Psalm 45, singing this song for you

Psalm 45

singing this song for you

 

I don’t mean to sing about the

Other, compelling as that value is

 

I don’t mean a covered-over me,

Secret subject I would rather

Talk about

 

I mean you, first—my friend,

Lover, maker, and my better

 

Half (so to say) except that you

Are all

 

Now, secondly, to you, who you

Are extended from the words

 

Were it not for you, there would

Be none of this

 

For all you are and what you are

Not

 

The rest is not silence (should

Shakespeare wonder), not if

There’s Interacting

 

We are at this moment closer to

The one who, all-relating, started

 

The first process, requiring more

Than one

Psalm 44, a sleep-song

Psalm 44

a sleep-song

 

I nap and still am tired

Good, maybe I’ll sleep

Through the night

Napping was necessary

I was too sore and too

Worn-through

I could have stayed awake,

I guess,

Except I couldn’t

 

Will you still love me when

I’m gone away?

I mean, eventually I’ll

Be closer to you than

I was ever before,

Than I am now:

 

I like you and respect you

I seek to be near you

Is this ever enough to

Bring a dream of you

Or, dreamless, a

Long time of sleep

Because I’m loved

 

Throughout this night

That you have made?

 

I can hope so

Not because I’m smart

But because I’m yours

Psalm 43, miracle-song

Psalm 43

miracle-song

 

a miracle of unexpected grace

 

I paraphrase while reading a

line of text, which in fact ends

differently

 

but maybe that is what miracle

is, unexpected science and

grace, an unplanned gift from

divinity,

 

which we need so badly (or so

well)

 

no judgment in receiving, who

is worthy (who is not), no more

than in evaluating the giver

 

something is saved, and that’s

what matters:

 

material of miracles making up

the rest

Psalm 42, song about who judges

 

Psalm 42

song about who judges

 

Lord, I hope

My enemies never

Have another good

Day

 

Which is why

It’s good that I don’t

Judge with divine

Power but

Leave that up to

You

 

It’s your job

You do it perfectly

Psalm 41, steward’s song

Psalm 41

steward’s song

 

You are God

Female and male

You are king

 

I am servant

And for work

I am steward

 

We are bound

Guardians and

Keepers

 

Whose lord

Returns one day

To take an

 

Accounting

What was made

And shared

 

For what we’ve

Possessed

Earth-infancy

Psalm 40, song about the mind of God

Psalm  40

song about the mind of God

 

Lord, we think we know

You—and we don’t

 

Otherwise, everything we

Do would be waged in

Love

Psalm 39, a psalm of lament

Psalm 39

a psalm of lament

 

Why must we kill each

Other, Lord?  Why is

Cain more of an

Example than a single

Lesson?

 

Your word tells us to

Love; yet you have

Commanded war, I

Know—does war work

When you are its

General?

 

We kill each other in

Small ways as well

 

In kindness withheld,

All respect scorned,

And in quotidian

Wounding that will not

Subside, such is our

Wayward will

 

And lack of empathy

 

Keep showing us the

Better way, O Lord

 

And when we must be

Brutal, let us yield

The field to your

Strategy and control

Psalm 38, a morning song

Psalm 38

a morning song

 

A normal day, at last

Blue sky and green leaves

The air is cool

 

Ablutions and then coffee

I sit here

Bird-song is low

 

Maybe birds are taking

Time to let this day

Herald itself

 

I sit here

With a cool current on

My back and liquid warmth

 

Close by: you give me

This peace, dear Lord

And my heart

 

Only begins, with what

Capacity it has,

To thank you

Psalm 37, a song of earthly rendering

Psalm 37

a song of earthly rendering

 

When news is so bad

Coupled with lack of opportunity

Everything is weighted down, dear Lord

I don’t know how to make it better

To see it better

To feel it better

Please, what shall I do

In past work, we see

That you are there

That you follow us through mountain passes

Over peaks

And in valleys so blinding in fog over the way

That we could be underneath earth as well as above

 

You bring us home, dear Lord

And are with us in safety

Or in peril

Calm our fears so that we might enjoy some relaxation in peace

Some soft moments in our day

Some mercy on the way

 

Let your justice prevail, O Lord, so much better than ours

May your help be plentiful

Your presence touchable

If only upon

The surface of our spirits

Because we can keep it dense and difficult

To allow you further in

 

Pardon me and be with me

Even when I am poor in realizing you