ECWA Food for the Day – 2nd July, 2025

WEDNESDAY, 2 JULY, 2025.
TEXT: PSALM 6:1-10
TOPIC: HAVE MERCY ON ME.

The early church identified this Psalm as one of the seven penitential ones. These are Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143. These were times David’s prayers focused on his enemies, that is, imprecatory prayers, but as his communion with God grew deeper and deeper, he turned the trajectory of his prayers to his weaknesses, frailties, sinfulness and onto his imperfections.

In this short Psalm, King David used personal pronouns “me” and “I” about seventeen times in these ways: “do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath. Have mercy on me….heal me, deliver me, save me” etc.

If you carefully take inventories of our prayer meetings, the focus is mostly on our enemies like the Boko Haram, the Fulani bandits, the Kidnappers, the persecution we are enduring, etc.

All of these prayer burdens are not bad as long as we can devote our time for self-examination and penance.

The Bible assured us that ‘when a man’s way pleases the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him’ (Proverbs 16:7).

QUESTION
Is your prayer largely penitential or imprecatory?

PRAYER
I pray, dear y, for the grace to honestly look inward for self-examination as I always approach You in prayers, in Jesus’ name. Amen!