Psalm 151: A Prayer for Jamaica

Good Has Never Lost a Battle to Evil
A Responsive Reading
Basil Waine and Stephanie Hisako Kong

Leader: O LORD God of hosts, how majestic and magnificent is Your name.
Congregation: Our father, strong and mighty, incline Your ears and hear our prayer.
Leader: We stand in awe of Your miraculous creations, particularly the splendour of the Island we call home. You are our light and salvation.
Congregation: In our distress, we cry unto You because our souls are hungry for Your wisdom, guidance and intervention.
Leader: Trouble is everywhere and we are consumed with grief. The wicked kill innocent men and women. Our land is polluted with blood. A stubborn and rebellious generation who do not keep Your commandments torment us.
Congregation: All night long we flood our beds with weeping and drench our pillows with tears. Our eyes grow weak with sorrow.
Leader: We are desolate and afflicted as desperate violent men have united against us.
Congregation: Leave us not to our oppressors. Deliver us quickly out of the hands of the wicked and declare Your glory among the unbelieving. But instead of turning your hand against our adversaries, we ask that you forgive them and turn their hearts and minds from wickedness and crime.
Leader: Let those who hate You submit to Your commandments. Let them be born again, never to return to folly.
Congregation: Bring us out of our distress. Have compassion on Your affliction and deliver us Almighty God, We put our trust in You.
Leader: You have never failed to keep your promises Almighty God and You said the needy will not be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish. You are a refuge for the oppressed, the ever present stronghold in times of trouble.
Congregation: Your promise is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our paths. Your words are sweeter than honey to our mouths!
Leader: You promised that You would never ignore the cry of the afflicted and that those who know Your name will never be forsaken.
Congregation: We shall wait on You and not be weary. We shall be of good courage as we lift our hands to You in supplication. Let not evil triumph.
Leader: Almighty God, many are our foes that rise up against us. In their arrogance, wicked men hunt down the weak who are caught in the schemes they devise. They compass us about like angry bees and wasps.
Congregation: As a nation, we have become corrupt. Criminal gangs have joined with gunmen to do abominable deeds. Their mouths are full of curses, lies and threats. Their victims are crushed under their strength.
Leader: How long shall our enemies be exalted over us?
Congregation: As our rock, our fortress, our deliverer and our strength, we call upon You to save us from our enemies.
Leader: Make the wicked come trembling from their garrisons. While we seek no personal revenge as You proclaimed with righteousness: “Vengeance is mine!”
Congregation: While You pledged unfailing kindness for your anointed, Iniquities prevail in all of us. You know our reproach, shame and dishonor. We pray therefore that You purge these sins from us.
Leader: Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses. Remember not the sins of our youth. But according to thy mercy forgive us for our many transgressions.
Congregation: We are merely strivers to be pure in heart, trying to keep ourselves from sin and to live by Christian principles.
Leader: We acknowledged our own sins against You, and our iniquity we will not hide. We confess these transgressions with the faith that you will now forgive us.
Congregation: Forsake us not O Gentle Savior. Teach us to do Your will and lead us into the land of uprightness, integrity and truth so that sinners will walk from darkness into the light and become gracious and full of compassion for our fellow citizens.
Leader: Watch over the righteous, bless us and surround us with your favor as with a shield and make the nation our inheritance.
Congregation: Defend us from those who rise up against us. Place a shield around us and restore glory on us so we can lift up our heads.
Leader: Order our steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over us. Deliver us from the oppression of sinful men.
Congregation: Let the lying lips of the wicked be silenced and call them to account for their sins so they may terrify us no more. Let those who dig holes fall into the pits they make. Let the trouble they cause recoil on them. The violence they perpetuate come down on their own heads.
Leader: For those of us who have done evil. We ask thy forgiveness and mercy. We repent of these sins.
Congregation: Take away, O Lord, the desires and propensities of the wicked to be violent and the unrighteous to give thanks unto Your name. They are also our sons and daughters and You are the father of us all. But what has a man gained if he owns great wealth and loose his soul?
Leader: O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure.
Congregation: Give us relief from our distress and be merciful. Let the light of Your face shine upon us and give us peace.
Leader: We lay our requests before You and wait with expectation.
Congregation: Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Leader: If You be for us, who can be against us? You only are the strength of our lives. If we trust in You, who shall we fear?
Congregation: From You come blessings and deliverance from wickedness. We will give thanks and sing praises to You, our LORD Most High, for You have kept Your promises and dealt bountifully with us.
Leader: We make a joyful noise unto You and come before You with thanksgiving. Your mercy is everlasting; and Your truth endure forever.
Congregation: May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be forever pleasing in Your sight O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.
Leader: Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for You are our constant companion. We promise to never let go of your hands.
Congregation: You prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies, exalting the righteous.
Leader: Save Your people, and bless our inheritance. Feed us until we want no more. Turn our mourning into dancing.
Congregation: Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us. We put our faith and trust in You. Put off our sackcloth, and gird us with gladness. We will join all those who are upright in heart to sing a new song and shout for joy.
Leader: Let truth, peace and prosperity return to Jamaica so that the land may yield her increase and our children inherit a bountiful land.
Congregation: You water the land and provide us with a rich harvest of fruits, vegetables and grain.
Leader: You cause the grass to grow for the animals, they multiply greatly and herb for the service of man that we may bring forth food out of the earth. O LORD, how manifold is Your works! The earth overflows with riches. So is the great sea that caresses us, full of Your bounty,
Congregation: From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. May Your mercy endure forever.
All: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Dr Kong: This is awesome. I wish everyone on earth could read and understand and follow these words. This Canadian loves the Jamaician people and your country , all the best. JR Thornton

