And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Matthew 6:7.

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished” . . . But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said. Luke 18:31, 34.

God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 103: Enemies try to entangle Him by craft. Psalm 38:12: Those who seek my life lay snares for me; and those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction, and they devise treachery all day long. And, Mark 14:1; Matthew 22:15: Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him. Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said.

Living in our world today we can become wearied by so many needs. And there are times when I have no prayer words. Everything in me feels like heavy sludge. When we feel like that we are in good company. Reading Scripture we find people who have come to the end of themselves. The disciples came to the end of everything in themselves that could not meet the truth of Jesus. How we each of us need to come to that end. Only there can we begin to acknowledge all we do not know and therefore could not possibly understand. The world apart from God does not know or understand and therefore cannot possibly be the help our souls long for as we become weary of all that is wrong and long for all that is good. If you don’t know Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, where do you go for understanding, to whom do you go for help? O LORD, You have searched me and known me. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me. And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You. Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:1, 4-6, 7-12, 17-18, 23-24. David wrote those words of prayer in his knowing God. God was his help always. We may not understand this world fallen into violence and deceptions recycled from of old, from the rebellion of the evil one against God and His love. I can no more understand that mindset then than I can understand the mindset of today. But I understand David’s heart for God. I understand his need for God and the help God brings to give light to his spirit crying out in too much darkness. David was an instrument of hope trusting God and his psalms bring comfort only those who have struggled understand. When this world becomes too much and you feel only the weight bearing down, remember our God does not abandon us to the darkness. He is there in it with us and it is there we feel His nearness. God blesses those who mourn and their comfort is Him with them.

***WORTHY You are worthy, our LORD and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created. Worthy are You, Lamb of God, to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made us a kingdom and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. Revelation 4:11; 5:9-10. Adapted.***