November 17 Petition Mission

“Consider my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget Your law. Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to Your word” (Ps 119:153-154).

I think we need to remind ourselves that the Lord never sees the distresses of His children without exactly understanding their situation and extending to them His help. David remembers who he has “in his corner” to act as his Advocate, ready to plead his cause. He also knows that the Lord’s actions are not only needed outwardly to deal with the circumstances facing him, but inwardly as well: “redeem me” and “revive me.” These words mean, “Be my Kinsman-Redeemer and my Life-Restorer.”

And how is this done? The Lord has many agents. He comes to our aid by His Spirit, the Comforter, and by Christ, our Advocate. He provides help through the saints; as Paul wrote, “God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus” (2 Cor 7:6). And here David asks for help through the Word. How blessed we are!