Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

Almighty Father,
Blessed Be Your Holy Name Forever!
Blessed Are You,
Oh LORD, Our God,
King Of The Universe,
Who Has given us this Day,
This Moment, and Has Brought us Together for Your Purpose.
We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise into the House of The LORD,
For You Alone Are Worthy,
You Alone Are LORD,
You Alone Are The One True God Of Abraham!
If the people will not sing Your Praises,
the very rocks of the earth would break forth in song to Praise You,
Oh Father,
Creator, LORD of All!

For the Sake of Your Anointed,
and For The Sake of Your Name,
We pray for the Peace of Jerusalem,
For Israel,
According to Your Word,
and Your Promise.

We Pray For Our President,
And other Leaders of Our Beloved USA
May They Receive Wisdom from You
To do the Right Thing.
We Pray For The Swift and Sure Coming of Messiah,
Blessed Be He,
To Establish His Kingdom,
and Make All Things Right.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

The rhetorical question "Why so downcast, Oh my soul?" is followed IMMEDIATELY in both Psalm 42 and 43 by a contrasting, uplifting line. The Psalmist is not afraid to express his anxiety to The One True God, but he does not dwell in the "miry clay". The instant response to his own discouragement is to Praise God and Trust completely in Him.

This is VERY important when setting this Psalm to music. If one emphasizes the "downcast" part instead of the "praise" part, it can be a real bummer of a song that glorifies the songwriter's misery rather than the Glory of God. This is especially dangerous with solo piano and vocal, as the piano lends itself willingly to diatonic chord progressions in 4/4 time (white keys only!) at a tempo just above the resting heart rate of everybody in the congregation. (70 BPM!). What we end up with is what I dubbed "The Singer-Songwriter Shuffle", and what others call "contemplative". It has its place in worship, but PUH-Leeeze...not as a steady diet. As I look over my own history of songwriting, I see that I did a lot of "Singer/Songwriter Shuffle" settings of Scripture way back-in-the-day, so I am not picking on young songwriters when I say this! There are so many words for "worship" in the Hebrew and Greek, and "contemplative" is just ONE of them.

The Psalms do have contemplative moments, but they also have outbursts of exuberant Praise. Sometimes this contrast is encapsulated in two verses, as a Classic Hebrew Contrasting Couplet, which is illustrated in both Psalm 42 and 43. Some scholars think this was one long Psalm at some point in time. So, when you read these Psalms, either together or apart, don't get stuck on "downcast"!

Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

God Bless America!

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS