I come to You, God, having failed yet again
Failed in loving
Will this be my whole life?
Can I never love in imitation of Your love?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
And every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will anger and hurt triumph over me?
Look on me and help, O God
Be Ruler of my life
Lighten my heart or this deathly heaviness will persist
I will be lost in my own dark thoughts
Spiraling ever down into resentment and judgment, impatience and anger
BUT, writes the psalmist – the but that I want so much to live
I trust in Your unfailing love
(So very different than my temperamental likes and pouts)
My heart rejoices in Your salvation
(So save me already from failing to live Your love)
Save me so that, with the psalmist I can say, shout, sing, live
So others can see that
I sing to God, of God, with God, by God
For God has been good to me. Amen.
prayer
Psalm 14
When I am foolish, my heart tells me
“There is no God”
All I see is corruption, vileness
My world becomes a dreary and wicked place
I imagine God looking down on us
Wanting us to seek Her
I imagine God turning away in disgust
I imagine no God, I imagine nothingness
I turn away, feeling that I am as corrupt, as vile,
As lacking in goodness
As everyone and everything else
I forget, time and again
I fail to learn, I fail to remember
I stop calling on God
I let myself be overwhelmed by dread
But my forgetfulness, my fears
Cannot change the reality of God
God remains present, with all that is good and righteous
God remains the refuge of my impoverished understanding
My salvation comes from the usual place
From God—God who alone restores me. Amen.
Psalm 15
God, when am I within your holy shelter
Lifted high by Your grace and righteousness?
When my walk is blameless
When I do what is right
When I speak the truth from my heart
When my tongue utters no slander
When I do no wrong to a neighbor
When I cast no slurs on others
When I don’t give in to my worst tendencies
But live a life that pleases You
When I keep a promise even when it hurts
When I don’t let go of my beliefs
When I give to the poor
When I support the innocent
And I believe I can live like this
With Your grace. Amen.
A New Serenity Prayer | The Jesuit Post
It’s not a psalm and I didn’t write it, but I love this new version of the Serenity Prayer — and it is very much in the spirit of my rewrites of psalms.
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the people I cannot change,
which is pretty much everyone,
since I’m clearly not you, God.
At least not the last time I checked.
And while you’re at it, God,
please give me the courage
to change what I need to change about myself,
which is frankly a lot, since, once again,
I’m not you, which means I’m not perfect.
It’s better for me to focus on changing myself
than to worry about changing other people,
who, as you’ll no doubt remember me saying,
I can’t change anyway.
Finally, give me the wisdom to just shut up
whenever I think that I’m clearly smarter
than everyone else in the room,
that no one knows what they’re talking about except me,
or that I alone have all the answers.
Basically, God,
grant me the wisdom
to remember that I’m
not you.
Amen
Psalm 6
O God, when I forget You, here is what happens to me
I feel deserted, disciplined
I can’t see any light; my world grows dim and gray
Not just my spirit but even my body
Starts to fall apart
My thoughts come back again and again
To feeling sorry for myself
I know this but can’t save myself
I need you, God, to deliver me
Because Your love and light never fails, never dims
But I can’t remember You when I am caught
In the dark grave of depression and despair
I can’t see You; I can’t lift myself out
I just lie there, moaning and groaning
Wearing myself out with depressing thoughts
Now, while I can, I call out to You
Please, please, God, protect me from these very real enemies
See my weakness, hear my cry for help, accept my prayer
Let my darkness vanish in Your light. Amen.
Psalm 7
God, my God, I take refuge in you
Asking You, begging You to save me from the darkness that pursues me
Please don’t let it destroy my peace
Don’t let me tear my own life apart
Don’t let me feel sorry for myself as if there is no one who can help me
God, my God, when I forget You, when my thoughts go only downward
Then I have no peace of mind; I rob myself of happiness
I let all the dark and negative overtake me
I live in shadow; I sleep in dust. Please & Praise
God, my God, arise in my mind and lift me up
Up and up lift my thoughts
Away from my own darkness and doubt
Away from depression and despair
Awake in my mind, in my life, my God
Awake and bring truth and goodness
Gather my thoughts and feelings around You
Rule over them from on high
Judge them
Pick and choose those that are worthy
Those that will help me live life well
Those that are true and good, like You Yourself
O my good and true God
My Creator who knows my mind and heart
You can bring an end to the violence I do myself
You can make my goodness strong
You can be ruler of my mind and heart
You can keep me hopeful, loving, faithful
I need to remember that
I need to remember that I can depend on God
God is powerful
God is never negative, never defeated by darkness
God’s bright weapons are aflame
They burn through my darkness
When I am filled with doubt, despair, gloom and doom,
When I fall into the hole I have dug for myself,
When the violence I do to myself begins to tear me down
Then I need to turn my thoughts and feelings to God
To brightness and power, to hope and love
Up, up and up, to light, to thankfulness
To my powerful God
I need to sing praises to God Most High. Amen.
