Every prayer in the psalms is built on a covenant promise made by God. The psalmists’ prayers are not just driven by their need but drawn by God‘s promises. The prayers are not pleas to a disinterested god, but pleas to the God who has bound himself to his people by an everlasting covenant of love. A common concern throughout the psalms is that of evil and injustice. When the psalmists are threatened or harassed by enemies they not only cry to God for help, but they do so in way that evokes God’s promise to Abraham given in Genesis 12:3: “Whoever curses you I will curse.” In other words, they appeal to God’s commitment to them and the specific promises he made to them. These were harsh times and the threats that faced these people are such that we could barely imagine. This makes the bold confession of faith at the end of Psalm 7 all the more remarkable. But this faith, again, is not just based on wishful thinking. It is based on God’s commitment to his people, to love and protect them and to fulfil his purpose in and through them. Prayer is not just a matter of telling God what you need. He already knows this. Prayer must be an exercise of faith. It is the exercise, in other words, of reconnecting with God and his purpose. In prayer we recommit to God and reconnect with his commitment to us. This should not just be an intermittent exercise in times of need, but a constant part of our everyday lives.
Pray and appeal to God’s promises for your areas of need.
Read Psalm 7
