Psalm 45

 Our souls expand to praise You, King:

Your Beauty gleams with Light Divine;

Your Generous Words in gold tones ring,

illumined by pure, searing Fire.

We adore You, Ruler Most High,

arrayed in dazzling Majesty.

You surge ahead for Truthful Right;

forging New Paths for humble feet.

You void potentates’ prideful claims

with poignant darts of guilt and shame.

Forever You will reign Supreme,

for Justice always guards Your Realm.

Relinquishing our parents’ hurts

we bring You gifts from all cultures.

God, form our children as leaders;

give Your Stories fervent readers.

Psalm 44

 In the Old Stories of Your People’s roots

all the Glory is Yours, Loving Parent.

You uprooted ruthless idolaters,

cleansed the land, planted families in good soil;

Your Mother Love, not swords, secured their homes.

Wise, Kind Ruler of all: we worship You;

trusting Your Peace Power we pay tribute.

But we sense You have turned away from us,

left us on our own to face scorn and theft;

we are exploited, exiled and enslaved,

treated like the scum, not Salt of the Earth;

renegade movers-and-shakers mock us.

Yet we never forget You and Your Laws;

we bow to You, pleading for Your followers

who are suffering and dying every day.

God, for real You never slumber or sleep?

Are You dozing? Don’t You care anymore?

Please come to the aid of our war-torn world:

come soon, Messiah; we trust in Your Love.

Psalm 43

 Justify Your followers, God:

defend us against false charges

contrived by heartless cheaters.

We know You are our Champion.

Why do we feel abandoned?

Why are we always grieving,

weighed down by life-sappers?

Beam Your Brilliance on us,

Spirit of God, guiding us back

to revel in Your Loving Presence.

We want to worship You, Source of Sheer Joy,

praising You with all kinds of instruments.

“What’s our problem?” we ask each other:

“Why the doldrums?”

We will zero in on You, God, and come

back to celebration, Liberator.

Psalm 42

 Like dehydrated children

we thirst for You, Life-Giving God.

When can we drink our fill of Your Spirit?

All we can taste is the salt of our tears.

People keep jeering “Where is God?”

while the marrow of our lives runs out.

We used to love gathering to worship You;

full of Your Spirit, we loved singing hymns.

“What’s the problem?” we ask each other:

“Why these doldrums?”

We need to zero in on You, God,

voicing Your praise again, Liberator.

Morose, withdrawn, we recall Your Splendour

from lush valley to mountain peaks.

Our churning emotions reverberate

with waterfalls and ocean waves.

All day You pour forth Love, Lifespring Fountain;

at night we dream up prayer poems

to You, our Deep Thirst Quencher.

Spirit of God, Eternal Mountain Spring:

“Why do we feel You don’t care anymore?

Why are we always weeping,

weighed down by life-sappers

who keep taunting ‘Where is God now?’”

“What’s the problem?” we ask each other:

“Why these doldrums?”

We need to zero in on You, God,

voicing Your praise again, Liberator.

Psalm 41

 God Blesses people who

care about poor people;

God Rescues and Shelters,

Heals and Blesses people.

Father, forgive and restore us:

our tangles have broken Love’s Bonds.

Haters presume we are goners;

friends and family turn against us.

Yet Your Forgiveness restores us,

preserving our integrity.

Keep us always in Your Pure Love.

All praise to God then, now, always!

Psalm 40

 We were patients in God’s waiting room:

wretched and weeping we waited until

Someone heard us crying, drew us from gloom

to gladness, murky swamp to lofty hill.

Spirit infuses us with New Praise Poems

(may they rouse others with awe for God).

People who trust God will enjoy Shalom,

immune to all the hype of demigods.

God plans and acts in countless wondrous ways.

Words fail us: God, You’re incomparable!

You ask nothing for us to do or say

yet through us You make Yourself palpable.

We hear and see ourselves in Your Story.

Hearts united, we yearn to follow You:

we pray our work will bring You honour, God;

we bare our souls to show Your Love is True.

Keep us near You, Holy One: protect us

from harms others do or we do ourselves.

We are inundated, losing focus

in blame-and-shame mazes again. God, help!

Psalm 39

 Told each other: Talk

will only aggravate.

Resolved: No words when

opponents are around.

Quiet for many days,

no voice pro or con.

But emotions boiled,

could not stay silent.

God, is my life over?

Help me confront death.

Life is a mere moment

no matter poor or rich.

God, what’s our future?

You alone bring hope:

free us from sin’s grip;

silence senseless scorners.

Told each other: Be still—

God is in control.

But we can’t bear this

austere discipline.

God, listen, help us please:

help all refugees.

Help me find Your Peace

with Joy before I die.