What Do You Wish Jesus Prayed For?
Psalm 27
The first church service that we attended in South Carolina was a Wednesday night service. A young man powerfully sang, The Lord Is My Light And My Salvation. Like some songs they center around one or two verses, but emphasize very important truths. A key theme of this psalm is that of salvation, or often in the mind of the Israelites salvation wàs synonymous with deliverance. They cried for deliverance from being slaves in Egypt. Then in the days of Jesus they were looking for deliverance from Rome. In neither of those times was anyone looking for deliverance from sin. Often enough in churches today the cry is for salvation. If deliverance was preached many may think of oppressive peoples or governments. Even saying "salvation from sin" many may not associate sin as the great offence against God that sin truly is. The bottom line is that the basic thought conveyed of salvation, asking Jesus Christ to be Saviour leaves a tremendous void in understanding even the need for deliverance, the need for salvation.
Looking at if Jesis might pray this as a prayer it may only be thought that He would do so on the behalf of others. He Himself didn't have need for salvation, indeed He is the source of salvation. As fully human, yet fully God He understood first hand man's desperate plight by walking among men, knowing what was in man, yet at the same time fully knowing God's view and position on man's plight. As Jesus told Peter at the time He said Peter would deny Him three times He also told Peter He had prayed for Him because Satan was wanting to sift him as wheat. And much later Peter wrote that the Lord is longsuffering not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. For myself I would be very grateful if Jesus prayed this psalm for me, that the Lord not only be my light and salvation, but also the strength of my life. And then for my behalf that I would be able to say by believing, trusting fully in Christ, of whom then shall I be afraid?