I\u2019ll close the post with a simple prayer, trying to draw the themes together.<\/p>\n
![\"psalm](\"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/a-psalm-a-day-52-1024x1024.png\")
<\/p>\n
On the 11th of October, here’s Psalm 55:<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/sup>Listen to my prayer, O God,<\/span> 4\u00a0<\/sup>My heart is in anguish\u00a0within me;<\/span> 9\u00a0<\/sup>Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,<\/span> 12\u00a0<\/sup>If an enemy were insulting me,<\/span> 15\u00a0<\/sup>Let death take my enemies by surprise;<\/span> 16\u00a0<\/sup>As for me, I call to God,<\/span> 20\u00a0<\/sup>My companion attacks his friends;<\/span> 22\u00a0<\/sup>Cast your cares on the\u00a0Lord<\/span><\/span> But as for me, I trust in you.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n What is this Psalm about?<\/strong><\/p>\n Psalm 55 is a ‘lament Psalm’, with a significant part of the lament being about betrayal by a close friend. Commentators don’t seem to agree on\u00a0who<\/em> this friend is\/was, but it’s a betrayal that compounds the general pain and persecution of the author, likely David. The Psalm starts with an introduction to prayer, is filled with the plea and pain, and ends on a note of hope.<\/p>\n What does this Psalm teach about God?<\/strong><\/p>\n Firstly, Psalm 55 shows us that God is a God who can be cried out to, prayed to, and is listening. I’m reminded of Genesis 4:26<\/a>, where people began to ‘call on the name of The Lord’ – prayer is at its simplest the cry of a heart to God. Verse 14 is interesting in that it refers to the house of God – probably in context the temple – reminding us that God is concerned with the gathering of his people, their worship, and His presence. Verse 16 is a reminder that God saves – with verses 17 and 18 unpacking that in some detail. Verse 19 teaches some dense and important theological truths: God is\u00a0enthroned<\/strong>, God is\u00a0immutable<\/strong> (That is, He does not change), and God\u00a0hears and humbles<\/em> people. The closing verses of Psalm 55 make it clear that God is one we can bring our cares\/concerns to, ‘he will sustain’ us, ‘he will never let the righteous be shaken’. There is then the challenging words of verse 23 – contrasting the security of the righteous (God’s people) and the end of the wicked (not God’s people. The last phrase of Psalm 55 reminds God’s people that they can and should trust in Him.<\/p>\n How does this Psalm connect to God\u2019s people today?<\/strong><\/p>\n Some of God’s people are in conflict zones, or being actively physically persecuted – Psalm 55 speaks directly to them, encouraging them to trust in God, to cry out to Him, secure in the knowledge that he will ultimately act. Some of God’s people are betrayed – even by those closest to us – and Psalm 55 gives us words to use even in pain we cannot find words for. For those of us living in relative comfort, Psalm 55 should prompt us to pray for our brothers and sisters who are not, and for those reeling from betrayal.<\/p>\n A prayer drawn from Psalm 55<\/strong><\/p>\n Lord, help me to cast my cares on you, because you will sustain me. Lord, help me to trust in you, because you will not ultimately let the righteous be shaken. Help me to be a person who does not betray those close to me – and give me grace in relationships that you want restored. Show me what justice and righteousness looks like, in all the ways and days of my life. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Throughout September 2022, I managed to read and reflect \u2013 briefly \u2013 on a Psalm each day. For December 2022, attempted to pick up the discipline. I got part-way through that month, and so after a long hiatus, am determined … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[615,225,554,223,288,606],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4227"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4227"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4231,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4227\/revisions\/4231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>do not ignore my plea;<\/span><\/span>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>hear me and answer me.<\/span><\/span>
\nMy thoughts trouble me and I am distraught<\/span>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>because of what my enemy is saying,<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>because of the threats of the wicked;<\/span><\/span>
\nfor they bring down suffering on me<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and assail\u00a0me in their anger.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>the terrors\u00a0of death have fallen on me.<\/span><\/span>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>Fear and trembling\u00a0have beset me;<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>horror\u00a0has overwhelmed me.<\/span><\/span>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>I said, \u201cOh, that I had the wings of a dove!<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I would fly away and be at rest.<\/span><\/span>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>I would flee far away<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and stay in the desert;<\/span><\/span>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>I would hurry to my place of shelter,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>far from the tempest and storm.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>for I see violence and strife\u00a0in the city.<\/span><\/span>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>Day and night they prowl\u00a0about on its walls;<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>malice and abuse are within it.<\/span><\/span>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>Destructive forces\u00a0are at work in the city;<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>threats and lies\u00a0never leave its streets.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I could endure it;<\/span><\/span>
\nif a foe were rising against me,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I could hide.<\/span><\/span>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>But it is you, a man like myself,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>my companion, my close friend,<\/span><\/span>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>at the house of God,<\/span><\/span>
\nas we walked about<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>among the worshipers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>for evil finds lodging among them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0saves me.<\/span><\/span>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>Evening,\u00a0morning\u00a0and noon<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I cry out in distress,<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and he hears my voice.<\/span><\/span>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>He rescues me unharmed<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>from the battle waged against me,<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>even though many oppose me.<\/span><\/span>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>God, who is enthroned from of old,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>who does not change\u2014<\/span><\/span>
\nhe will hear\u00a0them and humble them,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>because they have no fear of God.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>he violates his covenant.<\/span><\/span>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>His talk is smooth as butter,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>yet war is in his heart;<\/span><\/span>
\nhis words are more soothing than oil,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>yet they are drawn swords.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and he will sustain you;<\/span><\/span>
\nhe will never let<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>the righteous be shaken.<\/span><\/span>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>But you, God, will bring down the wicked<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>into the pit\u00a0of decay;<\/span><\/span>
\nthe bloodthirsty and deceitful<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>will not live out half their days.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n