Savoring the Scripture

A Prayer for the Abused Psalm 109 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 Abuse is defined “as any action that intentionally harms or injures another person” ( healthyplace.com ). Abuse can take many forms: physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, and other forms. One of the reasons abuse continues is because it is often cloaked in secrecy, deception, and manipulation. Victims feel powerless and at times even feel they are somehow responsible for the abuse they have suffered. The effects of abuse are long term. If you or a loved one have suffered abuse, you know personally the suffering and sorrow that accompany abuse, where a person of power, in position, influence, or physicality, preys on another in order to take advantage.  In Psalm 109, the psalmist is crying out to the Lord for justice. It is a very strong imprecatory psalm. The imprecatory psalms are ones in which the author “calls down calamity, destruction, and God’s anger a...

  O God, Do Not Keep Silence Psalm 83 The prayer here is that in the existing emergency God would not seem to be indifferent to the needs and dangers of his people, and to the purposes of their enemies, but that he would speak with a voice of command, and break up their designs. Barnes  Bitterness is a feeling of antagonism, hostility, or resentment (Dictionary.com). It is holding someone liable, a replaying of our grievances, a withdrawing of warmth (Keller). Bitterness, resentment, and a lack of forgiveness exalts ourselves to the place of judge in someone else’s life. It is to act as though we know best how God ought to deal with another’s sin. So what do we do when these emotions rise up within us? One thing we can and must do, as Asaph does in Psalm 83, is to pray. Psalm 83 is an imprecatory psalm. It is a cry of God’s people to the Lord to rise up against their enemies and deliver His “treasured ones”. Perhaps a call for God to punish your enemy makes you feel uncomforta...