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Psalm 44 Prayed
Praying
for revival of the Church
We have heard with our ears, O
God;
we
have read in the Old Testament,
our
forefathers have told us
what you did in their days,
in
days long ago.
With your hand you drove out
the nations
and
planted the Israelites;
you crushed the Canaanites
and
made ancient Israel flourish.
It was not by their sword that
they won the land,
nor
did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your
arm,
and
the light of your face, for you loved them.
Jesus, you are our King and our
God,
who
decreed victories for ancient Israel.
Through you they pushed back
their enemies;
through
your name ancient Israel trampled
their
foes.
The godly kings of Judah did
not trust in
their
bows,
their
swords did not bring them victory;
but you give them victory over
their enemies,
you
put their adversaries to shame.
In you, O God they made their
boast all day long,
and
they will praise your name forever.
But our struggle is not against flesh
and blood,
like
Israel of old.
Our struggle is against the
rulers,
against
the authorities,
against
the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual
forces of evil
in
the heavenly realms.
For though we live in the
world,
we
do not wage war as the world does.
The weapons we fight with
are
not the weapons of the world.
On the contrary,
they
have divine power to demolish
strongholds.
We demolish arguments and every
pretension
that
sets itself up against the knowledge of
God,
and we take captive every
thought
to
make it obedient to you, O Christ.
For you are our king, O Jesus,
In
fact, for this reason you were born,
and
for this you came into the world,
to testify to the truth,
and,
thanks be to God!
you
give us the victory through your name.
But now you have rejected and
humbled us;
you
no longer go out with our evangelists.
You made your Church
retreat before our
nation's
culture,
and
our adversaries have plundered us.
You gave us up to be devoured
like sheep
and
have scattered us among our culture.
You sold your people for a
pittance,
gaining
nothing from our sale.
You have made us a reproach to
our neighbours,
the
scorn and derision of those around us.
You have made us a byword among
our culture;
the
peoples shake their heads at us.
Our disgrace is before us
all day long,
and
our faces are covered with shame
at the taunts of those
who reproach and revile us,
because
of the devil, who is bent on revenge.
All this happened to us,
though
we had not forgotten you
or
been false to your covenant.
Our hearts had not turned back;
our
feet had not strayed from your path.
But you crushed us and made us
a haunt for jackals
and
covered us over with deep darkness.
If we had forgotten the name of
our God
or
spread out our hands to a foreign god,
if we had abandoned Jesus,
and went looking for salvation in
another,
would you not have discovered it,
since
you know the secrets of the heart?
Yet for your sake we face death
all day long;
we
are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
But you have promised us, O
Lord, that
in
all these things we are more than conquerors
through
Jesus who loved us.
We are convinced that
neither death nor life,
neither
angels nor demons,
neither
the present nor the future,
nor
any powers,
neither height nor depth,
nor
anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us
from your love, O God
that
is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Awake, O Lord! Why do you
sleep?
Rouse
yourself! Do not reject us forever.
Why do you hide your face
and
forget our misery and oppression?
We are brought down to the
dust;
our
bodies cling to the ground.
Rise up and help us;
redeem
us because of your unfailing love.
Prove the power of your grace,
O Lord,
vindicate
the wonder of your gospel.
Revive your Church, Lord Jesus,
transform
us O Lord,
and
expend your kingdom once more.
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Psalm 44 Prayed
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