Lord, Save Me!
Psalms 6:4
David is praying urgently to God to forgive his sins and heal him so that he will be able to live a more empowered, abundant, righteous life. He shows recognition of the fact that he is currently powerless to live a life that is pleasing to God due to the fact that he is weak both spiritually and physically, and this is causing grief to every aspect of his being. So he is pleading with God to have mercy on him and promises that he will show God a great degree of gratitude if God does deliver him. David concludes by expressing confidence that God will grant him his wishes and further aid him by helping him confront his enemiesvia convicting them of their sin.
Psalms 22:21
In this Psalm David prophesizes about the events immediately preceding Jesus´s death, his death by crucifixion, as well as events that occurred in the aftermath. This verse specifically deals with David pleading with God to deliver his people in a future era (which will be Christians) from the persecution that they will face, namely being fed to lions and other animals.
Psalms 31:16
David is in the midst of being slandered and persecuted by the enemies of God who God is using as a vessel to force David to suffer the negative consequences of his sin. He is praying to God to have mercy on him as one of God´s people and deliver him from the persecution of his (and God´s) enemies. He is imploring God to make his presence known and show his favor towards David and deliver him from his oppressors and then make them pay for the consequences of their sins. He is fully acknowledging the fact that God is engineering all of the events in his life, even during his darkest moments.
Pslams 71:2
This prayer begins with an elderly believer acknowledging that God has always been there for him in the past during his times of need. God has always listened to him during his difficult times in the past and delivered him with the power of his righteousness. The
believer forcefully reminds God of the fact that he has continually praised him and shown him his gratitude throughout his life. He is petitioning God to continue to be with him and not forsake him during his times of weakness during his old age. He expresses optimism that he still has many major accomplishments ahead of him during the remaining part of his life.
Psalms 119:46
The writer of this Psalm is pleading with God to save him, and promises to keep the law if God does save him. The author indicates his conviction in the validity of the entire law, and affirms that God has established his law forever. It is unclear whether the writer is solely talking about merely the moral part of God´s law, or the entirety of God´s law (including also the ceremonial and civil elements of it).
Isaiah 38:20
Hezekiah (the king of Judah) got extremely sick, as evident by a boil on his skin. After being informed by the prophet Isaiah that God had told him that he was going to die, Hezekiah prayed earnestly to God to heal him and allow his life to be extended. He asserted his lifelong faithful devotion and loyalty to God in his prayer. This was followed by lamentations and supplications. God decided to answer Hezekiah´s prayer in the
affirmative by healing him of his sickness, extending his life by 15 years, and forgiving him of his sins. He also vowed to protect him and the city that he reigned over conquest by the king of Assyria. It should be noted that this earnest prayer for sslvation contrasted from all such other prayers in Psalms by virtue of the fact that there is an aspect of expressing one´s own merits that was notably absent in the others. .
Here Am I Send Me!
Isaiah 6:8
This passage differs from most in scripture in regards to when God selects a prophet. Usually in such instances in scripture God commands certain individuals to become his prophets, i.e. there is no asking on his part. But in this passage God does ask and Isaiah wholeheartedly volunteers and begs God to send him. It becomes clear upon the completion of the instructions given by God to Isaiah that the purpose of God sending him is to completely blind the people so that they won´t act in a prudent or righteous fashion. God wants this to happen so as to allow him to destroy the cities inhabited by such people for his own purposes. .
Show Me Thy Glory
Exodus 33:18
When Moses asked God to show him his glory, God responded by asserting his divine right to bestow his grace and compassion on whom he wants. He assured Moses that he was following through on his promise to his ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bestow his grace on Moses and his brethren the Jewish people as his chosen people. He then made it clear to Moses that he would manifest his glory to him in physical form but that he would
not reveal his face to him because that is beyond the capability for any human to bear. Therefore he only revealed his back to him after he temporarily blinded him as he was passing by.
The Redemption Phase
Exodus Chapter 1-18
The Jewish people cried out to God to redeem them from the bondage that they were held in via slavery in Egypt. The primary cause for the Egyptians being enslaved in Egypt is because the Pharoah feared that the Jewish people would continue to grow in size to the point where they would be a threat to ally with Egypt´s enemies and defeat them. God heard the supplications of the enslaved Jewish people in Egypt and decided that it was time to redeem them and bring them into the Promised Land. As is often the case, God chose a plan which involved a series of steps and events to bring about his desired end instead of doing so instantaneously. God brought about seven plagues on the Egyptian people in order to manifest his power to the Pharoah and get him to acquiesce to his demands. But after each time that he sent a plague on Egypt in order to get Pharoah to submit to God´s demands of freeing the Jeiwsh people, God hardened Pharoah´s heart for the purpose of getting him to go back on his promise. This in turn resulted in Pharoah exacting more punitive measures on the Jewish people, which in turn resulted in Moses praying urgently to God in which he complained about the turn in events. At times this caused Moses to lose faith in both God and himself. But in time God revealed to Moses that his promises could be trusted and he did indeed grant the Jewish people their prayers and deliver them out of bondage in Egypt and into freedom in the Promised Land. God deliberately dragged out the process in order to maximize his glory.
The Revelation Phase
Exodus Chapters 19-40
God revealed himself to the Jewish people in a variety of ways throughout the second half of Exodus. The first major revelation was God unveiling at Mount Sinai that he cementing his covenant with the Jewish people that he had initially promised to their forefather Abraham. The stipulations of the covenant were that as long as the Jewish people obeyed God and kept his commandments, that he would set them apart as his special people. Later at Mount Sinai God revealed himself through very loud sounds of thunder and lightning as well as that of a trumpet. He also manifested himself through the presence of a very thick cloud as well as encompassing it in smoke due to God descending upon it in fire. The Lord then spoke to Moses when he was on the top of the mountain and told him to warn his people not to come up to the top of the mountain to see him lest they die. After Moses did this, he returned to the top of the mountain. God then proceeded to give the ten commandments to Moses, writing them on tablets. Upon doing this, God left the same way that he came, with all of the same signs being manifested. This caused the people to quiver. Moses then explained to them that the purpose of God coming to them was to test them and as a means of acting as a deterrent to them sinning. Later in Exodus God threatened to destroy the people due to their idolatry of making and worshipping a golden calf but Moses offered urgent prayers to God, begging him to show mercy to his people and not destroy them. He reminded God of the promise that he had made to Abraham to greatly multiply his descendants. Such pleading by Moses caused God to acquiesce and spare his people.
