Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The "Why" In Prayer | The Writings | Psalm 71

Episode Date: June 5, 2024

We all make requests before God: comfort, clarity, peace, protection, understanding. But what's the "why" behind your prayers? In today's episode, Jensen shares how the author of Psalm 71 sees their needs in light of God's mission to bless the world. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 71

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. When you sit down to pray, what do you normally ask God for? Well, every night we pray with my son before bed, and he loves to name off different people that I can pray for. I've caught on to his tactics. He's just trying to keep me in the room longer before bedtime. The more people he can think of praying for, the longer that I stay. I'm not a dummy. But I much prefer this to the yelling or asking for a glass of water or for some fruit snacks because it means I get to spend more time praying with Jude, praying for our friends, for our family.

What I've realized, though, as I've been getting a lot of extra prayer practice, is that when I pray for the people in our lives, I'm usually asking God to take care of them, to heal them, to get them home safely. We pray that our friends can get healthy so we can go hang out with them again. We pray that dad would get home from work safely so that we can see him again in the morning. We pray that God would give us another day tomorrow to play and be kind and probably watch another episode or five of Bluey. And look, I don't think there's anything wrong with praying for those things. Spending time in prayer with my kid is a good thing. Asking God for good gifts is a good thing. But as I've been reading Psalm 71, I've been struck by one theme that I see

woven throughout. Now, we don't know for sure who writes this Psalm. There's no superscript telling us, but we do know that this person writing is a faithful servant of God who's currently facing adversaries who are seeking his life. And what we find in Psalm 71 is his prayer, his prayer to God in the midst of suffering. I want to read a large portion of the Psalm together, and as I read, try to pick out and recognize the requests that the Psalmist is making of God. The first 11 verses are full of his requests. In you, O Lord, do I take refuge? Let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness, deliver me, and rescue me, incline your ear to me and save me, be to me a rock of refuge to which I may continually come. You have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my

fortress. Rescue me, oh my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unconstitutional. unjust and cruel man, for you, O Lord, are my hope. I trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you, I have leaned from before my birth. You are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you. I have been as important to many, but you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise and with your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age. Forake me not, when my strength is spent. For my enemies speak concerning me. Those who watch for my life consult together and say, God has forsaken him, pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him. Now, if I counted right, don't quote me on it. But I found nine direct requests the psalmist is making

of God. Never let me be put to shame. Deliver me, rescue me, incline your ear to me, save me, be my rock of refuge, rescue me, do not cast me off, forsake me not. We hear the requests, the asks that the psalmist makes in his prayers to God, and it makes sense. He has enemies who are pursuing him, so we ask God for his help, his care, his protection. I hope you also noticed, as we read, the familiarity and love that the psalmist has for God. He talks of giving God praise, finding refuge in him, putting his hope in God, the God who knew him in his mother's womb, cared for him, and has known him. his whole life. These requests he gives before the Lord are not standing on their own. They're rooted in a deep love for God, a deep understanding of the kind of God he's coming before. A God who loves him,

knows him, is powerful and able to protect him. And he doesn't ask in an entitled, demanding way, but the way of a child asking their father for a good gift, the one they know that is in his nature to want to give. It makes me think of the passage in Matthew 7, where Jesus tells his disciples to ask their heavenly father for good gifts. Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father, who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask him? So if broken, sinful, earthly father's desire to give their children, children good gifts, how much more will our heavenly father the one who created us, who has known us

from the moment of conception, who is infinite and powerful and in control of all things, how much more will he give good things to his children who ask it of him? In this first section of the psalm, I can't help but notice that as the psalmist prays, as he asks, he is intimately aware of the one that he is praying to, of the goodness, the faithfulness of His God. And as we continue into the next section of the Psalm, I can't help but notice why the Psalmist is asking for these things from God. So this time, as I read this next long section of scripture, focus again on where the Psalmist asks for things and try to catch after why he's asking for these things. Oh God, be not far from me. Oh my God, make haste to help me.

