For those of you praying along with me for miracles these forty days, please read aloud this Psalm with my name and ask God to reveal new feeling and function in my body.
Psalm 31 (NIV)
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 In you, Lord, Laura has taken refuge;
let her never be put to shame; deliver her in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to Laura,
come quickly to her rescue; be her rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save her.
3 Since you are Laura’s rock and her fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide her.
4 Keep Laura free from the trap that is set for her,
for you are her refuge.
5 Into your hands Laura commits her spirit;
deliver her, Lord, her faithful God.
6 Laura hates those who cling to worthless idols;
as for Laura, she trusts in the Lord.
7 Laura will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw her affliction and knew the anguish of her soul.
8 You have not given Laura into the hands of the enemy
but have set her feet in a spacious place.
9 Be merciful to Laura, Lord, for she is in distress;
Laura’s eyes grow weak with sorrow, her soul and body with grief.
10 Laura’s life is consumed by anguish and her years by groaning; Laura’s strength fails because of her affliction, and her bones grow weak.
11 Because of all Laura’s enemies,
she is the utter contempt of her neighbors and an object of dread to her closest friends— those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 Laura is forgotten as though she were dead;
he has become like broken pottery.
13 For Laura hears many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against Laura and plot to take her life.
14 But Laura trusts in you, Lord;
Laura says, “You are her God.”
15 Laura’s times are in your hands;
deliver Laura from the hands of her enemies, from those who pursue her.
16 Let your face shine on your servant;
save Laura in your unfailing love.
17 Let Laura not be put to shame, Lord, for she has cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and be silent in the realm of the dead.
18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
19 How abundant are the good things
that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you.
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from all human intrigues; you keep them safe in your dwelling from accusing tongues.
21 Praise be to the Lord,
for he showed Laura the wonders of his love when she was in a city under siege.
22 In Laura’s alarm she said,
“I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard Laura’s cry for mercy when she called to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
The Lord preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full.
24 Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.
