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| Sheltering Mercy: Prayers Inspired by the Psalms by Ryan W. Smith & Dan Wilt |
A Story as simple as song, as infinite as the heavens: of grace given; death defeated. + from Psalm 40 | A Testimony to Salvation in Sheltering Mercy
This weekend's Psalm is Psalm 40, focused on the mercy of the God who lifts us up from the muck and the mire of our lives. In Sheltering Mercy: Prayers Inspired by the Psalms, Ryan W. Smith and Dan Wilt have written a targum (i.e. the ancient practice of rewriting sacred text in today's vocabulary; see Psalm 29 | Living Word version for an example) prayer based on Psalm 40. And while this prayer attempts to follow the structure of Psalm 40, this is not a paraphrase or translation; it is a prayerful response. The title they give 40's targum is "A Testimony to Salvation."
Here are links to other recent City Notes (CN) books:
For 2023, phrases that have helped shape my prayers for the year ahead are "Enter the Holy Wild. Pay attention to the Voice in the wilderness. Worship Jesus." My prayer for Emmaus City Church is that our worship would increase in such a way that those who interact with us, whether at a Sabbath gathering, with a City Group meal or mission, at work or at home, would experience God's holy presence in light of how our hearts lean towards worshiping Jesus. We want to rest and risk in light of His holiness (see also "In the Holy Wild with the Lion Who Offers Us the Stream").
Psalm 40 that inspired the targum, "A Testimony to Salvation," captures the cry for mercy and the response of the only One who can give all the mercy we need as we continue in the holy wild of the season of Epiphany.
Psalm 40 | A Testimony to Salvation
Father God,
it is a good thing to remember Your mercy;
to recall Your faithfulness in days past;
to remind myself that my very life
is a testimony to Your salvation.
For I have known the saving hand of God
after patient pleading –
when I held to Your goodness,
though Heaven was silent
and troubles increased.
I see now that Your silence was not absence;
that my desolation was not my undoing.
In Your time –
why must long-suffering be such long suffering? –
You plunged into the darkness that held me.
Raised me from ruin.
Reclaimed me.
Restored me.
Rooted and established me in love. 1
Just when I had the lost will to sing,
Your mercy became music to me;
an old song –
older than this tired earth –
and yet, somehow,
as fresh and new as the morning.
It is not Your will that any should perish, 2
but that all should repent
and enter into Your joy.
It is a good thing to fall into
the hands of the Living God 3 –
to surrender to Your grace;
to trade pride for humility;
pleasant fictions for hard truths.
I am in awe of Your goodness –
that You,
Maker of all things,
would condescend to dwell with us:
the eternal Word made flesh; 4
one with the Father; 5
all things created through You; 6
obedient to the point of death; 7
triumphant in resurrection;
King of New Creation.
A Story as simple as song,
as infinite as the heavens:
of grace given;
death defeated.
Indeed, the old has passed away;
the new has come 8 –
and yet, many look for You in passing things:
in outward displays of devotion;
in rites and rituals,
practicing piety in the sight of others,
seeking the living among the dead.
But I will meet You in the secret place,
to be seen only by You,
as I seek to worship You in spirit and truth: 11
a stumbler learning grace.
What a beautiful sound it is when Your family gathers;
when Your ransomed children sing the glories of Your grace;
when we feast in honor of our King.
May I never cease to join that song –
to proclaim with all the saints
the height and depth
and length and breadth
of Your love. 12
May my words,
my thoughts,
my deepest meditations
be music to Your ears. 13
I know that You will not forsake me; 14
that Your right hand upholds me; 15
that Your grace is sufficient,
even for a sinner such as me. 16
Trouble meets me at every turn.
Suffering surrounds me.
Pride blinds me.
Sin afflicts me.
What a tangled mess of contradictions I am.
But You are the great Sanctifier,
who turns deserts into springs of water; 17
who raises the needy from affliction;
who saves all who draws near in faith. 18
Deliver me, O Christ,
from darkness within and without –
from sin which invites
theft,
death,
and destruction. 19
Draw me back to Your heart;
to the peace from which I so often flee.
Let Your song rise up in me again,
as I remember the grace
to which I am so great a debtor. 20
I may be a poor excuse for a saint,
but You have made a place for me at Your table. 21
I may be weighed down with sorrow;
saddled with grief,
but I will rejoice at the wedding feast of the Lamb. 22
Come, Lord Jesus;
quickly come! 23
Amen.
10 Luke 24:5
11 John 4:23-24
13 Psalm 19:14
14 Joshua 1:5
15 Psalm 63:8
17 Psalm 107:35
19 John 10:10
20 Inspired by the 1758 hymn
by Robert Robinson
21 Psalm 23:5
Bonus Listen
Bonus Reflection
Here are links to other recent City Notes (CN) books:
Red Skies; Story of God in a Sanitation Truck; The Artistry of What's Next; Seeds of Hope in the Rain & the Dark; Wrestling with God in Doubt; I've Seen What Hope Can Do; Baptism as the Way of Life; The Cross and Peacemaking Presence; Being with God; Knowing and Naming True Friends; Listening Closely & Paying Attention; Living and Loving Curiously with Wonder; Praying with Mary and Jesus; Waiting is the Womb; In the Holy Wild with the Lion Who Offers Us the Stream
With wild wonder and hope,
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