May my accusers be put to shame and consumed. With scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, and I will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord, I will come. I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. Oh God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still, proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, oh God, do not forsake me until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things,

oh God, who is like you? You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again. From the depths of the earth, you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again. I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness. Oh my God, I will sing to you with the liar, O Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you. My soul also which you have redeemed and my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt. Did you hear it as the psalmist asks for rescue, preservation, refuge, as he asks that the Lord would not forsake him in his old age, that he would prolong his life, protect him from harm. His reasoning isn't so that he can build a great business. It isn't so that he can get as many followers as he possibly can rack up.

It isn't so that he can have a sizable inheritance to leave to his kids. It isn't so he can accomplish more, do more, become greater in the world. No, what is his reasoning? It's right there in the verse. So even to old age and gray hairs, oh God, do not forsake me until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. God, don't forsake me, don't leave me to my enemies, protect me, care for me, preserve my life, so that I can proclaim you to another generation, your power to all those to come. His requests, his desire to be blessed with good gifts from God, is not so that he can live a long, comfortable, middle-class, entertaining, well-respected life. No, his requests are centered around his deep desire

to see generation after generation know who His God is. Because he knows. Remember in the first part, he knows who His God is. He praises him, he loves him, he is known by him. He has seen his mighty power, his deeds, he has been, rescued before. He has experienced the all-consuming love and care and provision of his God, and he wants the whole earth to know and experience the same thing. God, never let me be put to shame. Deliver me, rescue me, incline your ear to me, save me, be my rock of refuge, do not cast me off,

forsake me not, so that I can bless the world around me by showing them you. That is the heartbeat of this prayer, the heartbeat of this psalm, and it's the heartbeat of God's people from the very first moment of humanity. In Genesis 1, when God created Adam and Eve, when he formed humanity in his image, verse 26 tells us that he created humans so that they could rule over creation, and not rule in a demoralizing, demanding dictatorship kind of way, but in a caring, compassionate, and cultivating kind of way. The calling and purpose. that is built into every human being, given by their creator, is to rule over creation, to spread the goodness of God's kingdom to the whole earth, to cultivate love, justice, and mercy,

to see creation and humanity flourish under their rule. We rule as ambassadors. Sent by God, we are his hands and feet. It is who we were created to be, what we were created to live for. When God called Abraham, he said that he would bless him and his descendants so that they could be a blessing. The heartbeat of God's people has always been and always will be to spread his kingdom. We are blessed. We are called. We are chosen so that we can bless the world around us, spreading God's kingdom and bringing flourishing to all of creation. I want that kind of mission focus in my prayer. I want that kind of deep awareness of what I was created to do to be. And so as I pray each night with my son as I ask for good gifts from my heavenly father who sustains knows and loves me

intimately. I want to do so with this same desire, that my requests wouldn't be for the sake of me and my comfort, or even for the sake of the comfort of the people that I pray for. I want to ask God for good gifts so that the people I love, so that my son, so that I can be a blessing. Will you join me? As you pray, maybe it's before bed or tomorrow morning when you wake up, will you practice praying like the psalmist? Remind yourself of who it is you're praying to and ask your Heavenly Father for good gifts so that you can be a blessing to the world around you. God, we ask that our prayers would be centered around who you created us to be. We know that you are a good and loving and kind God. We know that you are able to accomplish whatever we ask. God, we ask,

that the things we desire would be in line with your goodness. And as we make requests of you, would you line our motivations up with yours? May we desire good gifts. May we desire your blessing, your refuge, your protection, and care, so that we could be free to tell the world of your goodness. May we all be ambassadors of your kingdom, spreading love, justice, and peace to the corners of our world. Enable us to use our gifts to bring flourishing in the spheres that you have given us influence.

whether that's on a grand stage or in a toddler's bedroom each night. We love you, Lord. Guide our prayers, our hearts, and our lives so that we would bring you glory and praise you all the days of our lives. Amen.