QUOTE OF THE DAY President Bush Discusses the Middle East Cross Hall
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. In recent weeks, debate in our country has rightly focused on the situation in Iraq -- yet Iraq is not the only pivotal matter in the Middle East. More than five years ago, I became the first American President to call for the creation of a Palestinian state. In the Rose Garden, I said that Palestinians should not have to live in poverty and occupation. I said that the Israelis should not have to live in terror and violence. And I laid out a new vision for the future -- two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security
Since then, many changes have come -- some hopeful, some dispiriting. Israel has taken difficult actions, including withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Palestinians have held free elections, and chosen a president committed to peace. Arab states have put forward a plan that recognizes Israel's place in the Middle East. And all these parties, along with most of the international community, now share the goal of a peaceful, democratic Palestinian state -- a level of consensus never before seen on this crucial issue.
Recent days have brought a chapter of upheaval and uncertainty in the Middle East. But the story does not have to end that way. After the wave of killing by Hamas last month, a 16-year-old girl in Gaza City told a reporter, "The gunmen want to destroy the culture of our fathers and grandfathers. We will not allow them to do it." She went on, "I'm saying it's enough killing. Enough."
That young woman speaks for millions -- in Gaza, the West Bank, in Israel, in Arab nations, and in every nation. And now the world must answer her call. We must show that in the face of extremism and violence, we stand on the side of tolerance and decency. In the face of chaos and murder, we stand on the side of law and justice. And in the face of terror and cynicism and anger, we stand on the side of peace in the Holy Land.
Psalms 102:1 A Prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You.
Psalms 102:2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily.
Psalms 102:3 For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth.
Psalms 102:4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So that I forget to eat my bread.
Psalms 102:5 Because of the sound of my groaning My bones cling to my skin.
Psalms 102:6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.
Psalms 102:7 I lie awake, And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.
Psalms 102:8 My enemies reproach me all day long, Those who deride me swear an oath against me.
Psalms 102:9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, And mingled my drink with weeping,
Psalms 102:10 Because of Your indignation and Your wrath; For You have lifted me up and cast me away.
Psalms 102:11 My days are like a shadow that lengthens, And I wither away like grass.
Psalms 102:12 But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
Psalms 102:13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come.
Psalms 102:14 For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, And show favor to her dust.
Psalms 102:15 So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
Psalms 102:16 For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory.
Psalms 102:17 He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, And shall not despise their prayer.
Psalms 102:18 This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.
Psalms 102:19 For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; From heaven the LORD viewed the earth,
Psalms 102:20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those appointed to death,
Psalms 102:21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, And His praise in Jerusalem,
Psalms 102:22 When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
Psalms 102:23 He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.
Psalms 102:24 I said, "O my God, Do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations.
Psalms 102:25 Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
Psalms 102:26 They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed.
Psalms 102:27 But You are the same, And Your years will have no end.
Psalms 102:28 The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You." (NKJV)
DEAR LORD, WE THANK YOU FOR THIS DAY, THIS HOUR AND THIS SECOND.
LORD, WE THANK YOU FOR THIS TIME YOUR SAINTS CAN GATHER BEFORE YOUR THRONE OF GRACE WITH PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION.
LORD, WE PRAY FOR ALL OF YOUR SAINTS NO MATTER WHERE THEY MAY BE OR WHATEVER THEIR NEED.
LORD, WE PRAY ESPECIALLY FOR GEORGE WALKER BUSH, LAURA BUSH, BARBARA AND JENNA BUSH, THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH AND ALL MEMMBERS OF GOVERNMENT WHO HOLD YOUR TRUTHS CLOSE TO THEIR HEARTS.
LORD, WE PRAY FOR YOUR CONTINUED HAND OF GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION I N EACH ONES LIFE.
LORD, WE PRAY EACH BELIEVER LOCKS INTO THEIR HEART THE FACT THAT YOU ARE GOD AND TOTALLY SOVEREIGN, WE PRAY THEY JUST LET YOU BE YOU AND STOP BOXING IN YOUR EMINENCE.
LORD, WE PRAY ALL CHRISTIAN PATRIOTS CHOOSE THE RIGHTER WRONG AND HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW YOU WOULD LIKE THE BETTER GOOD IN AUTHORITY, NOT VOTE BASED ON SINGLE ISSUES, THOUGH TEMPER THEIR THOUGHTS THROUGH THE FILTER OF YOUR WHOLE WORD.
LORD, WE PRAY FOR THIS COUNTRY, A LAND FORMED ON THE PRINCIPALS YOU GAVE US. WE PRAY FOR A RETURN TO A TIME WHEN THIS LAND WAS BASED ON GOD, DUTY AND HONOR.
LORD, WE PRAY FOR YOUR SOVEREIGN HAND OF PROTECTION AGAINST ALL WHO THREATEN OUR LAND.
WE PRAY THAT THE DECEPTIVE LIES OF POLITICAL DESPOTS AND THE MEDIA WILL FALL ON DEAF EARS AND ONLY YOUR TRUTH WILL BE HEARD.
LORD, WE PRAY FOR ALL OF THE DEFENDERS OF FREEDOM, WHETHER HOME OR IN FOREIGN LANDS.
WE PRAY FOR THEIR SAFETY AND WE PRAY FOR COMFORT FOR THEIR FAMILIES AND WE THANK YOU FOR THEIR STRENGTH AND COURAGE IN STAYING THE COURSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
LORD, WE PRAY FOR THE COMFORT OF THE FAMILIES OF Private Thomas Tucker and Kristian Menchaca.
LORD, WE PRAY YOUR VENGENCE IS SWIFT AND HARSH AGAINST THOSE WHO COMMITTED THESE MURDERS AND ALSO AGAINST THOSE WHO HATE THIS COUNTRY BECAUSE OF ITS CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES.
LORD, WE PRAY FOR THE PROTECTION OF ISRAEL FROM MUSLIM TERRORISTS.
LORD, WE THANK YOU FOR THE SKILL AND FORTITUDE YOU HAVE GIVEN OUR MILITARY WHICH ENABLES THEM TO TURN EVIL MEN OVER TO YOU FOR ETERNAL JUDGMENT.
Jude 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
Jude 1:25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.
"Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time is come. For thy servants rake pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof." - Psalm 102:13, 14
A selfish man in trouble is exceedingly hard to comfort, because the springs of his comfort lie entirely within himself, and when he is sad all his springs are dry. But a large-hearted man full of Christian philanthropy, has other springs from which to supply himself with comfort beside those which lie within. He can go to his God first of all, and there find abundant help; and he can discover arguments for consolation in things relating to the world at large, to his country, and, above all, to the church. David in this Psalm was exceedingly sorrowful; he wrote, "I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top." The only way in which he could comfort himself, was in the reflection that God would arise, and have mercy upon Zion: though he was sad, yet Zion should prosper; however low his own estate, yet Zion should arise. Christian man! learn to comfort thyself in God's gracious dealing towards the church. That which is so dear to thy Master, should it not be dear above all else to thee? What though thy way be dark, canst thou not gladden thine heart with the triumphs of his cross and the spread of his truth? Our own personal troubles are forgotten while we look, not only upon what God has done, and is doing for Zion, but on the glorious things he will yet do for his church. Try this receipt, O believer, whenever thou art sad of heart and in heaviness of spirit: forget thyself and thy little concerns, and seek the welfare and prosperity of Zion. When thou bendest thy knee in prayer to God, limit not thy petition to the narrow circle of thine own life, tried though it be, but send out thy longing prayers for the church's prosperity, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem," and thine own soul shall be refreshed.
C.H.SPURGEON
SOLI DEO GLORIA!