Skip to main content

Psalm 27 Revisited (Crosspost)

This was originally written for and posted at Revgalblogpals.org on 16 November 2018.


Psalm 27, Revised Julia Edition

God is my opening to life and my deliverance from evil—
who thinks they can scare me?
The Lord is a solid fence around me—
who will try and come through God’s defenses?

When those who oppose God’s will come at me
thinking they can do something,
it is all over for their evil plans-
Boom! Crash! Rubble.

Though they bring friends to gang up on me,
my heart will not panic;
though hostilities confront me at every turn,
even then I will be confident.

I do have one request for God, though, 
one thing that I really, really want:
that I may perceive the presence of the living God
every day of my life,
to gaze on the splendor of the Lord
and to find the Divine in every place I look.


For in times of trouble
God will keep me safe in the Divine dwelling;
God will hide me in the shelter of the sacred tent
and give me a perch upon the rock of ages.

Then I will look down on all those
who thought they could plan my destruction;
at the Divine tent I will offer my endless praise and thanksgiving;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Hear my voice when I pray to you, O God;
be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, “Look for God!”
Your face, Lord, I will seek.

This is no time for holy hide and seek,
please do not frustrate me;
you have been the one thing I could count on.
Do not swipe left on me or unfriend me,
God my Savior.

Though the people closest to me leave and hurt me,
I know You will greet me at each turn.
Teach me the way of Divine love and mercy;
lead me in a life that brings honor to You,
so that no one can find fault with me.

Do not let those who oppose Your will for my life win,
for people lie about me and my motivations,
making up a lot of crap.

I know one thing is true:
I will see God’s goodness and provision
in this life; I don’t have to die first.

Wait for the Lord;
be faithful and brave
and wait for the Lord.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

When the Body of Christ is Fat

Bitmoji Julia enjoys tea Within a very short amount of time, two people whom I love were called "fat ass". One of these slurs occurred in the church building and the other occurred in the same building and within the context of worship. Both incidents were the result of a person with already impaired judgment lashing out at the person who was in front of them, perceiving them to be unhelpful or denying aid or service. Regardless of the "why", the reality is that the name was uncalled for, hurtful, and aimed to be a deep cut. The reality is that a person who is under the influence of legal or illegal substances and often displays impaired judgment can still tell that body shaming- comments about shape, appearance, or size- is a way to lash out at someone who is frustrating you. That means those words and that way of using them are deeply rooted in our culture. An additional truth is that when we, as a congregation, attempted to console and listen to those who h...

God on the Go Kits

Like many congregations, we have lots of members who travel during the summertime. They may spend three months fishing or camping or traveling or hiking or playing. Given Alaska's long daylight hours, making it back into town on Sunday morning or even Sunday night doesn't always happen. One could rail against that or one can ask for guidance in the Spirit for how to keep community and communion alive in these months of family and personal sabbath in the woods and wilderness. (Still, if you're in town, come on down!) Inspired by Take Out Church,  I made "God on the Go" kits for the faithful Alaskan family with kids. The kits and all their contents fit into the 64 ounce Ziplock containers with the lid snapping snugly. This should keep things watertight and just-right-sized for throwing in a duffle bag, backpack or suitcase. Or pushing under the seat of the camper. Or having at the foot of a sleeping bag. I have included below the list of items inside and the...

God's Punctuation

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God,  who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28  Never place a period where God places a comma. - Gracie Allen  Some of you may be familiar with the comedy duo of George Burns and Gracie Allen, who were active together in show business in the middle of the 20th century. George played the straight man to Gracie's comic timing. They were also married and had children. They were deeply in love. When Gracie was dying and George was deeply grieved, she wrote him a final love letter. One sentence that George shared from this letter was this, "George, never place a period where God places a comma."  This was Gracie's way of reminding George that his life wasn't ending. There was a pause, but there would be more the sentence God was writing as the life of George Burns.  That sentence, which may have been a proverb before Gracie wrote it, has taken on a life of its own. The United Ch...