Ash Wednesday
Our Father, Who
Art in Heaven (Jesus Prays in Gethsemane)
Psalm 142
5 March
Wyneken Memorial Lutheran School
God of might and
compassion. You sent Your Word into the world as a watchman to announce the
dawn of salvation. Do not leave us in the depths of our sins, but listen to
Your Church pleading for the fullness of Your redeeming grace; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen+[1]
Today we begin a forty-day pilgrimage, which we call Lent. With the Savior,
we will walk with Him as we observe His passion, suffering, torture and death.
Lent is a process. It is a six-week spiritual adventure where we
become reflective and introspective. We will focus during the next six-weeks on
two points; our need and the Savior’s solution. To help us in this process we
will focus this year on the Lord’s Prayer.
Certainly, we all need to pray. The Lord’s Prayer is a simple prayer
– it was given to us by our Lord as a model prayer – as he has taught us so to
pray. However, this prayer is a profound and serious prayer. We meditate on it
daily. Today we begin with the Introduction: “Our Father Who art in heaven…”
King David was a complex individual. He knew great success. He was
acquainted with failure. He was placed into the seat of power. He encountered
enemies; even those from his own family. He knew of those would try to wrestle
the kingdom away from him. He experienced every human emotion imagined.
The Psalms are a window to the human soul. As prayers, they direct
our focus to God. As Scripture, they are the answers to our prayers. David was
a man of pray. He invites us also to come to the Father. In Psalm 142, we see
David as he prays total and complete. He was Distressed, Desperate, Discerning, and Delivered.
1.
Consider David the
Distressed Man. Psalm 142:1-2
A. In his distress, David
gives his spoken request to God: “I cry
to the Lord with my voice; to the Lord I make loud supplication.” God would
by these words tenderly invite us to believe that He is our true Father, and that
we are His true children, so that we may will all boldness and confidence as
Him as dear children ask their dear Father.[2]
B. As David cried to the
Father, he makes a specific request.
1. There is a complaint on his lips, David
says, “I pour out my complaint to Him.” (v.2a)
2. It appears to be a complaint about his life
as he says, “I declare before Him my
trouble.” Do we take our troubles to the Lord? David encourages us to do so
– to take every trouble to the Lord.
Transition: David was a distressed
man. He was also a desperate man. Desperate times did not cause David to take
desperate measures. He was a man of quiet resolve. He took it to the Lord in
prayer.
2.
David was a Desperate
Man. Psalm 142:3-4
In his prayers, he was
forced to face his doubts and his fears.
A. David was truly fearful.
1. There were pressures
within. David felt the pressure. “When my
spirit was overwhelmed within me. Then you knew my path.” (v.3b) The Lord
knew what troubles us internal as we as external.
2. There were troubles
without. “They have secretly set a snare for me” (3b) People were lying in wait
for him. There were enemies in David’s life. He needed his Lord to sustain him.
B. In his desperation,
David felt all alone. He felt he was friendless. He was treated with social and
spiritual indifference.
1. He found himself
treated with social indifference. “I look
on my right hand and see for there is no one who acknowledges me.” His
friends abandoned him.
2. David also knew of
spiritual indifference. “Refuge has failed
me. No one cares for my soul.”
Transition: Truly David found in
his plight a desperate situation. He turned to the Father in the depths of his
despair. As he opened himself to the Lord, he was given discernment and
discretion.
3.
David as he prayed was
a Discerning Man. Psalm 142:5-6
As he wrestled, pleaded
and cried out to God he found two eternal truths -
A. He found a satisfying
portion, “I cried out to You, O Lord; I
said, You are my refuge.” (v.5)
B. He found a secure
protection, “Attend to my cry, for I am
brought low. Deliver me from my persecutors for they are stronger than I.”
(v.6)
Transition: In this season of
Lent, we need to pray. In our prayers, may we not only speak but also listen as
the Lord extends to us His mercy and grace.
4.
As David came to the
Lord, he found himself a Delivered Man. Psalm 142:7
He was brought into
the prospect of freedom, fellowship, and fullness.
A. He was directed to
freedom – “Bring my soul out of prison,” (7a) David cried. Our freedom comes at
the cross where our Savior suffered and died.
B. As he found this freedom,
he was brought into a newfound fellowship of knowing and experiencing God. As
we know of this hope and freedom, we rejoice with David, “that I may praise Your name.” (v.7b)
C. There is help in the
Lord; “And He will redeem Israel from all
his iniquities.” (Psalm 130:8) From
all their sins, Israel had been redeemed.
From all of your sins, the Lord Jesus has freed you. From the root of
all of our troubles, the Lord has rescued us. As a result, the consequences of
sin have been settled. Jesus took the world’s sin to Himself and has dealt with
our sin problem at the cross. The greatest of all hopes has been fulfilled in
Christ. We are now free from the power of sin and set apart to be a new and
redeemed people.
D.
This brought David into the fullness of having a loving relationship
with God our heavenly Father. David concludes, “The righteous shall surround me for You shall deal bountifully with me.”
(v.7)
As we begin this season and discipline of Lent we keep our eyes upon
Jesus, our Lord and our Redeemer. In our cries for mercy, He hears us. In His
mercy, He saves and redeems us.
Words –1,081
Reading Ease – 79%
Grade
level -4.5
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