345. Saturday after Twelfth Sunday after Trinity.
Psalm 142. Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave. I cried unto the Lord with my voice: with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him: I showed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path: in the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge, and my portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.
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Do not, dear Christian, shut your sorrows up in your own breast; but lay your soul bare before God, and pour out your heart to him in words of prayer. The devil is a dumb spirit, who wants to tie our tongue, that we may not be able to “cry unto the Lord”; and he is a proud spirit, who wants to make our heart stubborn, that we may not “with our voice make supplication unto the Lord.” I am sure that you have some acquaintance with this dark cavern in which the soul sits silent, and broods on its own misery, reproaches God and all men, and refuses admittance to every thought of comfort. Our Psalm instructs us to break this unhappy silence. 1) You are not the only one who eats the bread of tears. On the contrary; all who have true piety receive their share. David was brought so very low, and felt so despondent, that his spirit was overwhelmed within him. He had a sense of being so entirely alone and forsaken in his distress that his refuge failed him, and no man cared for him. When the saints have this experience, they become like unto Christ; for on him these words were fulfilled to the letter. 2) Humble yourself before the Lord. Than this nothing is, I might say, more important. There is nothing to which the devil has a stronger dislike; nothing which so decidedly promotes your peace. Know that you deserve punishment; and then sue for mercy. Note the words of our Psalm: “With my voice unto the Lord did I make supplication.” 3) You must learn to believe in the Lord; to renounce every form of idolatry, that the Lord, the Lord alone, may be your God. “My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” (Psalm 73, 26). 4) He “knoweth your path,” and cares for you. His eye watches over you, and his ear is open to your complaint. “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 49, 15). 5) In this way your complaint shall soon come to an end. “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30, 5). He shall bring your soul out of prison, and you shall praise his name; and the righteous shall praise the Lord for your deliverance. — Now, follow the instruction of David: Cry unto the Lord with your voice; make your supplication to the Lord; pour out your complaint before him; shew before him your trouble. Cry to the Lord, saying: “Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living; attend unto my cry, and bring my soul out of prison!” The Spirit of God shall himself loose your tongue; and when you have brought everything to the Lord in humble prayer, your sorrow shall become joy, and your lamentation a song of praise.
Lord, help us hereto by thy Holy Spirit. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name; the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. Amen.*
O thou, from whom all goodness flows,
I lift my heart to thee;
In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes,
Dear Lord, remember me!
When on my aching, burdened heart
My sins lie heavily,
My pardon speak, new peace impart;
In love, remember me!
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.