A rendering of Psalm 82, which looks at all of the injustice caused by those who should be ensuring justice and then looks to God to be the Judge the poor and vulnerable need.
Tag: A User’s Guide to Having a Soul
Psalm 83
A rendering of Psalm 83, where a long list of Israel’s enemies plot together in an unholy alliance. Headed in their current direction, they’ll be destroyed. But what if they were converted instead?
Psalm 86
A rendering of Psalm 86, a prayer to live a whole-hearted life oriented toward God in the midst of a personal crisis.
Psalm 81
A rendering of Psalm 81, which emphasizes listening which leads to obedience and wonders what would be different if God’s people actually listened and obeyed. We’d finally be satisfied.
Psalm 80
A rendering of Psalm 80, which uses the image of a vine to represent God’s people and asks for help from the as-yet unknown Son of Man to resurrect the dead vine.
Psalm 79
A rendering of Psalm 79, when the land had been invaded and devastation was both exterior and interior.
Psalm 78
A rendering of Psalm 78, which looks back on Israel’s history of disobedience in an effort to learn covenant loyalty to God through remembering him and trusting him in all situations.
Psalm 75
A rendering of Psalm 75, where God tells us to be patient with this upside-down world. He’ll take care of the arrogant powerful people in due time, setting everything right at last.
Psalm 76
A rendering of Psalm 76, which looks to God to end war as he reigns from Salem/Peace Town and works justice in the world.
Psalm 77
(Worship leader: This Asaph psalm is a kind and needed companion during depression.) I prayed my voice hoarse. With tears, I called to God, Needing him to hear, Needing him to help. My soul was […]
Psalm 74
A rendering of Psalm 74, which looks back at what God did in Creation and Exodus and asks for the same mighty hand in the current calamity to create again by saving again.
Psalm 73
A rendering of Psalm 73, which struggles with envy of successful celebrities until worship brings essential clarity.
Psalm 72
(A Solomon psalm.) Make the king wise, Thoughtful, Discerning. Make our ruler righteous, Deciding what’s best for the people, Providing for your poor, God. Let peace and freedom ring From every mountainside And justice From every […]
Psalm 71
A rendering of Psalm 71, which looks for God’s help in current trouble and envisions the party after rescue comes.
Psalm 66
A rendering of Psalm 66, where personal struggle and rescue are seen in the light of what God has done in history, rescuing his people after they have struggled.
Psalm 65
A rendering of Psalm 65, beginning with praise for God in the temple and then heading outdoors, where all of creation joins in the Creator’s praise.
Psalm 64
A rendering of Psalm 64, a plea for God to intervene against the kind of people who con old people out of their retirement savings and other forms of injustice.
Psalm 60
A rendering of Psalm 60, a frustrated prayer of feeling abandoned not too long before God dealt with everything David was struggling with.
Psalm 63
A rendering of Psalm 63, a prayer when the soul feels like a desert, empty and thirsty for God.
Psalm 59
A rendering of Psalm 59, a desperate plea for help from God while being slandered and threatened.
Psalm 58
A rendering of Psalm 58, an angry David psalm about corrupt politicians and a justice system that promotes injustice.
Psalm 69
A rendering of Psalm 69, a David psalm begging God for help and seeking justice as he dodges a crowd of haters.
Psalm 68
A rendering of Psalm 68, a psalm of procession into worship which looks forward to a new exodus and a new settling of the land by the renewed people of God. It taunts other gods by giving the Cloud Rider title of Baal to Yahweh and minimizing the mountains they were worshiped on while magnifying Zion, Jerusalem’s temple mount.
Psalm 84
(Worship leader: A Korah family psalm to be playing on that guitar from Gath.) The sweetest place on earth Is your house, Yahweh of heaven’s armies. My soul longs, Famished, Ravenous For the place where […]
Pinned under a truck
“Help! Help! Please, help!” she cried as she ran through the snow toward our car. I had seen the headlights of a vehicle tipped on its side about 20 feet from the small highway road […]
Psalm 88
A rendering of Psalm 88, a desperate prayer that spirals into darkness because of a feeling that not only has God rejected, but God is the source of personal suffering.
Psalm 38
(A David psalm, a desperate prayer.) Anger isn’t what I need right now, Yahweh. A hard word and a frowning face Just might push me over the edge, My covenant-keeping God. Blood seeps from arrow […]
Psalm 57
A rendering of Psalm 57, an exquisite David poem of worship written in the middle of terrible circumstances.
Psalm 56
A rendering of Psalm 56, a David poem when God got him out of an impossible situation.
Psalm 55
A rendering of Psalm 55, an anguished prayer in response to the betrayal of a close friend.
Psalm 54
A rendering of Psalm 54, a brief David poem from when his back was up against the wall and a seemingly safe hiding place was uncovered by informers, putting him on the run again.
