Psalm 119:81-88 Kaph

Over 15 years of leading worship in a women's prison chapel, there were three types of songs the ladies most often requested.

One favorite was the old hymns. Amazing Grace. The Old Rugged Cross. They liked these songs because they reminded them of a simpler time when they went to church as children, often with a grandparent who was a spiritual mentor.

They also love songs that focus on the emotional aspects of faith. They compensated for the drudgery and depression of prison life by singing hyper-emotional spiritual songs. These are the songs that either lift you to your feet with your hands in the air or reduce you to sobbing tears. For our crowd of women in prison, this meant songs like Cry Out to Jesus. Or This is the Air I Breathe:

And I ... I'm desperate for you for You...And I ... I'm lost without You

The most popular type of song, by far, are songs about heaven. They love I'll Fly Away:

When the shadows of this life have flown, I'll fly away; Like a bird from prison bars has flown, I'll fly away.

But the number one requested song by far is I Can Only Imagine, by Mercy Me.

Over 15 years our chapel attendees changed. On our last Monday in the prison chapel there was no one in attendance who was there back at the beginning. We had turned over our regular crowd numerous times. And yet week after week, year after year, the most-requested song was I Can Only Imagine.

They like that song because it talks of a better place and a better life than they know now. That's certainly a repeated theme of scripture, and songs about the hereafter have been favorites in congregations everywhere for ages. Roy Weece once said his favorite song was When We All Get to Heaven.

Sadly, an obsession with the hereafter among the ladies in the prison chapel betrays a common problem with their spiritual lives.

Many of them have given up hope of any real joy in this life. They know they've messed up their lives in a huge way. Prospects are dim for reassembling the life they once knew before they did whatever landed them in prison.

They've discovered (or rediscovered) faith in prison, but they see it as something that gives them some comfort, not as something that can re-energize their daily lives. They cling desperately to God's promises of a better life in heaven, and that's what they want to sing about.

Our goal every Monday night was to to build on the three aspects of their faith as expressed in their worship.

We wanted to cultivate the seeds that were planted in their hearts when they were younger. Those grandparents and Sunday School teachers faithfully planted the Word of God in their young hearts and watered them with love. Now, when these women have reached the lowest of lows, those seeds are sprouting, and we did everything we could to help their faith grow strong.

We also wanted to harness the energy of their hyper-emotional faith and train them to sow seeds to the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit. We did this by teaching them to practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, meditation, fasting, journaling, and more.

And we worked hard to teach them how to live a life of adventure by being on mission for God. The rugged roads they'd traveled are the very tools God could use for His purposes. We told them that every church needs someone like them, someone who has been through hell on earth and come back victorious, someone to remind the people in the pews of the power of grace and the importance of reaching out to "the least of these."

In this stanza of Psalm 119, David is expressing his struggles to continue moving forward on the long and rugged road of life. These eight verses are about waiting for the joy of the journey's end, not by sitting around sighing, but by putting down deep roots in the heart of God.

My soul faints with longing for your salvation,but I have put my hope in your word.My eyes fail, looking for your promise;I say, “When will you comfort me?”Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,I do not forget your decrees. How long must your servant wait?When will you punish my persecutors?The arrogant dig pits to trap me,contrary to your law.All your commands are trustworthy;help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.They almost wiped me from the earth,but I have not forsaken your precepts.In your unfailing love preserve my life,that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.