1 Hear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you.
You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you.
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
6 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
listen to my cry for mercy.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call to you,
for you will answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord;
no deeds can compare with yours.
9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord;
they will bring glory to your name.
10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.
14 The arrogant are attacking me, O God;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life - men without regard for you.
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant.
17 Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
for you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
My Sharing
Verse 1 to 7 focuses on the person praying or Me. Me gives praise and glory to God, Me asks that God protects and listen to Me cries of mercy. When Me sins, Me asks for forgiveness because God is abounding in love. Me devotes his life fully to God and lays it all bare to God.
Verse 8 to 10 focuses on God. Me praises God for God is powerful. There is no other god but God alone. Me gives glory to God, just like all nations will come and give glory to God. God is glorious for He is great and has done many marvelous deeds.
Verse 11 to 17 focuses on Me wanting to be close to God and to walk in God's footsteps. Me wants to walk in the truth and the light and asks God to teach him. To those who are arrogant, Me asks for strength so the arrogant will see God's love and mercy through Me. When this is so, Me glorifies God's name forever because Me knows God never abandoned him.
For myself, I see it as three phases too. Just like there are three parts to the psalm, there are three parts to my walk with Jesus. Part 1 is the easy one. It is like a newborn child. A baby depends on the mother from birth until some years later (some longer than others, maybe some never end). If there is anything the baby needs, he just cries out for mom. When the baby does something wrong, mom is quick to forgive because he is still young and do not know.
Part 2 is a little more difficult. Praising God through words is easier, praising God through action gets a little more difficult. My first test comes June 28, 2007 as candidate/trainee for Program Manager of the church. Please pray for two other cell members and I as we learn to take on this responsibility. I suddenly feel that I will be under a magnifying glass. Oh gosh!
Part 3, well, not much I can say for the moment. I just know it is not easy for I have already experienced some difficult situations. It is not that I did not encounter difficulties previously, the difference now is I have a compass that never fails to point me in the right direction. The problem is this path almost always seems harder to follow. However, I know I am not alone for the Lord is walking with me.
God bless!
kh
