My Book of Psalms

Empty me so I may be filled with You God, transform my mind Refill my spirit Set fire to my soul Empty me of all my selfish tendencies Fill me with your love and grace Empty us so that we may be filled with you Only then can we overflow your love, Your light, into this dark world Let us be glass Invisible Shining your light Only your light Not pride or boasting of our own Let you alone receive the glory You alone deserve the praise It is your light We are yours All we are is yours Everything that is good in us is you You are good You are goodness You are light We are simply vessels Empty us so that we may be filled Search our hearts Empty us of ourselves Fill us with your spirit Dying to ourselves, We will finally live

God, you are my provider Why should I ever bother worrying? Should I ever fret? NO! You have always given me all I need You provide the exact amount needed At the perfect time, when needed You don't waste, time or resources You don't cheat or cut corners You give generously and abundantly Every blessing you pour out so perfectly measured You provide every need When I ask, I receive When I knock, doors open When I cry out, you hear my cry When I am afraid, you are my peace When I am weak, you give me strength When I am defeated, you bring victory If I have a need, you have already placed a plan to fulfill it You are almighty, amazing, and awesome No one compares to you

Father, you have loved me You have adopted me I am now yours You made me You created me You desired me I was taken from you Taken by my fickle devotion I heard lies whispered I believed them They told me I wasn't yours They told me that you didn't want me I ran in shame I felt hurt, I felt guilty, I was naked Bruised and beaten by the enemy I thought ill of love I didn't know who to trust but you called my name Not the names they called me It doesn't matter what they called me It matters what I answered to Too long I answered to "useless" I answered to "broken" I answered to "guilty" I answered to lies but you called my name The name that you gave me Yours αγαπηθεί My name is "Loved" You are love I am yours You paid the price for me They valued me at death I heard their cry I was ready to die I was ready to give up But you paid the price You fought for me You paid it all and fought to be ...

I cannot understand it You love me That alone is amazing But you love me, constantly You have always loved me αγαπηθεί I have always been loved I am being loved I will always be loved Before I was born, You loved me As you created me, You loved me Your plan for me reflects that You loved me As I grew, You loved me As I learned, You loved me As you taught me, You loved me As I messed up, You loved me As I covered it up, You loved me As I ran and hid, You loved me When I forgot you, You loved me When I remembered you, You loved me When I left you willingly, You loved me When I blamed you, You loved me When I blamed myself, You loved me When I begged you to love me, You loved me When I sing, You love me When I laugh, You love me When I cry, You love me When I rest, You love me When I run, You love me When I crash, You love me When I see you, you will love me You have always loved me and you always will.

Yahweh, You're resplendence fills the sky Sunny days reflect your light Clouds reflect your grace Thunder and lightning, your majestic power Rain reflects your order out of chaos Snow reflects your redemption Storms, your ultimate justice Stars reflect your hope and beauty Galaxies reflect your plan and creativity The moon, your constant yet dynamic strength, light, and love Sunsets reflect your playfulness Sunrises reflect your hope Vastness of the sky, the vastness of your resplendent nature The sky alone describes so much of your character Yet as mysterious as the weather, you are more so We attempt to predict yet you always surprise The more we understand, the more we have to learn The more we explore, the more we hunger to see You are greater than the heavens, Yet you have blessed us with your artwork The unnecessary resplendence of the sky, necessary to begin to understand you

God, I pray that you give us peace   As we see and feel the dark hurt in this world, as our hearts break at the results of the fall God, give us peace As we feel overwhelmed and stressed by our responsibilities and work, as anxiety takes control God, give us peace As we mourn the loss of beautiful things God, give us peace As we struggle with doubt, confusion and worst of all loneliness   God, give us peace As we attempt to discern your plans for us   God, give us peace As we learn more about our callings and our identity in you God, give us peace God, give us hope Remind us that we have you, the creator of the universe. You love us more than we will ever know. God, be our strength.   Remind us of who we are and more importantly who you are. Yahweh. Shalom. Nissi. Emmanuel. Love.

God, you are my light in darkness When darkness surrounds me, You are my light.   And when I’m weary, you are my rest.   And when I’m sad, you are my joy.   And when I’m weak, you are my strength.   And when I’m in need, you are my provider. And when I’m broken, you are my healer.   And when I’m lost, you are my savior.   And when I’m overwhelmed, you are my restorer.   And when I’m destroyed, you’re my rebuilder.   And when I’m lonely, you are my friend.   And when I’m dry, you are my geyser.   And when I’m singing, you are my song.   And when I’m rejoicing, you are my reason.   And when I’m stressed, you are my peace.

My eyes and my heart are heavy I am tired and weary I receive visions of joy I remember seasons of celebration My chest aches   My heart cries out “Maranatha!” I look up to the top of this mountain So many steps I still need to take For the glory of the Lord, I will rise I am weary but I lean not on my own strength The joy of the Lord will be my strength Where are my allies?   I can easily see my enemies Have I been forsaken?   Surely, I am not alone My God has gone before me The advocate stands behind me I am surrounded Not by the enemies I see   But by the allies that I cannot see God, my heart still aches My soul still feels lonely How long will I be isolated? How long will I be separated from you and my loved ones? Yahweh, you have promised me restoration   I praise you as I await the day that you will restore all things I sing as I weep and wait

Here as in Heaven Creation In the beginning, You created. You created everything that ever will be You spoke the complex universe into existence Still you wanted something more More than just “good” You wanted “ very good ” So you created us You created man and woman You breathed life into us You made us in your image The whole universe created to worship You All of Creation to bring You Glory And we get the special role of bearing your image We get to look like You And better yet we get to know You We get to walk with You You gave us a beautiful garden You gave us potential Seeds that need planting Animals that need naming Creation and cultivation Life, creation, was beautiful Fall You gave us freedom But we grew selfish We faced temptation We heard truth twisted We bought sinister promises We wanted to be like You But we were already like You Like poison we soon felt shame Suddenly we saw we wer...

Peace like a river. Peace flows beautifully down the mountainside. The sun high reflecting off the water shines. It glistens and sparkles all the way down so bright. The sun keeps on shining not a cloud in sight. The heavens won’t rain even if they tried. Days go by and the sky hasn't cried. The river dries up and soon comes dread. No water, no peace. Soon we will all be dead. But to everything there is a season. Every drought must have a reason. Love like an ocean. Love that is honest and deep and beautiful Love that endures all things. Love that’s true and full Love that wraps around you and pulls you deep inside You are drowning in the wonder. It’s a safe place to hide. Love that reaches all the way around the earth Oh what love that can heal the oldest hurt But I stand at the shore. Just out of its reach. Here I stand alone and Unloved on the beach. The whispers of waves stretch closer and further Love’s tide rises and fal...

As a Christian, self-proclaimed philosopher, and general lover of the bible I have studied the psalms a lot. I love the songs of ascent and the laments and every psalm. My favorite is probably Psalm 34. Recently I've been intensely studying Psalm 27. I have most of 1, 3, 4, 19, 23, and (many verses from) 119 memorized. Psalm 13 paints a beautiful picture of a major part of my personal testimony. I love the Psalms and as I've studied them and grown in my own faith I've realized that I've written many Psalms. As I journal and write, I've written many poems and some of them I would definitely parallel to many Psalms in the scriptures. I wouldn't say that I am as talented as Solomon, David, Aesop, or any biblical (or other) psalmist. These are my prayers, my psalms. I study the psalms of the bible and I learn more about the character of God and more about how to relate to him. I am reminded of his faithfulness, hope, and most of all love. My hope, I suppose, in sha...