Psalm 130 for Sderot

There are days that I feel powerless in the face of rockets attacking friends and family in Israel. Days I want to scream out and hit something hard. Days I want to throw a breakable at the wall. Days of frustration.

But I have discovered a way out of my frustration: Prayer! Every time a Code Red is sounded in Israel I receive this text message:

A Kassam has been launched at Sderot…you have 15 seconds

And I spring into action. I pray and recite Psalm 130.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

I receive this message any time of the day or night. One never knows when the phone will ring. And I feel connected to those undergoing the hell of rocket fire.

You too, if you are willing to, can also join in. The SMS program is still going strong. It costs nothing but your willingness to take the time to pray, to recite, to contact your representatives or to donate a bit to charity.

"When the alarm is sounded and the people of Sderot and Ashkelon have just seconds to run for cover, they need to know that there are tens of thousands of people around the world who are saying a prayer on their behalf in their time of crisis."

Instead of just griping about the situation, now this is a creative way to do something about it.

Prayer can move mountains, perhaps it can stop the rockets too.