I was praying about Bangkok and the flooding taking place over there this week, when to Lord guided me to this psalm. I'm not making the argument that David's imagery of drowning was anything more than a metaphor -- Psalm 69 certainly wasn't written about the floods in Bangkok, but no matter what challenges a person (a grad student struggling to finish all their work, for example) or a community (a group of grad students struggling together to finish all their work), or a nation like Thailand, it is good to remember that the Lord is with us.
Many of the slums over there (I've included a picture from my time there, below) are built on marshes, and the people have no other place to go. I hope to finish a linocut and list it on Etsy in support of some of the work my friends are doing in Bangkok. Until then, here is Psalm 69, and the links to their blogs.
http://lisatoasia.blogspot.com/2011/10/heading-south.html
http://treyandkiki.blogspot.com/2011/10/very-important-prayer-request.html
Save Me, O God
To the choirmaster: according to tLilies. Of David.
For
uthe waters have come up to my neck.
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood
wsweeps over me.
3 xI am weary with my crying out;
with
awaiting for my God.
4 bMore in number than the hairs of my head
are
cthose who hate me
dwithout cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
ethose who attack me with lies.
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 Let not those who hope in you
fbe put to shame through me,
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
7 For it is
gfor your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become
ha stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother's sons.
9 For
izeal for your house has consumed me,
and
jthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting,
11 When I made
ksackcloth my clothing,
I became
la byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who
msit in the gate,
and the drunkards make
nsongs about me.
13 But as for me, my
oprayer is to you, O
Lord.
At
pan acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
from sinking in
qthe mire;
rlet me be delivered from my enemies
and from
sthe deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or
tthe pit close
uits mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O
Lord, for your
vsteadfast love is good;
according to your abundant
wmercy,
xturn to me.
17 yHide not your face from your servant;
zfor I am in distress;
amake haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my
breproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 bReproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in
cdespair.
I
dlooked for
epity, but there was none,
and for
fcomforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me
gpoison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me
hsour wine to drink.
22 iLet their own
jtable before them become a snare;
kand when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
23 lLet their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
mand make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 nMay their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they
opersecute him whom
pyou have struck down,
and they recount the pain of
qthose you have wounded.
27 rAdd to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.
28 Let them be
sblotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be
tenrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God,
uset me on high!
30 I will
vpraise the name of God with a song;
I will
wmagnify him with
xthanksgiving.
31 This will
yplease the
Lord more than an ox
or a bull
zwith horns and hoofs.
32 When
athe humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God,
alet your hearts revive.
33 For the
Lord hears the needy
and
bdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.
34 Let
cheaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For dGod will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it; 36 ethe offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
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