A Couple Psalms

It has been a while since I've written on here. Months, in fact. This fall I have been taking a seminary course that covered, among other books, the Psalms. One of the assignments that we had was to write two original, personal psalms. One was to be a psalm of praise and the other a psalm of lament. It was an intense exercise for me. I thought that I'd share them here.

A Psalm of Praise

I praise You, Lord, for You are faithful.
Your kindness has never failed me.

You have shown your goodness to me,
Your mercy to my family,
Your kindness to the generations before me.

You send rain to refresh the land,
Blessings to the hearts of your people.
And provision to their hands.

I have lived with plenty all of my life.
Your hand has provided for me well beyond my needs.

Though the earth is filled with trouble,
You are still God.
Though this world is broken and given to decay,
The beauty of Your creation testifies that You are.

There is no end to the troubles of this world.
We are prone to conflict and confusion,
Destined for disease and death.

Yet in you there is peace and prosperity,
The promise of life.

Further still, You are my hope,
Not merely for peace in this life,
But for shalom in the world to come.

Though I taste of Your goodness in this life,
An everlasting feast awaits me.

While I glimpse shadows of Your beauty on this earth,
In the new heavens and the new earth I will see You face to face.

Now I hear but whispers of Your wisdom.
In the world to come, Your truth will resound continuously.

In this life I merely brush up against the intimacy you desire for Your people,
But an eternity of knowing and loving embrace awaits me.

You are my God, faithful and kind,
The hope of the world.

A Psalm of Lament

Oh, Lord, save our son.
Rescue him from death.

His lungs heave with every breath,
Gasping for survival moment-by-moment.

Though blood courses through his body,
It knows not the path it should take.

Though doctors surround him, answers escape.
The latest technology cannot simplify his condition.
The skilled hands of a gifted surgeon are no use to him.

Father, hear the prayers of this father.
You know what it is to see your son suffer.

Please spare his life.
Heal his body and relax his veins.
Direct his blood to right paths
And reform his heart that it may sustain his new life.

Though I fast and pray, I hear no answer.
Despite my pleas, healing stands aloof at a distance.
To the supplications of many, You give no reply.

My soul is perplexed, God.
My mind is in turmoil.
My heart is troubled.
My spirit cries out.
My able body is weak.

An old heart may fail
An aged man’s body may weaken,
And a wise woman’s breaths shorten.
This is the order of life on this earth.

But the steps of the young should bounce,
And the current of their blood should flow like rapids.
The aspiration of the young should be inspired with dreams and hopes,
Not desperation and grasping.

God, You do not make mistakes.
No accidents fumble from Your hands.

As You fashion all life, so You have fashioned Samuel.
You formed his body as it is, his heart and lungs in their deformed state.

But, death awaits him.
His infant body cannot sustain his own life.

Though You give him only 30 days, I will praise You.
Though his life spans only a month, I will still say, “God is good.”

Because Your Son died, my son will live.
Because Your Beloved rose from darkness to light, I will see Samuel again.

In the midst of my heartache, You are near.
You are my hope.

I am promised an eternity in which You and Your Son, and I and my son will be nearer still.
You are my hope.