Psalm 119 (Part Two)—Revive me with your word. You know my story.

"I will open my mouth and give the ripe fruit your word made to kings, to anyone."

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter of the Bible, so we’ll break it into seven parts. It is an acrostic poem, with one stanza for each of the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Here are the stanzas for Daleth, He, and Vav.

Rendition of Psalm 119 (Part Two)

Daleth

My soul is caked with earth;
My body bends toward the dust.
Revive me with your word.
You know my story. You have answered me
Many times when I return to you.
Now teach me your laws.
Open my mind to understand your ways.
Hold your wonders before me until I know them
Deeply enough to matter.
The well of grief inside me
Brims and overflows.
Strengthen me with your word.
Clear away from me the lies I followed
And the lies I’ve made.
Charter me again into the grace
Of your instruction.
I have chosen faithfulness.
I have placed your justice squarely before me.
I cleave myself to your laws.
Do not let me be ashamed.
But enlarge my heart
To run long on the path of your ways.

He

Show me the movements
Of your ways in the world, Lord.
Give me the grace of understanding
So that I can stand watch with your laws
And keep them with my whole heart.
I want to follow the trodden path
Of your commandments 
And take delight in the journey.
Pitch my heart toward your law
And away from dishonest loves.
Turn my eyes away from the glittering,
Empty things and revive me with your truth.
Arise, Lord. found your word in me again.
Teach me to fear the right things and
Still my trembling at lesser fears than you.
When you rule, it is good,
So I long for your law to come.
Revive your bright justice
And revive me with it.

Vav

Heavenly father, your kindness come.
Release the salvation you have stored up in your word.
So that I will give an answer back 
When the truth is in jeopardy.
Return the trust I place in your word one hundredfold.
Plant it as a seed in my mouth
As I wait for your justice to come.
Keep my way so that I can keep
Your laws forever.
When I walk with you,
I will walk free.
I will seek everywhere 
Your deepest, hidden things.
I will open my mouth and give
The ripe fruit your word made
To kings, to anyone.
Your word is not dull;
It is my delight. I lift it up
And it lifts me up.
I hide it inside myself
And it grows.

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Catching up with the Darking Psalter

If you are new to the Darkling Psalter, it is a project to create renditions of the Psalms (artistic rewordings based on the original Hebrew) and original poems to pair with each one.

Psalms with poems: 1, 2, 6, 8, 13, 14, 16, 19, 22, 29, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 42, 46, 51, 53, 65, 73, 74, 84, 86, 88, 90, 107, 121, 123, 130, 131, 137, 142, 147.

Psalms only: 3, 23, 62, 117, 199 (1),139, 148

Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash