This prayer was upon my heart this morning and desired to share it. It is a prayer spoken by Abraham Lincoln just three days after the conclusion of the bloodiest battle of our nation's civil war.
“Great God above I bow before you and I call unto you and I call unto your Son, my Savior Jesus. I am tired and my heart is heavy. These are most troubling times in my life and in the lives of many who call upon you, my God. We do not fight against a foreign nation upon foreign soil, we fight brothers and cousins, uncles and fathers and against sons. We fight on our own soil and we take the lives of those who are of the same heritage, the same nation. I read your word this day and I read a Psalm of David and it gave me comfort. If you will permit me, I would find comfort reading it aloud once more for there is power in your word and comfort unto troubled souls. I read unto you from Psalm 32, verses six through eleven. ‘For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found for surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place, thou shalt preserve me from trouble, thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go and I will guide thee with mine eye. Be not as the horse or as a mule that has no understanding, whose mouth must be held with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice ye righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart.’
My Lord, are my sorrows due to wickedness and has our nation done wickedly before thee? I am against slavery found in our southern states but is it a sin that requires so much sacrifice to correct? Our forefathers molded a new nation by standing against the evil and tyranny of our mother country. We are becoming a nation of power but this war goes on. We won two major victories which will help us in victory in the end but so many have died and many more shall perish. As leader of this nation, I seek your divine will to be done and I desire you to be my hiding place, my strength and strong defense. I pray for deliverance of this war that tears at the very heart of this nation. I live in a home of memories and I wonder how many before me bowed here to worship. I cannot lead such a great people without your divine guidance and I cannot lead our armies without your mercy. My weight is great upon me for by my command, thousands die upon the field of battle. Bless us O God and help the wounds heal and make us a great nation, great in your eyes my Lord, great because we stand for truth and justice, not great due to military power. With prosperity comes sin and temptation. I pray that you will shield us and help us to be one nation under God once more. The cost of freedom is heavy upon my heart this night and I seek rest in you. Compass me about with songs of deliverance and let mercy compass about me for I seek to be found pleasing unto you. Let this horrible war end and heal our wounds and restore freedom unto all men who dwell in this great land and let us be glad once more and let joy return unto us and let us shout for joy and let the song of freedom be sung once more.”
“Great God above I bow before you and I call unto you and I call unto your Son, my Savior Jesus. I am tired and my heart is heavy. These are most troubling times in my life and in the lives of many who call upon you, my God. We do not fight against a foreign nation upon foreign soil, we fight brothers and cousins, uncles and fathers and against sons. We fight on our own soil and we take the lives of those who are of the same heritage, the same nation. I read your word this day and I read a Psalm of David and it gave me comfort. If you will permit me, I would find comfort reading it aloud once more for there is power in your word and comfort unto troubled souls. I read unto you from Psalm 32, verses six through eleven. ‘For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found for surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place, thou shalt preserve me from trouble, thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go and I will guide thee with mine eye. Be not as the horse or as a mule that has no understanding, whose mouth must be held with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice ye righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart.’
My Lord, are my sorrows due to wickedness and has our nation done wickedly before thee? I am against slavery found in our southern states but is it a sin that requires so much sacrifice to correct? Our forefathers molded a new nation by standing against the evil and tyranny of our mother country. We are becoming a nation of power but this war goes on. We won two major victories which will help us in victory in the end but so many have died and many more shall perish. As leader of this nation, I seek your divine will to be done and I desire you to be my hiding place, my strength and strong defense. I pray for deliverance of this war that tears at the very heart of this nation. I live in a home of memories and I wonder how many before me bowed here to worship. I cannot lead such a great people without your divine guidance and I cannot lead our armies without your mercy. My weight is great upon me for by my command, thousands die upon the field of battle. Bless us O God and help the wounds heal and make us a great nation, great in your eyes my Lord, great because we stand for truth and justice, not great due to military power. With prosperity comes sin and temptation. I pray that you will shield us and help us to be one nation under God once more. The cost of freedom is heavy upon my heart this night and I seek rest in you. Compass me about with songs of deliverance and let mercy compass about me for I seek to be found pleasing unto you. Let this horrible war end and heal our wounds and restore freedom unto all men who dwell in this great land and let us be glad once more and let joy return unto us and let us shout for joy and let the song of freedom be sung once more.”