Something Amazing Took Place Today

Today’s Testimony: Basil Waine Kong

I am one of those people who believe that I live under the guiding hand of our Heavenly Father. Throughout my lifetime and daily, I can point to divine intervention in my personal life. I am inspired to write this note because something remarkable occurred today as my wife and I were returning from our daily work-out.

I am living in Kingston, Jamaica but happen to be in Atlanta this week. Since moving back to Jamaica a year ago, I have developed some very bad driving habits as is the norm there. I speed, cruise through stop signs and don’t always wear my seatbelt. This does not go un-noticed by my wife who frequently reminds me about it. Well, just to be funny, I decided to show off to her what a good driver I am this morning, so, even for a two mile journey home, I dutifully buckled my seat belt, obeyed the 30 miles per hour speed limit, put on my turn signal, came to a complete stop, and cautiously made my right turn and came almost face to face with a police officer who was monitoring the traffic light close to our house. On any other day, I would have been nabbed. Today, I was in the protection of the Almighty. My wife reminded me that she never travels on the road without asking for God’s traveling mercies and protection specifically from tickets and accidents. When she is driving, and most of the time much faster than I would, she has never received a ticket or been in an accident for 40 years.

This incidence today reminded me of other Divine Interventions. Once having lost an important document, in total frustration, I called my wife and explained that the document was on my desk the day before and now I have searched high and low to no avail. She responded, “Darling, just stop and let’s pray about it”. I lowered my head and prayed together. As I opened my eyes, there was the document on the floor under my desk. I just hollered, “Thank you Jesus!”

Just two weeks ago, I became upset about how my portfolio was being handled and ordered by broker at Wachovia to sell all my stocks and send me a check so I could transfer by account to another brokerage house. Since then, the stock market has been down and I avoided the loss. Now, I am able to reinvest at a lower basis. You wouldn’t just call that luck, would you?

There are instances in my life that the direct hand of God has steered me or a family member out of harm’s way into a blessing. The blessings come in all shapes and sizes and are only limited to my faith which I hope is bigger than a mustard seed.

If you would like to read more about the miracles in my life, I invite you to access: “My Seven Near Death Experiences” on this blog. The lesson is: Because I live a blessed life, whenever I find myself on the ropes, in trouble, confused, desperate or otherwise in need of diving intervention, I smile and confidently put it in the hands of the Almighty. I have only come this far by my faith and God’s grace. As my praises go up, showers of blessings come down. He has never failed me. I wish the same for you.