, a place where violence looms, a locus of hostility and division. The weapons of war still threaten Jerusalem and its people, much as they did ages ago.
There have been times, Lord, when You have broken the implements of warfare, times when You have granted peace to Jerusalem. The memory of these occasions is sweet, to be sure. But it also gives us a yearning for the peace yet to come. We long for the day when You will finally reign in full upon the earth, destroying weapons, decimating oppression, and ushering in the peace that You alone can give.
In the meanwhile, Lord, we celebrate what You have done in the past, even as we look forward to what is yet to come. We pray for Your kingdom to come. We pray for You to come. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
Postscript
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:1-4
Glorious are you, more majestic than the everlasting mountains.
Psalm 76:4
Photo: Grand Tetons, 2004
Topics: Sunday Inspiration |
3 Responses to “Sunday Inspiration from Pray the Psalms”
Comments
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September 17th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Truly inspiring. Thank you. I have been handed a very, very difficult assignment at school, and I needed something beautiful and inspiring and pure to reflect upon. Thank you. Amy
September 17th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Sorry if this is a double post. If so, it is because I did not log in properly the first time.
Truly inspiring. Thank you. I have been handed a very, very difficult assignment at school, and I needed something beautiful and inspiring and pure to reflect upon. Thank you. Amy
September 17th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Given the kinds of violence we’ve seen from the children of Abraham (The two biological and the one that considers herself grafted in), it’s hard for me to deal with violent images in the Old Testament. Yikes.
If I was not a part of one of these traditions, I’d have a hard time not thinking they were all terribly violent by nature.
And yet it is our Testament, correct? Our scriptures. They take a lot of reading and working to understand them.