12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!”
HEAR my prayer… my cry… see my tears. Is this sentiment at all familiar?
I am a sojourner with you. I have no place here. The welcome of this guest is worn thin and all my ancestors have passed this way, yet not remained.
Look to me, Lord.
I’m NOT smiling here. 🙁
WHY?
Surely my journey through this life has some purpose. Show me, before my journey is finished and I am no more.
Yes, we are sojourners – travelers though time in a timeless creation of Almighty God.
Why should the Lord look away from one who just lives for a blink of an eye in His eternal timelessness?
3 My heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “O Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
Transgressions? (Now there’s a word you don’t hear on the news.) What’s a transgression?
pesha` – transgression, rebellion
rebellion even against God; guilt of transgression; punishment for transgression
Am I a rebel against the Cross of Christ Jesus?
Oh, Lord!
10 Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man
with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
Surely all mankind is a mere breath!
Consider again, the Lord’s rebuke,
The refining fire of His righteousness.
It is the Lord who rebukes. The Lord our Father disciplines His children. (Do not look upon us in Your wrath, O Lord.)
It is the Lord who corrects the sins of His loved ones. The Lord corrects mankind for our sinful nature. It is the fire of the Lord’s love which burns away our unrighteousness. It is the Lord who consumes our iniquity like a moth caught in the flame. A man or a woman is perverse and depraved; our iniquity and guilt deserve the punishment of our iniquity before a God and Father who IS Holy.
How will a child of the Lord endure the wrath and punishment of Almighty God? Selah.
“Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry…
“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death…
“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
“My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
