A Modern Day Psalm

In no way do I pretend this is anywhere near worthy of the Psalms, but I’m taking an exercise I did in Bible college based upon the Psalms, and expressing my prayers and thoughts in such a manner.

Lord, have mercy! I am not worthy to be called your son.

I hold on to things I ought to give to you,

and I take things in that ought to be left outside.

My sins are many, I feel as if I drown in a sea of them!

My enemies encircle me; they surround me and seek my destruction;

where is my help? Where is my comfort?

It is in you, Lord, that I find my hope.

You have taken my sin and cast them in the deepest part of the sea,

You don’t hold them against me!

In you there is forgiveness, from you is hope and peace.

I thank you that your mercies are new every morning,

and that your love stretches beyond my capacity for understanding.

Teach me to walk in your ways, Lord!

Satisfy me with your requirements, and write your laws on my heart.

Fill me with your compassion and mercy,

draw me in to your presence! Fill me with your love

and conform me in to the image of the One who sits at your right hand.

May your Spirit guide me, and Your word uphold me!

Though my enemies are many, though my regrets weigh me down,

You lighten me by Your grace and mercy!

I will praise your name forever more.

Psalm 34

I will bless the Lord at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

let the humble hear and be glad.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt his name together!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant,

and their faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him

and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,

for those who fear him have no lack!

The young lions suffer want and hunger;

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Come, O children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

What man is there who desires life

and loves many days, that he may see good?

Keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking deceit.

Turn away from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous

and his ears toward their cry.

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

He keeps all his bones;

not one of them is broken.

Affliction will slay the wicked,

and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

The Lord redeems the life of his servants;

none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Psalm 47

Clap your hands, all peoples!

Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,

a great king over all the earth.

He subdued peoples under us,

and nations under our feet.

He chose our heritage for us,

the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

God has gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

For God is the King of all the earth;

sing praises with a psalm!

God reigns over the nations;

God sits on his holy throne.

The princes of the peoples gather

as the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

he is highly exalted!

Psalm 52

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?

The steadfast love of God endures all the day.

our tongue plots destruction,

like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.

You love evil more than good,

and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah

You love all words that devour,

O deceitful tongue.

But God will break you down forever;

he will snatch and tear you from your tent;

he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

The righteous shall see and fear,

and shall laugh at him, saying,

“See the man who would not make

God his refuge,

but trusted in the abundance of his riches

and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

But I am like a green olive tree

in the house of God.

I trust in the steadfast love of God

forever and ever.

I will thank you forever,

because you have done it.

I will wait for your name, for it is good,

in the presence of the godly.