Psalm 86 (KJV):Give thy strength unto thy servant

From Psalms

Psalm 86
(A prayer of David)

¹Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me:
      for I am poor and needy.
²Preserve my soul; for I am holy:
      O thou my God, save thy servant
      that trusteth in thee.
³Be merciful unto me, O Lord:
      for I cry unto thee daily.
⁴Rejoice the soul of thy servant:
      for unto thee, O Lord,
      do I lift up my soul.

⁵For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive;
      and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
⁶Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer;
      and attend to the voice of my supplications.
⁷In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee:
      for thou wilt answer me.

⁸Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord;
      neither are there any works like unto thy works.
⁹All nations whom thou hast made
      shall come and worship before thee, O Lord;
      and shall glorify thy name.
¹⁰For thou art great, and doest wondrous things:
      thou art God alone.

¹¹Teach me thy way, O LORD;
      I will walk in thy truth:
unite my heart
      to fear thy name.
¹²I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart:
      and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
¹³For great is thy mercy toward me:
      and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

¹⁴O God, the proud are risen against me,
      and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul;
      and have not set thee before them.
¹⁵But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious,
      long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

¹⁶O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me;
      give thy strength unto thy servant,
      and save the son of thine handmaid.
¹⁷Shew me a token for good;
      that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed:
      because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.

Step 2 of the 12 steps, "We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity," seems to be echoed here in Psalm 86.  In fact, it can probably be said of many psalms.  However, this seems stronger in verse 7 than most other psalms: " In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me."

This is important today since we start the season of lent tomorrow.  For this we will need to ask God for strength, control, focus, and of course sanity as we continue our journey of sobriety.  This year for Lent I journey down step 9 in making amends to those I have hurt in my addiction.  For my wife I will be doing the Love Dare. For myself I will be giving up many things, which I am expecting will making me  stronger and more focused in my sobriety.  As means of handing more control to God I am giving up caffeine, as an example.

God, as psalm 86 says, over the coming weeks of lent, teach us in your way, that we may walk in truth (verse 11).  Through the sacrifices of lent we will have days of need and possibly suffering.  In those days of need we will call on you for we know you will answer (verse 7).  O Lord, you are a God of compassion and grace (verse 15) so give strength to your servants (verse 16).  We know that you have brought us comfort (verse 17) and that you will continue to do so.  So, in this time of learning and sacrifice we will go on and glorify your name (verse 9) for all of your wonderful works (verse 10).  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.