“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel now say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would’ve swallowed us up alive. When their anger was kindled against us, then the flood would’ve swept us away. The torrent would’ve gone over us. Then over us, would’ve gone the raging waters. Blessed be the Lord who has not given us as prey to their teeth. We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fallers. The snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.”
– Psalm 124
What a powerful Psalm, Psalm 124, in a world where it seems like to the Psalmist, evil and sin and injustice are overwhelming and threatening to overtake him, to overtake specifically God’s people, Israel. The Psalmist says the Lord is on our side and our help is in his name.
So as I read the Psalm and I think about specific ways to pray for each other during these days, I think about how yesterday we prayed for moms in general. And today I want to lead us to pray for a mom specifically. Her name is Wanda Cooper. Maybe you recognize her name or maybe the name of her son, Ahmaud Arbery, a young African American man in my country who was shot and killed in a way that is heartbreaking and what I hope is a God honoring way enraging because we hate evil. And because we grieve over injustice and we hate injustice and we do not want to see it reign. This is the cry of Psalm 1:24. We want to see the goodness of God reign. We want to see the justice of God reign in the world.
Praying for Peace and Justice
This is part of how Jesus taught us to pray. Our father in heaven hallow be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And this has been a hard emotional week for many people in my country. I think particularly about my African American brothers and sisters, but not just them. I trust it is for all who hate evil and hate injustice and want to see God’s kingdom come and God’s will be done and want to do what God’s will is in a Micah 6:8 kind of way to do justice and love mercy and to walk humbly with God. So I want to lead us to pray specifically for Wanda Cooper and for all who long for justice and good to reign in the world and who know that our help is in the name of the Lord.
So God, we pray together right now just like you taught us to pray Jesus. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God, we want your justice to reign. We want your goodness to reign. God, we want your mercy to reign. We want your law to reign. God, we pray for Wanda Cooper.
Psalm 124 Prays for Strength to be In the Name of God
So God, we pray that she would know that there is help to be found in your name. There’s strength to be found in your name. There is peace to be found in your name. There is truth to be found in your name. There’s justice to be found in your name. So God, we pray for her that you would be her help. You would be her family’s help and that you would be a help to all who hurt and lament and look to you.
God, we praise you for the gospel. We praise you for the reality that Jesus has come to this sinful world. Has taken on evil and injustice at the cross, has paid the price for our sin against you, has risen from the dead in victory, over sin so that we know sin, death, injustice are not the final word, will not have the final word. So God, we praise you for that reality. We praise you that you are on our side. That evil will not overwhelm. That injustice will not ultimately reign.
Psalm 124 Thanks God for His Perfect Judgement
We pray for the coming of your perfect judgment, the perfect justice on the earth. And we pray now, God, we pray that you would bring about justice in this particular case and God across my country, other countries God help us, help us as your people to do what is required of us in your word, to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with you, to love you with all our hearts, souls, mind, and strength to love our neighbors as ourselves.
So God, we pray that these would be the marks of your church. Those who know you, those who have you on our side, you’re on our side and you’re the Lord of justice. You’re the Lord of kindness. You’re the Lord of love. So God help us to reflect your character we pray. Help us to lament with one another, to lament with Wanda Cooper, to lament with brothers and sisters around us, to lament together because we all weep over evil in this world.
So we all long to see an end to it. And as we long in this way, help us. We pray to live, to live, to make your goodness known in the world around us, to make your justice, your kindness, your mercy known in the world around us. Our help is in your name oh God. Your the one who made heaven and earth. So help us we pray to reflect your character in the world in which we live. We plead today for your help in our lives and our country’s in this way. And God we pleads specifically for your help for Wanda Cooper in Jesus name. 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.
