"Greatly they have afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows." (Psalm 129:2-3)
O Lord, we grieve that this world is still far from the place you created it to be. You created this world to be a place of peace and love, and yet we still face affliction. Even the youth of our world face affliction, Lord. We cry out for your mercy! Spare the children and young people of our generation from such affliction. The only way we see this prayer becoming reality, Lord, is if you prosper the preaching of your Word, bringing the lost to Christ, and conforming those in Christ more and more to his image. We pray, grant that we might share our faith with others. And we pray: grant that we might be more and more like Christ.
Lord, we also thank you for the hope of Psalm 129. Though it speaks of affliction, those who bring affliction do not prevail. We pray that you would continue to turn back those who bring suffering and division. Continue, O Lord, to restore this world to its original glory, before humanity's sin brought such destruction and chaos to mar its face.
Father, perhaps we even see a glimpse of Jesus our Savior in this psalm? For like a field being plowed, his back was torn open when his captors flogged him. We recall the words of Isaiah the prophet, who declared: "By his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). The reason Psalm 129 can offer us hope is that Jesus' back was plowed so that ours could be healed. Jesus, you died, so that our world could be healed. We can never thank you enough. We pray, let our lives be an offering of worship to you, our Savior and King. Amen.
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