June 10

Prayer for Victory

            The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary, and give you support from Zion. May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. May he grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your plans. May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright. Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call.

Psalm 20:1-9

    

            I grew up in a family that had three sons within five years of each other.  Food did not stay around the house for long.  We were all teenagers at the same time, all involved in sports and always hungry.  I personally had 4-5 meals per day and my brothers were similar.  My mom is a great cook and terrific baker, but we pushed her to her limits as we inhaled everything that came across our plates.  If she made a dessert you had to be quick to get some because it disappeared within moments and once it was gone there was no replacing it.

            There are those who feel that God’s favor and blessings are like those desserts.  If God provides for someone else, that means that there is less available for you and you better hurry before God gives it all away to other people.  When someone else testifies to God’s goodness and provision within their life, those people will get bitter and complain, wondering why God did not pour out the same gifts on them as well.  They fear that God only has a limited amount of pie to give out to humanity and if He has given some to you, there is less available for me.

            This Psalm is filled with the author blessing someone else and praying for their victory.  May God answer you.  May He send you help from the sanctuary.  May He grant your heart’s desires.  May we shout for joy over your victory.

            May we shout for joy over your victory.  We need to learn how to rejoice with others when God has been good to them.  Even if we are in need…especially if we are in need…we can celebrate others and lift them up and acknowledge that God is amazing for how He helped other people.  We can send cards.  We can throw parties.  We can laugh and cry with others as they thank God for taking care of them.

            We can do these things because we know that God’s resources are not limited.  More for someone else does not mean less for us.  More for someone else means that God is gracious, whether we receive anything or not.

            Often we do not celebrate with others because we are broken.  We are jealous of their miracle.  We think that we deserve it more.  We fear that no one would celebrate with us so we don’t celebrate with others.  We are angry that God is helping someone else instead of us and find the entire situation, our entire life, to be highly unfair.

            God does not work like that.  He does not take the pie and divide it evenly into six pieces so that all the family can have exactly the same thing.  He gives as He wishes and when He wishes and in the way that will have the best long term effects.  His gifts are not earned or deserved.  They are not paid for through our suffering or eloquent prayers.  They are gifts that God gives to His beloved.

            Let go of bitterness and jealousy and comparisons.  Find someone who you can celebrate God’s gifts and your child’s successes with.  Find someone who will pray Psalm 20 over you just as you can pray it over them.

            Rejoice with those who rejoice.  It is good for you.  It is good for them.  It leads to God’s gifts increasing their impact.  It is the way to life.

A moment to reflect:

Who could you rejoice with?