Three Psalms for When You Need More Help Than You Know How to Ask For

Psalm 61—Blow your love through me until I whistle with it.

Hear me. I send my song
From the farthest flung deep.
My blood seeps through my body
At a faint pace and my whole heart ebbs.
I am afraid.

Walk me to the rock higher than I, 
Summit me to the stormtower; 
I need somewhere to hide.
If God is my refuge, my enemies
Can billow and buck around me,
But I will be safe.

Lord, let me shelter there forever.
I want to live where you live.
Keep me. Save me. Take me in.

You have heard my words,
How I begged for help
And swore myself to you, 
If only you would give me good
And rout out all my waking fears. 

Now, ride your reign down like wind.
Winnow me up and 
Make my enemies chaff all away. 
Blow your love through me
Until I whistle with it.

Hold all my life safe in your hands;
I will live out every one of my promises.

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Psalm 70—Pass the thread of your grace through their tangled hopes until the knot is loosed.

God, hurry. Do not wait another day
To help me. Rush. Hasten.
Fly to me. Scatter back the pack
Of dark dogs that hound around me,
Who seek my life like a treed fox.
Their smiles are all sharp teeth,
Their plans for me glitter in rows
In the open maws of their minds.
Muzzle their mouths and
Round them to heel.

But be a haven for all 
Who come to you for help.
May all who throw themselves
On your salvation like it was 
The last hope they have
Be glad, be graced, be set in place.
For every hangdog day and every
Hunted prayer, give them double back
Of joy, of life, of sudden, surprising, settled peace.
Pass the thread of your grace
Through their tangled hopes 
Until the knot is loosed.
Remember every time they raised pleas to you 
With their faces pressed to the ground. 
Make good their uncounted prayers
You yet numbered and held,
Bated and unforgotten. 

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Psalm 54—He will not leave me alone, stranded, strangled, and caught.

Fly toward me, God. I am hidden here
Awaiting the last thing
That could save me. 
Hear me, God. My only thoughts
Are prayers. My only hope
Is that you would answer
And rush to my side.
I am hunted by people I don’t know.
I am sought by those who
Seek to take my life.
Yet, I have set God before me,
My last long hope.

My God is my help.
If I lean my needs onto him,
He will not disappoint me.
He will not leave me alone, stranded,
Strangled, and caught.
I wish that evil would collapse
Back on those who did evil to me.
I wish their lies would fall
To pieces beneath the weight
Of your vaster truth.
So here I am. Ready 
To sacrifice, ready to praise.
I know that you will end the story
When it ought to be ended
And not before.
I know that you have saved me
And will again.

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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, 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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