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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Alright, guys, welcome back. This week we're looking at some Puritan prayers from a compilation called the Valley of Vision. So today we're actually looking at a prayer entitled the Cry of a Convicted Sinner. So buckle up, guys. I'll read it here.

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Thou righteous and holy sovereign, in whose hand is my life and whose are all my ways, keep me from fluttering about religion. Fix me firm in it, for I am irresolute. My decisions are smoke and vapor, and I do not. Let's read from the artifices and deceits of sin, from the treachery of my perverse nature, from denying thy charge against my offenses, from a life of continual rebellion against thee, from wrong principles, views and ends, for I know that all my thoughts, affections, desires and pursuits are alienated from thee. I have acted as if I hated thee, although thou art love itself. I have acted as if I hated thee, although thou art love itself. Have contrived to tempt thee to the uttermost, to wear out thy patience, have lived evilly in word and action. Had I been a prince, I would long ago have crushed such a rebel. Had I been a father, I would long since have rejected my child. O thou father of my spirit, thou king of my life, cast me not into destruction. Drive me not from thy presence, but wound my heart that it may be healed. Break it that thine own hand may make it whole.

Speaker 2: 1:55

So, guys, as I was reading the cry of a convicted sinner for the first time, there were a couple of lines that really stood out to me above the others, and so I underlined them and I'll read them again here. Had I been a prince, I would long ago have crushed such a rebel. Had I been a father, I would long since have rejected my child. So I mean, I don't know about you, guys, but I can feel that sentiment like in my guts. Okay so I'm what you would call or categorize a rather, you know impatient guy. Okay so, I've been known to have a bit of a short fuse throughout my life, and you know, guys, I've certainly gotten more patient and I've extended the length of my fuse over the years, but I still think that it's safe to say that the sanctification process in those areas of my life still has a long way to go.

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So in this prayer, though, I totally get what this guy is saying. You know he's like look, if I was in God's seat and saw the actions of this rebellious person, I would have smote him a long time ago. You know, if I was in God's seat and I was watching what my idiot kid was doing, I would have rejected him a long time ago. Now that may seem a bit harsh or, you know, macabre for some of you more well-adjusted guys, but I'm just being real with you, guys. I totally get it. And don't get it twisted Like you would probably do the same thing, like if we put some true serum in you, you would probably feel the same way, or if you were in the same predicament. But, guys, in all of this we see the tremendous patience of our holy and just father God.

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And it also occurred to me while I was preparing the content for this week that I think that I'm drawn to these Puritan prayers because of how powerful and raw they are. Yeah, but they also remind me a lot of the Psalms. I mean, just a few weeks ago on the Daily Blade, I talked about five different Psalms of Lament, and there are a lot of similarities between the Psalms of Lament and some of these Puritan prayers, and this one especially. So this prayer actually reminded me of a section from Psalm 103, and I'm going to read verses 8 through 10.

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And so, in these verses, king David says this the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. So you see, guys, we, us, all of us, me included, we would crush the rebel, okay, we would reject our child, but we aren't God. We don't see like he sees and we don't possess the ultimate patience that he does. I mean, and that should be great news. Like, isn't that such great news for all of us to consider? I mean, we deserve wrath and punishment for our iniquities, but again, verse 10 of Psalm 103, he does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. If we are to be more like God, then it follows that we should strive, with the Holy Spirit's help, to be patient with others, as God is patient with us.

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Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.