Oxygen from psalm 18:25-27 (Wrestling)

 25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful;   
      to those with integrity you show integrity. 
 26 To those you've chosen you show yourself choice, 
      but to the wicked you show yourself a wrestler. (lit.)
 27 You rescue the humble, 
      but you humiliate the proud. 


(Psalm 18:25-27)

Faithful and Merciful God:

Someone wise once described the progression
of the human toward God's possession,
three stages of enlightening averred:
God, the Void,
God, the Enemy,
God, the Deliverer.

I thank you, Lord, I live in a land
where few have never heard of God.
As we sing and stir to patriotic song
we learn enough to get along;
that you bless and you provide
and we hope we're on your side.
This, the role of government:
to foster freedoms, heaven-sent,
protecting every right inalienable
that no Void could guarantee.

Yet, in spite of all this deference,
many deny Your truth and providence.
To these you are the Enemy.
Faithing only in what they see,
the cynics want You walled up in ghettos
where you can't touch their peccadilloes.
Science is their new religion,
abortion rights their sacrament,
the environment their transcendence.

With some you are the Wrestler,
like Jacob at Jabbock Creek,  (Gen. 32:22-28)
started life a cheating scoundrel,
but you chose him, gave him belief,
and not Esau who was such a better man,
sold his birthright and Your plan
for a pot of porridge,  (Gen.27)

So many for whom we pray
are good people who try their best
to do what they think is right
and we know that you will bless
by the rules of providence
that govern the whole creation
regardless of their justification. (Mt. 5:45)
But trusting God is not fable,
nor ancient myth for the disabled,
God has revealed himself, changed history,
not from Mt. Olympus or Valhalla,
but from Calvary and its nearby tomb.

I suppose the cynic sees in these words
the power of psychological projection,
but I see the power of faith
opened wide by doors of grace,
to know the true and living God,
not a man-made religious mirage,
in whom we may rest secure
and find the power to endure,
as have ten thousand generations
who have put their trust in Him
and found him faithful to the end. (Psalm 90:1-2)

So, Lord, may these for whom we pray
find in you exactly what they need.
We pray that you would confound
the enemies of the Gospel in this and every land,
and protect Your chosen saints
from persecution and despair.
For those whose health is so precarious,
we intercede knowing you care for us,
for Clarence and for his son,
for Ralph and Marcy and Shey,
sustain and show yourself
as their Healer and Great Physician.
For those who struggle against the tide,
for Drew and Melinda, for Diana,
for Jerry and Elizabeth,
be their tag-team partner, tapping in
when their resources are growing thin;
show your presence and your love,
save the poor, humble the proud.

We bless You in all time and places
and turn to you with shining faces
made radiant by your grace out-poured,
loving Savior, Holy Lord.
We dedicate ourselves to prayer
for your people everywhere.
To those who have never heard
bless those who bring your saving Word.
And to your enemies securely nestled
confound all evil and with them wrestle.
Guard your people; secure your claim,
we ask this all in Jesus name.

Amen.