Psalm 51 (Day 43): Condition and Content

"May it please You to prosper Zion,

to build up the walls of Jerusalem."

Ps 51:18, NIV

Yesterday, you and I saw the important role David's confession played in preparing him for his intercession on behalf of his city and his nation. We likewise saw how Christ's ministry on earth modeled that kind of prayer life. We further saw how we, too, are invited confess and intercede.

Today, on this forty-third morning of my 50 days of waiting, would you and I ponder the condition and content of David's intercession in this verse?

Open our eyes, Lord.

We want to hear and heed You.

We want to listen to and understand You, Father.

We desire to see and experience You, O blessed Christ.

We long to honor, revere, trust, obey, and receive You, Holy Spirit.

Guide us to meditate on Your word

and to grow and grow and grow

in the grace and knowledge of the cross.

In Christ Jesus our Lord, we pray.

Amen!

The condition of David's intercession is God's good and perfect pleasure, as revealed in the prayer, "May it please You . . ." 

The first allusion to such good and perfect pleasure is found in Genesis 1:3-4, reading,

"And God said:

'Let there be light,'

and there was light.

God saw that the light was good . . ."

The whole of creation testifies that, ever since the beginning, God's good and perfect pleasure has always been a matter of His personal pursuit, provision, plan, and purpose. He is the Creator who delights in pursuing humanity, who loves to provide us with every good and perfect gift, who is pleased to draft plans that cannot be thwarted, and who is glorifies through achieving His purpose in all of His works. Indeed, "every good word, thought, action, or step that comes out of us is really initiated and achieved by Him and through Him" in accordance with His pleasure and will (Weeding Impatience, Lilite, p. 37). 

In terms of content, David's intercession focuses on the prosperity and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. He was not content to simply plead for his own restoration; he realized that his sin destabilized his city and, therefore, was led to implore on its behalf for restoration and prosperity. 

Prosperity is none other than fruitfulness, a concept that was introduced in Genesis 1. It has always been God's pleasure and blessing for us to bear fruit, to bear much fruit. And our fruitfulness is contingent upon our remaining attached to the Vine  of Christ (Jn 15:1-6), where Jesus continues His discourse, saying, 

"If you remain in me 

and my words remain in you,

ask whatever you wish, 

and it will be given you."

Jn 15:7, NIV

In other words, the content of our intercession can be anything anything at all as long as "that thing" is rooted in God's Word and in our intimacy with Christ. Perhaps, Christ's invitation to remain attached or connected to God's Word validates our need for immediate confession as soon as entangling sins ensnare our feet away from His good and perfect pleasure.

May you and I readily confess our sins and humbly intercede on behalf of others!
May you and I prosper together as the Lord rebuilds us through the cement of His powerful Word!
May all our thinking, doing, feeling, prospering, rebuilding, and striving have but one purpose -- to seek to bring ultimate pleasure to our Lord and King!