Psalm 119:145-152

Psalm 119:145-152 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  There are usually at least two sides to every story.  Visit Ann Arbor, Michigan and talk about Columbus, Ohio, then do the reverse, and you're likely to get very different perspectives.  Or maybe talk to Republicans and then Democrats about certain proposed laws, and you'll likely get very different understandings.  Talk to a vegetarian and a steak-lover about the most popular steakhouse in town, see what happens.
  There's a few different ways to read this text as well.  Some people rise in the middle of the night and cry out to God as a routine, a pattern of devotion in which the shape of the rhythms of their lives are set by fixed hours of prayer.  Some of these people live in monasteries (some of them have bells that ring at 2.30 in the morning right next to the guest sleeping rooms, as I discovered.  At that point, I may as well go pray, since I wasn't going back to sleep!), and some of them have never darkened the door of a monastery, just creating strong habits that help them grow in faithfulness and dependence on God.  These rhythms help them find strength in times of need.
  Others cry out to God in the middle of the night because that's when they feel threatened and vulnerable.  I don't think I'm the only one that occasionally lies in bed at 3 a.m. wide awake, thinking big things, fearing big fears, asking big questions, crying out to God for comfort, for assurance, for guidance and grace. 
  There are as many reasons to pray as there are prayers, and each of us has the freedom to come to God as we are, covered in Christ and filled with questions and uncertainty and faith and wonder and love.  There is grace enough