“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.”
– Psalm 16:1
Psalm 16 is one of my favorite psalms. I feel like I just want to meditate on every single one of these words together with you, for us to pray according to them. I love Psalm 16, just every single word, but I just want to let Psalm 16:1 do the work for the next couple minutes in our hearts. Preserve me, O God. Preserve me, O God. What a prayer. In a world of sin and suffering and death, in a world of trials and temptations, in a world of different struggles, in a world where we often feel weary, I think many of us over this last year would describe the way we feel looking back as just weary and maybe the way we feel right now, the way we feel today or if you’re not feeling that way today, at some point you get to that point.
Psalm 16:1 can remind us that when the world is bombarding you from different directions, know that you can find refuge in God.
And so to look to God and say, “Preserve me.” Help me to persevere. Keep me. Keep me close to you. And keep me walking with you. Preserve my strength, preserve my joy, preserve the peace that I know you desire for me, preserve me for in you O God, I take refuge. What a picture. When the world is bombarding you from different directions, to know that you can find refuge in God. In God, that he’s your refuge. Think Psalm 46:1, God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble. When we are bombarded by the world from different directions, when we are weary in this world, to know that God is our refuge. He’s our shelter. He is our safe place and he will preserve us.
I just want to pray this over. Particularly those of you who feel weary right now. God, I pray for brothers and sisters in Christ, specifically who are walking through challenges where they feel bombarded on different sides or maybe it’s just from one direction, but it’s a heavy bombardment. I pray for brothers and sisters who are tired. Who are weary in different ways, who are struggling in different ways. Maybe even they’re faith struggling or maybe their faith feels strong, but there’s just so much they’re walking through that they feel so heavy.
Prayer For Preservation
God, I pray for your preservation like Psalm 16:1 says. Jesus, I think about your words when you say that you are the shepherd of your sheep and you keep all who trust in you. That you help all those who trust in you to persevere. And so we pray for your perseverance.
God, I pray for your preservation and perseverance overweary brothers and sisters right now that they would know that they have refuge in you. That even in this moment, they would feel rest in you. In a world of stress and anxiety and worry and frustration and just weariness, God, I pray that they would know your love for them, your peace in them, your joy in them, your strength in them, your help for them. You’re an ever-present help in trouble. And the only way we can persevere in faith is with your help. The only way we can be preserved in this world is by your grace and we praise you for freely giving it.
And I just pray that overweary brothers and sisters, that they would find refuge in you right now.
No matter what’s going on around them, they would find themselves in your shelter. They would know you love them. The sovereign Lord on high is with them. They’re not alone. That you are leading them, guiding them. You’re a good shepherd and you will give them, you promise to give them every single thing they need, wisdom, courage, strength, joy, peace, all the storehouses of Heaven available to them in this moment, as they find refuge in you.
And not just in this moment, as they walk into the battle, as they walk through trials, temptations, struggles, as they’re bombarded from all sides that they would know that you, the God of the universe preserve them. That you, the God of the universe are their refuge. Are their personal refuge. All glory be to your name O God for preserving us and for giving us the privilege of finding refuge in you. In Jesus’ name we pray, the name of the one who makes this possible, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