Psalm 8
O God, my God
Let Your name be majestic in all my life
May Your glory always shine brightly above all else in my life
When I was young
I learned to sing Your praise
I learned You were stronger than any worries or wrongness
Now, I look to this universe that is Your work
The moon, the stars and everything around us
To remind myself of Your power and sovereignty
You are responsible for everything and everyone
Yet You pay attention to me individually
You love me
You want me to live well
With glory and honor
You give me the ability to rule my life
To control the beasties and burdens
That threaten me
O God, my God
How majestic is Your name in all my life. Amen.
Psalm 1
Blessed can I be
If I avoid walking in anger
Standing around feeling sorry for myself
Sitting smugly judging others
Instead let me focus on the good
Turn my mind always to God’s positive
Then my life will take shape like a fruitful tree
Watered by fresh flowing streams
(“A tree that talks to God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray”)
I will not wither and shrivel into the negative
I will feel prosperous, nourished and nourishing
The alternative is not at all attractive
My life becomes like dead leaves
Blown every which way by discouraging thoughts
My tree will be bowed down, broken and uprooted
I will be unable to enjoy goodness and good people
The good choice supports light and life
The other choice brings darkness and a living death. Amen
Psalm 9
I want to praise you, God, with all my heart
I want to tell of all Your wonders
Rejoicing in You, singing praises to Your name, O Most High
Will make me happy and content
Then there will be no place for my worst thoughts and fears
They will perish before You
For You lift up and light up my mind and heart
You are a true judge of my thoughts and feelings
You have the right and the power
To keep me whole, keep me true
Keep me safe from the enemies within
The weeds in my mind that invade my peace
Envy, suspicion, depression, alienation
You can blot them out forever
You can uproot them
So that I forget the darkness and live in the light
For myself, I want God to reign forever
To be my judge and my gardener
To govern my unruly heart
To be my refuge when I feel oppressed
My stronghold when I am troubled
If I can only remember to call on You, God
If I can only remember
That You have never forsaken those who seek You
Then I can sing praises with a light heart
Sing praises to my Sovereign enthroned in my heart
Then I can silence all my fears with Your name
Because You do not ever forget me as I sometimes forget You
You never ignore my cries for help
But You can see what has happened to me
Too often, I let darkness rule in my life
Have mercy and lift me up
Out of my darkness that strangles hope
Lift me up so I can praise You and rejoice in Your power
In my salvation
Lift me up out of the pit I dig for myself
Out of the weeds of doubt that entangle me
You, You are known by Your justice and truth
I am in danger of being ensnared by my own worst tendencies
Of falling again into the pit of depression
Of forgetting God. Please & Praise
So all I can do is depend on Your faithfulness
You do not forget me
You remain my hope
Arise, God, arise in my mind
Don’t let the dark and worldly parts of me win
Rule my mind and my heart
Weed the garden of my soul
Flood it with Your light
Banish my darkness – it is nothing compared to You. Please & Praise. Amen.
Psalm 2
I seem to have warring nations inside me
Different people plotting, striving, in vain
Too often, the winners take their stand against peace
Against Lady Wisdom
Then I see religion only as chains of duties
Fetters of narrow-mindedness
And yet I come back, again and again
To the glory and the light of the One in heaven
The One who can scoff at my naysayers
The One who can rebuke my depression
In God’s glory, gloom cannot stay
Up and up God takes my vision
To God’s holy Ruler on high
With relief, with gratitude I can say
That I belong to God, I get to claim God’s protection
God promises me a wonderful inheritance
The ability to conquer those warring nations inside me
So I remind myself to be wise
To serve the Ruler of light and rejoice
To kiss the Daughter of peace and turn away from depression and anxiety
Blessed are all who take refuge in Lady Wisdom. Amen.
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