Psalm 54 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 54 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Save me, O God, by your name, and vindicate me by your might.
Verse 2Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.
Verse 3For the insolent have risen against me, the ruthless seek my life; they do not set God before them. Selah
Verse 4But surely, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.
Verse 5He will repay my enemies for their evil. In your faithfulness, put an end to them.
Verse 6With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
Verse 7For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
Devotion
The writer of this psalm has confidence in the promise God made with humanity to hear our prayers and respond. The psalm is carefully organized as if the writer has taken a writing 101 course. The outline includes begging for help, describing the problem for which help is needed, reminding God and self why there is reason to trust God to respond, making an agreement with God laying out the expectations the writer will fulfill, and ending the psalm with praise for God’s deliverance. Each step builds upon the previous one.
The psalm writer and all of us will return to this plan of action many times in our lives. God always keeps God’s side of the covenant with us, and each time we fail we eventually turn back to God trying over and over to keep our side of the covenant.
Prayer
Faithful God, help me learn to rely on you to hear and respond to my prayers. Amen.
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