The Lord answers our prayers
Psalm 138:1-3, 7c-8. March 2, 2023 - Thursday, 1st Week of Lent
The message of Psalm 138 is straightforward. The psalmist prayed to God in the time a crisis and his prayer was answered. He sings this song of thanksgiving: “I praise You [Lord] with all my heart; when I called, You answered me” (Ps 138:1, 3). We do not know in what kind of crisis the psalmist found himself. Was it a personal crisis or a national disaster similar to the one narrated in the book of Esther? Perhaps, the psalmist did not specify the crisis because he wants to focus our attention on the Lord who delivers from any crisis.
The Bible is filled with examples of people who in difficulties turned to the Lord and He listened to their prayers. Abraham complained that he had no heir and God promised him a son (see Gen 15:1-6). Queen Esther was terrified to go to the palace of the king of Persia to revoke the decree of murdering all the Jews in his empire. She prayed to the Lord for courage and the right words and the Lord granted her success. The Jews were saved and their enemies were punished. Other examples include the Judges, such as Gideon, Barak, and king David, and the prophets like Elijah and Elisha. The author of the Hebrews states that through their trust in God they “conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (Heb. 11:33-34).
The psalmist was grateful to the Lord for being saved by the Lord’s right hand. But he also wanted to share the news of his deliverance with others. He could not keep it to himself. The angel Raphael teaches us that “what God does should be told everywhere, so that he may be praised and honoured” (Tobit 12:7). In the Gospel of Luke, the paralytic who was healed by Jesus goes home praising God (see Luke 5:25). The man possessed by a legion of demons from the Gospel of Mark, after being set free went around his native place and proclaimed to everyone what Jesus did to him “and everyone marvelled” (see Mark 5:20).
There are two basic types of prayer in the Bible: the prayer of request and the prayer of thanksgiving. We should not only ask the Lord and then when our request was granted forget about Him. We should ask and then express our gratitude for the blessings received. Our “please Lord” should always be accompanied by “thank You, Lord”. But, the psalmist invites us to go further. We should share the story of our answered prayers with others. Let others be encouraged by our stories and like us ask, seek, and knock. Let them also experience that our “heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him” (see Matt 7:7-12).