Psalm
56 Prayed
Finding comfort in the prayers of Jesus
O Father, during the days of
Jesus’ life on earth,
he
offered up prayers and petitions
with loud cries and tears to
you,
the
one who could save him from death,
and
you heard him because of his reverent
submission.
Although he was your Son,
he
learned obedience from what he suffered
and,
once made perfect,
he became the source of eternal
salvation
for
all who obey him.
Once, all the people in the
synagogue were furious
when
they heard Jesus.
They got up, drove him out of the
town,
and
took him to the brow of the hill
on which the town was built,
in
order to throw him down the cliff.
But Jesus’ confidence was in
you, O Father,
for
he could pray to you;
“Be merciful to me, O God, for
men hotly
pursue
me;
all
day long they press their attack.
My slanderers pursue me all day
long;
many
are attacking me in their pride.
When I am afraid,
I
will trust in you.
In God, whose Word I praise,
in
God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What
can mortal man do to me?”
So he walked right through the
crowd
and
went on his way.
When Jesus was on trial before
the chief priests,
he
could pray to you:
“All day long they twist my
words;
they
are always plotting to harm me.
They conspire, they lurk,
they
watch my steps,
eager
to take my life.”
On no account did you let them escape;
in
your anger, O God, you brought down
all
the nations of the Roman Empire
when
Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70.
Your recorded Christ’s lament,
you
listed his tears on your scroll
are
they not in your record?
As Jesus approached Jerusalem
and saw the city,
he
wept over it and said,
“If you, even you, had only
known on this day
what
would bring you peace—
but
now it is hidden from your eyes.
The days will come upon you
when
your
enemies the Romans
will build an embankment
against you
and
encircle you and hem you in on every side.
They will dash you to the
ground,
you
and the children within your walls.
They will not leave one stone
on another,
because
you did not recognize
the
time of God’s coming to you.”
Another time, his fellow Jews
picked up stones
to
stone him,
but
Jesus said to them,
“I have shown you many great
miracles from the
Father.
For
which of these do you stone me?”
“We are not stoning you for any
of these,”
replied
the Jews,
“but for blasphemy,
because you, a mere man,
claim
to be God.”
But still Christ’s confidence
was in you, O Father,
for
he could pray to you:
“Then my enemies will turn back
when
I call for help.
By
this I will know that God is for me.
In God, whose Word I praise,
in
the Lord, whose Word I praise—
in God I trust; I will
not be afraid.
What
can man do to me?"
Again they tried to seize him
but
he escaped their grasp.
Jesus remains under vows to
you, O God;
he
still presents his thank offerings to you.
Because Jesus lives forever,
he
has a permanent priesthood.
Therefore he is able to save
completely
those
who come to you through him,
because
he always lives to intercede for them.
Such a high priest meets my
need—
one
who is holy, blameless, pure,
set apart from sinners,
exalted
above the heavens.
Jesus was delivered over to
death for my sins
and
was raised to life for my justification.
Yet you delivered him from
death
and
his feet from stumbling,
So that he could walk before
you, O Father,
in
the light of life,
and
be to us the light of the world.
And so if I sin, I have one who
speaks to you,
O
Father, in my defence—
Jesus
Christ, the Righteous One.
He
is the atoning sacrifice for my sins,
and
not only for mine
but
also for the sins of the whole world.
Therefore, O Father, me build
up
in
the most holy faith
and
help me pray in the Holy Spirit.
Keep
me in your love as I wait
for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
to
bring me to eternal life.
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Psalm 56 Prayed
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