Daily Prayer for November 20, 2024: Psalm 7

O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
    save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
    rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
    if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend[b] with evil
    or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
    and let him trample my life to the ground
    and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

6 Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
    lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
    awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
    over it return on high.

8 The Lord judges the peoples;
    judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
    and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
    and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,[c]
    O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
    who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
    and a God who feels indignation every day.

12 If a man[d] does not repent, God[e] will whet his sword;
    he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
    making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
    and is pregnant with mischief
    and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
    and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
    and on his own skull his violence descends.

17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
    and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

Prayer: Our most holy Father, you alone are sovereign over the affairs of this world, and you alone direct their steps, accomplishing your purposes for your glory and the good of your redeemed people. We praise you for your infinite goodness and grace, knowing that as we seek to follow you, you will give us an abundance of your Spirit to guide us and help us serve and glorify you. We thank you for your most holy Word, which reminds us that your people are not promised to be spared from the hardships of this fallen and sin-wrecked world. Your Word reminds us that we will face the onslaught of evil people and the efforts of the Evil One to destroy us and your church. Though your Son has told us that the gates of hell cannot prevail against your church, we also know that those who desire to live godly lives will face opposition and persecution from friend and foe. Therefore, we pray that you be our rear guard and refuge in times of trouble and opposition. We pray for your forgiveness when we do not trust you throughout these difficult times. We pray for you to deliver us from our pursuers who seek to tear us apart. We further pray for you to rescue our enemies from their blindness and deafness and create in them a clean heart and hands. We pray for you to act justly against those who are hurting your people, and we ask that the actions of the wicked come to an end. Through it all, Lord, we pray for you to be our shield and defender and help us to trust you, giving thanks to you because you use these things to make us like he who suffered, your beloved Son in whose name we pray. Amen.

Scripture Meditation: Psalm 7