Please stop me...Psalm 7, P.S.

There is alot to Psalm 7. I could go on and comment on every piece of it. You know me...I can get kinda loooong winded.
But I think, today, I will just stick with my "First Impression" and share one point.

Psalm 7 : 1-5
1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands-
4 if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe-
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust. Selah

Please, Dear Heavenly Father, keep me from temptation that I might not cause pain.

Verses 3,4 and 5 of chapter seven reminded me of the last part of the Jabez Prayer in

I Chronicles chapter 4, verses 8 - 10.
"And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested."

I don't know if you've ever read The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson. Or if you have read it, what you think about it. I know every time I have taken the time to use this form of prayer and lay it before God in the spirit that Mr. Wilkinson outlines in his book, it has never failed to make a difference in my life.

Being the mother of four and having made quite a few WHOPPER mistakes in the last year, the last part of Jabez' prayer holds a special place in my heart.

Please let them forget, Father.
* Let them forget the men I dated during my "lookin'-for-love-in-all-the-wrong-places" stage. "Is THIS one going to be our new Daddy?...How about this one? And what about that one?"
* Let them forget the smoking on the porch after they went to bed because I felt I "couldn't handle the stress anymore". They would stand inside the screen door and beg me to stop..."Mommy, you're going to DIE!" (Yes, I quit back in October).
* Let them forget that stage of my grief where I was angry at my exhusband and at God for the pain and humiliation my family had to endure.
* Let them forget the time the front page story came out in the local paper after his sentencing and I collapsed in a bawling, frustrated heap in the corner of the kitchen. They gathered around patting me, becoming the parent when I could no longer keep a brave face. "It's OK, Mom. It's OK. Everything will be alright. Please don't cry, Mom!"

Please, Dear Lord! "that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!”
Not to my children, not to my parents, not to my friends. They have enough pain to deal with, without me adding to it.

I want to encourage. I want to edify. I want to be a small, broken piece of mirror that reflects the glory of my God. Prayers, please?

Not my will, but Thine.

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