May our barns be filled, with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields, and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets.
Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the Lord.
Psalm 144: 13-15 NRSV
October is a time of harvest. While the cherry harvest in our valley happened months ago, other crops are still being harvested, including some new apples like the Pink Lady variety, and some varieties of pears.
It would seem as though David wrote Psalm 144 during a time of harvest, because it weighed heavily on his mind. In a time where refrigeration was unknown, and crop sciences were relatively primitive, famine was always a real possibility. Thus, a prayer for a good harvest was almost a universal prayer.
Even today, the blessings of a good harvest trickle down to all of us, from nutritional to economic benefits. Living in an agricultural area, my hope is all of us would lift up our farmers, orchardists, packers, and all involved in the harvest of our food, to ask for God’s blessing over them.
David also prays for a harvest of other blessings, as well. His prayer for no breach in the walls is a prayer for security for his city, Jerusalem. I believe we could all pray a similar prayer, for the safety and security of all communities.
The prayer for no exile is a prayer that the Israelites would not have to face foreign invaders, who might occupy their land. They had already experienced living in Egypt as captives, and did not want to be subject to anything like that again. With our upcoming election on many of our minds, and the talk of foreign influence in the election, I believe we all need to be praying for no interference in the upcoming election process.
David also prays that there would be no distress in the streets. Distress is something our nation has been feeling for the last six months. Whether on the news, in our community, or even in our own homes, stress has been abundant. May we follow David’s lead to pray over all these things that are overwhelming many people in our world.
May God bless us all with good harvests, safety, security, sovereignty, peace, and serenity. We pray for these blessings on our community, our state, our nation, and our world. Hallelujah! and Amen.
Prayer
Lord of the harvest,
Watch over and protect all who are toiling to bring us the nourishment our bodies need. Bless and protect all who work to keep us safe and secure. Help us to be instruments of peace, and not instigators of unrest. Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you. We thank you for Your enduring love. Help us to walk in the path of light, bringing Your message of love and peace to all. We pray this prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.
