Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away. I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel. For I hear the whispering of many— terror all around!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love. (Psalm 31:9-16)
Perhaps you have had late night, "no one is hearing me" prayers that either begin or end in tears; your agony shared with the caring, loving, listening ear of God, but yet your mind races and believes no one is listening. Such was the prophetic prayer written by the psalmist and later used as a description of the suffering of Jesus, especially that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Not only did Jesus shed tears, He shed tears of blood, and like the psalmist said, His soul and body also seemed wasted away with the agony and the weight of that which He would undergo. Yet, like the psalmist said, Jesus kept His trust in God; "I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.'" So should we be during our most trying times, and so should we remember as we start Holy Week, all that Jesus endured for our sake.
Jesus took our enemies, namely our sins, and removed them from us as He carried them to the cross with Him. We know that because of that, His face shines upon us and He has saved us.
PRAYER: Loving Lord, all I can think to say is Thank You for all you endured. Make me a vessel that shares that with others. In Thy name I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
