HEAR MY PRAYER, LORD

Psalms 16:1-9 LXX (17:1-9)

A prayer of David.
Listen, O Lord of my righteousness;
Attend to my supplication;
Give ear to my prayer that is not with deceitful lips.
From Your face let my judgment come;
Let my eyes behold uprightness.
You tested my heart, when You visited me in the night;
You tried me in the fire, and found nothing unjust in me.
That my mouth might not speak of the works of men,
I held to hard ways because of the words of Your lips.
Restore my steps in Your paths,
That my footsteps may not slip.
I cried out, because You listened to me, O God;
Incline Your ear to me, and hear my words.
Magnify Your mercies,
O You who save those who hope in You
From those who rise up against Your right hand.
Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
In the shelter of Your wings, You will shelter me
From the face of the ungodly who trouble me.

Encouraging Words

A prayer for those desiring to be seen, and heard, by God. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

THE WAYS OF LIFE

Psalms 15:11 LXX (16:11)

You made known to me the ways of life;
You will fill me with gladness in Your presence;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Encouraging Words

If we take the time to slow down in our lives, get our egos out of the way, and let God do His thing in our lives, He will make known the ways of life to us and they will be so much better than our ways. God will fill us with an immeasurable gladness when we are in His presence. And we will find everylasting pleasures at His right hand. Glory be to God!

Saint of the Week

St. Amphilochios Makris of Patmos

I WILL BLESS THE LORD

Psalms 15:7-9 LXX (16:7-9)

I will bless the Lord who caused me to understand;
Moreover, until night my reins also instructed me.
I saw the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
Therefore my heart was glad,
And my tongue rejoiced exceedingly;
My flesh also shall dwell in hope.

Personal Challenge

If we take the time and slow down in the midst of all the craziness that is going on around us, we will find so much that we can bless the Lord for. We will quickly recognize that He is the one who gives us understanding in the midst of chaos. He is the One who instructs us. He is always before us, even when we do not recognize it. With Him at our right hand, we are not shaken and therefore our heart is glad. With our understanding of God’s love for us, and a little bit of time focusing on Him, our tongue will rejoice exceedingly and we shall dwell in Hope. Glory be to God!

SAINTS

Psalms 15:3 LXX (16:3)

To the saints on His earth,
In them He magnified all His will.

Encouraging Words

The scriptures teach that all who follow in the footsteps of our Lord are His saints. The Psalmist reminds us that as God’s saints, we magnify His will to the world around us. If we desire to know God’s will, all we need to do is to look to the saints that have gone before us as well as those living amongst us. Glory be to God!

WHO SHALL BE IN GOD’S PRESENCE?

Psalms 14 LXX (15)

A psalm by David.
O Lord, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle?
Who shall live in Your holy mountain?
He who walks blamelessly, and works righteousness,
And speaks truth in his heart,
Who does not deceive with his tongue,
Neither does evil to his neighbor;
And does not find fault with those nearest him.
He disdains those who do evil in his presence,
But he holds in honor those who fear the Lord;
He swears an oath to his neighbor and does not set it aside.
He does not lend his money at interest,
And he does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be shaken.

Personal Challenge

David both asks, and answers, the question of all ages. Who shall live in the presence of God? The answer is clear and is rephrased by Jesus in His parable of the last judgment. So, who? Those who walk blamelessly, or above reproach. Those whose works are righteous in the eyes of God irregardless of what others desire. Those who speak truth from their heart, for that which comes from the mouth is an indication of the state of ones heart. Those who do not have deceitful tongues. Those who do no evil to their neighbor or finds fault with those near to him on her. Those who disdain evil in their presence but hold honor towards those who fear the Lord. Those who do not break their oaths with others or takes advantage of those that they lend to. These who do not take bribes against the innocent. These words stand as an indictment against so many in our society today who proclaim to be Christians and yet do not do the works of Christ. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

WE HOPE

Psalms 12:6 LXX (13:5-6)

But I hope in Your mercy;
My heart shall greatly rejoice in Your salvation;
I will sing to the Lord, who shows kindness to me;
I will sing to the name of the Lord Most High.

Personal Challenge

One of the prayers that is constantly uttered in the Orthodox Church is, “Lord, have mercy!”. As followers of Christ, we know that there is nothing that we can do to earn God’s love. We certainly do not deserve it. But by His wonderful grace, He shows us His mercy. We must be very careful to not grow arrogant in our relationship with God and assume that we can live however we want and still call Him our Lord. Jesus, himself, reminds us in the parable of the last judgment that our actions that flow from our gratitude for His unwarranted love and mercy towards us produce the fruit that either demonstrates that we were living for Him or not. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

BE UPRIGHT

Psalms 10:7 LXX (11:7)

The righteous Lord loves righteousness;
His face beholds the upright.

Personal Challenge

There is on anomaly showing up today in the lives of those who proclaim to be Christians (and therefore, in the modern church). It has become acceptable, almost expected, that you can lie about things in the world, cheat in interactions in the world, and live a dualistic life behaving one way at church and diametrically opposed to that way in your day to day activities in the world. This way of thinking, and behaving, is anti-Christian. Jesus demands us to be upright, righteous, in all of our actions, irregardless of whether they are done in the church or in the world. Either we live by Christian principles 24 hours a day or we are just pretending. A follower of Christ does not do just pretending. A follower of Christ does not do that just part of the time. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have many on me, the sinner!

HE HEARS

Psalms 9:38-39 LXX (10:17-18)

The Lord hears the desire of the poor;
Your ear heeds the readiness of their heart,
To judge the orphan and the humble,
That man may no longer increase his great boasting upon the earth.

Encouraging Words

Our God cares deeply for His creation. Whether we follow Him or not. He loves us. He knows the needs of the poor and hears their desires. He calls upon those of us who are blessed to help those in need. Do we hear Him? He knows the readiness of our hearts and equipts us when we turn to Him. In the day of His return the orphan and the humble will be judged and blessed accordingly. Glory be to God!

Saint of the Week

St. Gabriel Urgebadze