Lord, Lift me out of My Pit of Destruction

Lord, lift me out of my pit of destruction.

Set me free from the cycles of depression

I so frequently experience.

Rescue me from a condemning conscience;

 It fills me with doubt and despair.
 

Change my patterns of negative thinking;

 I habitually fall into distrust, worry, and fear.

Stir me from the bog of apathy

into which I frequently sink.
 

Shed your light on my pathway,

and give me firmness in my footsteps.

      --Jane Ault, Summarizing the words of the Psalmist

Go to Dark Gethsemane

Jesus' Sufferings and Death

269 — A place called Gethsemane.

269A place called Gethsemane.7s., 6 lines. 

1 GO to dark Gethsemane,

Ye that feel the tempter's power;

Your Redeemer's conflict see;

Watch with Him one bitter hour;

Turn not from His griefs away;

Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

 

2 Follow to the judgment-hall,

View the Lord of life arraign'd;

Oh, the wormwood and the gall!

Oh, the pangs His soul sustain'd!

Shun not suffering, shame, or loss;

Learn of Him to bear the cross.

 

3 Calvary's mournful mountain climb

There, adoring at His feet,

Mark that miracle of time,

God's own sacrifice complete.

"It is finish'd!" hear Him cry;

Learn of Jesus Christ to die.

 

4 Early hasten to the tomb,

Where they laid His breathless clay;

All is solitude and gloom:

Who hath taken Him away?

Christ is risen:—He meets our eyes;

Saviour, teach us so to rise.

James Montgomery, 1825.

Our Own Hymn-Book: A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Public, Social, and Private Worship.

Encounters with Others

God is waiting to be gracious to us! “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”
(Isaiah 30:18)


God waits to be gracious to us and the Bible tells us to also wait for the Lord: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
(Psalm 27:12)


We shall not grow weary of waiting upon God if we remember how long and how graciously he once waited for us. [1] “And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.”
Hebrews 6:15


We are waiting “for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” We pray for people and wait for their salvation. It is good for us to wait for him. “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25-26)

I had a routine blood draw this morning. The lab worker was named Josh. I talked about my wonderful son-in-law, also named Josh, who recently bought me software. I told him I used LOGOS software for Bible study and asked if was interested in the Bible.

“Uh, no,” he answered.

And that might have been the end of it; I was with him for less than two minutes. But I add people like him to my “Encounters” prayer list: I type “Josh, the phlebotomist at St. Jo’s” into my prayer calendar. I set it to remind me to pray for him regularly. Some people have no one else to pray for them, so I never take encounters like this as “casual” encounters. Rather they are assignments to me from God to pray for those who may have no one else to pray for them.

Lord draw Josh to you; may he answer when you call. Put your fire into his heart; may he burn with desire to know and serve you. May he be filled with a passion to read your Word.

I do not know what the results of such prayers may yield in God’s kingdom, but I wait for the Lord, and this I know: it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer (Psalm 38:13b). “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” Galatians 5:5

“[W]e are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. [2] We are waiting for the appearing ot the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)

“Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!”

[1]Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.) (July 8 PM). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

[2]The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (2 Pe 3:13). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.