Psalm 9—We were never meant to rule a praiseless world.

"The world twitters on metalled rails toward metalled ends..."

Rendition of Psalm 9

The Lord has all the thanks my heart holds.
Wherever he walks, the rumor
Of him rouses awe, 
Stuns, stills tongues,
And wonder rises in his wake.

Though the world twitters
On metalled rails toward metalled ends;
Though I am estranged
From more friends than I can bear;
Though the order and justice I long for
Only seem to cede to noise and dust,
When you arise, you make folly cease. It must.
Those who brood and blare evil,
Will watch their works come to nothing. 
My God never forgot the justice I needed.
Nothing hides from him.
His rebuke is ready. 
His judgment will not fail.
He bends evil double. 
Soon, the sun will rise on a day
When even the memory
Of evil is gone.

Though many mighty swagger and boast,
There is only one throne
And one king upon it.
His judgment is just and fair;
He makes no mistakes. 
He is not late. He waits.
He hears and is near.
He is a fortress when trouble comes.
All who seek shelter are welcome inside.
Tell each other what he has done.
No forsaken cry goes unremembered,
No blood unmarked, no need unseen.
Praise him.

Turn your smile toward me, Lord.
You see what I am going through,
How I tremble at the edge of death.
You lay your hand on my chest
And feel the fear flutter there.
I never thought it would come to this.
My path lies pitted before me,
And behind me waits a waste.
One step in any direction,
And I could slip soundlessly 
to the grave, none the wiser.
Lift me up, and I will sing again. 
Teach me the joy that waits at the brink
Of these troubles and another life.

By your judgment, you make yourself known.
Teach the wicked they built
Themselves a hell to live in.
Show the afflicted they were not forgotten.
Arise, Lord. Judge us.
Overthrow and silence us.
Show us we were never meant
To rule a praiseless world. 

---

Catching up with the Darkling 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) paired with original poems.

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, 118, 121, 123, 130, 131, 137, 142, 147.

Psalms only: 3, 4, 5, 23, 27, 43, 50, 54, 62, 63, 66, 75, 91, 100, 110, 114, 117, 119, 120, 122, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 132, 133, 134, 139, 140, 148

Psalms complete: 70/150—46%

Request the Darkling Psalter in Print

If you would like to move this project one step closer to publication, sign up on this form to request the Darkling Psalter in print.

Read More from Andy

• Three Things Newsletter—Resources to help you connect with God, culture, and neighbor (with Phillip Johnston).

• Pattern Bible—Tracing biblical images from Genesis to Revelation.

• Still Point—Reflections on deconstruction and explorations of the truth of Christianity.

• The Wager Stone—A very niche serialized litRPG novel about a man stuck in a game world whose only ally is a talkative and incorrigible brain parasite.