Three Pearls, Three Minutes, Thirty Days. (Day 28)

1To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit. 2Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place. 3Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts. 4Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back on them what they deserve. 5Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord and what his hands have done, he will tear them down and never build them up again. 6Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. 7The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. 8The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. 9Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Today’s Three Pearls

• To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit – v.1-2: “Silence is God’s first language; everything else is a poor translation. In order to hear that language, we must learn to be still and to rest in God.”— Thomas Keating quoted in The Sun & Moon Over Assisi by Gerard Thomas Straub . Also, “God is the friend of silence. See how nature–trees, flowers, grass–grows in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence.” MOTHER TERESA, A Gift for God. Lastly,
  “Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers…”, Oswald Chambers
• Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back on them what they deserve. Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord and what his hands have done, he will tear them down and never build them up again. – v.4. David seeks God’s vengeance on God’s own enemies. And of course this was before He gave his son to die for all, even the hypocrites. Now the Christian dispensation is to seek the reformation and not the punishment of sinners. While God hates sins because of His holiness, His love for every person remains unexplainable; it cannot be simply put down to the fact that He is the Creator and we were all created in His image. On His Father’s directive, Jesus died to give everybody another chance. We accept this unchanging divine love as part of the mysteries of our faith. Like God, we look to hate the sins and not the sinner.
• The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me – v.7: The Lord is my strength may read God uses His awesome power on my behalf. I am never really weak if I tap into that mighty power source. My heart trusts in him, and he helps me.  We observe the David’s word arrangement carefully. The heart has to trust in Him before He can help the petitioner.

Ref: Treasury of David