Psalm 3—The Lord Laid Me Against Against Himself To Rest
And a new plan for the Darkling Psalter.
Note from Andy
For those of you who have been playing along from home since this project began, you’ll remember that the Darkling Psalter started as a rendition of a psalm + commentary on the psalm + a new poem (like this post). Then I transitioned to a noteless “slimline” version and moved the commentary/theological reflections to a new Substack called Pattern Bible. I’ve been pretty happy with that pivot as it has led to a lot more writing, not less.
Now we’re pivoting again.
Over the next few months, I’m putting the poetry part of this project into hypersleep and shifting the psalm renditions into high gear. The good news is that it will mean more posts and more psalms as we trek onward to the complete set of 150 psalms. The not-as-good-news (for you poetry lovers) is that it will mean that part of the project will be on hold for a while. But guess what… I’m involved in another Substack for my day job at the Rabbit Room and we send out three poems a week from fine poets. So go get your poetry on, friends.
Fear not, the pieces of this project do not get lost. They seem to just become seeds that grow into other things in the future as the creative journey rolls onward.
Substack’s Referral System
Also, you may have noticed that I have turned on Substack’s “referral” system. I’m doing this mostly as an experiment to learn more about it, to see if it helps spread the word about the project, to see if people love or hate it, and because having a leaderboard feels like a game and the game designer side of me could not resist playing with it. We’ll think of this as a “trial run” that will end if it is a dud.
You can learn more about it here.
Now on to the psalm.
Rendition of Psalm 3
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
Oh, Lord. My enemies only multiply.
They gather strength as they rise against me.
A harrowing certainty draws around them.
They say, “There is no salvation for him in God.”
But you remain my shield,
My honor, my goodness, the one who lifts me up again.
How many times have I cried to you
And you have answered me!
Each night I sleep
And each morning I wake,
For the Lord laid me
Against himself to rest.
I will not fear though any number
Encircle themselves darkly against me.
Make your stand, Lord.
Save me. Strike those who come
To strike me down. Break the teeth
Of those who would consume me.
This remains: Salvation belongs to you, God.
Make us rest in your blessing.
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.
You can catch up with previous psalms here: 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, and the Guided Tour.
Read the Darkling Psalter in one Google doc.
Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash