The Prayer of a Seed...

Editorial
By Marjorie Kinnee

Text:  Psalm 4:1-8

Every seed that is sown is dependent on God's laws of sowing and reaping if it is ever to come to life, growth, and fruitfulness. Soil, seed, sun, wind, and rain are all necessary, common denominators in the process. Seeing this psalm from the perspective of the seed brought the realization that the seed is totally incapable of caring for itself. All the elements that are necessary for its very life are also the very elements that can contribute to its destruction. What's more, it has to die to live!

Vs. 1 - "Hear me... enlarge me... have mercy..." If a seed could talk, surely it would cry out to its Maker. The sole purpose of the seed is to be fruitful and multiply. A seed is often soaked in water before planting to enhance its capacity to hold moisture. Water is one of the basic elements of life.

Vs. 2 - "How long...?" Seems like much of a seed's existence is caught up in waiting, in hiding. It hides in the fruit, it hides in seed packets, it hides in the ground. In each of these places it has to wait. Surely nothing is more tedious than waiting.

Vs. 3 - "The LORD hath set apart him for Himself..." Submitting to the will, the pre-ordained plan and purpose of God is made so much easier when this truth is absorbed and embraced.

Vs. 4 - "Stand in awe... sin not... commune with your own heart upon your bed... be still..." So many Scriptures come to mind about waiting and the strength that comes in trusting in His covenant and promises. There is so much to be said for those who wait patiently for the Lord to bring His good pleasure to pass. Doubtless, it is not easy; but it is a crucial part of dying out.

Vs. 5 - "Offer sacrifices of righteousness... put your trust in the LORD..." No amount of human logic, reasoning, plans, plots, or agendas can take the place of complete and utter, childlike trust. It was that kind of trust that gave the three Hebrew children the strength to allow themselves to be planted in a fiery furnace. It was that kind of trust that brought Joseph through repeated betrayal and treachery. Seeds give themselves freely, trusting God to take care of the harvest.

Vs. 6 - "There be many that say, Who...? ...LORD, [shine] on us..." No matter what the gainsayers and the naysayers say, nothing can go awry if it has the smile of God's approval on it. The seed is dependent upon days of sunshine to warm the soil and bring the seed to life. Folks can doubt all they want to, but God's laws of sowing and reaping take no notice of doubt or unbelief. They're in effect for ever!

Vs.7 - "Thou hast put gladness in my heart..." The hope of the seed is the harvest that is yet to be. During the last supper, Jesus spoke of the time when they would once again gather to eat it anew int His Kingdom to come. He then set about to give His life to birth that Kingdom. Paul tells us Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, for the joy that was set before Him.

Vs. 8 - "I will both lay me down in peace and sleep... only You, LORD..." The seed can commit itself without fear, purely and simply because of Who it is that is in charge of its life - both now and to come. Implicit trust holds nothing in reserve. So it was with the three Hebrew boys... "We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Daniel 3:16b-18) Seeds of that sort will always bring forth an abundant harvest!