Psalm
55 Prayed
Finding assurance in the sufferings of Jesus
O Jesus, your Father listened
your prayers,
he
did not ignore your plea;
he
heard you and answered you.
Yet your thoughts troubled you
and you were
distraught
at
the voice of the Pharisees,
at
the stares of the chief priests;
for they brought down suffering
upon you
and
reviled you in their anger.
Your heart was in anguish
within you,
the
terrors of death assailed you
as
you prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
And being in anguish, you prayed more
earnestly,
and
your sweat was like drops of blood
falling
to the ground.
Fear and trembling beset you;
as
the horror of the cross overwhelmed you,
you
could cry out to your Father:
“Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I
would fly away and be at rest—
I would flee far away
and
stay in the desert;
I would hurry to my place of
shelter,
far
from the tempest and storm.”
You continued to pray in
anguish,
“Father, if it is Your will,
take
this cup away from Me;
nevertheless not My will,
but
Yours, be done.”
Now it was the custom at the
Feast
to
release a prisoner whom the people
requested.
A man called Barabbas was in
prison
with
the insurrectionists who had committed
murder
in the uprising.
The crowd came up and asked
Pilate to do for them
what
he usually did.
But the chief priests stirred
up the crowd
to
have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
“What shall I do, then, with the one
you call
the
king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
“Crucify
him!” they shouted.
Your Father let confusion reign
among them,
he
confounded their speech,
for
you had seen violence and strife in
the
city of Jerusalem.
Day and night you saw it prowl
about on its walls;
malice
and abuse were within it.
Destructive forces were at work
in the city;
threats
and lies never left its streets.
As you hung on the cross,
as
you remembered Judas betraying you,
you
could lament to your Father;
“If an enemy were insulting me,
I
could endure it;
if a foe were raising himself
against me,
I
could hide from him.
But it was Judas, a man like
myself,
my
companion, my close friend,
with whom I once enjoyed sweet
fellowship
as
we walked with the throng at the house of
God.”
Death took Judas by surprise;
he
went down alive to the grave,
for
evil found lodging with him.
With the reward he got for his
wickedness,
Judas
bought a field;
there he fell headlong,
his
body burst open
and
all his intestines spilled out.
But you called to your Father,
and
he saved you.
Evening, morning and noon
you
cried out in distress,
and
he heard your voice.
He ransomed you unharmed,
He
ransomed you from the power of the grave;
he
redeemed you from death,
from the battle waged against you,
even
though many opposed you.
Your Father, who is enthroned
forever,
heard
them and afflicted them—
Pharisees who never changed
their ways
and
had no fear of God.
Your companion attacked his
friends;
Judas
violated his covenant.
His speech was smooth as
butter,
yet
war was in his heart;
his words were more soothing
than oil,
yet
they were drawn swords.
When Judas arrived at
Gethsemane,
with
him was a large crowd
armed
with swords and clubs,
sent from the chief priests
and
the elders of the people.
Now the betrayer had arranged a
signal with them:
“The
one I kiss is the man; arrest him.”
Going at once to you, Judas said,
“Greetings,
Rabbi!” and kissed you.
Therefore I cast my cares on
you, O Lord Jesus,
and
trust that you will sustain me;
I cast all my anxiety on you,
because
you care for me.
For to be sure, you were
crucified in weakness,
yet
you live by God’s power.
Likewise, I am weak in you,
yet
by God’s power
I
will live with you to serve you.
For you were made like me in
every way,
in
order that you might become
a merciful and faithful high
priest in service to
God,
and
that you might make atonement for my
sins.
So I will trust you, Jesus,
that
you will never let those you have made
righteous
fall.
But when you return, O Jesus, my
God,
you
will bring down the wicked
into
the pit of corruption;
bloodthirsty and deceitful people
will
not live out half their days.
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Psalm 55 Prayed
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