Mensa Otabil - Praying and Proclaiming
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We are still in Psalm 22, and we are looking at verse 20 and verse 21. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen; you have answered me. There are two very important aspects of action in this part of the psalm. First, there is the prayer of deliverance, and then there is the proclamation of God’s deliverance- that God has answered. This shows us how we should also approach our prayer.
As we pray, there is a time when we say, «Lord, deliver me,» and that’s what the psalmist is doing. He says, «Lord, deliver me,» and he talks about what God should deliver him from. He speaks of the sword, from the power of the dog, the lion’s mouth, and the wild oxen. All these are descriptions of various ferocious attacks that are coming against him. Of course, when he says «the sword,» it is the weapon that is used to stab and to kill and to destroy you.
So he says, «Deliver me from those who want to stab me,» or from forces-whether military or otherwise- that want to stab me, and dogs that come against me as a pack and want to attack me. A lion that hunts me down until I can’t run any longer and destroys me, and the wild ox that surrounds me and tries to thrust into me to destroy me. These are different forms of attacks that he’s talking about, and in a larger picture, it also reflects the spiritual attacks that came against the Lord Jesus Christ, especially in His death, which He overcame by the authority of the Holy Spirit. Surrounded by all these enemies, David prayed.
Now, what do you do when you are surrounded by the sword, by dogs, by the wild ox, and by the lion? Do you just run for your life, or do you cry to God? Whomever we talk to in our crisis must be the person who can deliver us. It’s always good to tell people about the difficulties you’re going through, but can they help you? That’s why we go to God in prayer- because He can help us, and He will help us. We talk to the Lord, and we pray to Him for deliverance. Somewhere in this prayer, the psalmist shifts from just praying for deliverance to proclaiming God’s deliverance. He says, «Lord, you answered me.» It reflects what Jesus went through on the cross. By the time Jesus said, «It is finished,» He was very certain that victory had been won. He had claimed the life of humanity from the hand of Satan, from sin, and from eternal damnation.
Somewhere in our prayer, we must also know we have been heard. You can’t keep praying and praying and praying and crying from one prayer meeting to another. There must come a time when you have a certainty in your heart that God has answered. When you have that certainty, you don’t continue crying; you don’t continue bombarding, so to speak, God with your prayers when you know He has answered you.
Just as Jesus declared, «It is finished; it’s done.» God has done it. You rest in Him; you trust in Him, knowing that He will fix everything for you. There are some people who pray for deliverance and pray for help but never proclaim deliverance. They never proclaim that God has answered them, so their whole life is in anticipation, in expectation. It’s in pain — prayer, prayer, prayer-but never the assurance that their prayers have been answered. It’s good to pray for God to help you, but it’s also good for you to proclaim His deliverance over your life. This day, I trust that the Lord, whom you’ve prayed to, will deliver you and show you His salvation.
Let’s pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, you have surrounded me with your mercies on all sides. You are my deliverer from all harm. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.» Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.