Psalm 53
(Worship leader: Go full electric on this David-penned rocker.) Atheists are idiots. Stupidly godless, Emptying their lives of God Empties their lives. Their hearts cave in on themselves, Collapsed souls, Collapsed lives. All goodness squeezed […]
Psalm 52
(Worship leader: A David poem about the time when that Edomite Doeg reported back to Saul, saying, “I found David at Abimelech’s house.”) Hey, you “superheroes,” You self-proclaimed big shots, So proud of the debris […]
Psalm 37
(A David psalm.) Stop stressing About trouble-makers. Don’t take you cues From those who don’t have a clue About God. These one-hit wonders Will soon be forgotten, The world emptied Of their empty work, Their […]
Psalm 25
(A David psalm.) Accept my soul, Yahweh, All of it. I’m handing it over to you. Be worthy of my trust, God, Because I’m looking to you to save me From shame, From disgrace. Congruence […]
Psalm 18
A rendering of Psalm 18, A David prayer reflecting on when God turned certain defeat into overwhelming victory.
Psalm 22
A rendering of Psalm 22, a prayer in the middle of feeling abandoned by God and yet looking forward to when God comes through and personal praise spills out on everyone else.
Psalm 39
(For Jeduthan, the worship leader: A David psalm.) I made a promise to myself: Watch what you’re doing. No destructive talk. Leash your tongue While idiots and haters are around. So, I kept quiet. Totally […]
Psalm 45 – the wedding psalm
A rendering of Psalm 45, the only psalm about marriage.
Psalm 44
A rendering of Psalm 44, a prayer for times when I remember how God has helped others but seems to be ignoring me in my pain.
Psalm 43
Get me off the hook, my God. Show how true I am To this false nation. Pull me from the jaws Of these sharp-tongued liars. You’re supposed to be on my side, God. So, why […]
Psalm 50
(An Asaph psalm.) The Forceful, God, Yahweh — He speaks, Calling the world to himself, All of it, From pole to pole. Out of Zion’s temple, Exquisite in it beauty, God shines. An inferno blazes […]
Psalm 48
A rendering of Psalm 48, an ode to Jerusalem and God’s protection of his city and his people.
Psalm 46
A rendering of Psalm 46, which rests is the security of God’s presence in the middle of political turmoil.
Psalm 49
A rendering of Psalm 49, a wisdom poem about the emptiness of wealth and fame and the true equality brought by death.
Psalm 47
(Worship leader: Here’s a Korah family psalm) On your feet, people! A standing ovation for God! Hoot and holler With joy. Yahweh towers over all. Breathtaking, He’s King over Everyone Everywhere. He’s crushed nations, Letting […]
Psalm 35
A rendering of Psalm 35, which begs God to be the defense attorney who will vindicate from the poison accusations of haters.
Psalm 41
Aiding the hurting, The helpless, The homeless Is the best kind of living. And Yahweh takes care Of care givers When they need it most. Yahweh takes of the side Of people who live this way. […]
Psalm 42
Like a dog At an empty water dish, Parched, That’s me, So terribly thirsty For God. My soul is dehydrated, Chapped and cracked, Empty of God — The bubbling, Refreshing, Life-giving God. Where can I go […]
Psalm 40
A rendering of Psalm 40, where David remembers God’s faithfulness in the past and asks for it again in his current problem.
Psalm 36
A rendering of Psalm 36, which compares a life lived without God to a life immersed in God’s life and love.
Psalm 32
A rendering of Psalm 32, a David psalm, combining prayer and earned wisdom, stemming from confessed sin after a time of foolishly hiding it.
Psalm 31
A rendering of Psalm 31, a psalm in the midst of shame and anxiety that finds hope and shame’s cure in God’s faithfulness.
Psalm 29
A rendering of Psalm 29, a David psalm viewing an electrical storm roll from north to south and seeing in it the power of God, which he uses not for destruction, but for peace.
Psalm 27
A rendering of Psalm 27, a prayer in the darkness, resetting the imagination from fear to God.
Psalm 26
A rendering of Psalm 26, a prayer for vindication when falsely accused.
Psalm 21
A rendering of Psalm 21, which glories in God’s strength and protection of Israel’s king.
Psalm 10
A rendering of Psalm 10, which calls on God to deal with the bullies and abusers who think he won’t hold them to account.
Psalm 19
(For the worship leader. A David psalm.) The heavens shout God’s glory! The skies never stop talking About his creativity. All day, Every day, They just keep on speaking. All night, Every night, They share […]
Psalm 30
A rendering of Psalm 30, a song David wrote when he was healed from a deadly illness and later used to celebrate the original Hanukkah, when the defiled and restored temple was rededicated.
