A Psalm

Every day in my readings I read at least one Psalm, sometimes two.  Today it struck me that the Psalms (blogs, really) remind me a lot of the way that I tend to blog and why I've often struggled with it.  It feels like when I sit down with my fingers on the keys what flows out of me is often downtrodden or slightly defeated.  I always come around in the end, recognizing the gifts that I have, but at the beginning it feels like the same old same old things.  As I was reading today, I realized that the Psalmist often does the same thing.  Maybe that's part of life.  So, I thought I would attempt an actual psalm with all that's in my mind right now.

Oh, God.  You are my rock.
Your shelter and protection cannot be denied.
My enemies may not be coming at me with swords or rocks,
But this life is hard nonetheless.
Talk of war and division fill our news,
Even in Christian circles, people lament our future,
Our world.
Even in Christian circles, our families fall apart,
Division reigns.

Where is our hope?

Our hope is in You, maker of heaven and earth.
Creator of all things.
Author and perfector of our salvation.

You do not fail.  You cannot fail.

Thank you for your healing power.  This week alone you
Have shrunk tumors doctors believed were unshrinkable.
You have replaced cancerous bones
With the bones of life stolen too soon.
Be the God-who-heals for everyone who suffers.

Thank you for being the God who seeks and finds.
Thank you for our Navy SEALS and their dedication
To a calling higher than them.
Be the God-who-finds for all those who are lost,
Spiritually or physically. Restore them to those who long for them.

And, God, for the hurts that somehow go deeper--
For the mothers and fathers hanging on for dear life as they parent their children,
For the men and women caught in the prison of addiction,
For the husbands and wives dreaming of a way to be free of unhappy marriages,
For the children whose innocence is stolen,
For the depressed and the lonely and the widows and those struggling with who they are--
Be the Rock.  Be the God.  Be the Shepherd.  Be the Deliverer.  Be the Sustainer. 
Be the God-who-brings-Life.