¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked man;
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
¹⁶ The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from His land.
¹⁷ You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted;
You encourage them, and You listen to their cry,
¹⁸ defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.
~ Psalm 10:15-18

I suspect that most of us have never prayed for someone’s arm to be broken! Yet this is what the Psalmist prays for. The ‘arm’ in Hebrew poetry refers to strength – so the Psalmist is praying that the power of the wicked ruler would be broken.

Can we not pray for that? We want the Lord to hear the cry of the afflicted, and defend the fatherless and oppressed. This is not a cry for personal vindictiveness, but rather for justice.

Petition: Please join with us in praying for:

1. Turkey – The number of confirmed cases is 144,749, with 4,007 deaths of those with Covid-19.
   The big concern in Turkey is with the large refugee camps.
2. Tasmania – now has had 227 cases (up 2 from a week ago), with 13 deaths (up 0).
   In Australia there have been a total of 6,989 cases (up 14). There have been 98 deaths (up 0).
   6,301 people have recovered (up 22). 51 are in hospital (18 in ICU). 943,485 people have been tested, with 0.7% being positive.
3. Those who work in mental health, as they will have to deal with some of the consequences of this pandemic and the response to it for many years.
4. The UK has authorised an antibody test for general use. This will determine whether someone has had Covid-19 or not.
5. How do you organise a church service with 10 people? Pray for church leaders as they consider whether to do this or not.

A Prayer of Repentance:
O Lord, how often do we pray for ourselves and complain about our problems –
yet we forget to cry out to You for the oppressed, the powerless
and those who are terrorised by unjust rulers and cruel men and women.
Lord, give us Your heart and Your eyes. Amen.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving:
Lord God, we praise You that You do ‘break the arm’ of the wicked man,
that You restrain injustice and one day will judge all wrongs.
In a world where the unjust so often seem to prosper,
we bless You that this is only an appearance –
and that You are the ultimate judge who will right all wrongs.
We trust in Your justice, mercy and love,
In Jesus’ (the One by whom you will judge the whole world on the day You have appointed) Name.
Amen.

___

Daily devotions by David Robertson via Christians United — COVID19 Call to Prayer.

[Photo by Sandy Kumar on Unsplash]