Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer;
answer me, for I need your help.Psalm 86:1
To read today’s portion of scripture, you can purchase The One Year Bible (paid link) or find the following in your Bible:
Joshua 15:1-63
Luke 18:18-43
Psalm 86:1-17
Proverbs 13:9-10
We have two passages today that complement each other nicely.
First, in Luke 18:38-39 we see a blind beggar coming to the realization that the Healer is close by. The man’s need is great; his faith in Jesus is greater. So he begins to shout to get the Lord’s attention.
The crowd, of course, has no patience for him. They try to quiet him. But then we see persistence in action. In the face of chastisement, “he only shouted louder.”
I love that. He ignores those who would stifle his cries, and only cries louder. How we need a dose of this man’s persistence. Too often our prayers are light jabs toward heaven, and when we hear no immediate response, we shrug our shoulders and go about our day.
But then there are those times when we are too weak to shout, or too full of grief to reach toward heaven. We are all too aware of our smallness, our fragility. Empty of strength and persistence, we can only ask Him to meet us here.
Whatever the Psalmist was suffering, he was in that kind of small, weak state. He couldn’t shout. All he could do was to say, “Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer.”
When Zac was little, he would sometimes tug on my arm. “Mama, come down here.” I would bend closer, and he would pull my face towards his, and whisper his great and pressing need. “Can I have candy?”
Not once did I decline the invitation to bend down and draw close. How could any parent?
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