Psalm 23
A rendering of Psalm 23, which offers a picture of the contented life, something our discontented culture needs.
Psalm 16
A rendering of Psalm 16, which rejects attempts at hedging our bets by relying on other sources of happiness than God.
Psalm 17
(A David prayer.) I need your attention, Yahweh. I need some justice. I need you to take my agony seriously. I need you to hear my prayer. I’m not lying. I need you to vindicate […]
Psalm 33
Sing your hearts out to Yahweh, You good and just people! Worship and integrity Are inseparable twins. Praise Yahweh with your guitar. Make exquisite music for him On your piano. Yahweh’s faithful character Can be […]
Psalm 9
A rendering of Psalm 9, a call for God to sit on his throne as Judge in order to bring justice to an unjust world.
Psalm 8
A rendering of Psalm 8, which marvels at the royal role of humanity within a creation that dwarfs us and given by a God who dwarfs that creation.
Psalm 7
(A song David sang to Yahweh when he was dealing with Cush the Benjamite.) Here, I am, knocking at your door, Yahweh my God. Let me in! I need a safe place. I need rescuing. […]
Psalm 5
(Worship leader: Use a soulful sax on this one. A David psalm.) I need you to hear me, Yahweh. I need you to hear me out. You’re my King, So hear my plea for help. […]
The alliance
My family loves to play games together. And we can be fiercely competitive in our game-playing. With a fairly strategic mind, I do well much of the time. In fact, my kids have concluded that […]
The horns & the cup (or, what will you do with your power?)
The two-year-old sat in her highchair, looked at the plate of uneaten food in front of her, looked at her mother, looked back at the plate, looked back at her mother, grabbed the plate without […]
When fear makes me feel like a failure
Sometimes, I give up too easily, too quickly. Life is difficult and filled with obstacles, and sometimes I feel overwhelmed before I’ve even given things a real effort. I have a book project I’ve been […]
Bad leaders & deaf cobras
When Saddam Hussein was driven from power, the people of Iraq danced in the streets. They tore down his statues. They celebrated the end of his tyranny. Having grown up in a country with strong […]
The answer to envy
The world’s oldest profession isn’t prostitution. It’s advertising. Genesis 3 is the story of a snakish advertiser who creates a desire for something that was really nothing at the cost of everything. And we’ve been […]
Psalm 121
A rendering of Psalm 121, which finds comfort in God as the one who watches and keeps us.
Psalm 146
A rendering of Psalm 146, which considers human sources of hope before considering God’s long resumé of real hope-inspiring help.
Psalm 119 (B is for Beth)
A rendering of Psalm 119:9-16, where each verse begins with the Hebrew letter beth and delights in God’s life-giving words.
Psalm 119 (A is for Aleph)
A rendering of Psalm 119:1-8, where each verse begins with the Hebrew letter aleph and delights in God’s life-giving words.
Psalm 104
A rendering of Psalm 104, an exuberant expression of joy in the Creator and the Creation.
5 questions to ask when our prayers get wonky
The question isn’t if my perspective is skewed or not. The question is: How bad is it? No two of us experience the world the same way. The uniquenesses in my eyes cause me to […]
Does God break his promises?
Sometimes life comes crashing down around our ears and the very things we were sure God wanted for our lives and for the world lay in rubbled ruin around us. A mission trip long prayed […]
All my fountains are in you
A surprising hymn about Israel’s ancient enemies being born in Zion.
Psalm 12
A rendering of Psalm 12, a prayer for help in the surrounding culture’s war of words.
Psalm 51
A rendering of Psalm 51, a prayer of confession that moves from a self-focus to a God-focus and a desire to see other lives repaired as well.
Psalm 62
A rendering of Psalm 62, a wisdom psalm for when the soul is weary and cutting corners has its lure.
Psalm 67
A rendering of Psalm 67, which moves us from a desire for a small, me-sized blessing to a global, God-sized blessing for all people.
Psalm 139
A rendering of Psalm 139, a prayer for when I’m so angry at the sins of others I can’t see what’s going on in my own heart and need the only one who truly sees me to show me what’s going on inside of me — so that he can lead me in the beautiful way.
Psalm 133
A rendering of Psalm 133, where the wisdom of unity brings healing and life to a broken land.
Psalm 14
A rendering of Psalm 14, rejecting the atheism of the world and the times when our own hearts slip into the atheism of living as if God doesn’t exist.
Psalm 2
A rendering of Psalm 2, a prayer in the midst of the world’s noise that turns our attention to God’s Messiah.
Psalm 3
A rendering of Psalm 3, a prayer when things feel like they’re so bad it’s hard to sleep.
Psalm 150
A rendering of Psalm 150, an exuberant call to praise God with all we have, using our most passionate music.
