I was reading this morning in the Psalms. If you haven’t noticed, I tend to go there a lot.

They are some of my favorites. The particular Psalm below reminded me how rarely I pray for this country or its leaders. I know some people are very devoted to praying for these things, and that is quite admirable. But I, for one—especially recently—have struggled to pray for things outside of my own little world, and this Psalm was a good reminder.

I suppose we will end our series that we were doing and start something new. I hope the series of truths has been very helpful for you all. I, for one, am still working on renewing my mind with these things. And it is quite a journey for sure. So no discouragement on anyone’s part—it is just a start. But if you continue in time, I’m sure we will truly start believing the truths of God’s words.

Before we get to the Psalm, let’s focus on prayer outside of ourselves. As I was reading, I was reminded of a scripture in Jeremiah that is very rarely quoted, as the verses after it are the ones people think of most.

Jeremiah 29:5–7 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.

Now, as pleasant as this verse sounds, they are in the midst of captivity. And the last thing they wanted to hear was, “Settle in and get comfortable in the land of your enemies.” Because that meant they would stay in this horrible place much longer than they planned, and much longer than their prophets were telling them.

You see, in the time of Jeremiah and these prophets, the people thought they had done nothing wrong. They believed they had served the Lord, kept the commandments, and worshiped Him in the temple. But it was all from a religious spirit. And they had added to it the worship of other gods and their own selfish gain. This is what they were being punished for. But even in the land of captivity, they had not seen their own faults. These words for them were not good words, even though they appear that way when you first read them.

Now, some people I have heard teaching will say that because we are children of the heavenly Kingdom, our home here on earth is as if we are in captivity. This idea comes from a verse that speaks of being aliens in this world, as well as other verses.

1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

But whether we are or are not in a captivity of sorts, these verses in Jeremiah are true for any country or place we are residing. If we pray for peace for our country and government and the people of its lands, then we shall also have and live at peace. Is it not also part of our duty in building God’s heavenly spiritual kingdom here on earth?

So, that being said, here is the Psalm I read this morning. Please pray it over your country and leaders in government, national and local. You can replace the name of the king or places with your leaders or names of allies or enemies where applicable.

Psalm 72

1 God, give your justice to the king
and your righteousness to the king’s son.
2  He will judge your people with righteousness
and your afflicted ones with justice.
3  May the mountains bring well-being to the people
and the hills, righteousness.
4  May he vindicate the afflicted among the people,
help the poor,
and crush the oppressor.
5  May they fear you while the sun endures
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
6  May the king be like rain that falls on the cut grass,
like spring showers that water the earth.
7  May the righteous flourish in his days
and well-being abound
until the moon is no more.
8  May he rule from sea to sea
and from the Euphrates
to the ends of the earth.
9  May desert tribes kneel before him
and his enemies lick the dust.
10  May the kings of Tarshish
and the coasts and islands bring tribute,
the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11  Let all kings bow in homage to him,
all nations serve him.

12  For he will rescue the poor who cry out
and the afflicted who have no helper.
13  He will have pity on the poor and helpless
and save the lives of the poor.
14  He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their lives are precious in his sight.
15  May he live long!
May gold from Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be offered for him continually,
and may he be blessed all day long.
16  May there be plenty of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains.
May its crops be like Lebanon.
May people flourish in the cities
like the grass of the field.
17  May his name endure forever;
as long as the sun shines,
may his fame increase.
May all nations be blessed by him
and call him blessed.
18  Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wonders.
19  Blessed be his glorious name forever;
the whole earth is filled with his glory.
Amen and amen.
20  The prayers of David son of Jesse are concluded

It was a good reminder to me, and I hope for you as well. If there is anything you would like to add to this prayer, please share it with us so that we all might be unified in our prayers. Also, if you are praying for any other countries other than the U.S., where I write these blogs, please do share with us, and let us all join together for each nation that appears in the comments.

Have a good week, everyone.