Psalm 63—My desires are bared before me like a knife. I am cut to ribbons.
"I have met a love that shatters backward past the glass promises that broke to bring me here, a kindness wide as life itself."
Rendition of Psalm 63
God, you are my God. My feet have walked me to this wasteland. I never thought my life Would exhaust itself so soon. My desires are bared before me Like a knife. I am cut to ribbons. I have never seen so keenly My needs, my loves, my losses. My shambling stride Has failed, and I’ve fallen. I have found no water here, But in the dry and weary land At the terminus of my waning strength, I have found you. I have seen your face Unveiled and bright as light. I have met a love that shatters Backward past the glass promises That broke to bring me here, A kindness wide as life itself. So these cracked lips will learn again How to praise you. I will lift my hands, empty at last, To receive whatever you would give. It is enough. I am satisfied. I begin again. I am still in the waste But I am singing. Now, I clutch the memory of you To my chest in the night watches, For you have been my help Before I knew to name you. Even now, this night is only the shadow Of your wings. I still sing. I cling With my whole life to the hand That has taken hold of me. Now, those loves and lovers Who would ruin me again, Find no purchase here. May the earth take them, The grave swallow them, And jackals haunt the places They once crowed and called their own. But as for me, God is my lot. All his promises to me are yes, And they fill my mouth like water.
Psalms: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 46, 50, 51, 53, 54, 62, 63, 65, 66, 73, 74, 75, 84, 86, 88, 90, 91, 100, 107, 110, 114, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 137, 139, 140, 142, 147, 148.
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"I have met a love that shatters
Backward past the glass promises
That broke to bring me here"
This poem is a major work of beauty, and those lines stand out in particular. Amen, and thank you.
This has long been my favorite psalm (I memorized it as a teen and have a page of it from an original Geneva Bible framed on our wall) and I absolutely love what you've done here. The last stanza has always felt rather disjointed in the usual reading, but you've tied it together seamlessly, really getting to the heart of the psalm.