A Note From Andy
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has reached out with kind words about this project.
Most mornings, I’m up early and work on these renditions before any of the kids wake up. These writing sessions last until I hear that first cry from upstairs. If I’m lucky, I was able to get a rendition in presentable enough condition to send out. Then, it is the groggy hustle of breakfast, lunches getting packed, kids getting off to school… and the day is under way.
All that is to say: thanks. It is an encouragement to hear back from you all and make the connection between my morning pages and the people who are reading them.
News
There are Darkling Psalter developments on the horizon—a print version and (possibly) a podcast—but these are only “teaser level” updates at this point, not the “full announcement” version. I’ll keep you posted.
Psalm 66—The loves I set on the altar to kiss and burn and bid away.
Sing loud and shout, all the earth. Raise and rattle out a cry of Plea and thanks and wonder. Trumpet a beam of praise So solid you can touch it. Shine around the brightest sound That stretches farther than words can go. Sing the whole story back again, Belt it, blare it, heave, and hurl it out. There is no measure of it; It floods; it bursts its banks. His every work, the barest edge of him, Flashes thunderous light, sparks fire, dances. Every knee will bow, and every mouth sing, And confess at last the king is king. Come and see the works of God. He has not held back; he pours himself In double draughts. He is prodigal. He is wild and wanton, unwearying. He sows with a glad hand, Broadcast, unresting, unhasting. He turned the sea into dry land So his people could pass Through the walled water on foot. His strength has never found its limit. Nothing hides from his sight. He brings the proud to a point, And lifts the weak and weary. Gather the people together. Listen to what he has done for me. My God, my life shook and slipped. I staggered. I fretted and kicked in your grip. When my crucible came You held me in the heat. I saw things I’d done for years But never known before. You wove a net, and, With a flick, I was caught. You piled upon me, and I was pressed. I was dragged and crushed; I gagged. Each day, I woke to the fire of grief. I blackened and balked. At night, my bed was a raft rolled On a darkling sea while overhead Wheeled numberless stars That I could neither touch nor change. There was no way out but through. I lost everything I thought was mine, But I did not lose you. I rode the tumult until I found My way to rich and solid ground. I brought my sacrifices— My whole life—and laid them down. I made my pleas into promises. We cut covenants through the smoke Of the loves I set on the altar To kiss and burn and bid away. Come and hear, if you fear God. I raise my empty hands To heaven to be filled. My God has heard me. He gave me what I needed, He did not turn away from me. I carry his kindness here Even when it cuts, As it carried me.
Psalm 33—At his word, the heavens shook and all star-raftered cathedral sang his breath back to him.
Shout if you can shout for joy. Raise a ragged banner of praise upright. If you can’t raise your head, Kneel, even beat your breast And make your throat a keening reed That whistles when the wind blows. If there are only empty hands In your soul’s pockets, Raise them up and clap. God is near and hears, So thread a slender stripe of praise Through your needle heart And stab it into heaven. Every word of God’s will rise upright and ring. He never bends nor breaks faith. The whole earth hums With his steadfast love like a struck bell. At his word, the heavens shook And all the star-raftered cathedral Sang his breath back to him. He tucks even the deep Into boxes and marks out the storehouses of the wild water. Raise up your hope to him in awe. When he spoke, it was. When he lifted his hands, Everything rose. He topples every spinning plan, And holds back every scheme set against him. Yet his unresting, unhasting love Hounds you down of its own accord, Moves in measure like a dancer, Rouses the broken earth so dead Bones rattle and stand. He sees the whole sweep of the earth, And molds hearts like clay. No king nor kingdom can raise And rally enough strength To save itself alone. But the Lord watches those Who look to him, wait for him. He is an anchorhold, a shield. He returns hope for hope, Shakes a glad song down over them, Sends his raven love With bits of bread.
Psalm 34—I did not know light could ring, nor faith stretch true as a plucked string.
Lord, there is so much to say. I open my mouth and find your praise in it. My life is your boast. May everyone who is cast off Take comfort and consolation As the rumor of God grows great among us. There is no count of the needs I brought him, Questions I cried out and answers That blushed over me Like a soft dawn in the high sky, so that I hardly noticed the change Until, suddenly, the birds Were singing again. I did not know light could ring, Or faith stretch true as a plucked string, Or fold and dive like a tucked wing. He shone. The sun rose. Lord knows My fears fled. Shame slipped From my grip. Hope shined Bright as brass and silver fast. The Lord himself walked all my edges, And nothing could hold him back. Oh, taste him, test him— See that he is good. He is a shelter, a home, a hallow. He is the feast the hungry lack, The wine that draws them back. If you want life and you love your days, Come take his goodness with two hands. He hears every slapdash, slipshod, Half-hearted, broken prayer the righteous raise. But those who want to bend your way awry And devour your people like bread, Find you flint faced and stone still. He draws nearer to the brokenhearted than they know. He frees those who have been crushed, Bruised, careworn, and snuffed out. Those who make the Lord Their hope find him in lockstep When their way wends Through its afflictions. But the wicked find the deaths They feared all their roiling days In wait for them, hungry as ever. God shelters all who come to him As their last, lost, happy home.
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, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 46, 47, 50, 51, 53, 54, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 70, 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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Oh my word, a print version would be amazing!
Beautiful renditions to read during a particularly praise-full week for me.