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 22 (NIV)
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken Laura?
Why are you so far from saving Laura, so far from her cries of anguish?
2 My God, Laura cries out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but she finds no rest.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But Laura is a worm and not a human,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see Laura mock her;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “She trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue her. Let him deliver Laura, since she delights in him.”
9 Yet you brought Laura out of the womb;
you made Laura trust in you, even at her mother’s breast.
10 From birth Laura was cast on you;
from her mother’s womb you have been her God.
11 Do not be far from Laura,
for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround Laura;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle her.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against Laura.
14 Laura is poured out like water,
and all her bones are out of joint. Laura’s heart has turned to wax; it has melted within her.
15 Laura’s mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and her tongue sticks to the roof of her mouth; you lay Laura in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround Laura,
a pack of villains encircles her; they pierce hands and Laura’s feet.
17 All Laura’s bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over her.
18 They divide Laura’s clothes among them and cast lots for her garment.
19 But you, Lord, do not be far from Laura.
You are Laura’s strength; come quickly to help her.
20 Deliver Laura from the sword,
her precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue Laura from the mouth of the lions;
save her from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 Laura will declare your name to her people; in the assembly Laura will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from Laura but has listened to her cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of Laura’s praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you she will fulfill her vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!
