Echoes - Psalm 130 adapted

Day's End - A Cobb's Hill Sunset

~ Psalm 130 adapted ~

for personal praise and prayer

by JoMae

8/19/22

Out of the depths I cry to you, YHWH;

  my Sovereign, please hear my voice.

May your ears be attentive

to my supplication.

If you, O YHWH, kept a record of sins,

Dear Redeemer, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

so we can reverently serve you.

~~~~~~~

I wait for YHWH, my whole being waits;

in Godde's Word I put my trust.

I wait for Wisdom more than

sentinels long for the dawn

Dear ones, put your hope in Christ;

Living Word, Promised Messiah

in whom is unfailing love and

with whom is full redemption

for Jesus the Christ

redeems us from all iniquity

THANKS BE TO GODDE!

Echoes ~ OT passages inspire NT conversation with Godde

              (OT a template for NT prayerful contemplation)

                   

Psalm 98 Echo

~ Divine Love ~ Justice With Equity ~

Psalm 98 

(adapted)

O sing to Jehovah a new song

for Godde has done marvelous things!

Your right hand and your holy arm

have gotten you the victory and you

have made known your righteousness.

You have revealed your vindication

in the sight of the nations and have 

remembered your steadfast love and

faithfulness to the house of Israel

(and to me)

The ends of all the earth have

seen the salvation

of our Godde

Make a joyful noise to Jehovah, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song and sing praises.

Sing praises to Yaweh with the lyre,

with the harp and the voice of a psalm.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

make a joyful noise before Jehovah 

Our Monarch

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

the world and those who live in it.

Let the floods clap their hands;

let the hills sing together for joy

at the presence of Jehovah, for

Godde, who is coming to judge the earth,

will judge the world with righteousness

and the peoples with equity.

adapted by

JoMae

1/2/22

An echo passage - adapted for personal praise and thanksgiving

Echo Prayer

Photo: VectorStock.com 15874148

 ~ Praise for Provision and Protection ~

with gratitude for provision of our daily needs

 and protection against evil and temptation

<><><><><><>

Beloved Parent in the Heavens

Holy is your majestic name

may your reign come

your will be done

on earth  as it

is in heaven

Please grant us our daily bread

and forgive our trespasses - as we

must forgive those who sin against us

lead us not into temptation we pray

rather, deliver us from evil for

yours is the whole realm,

all power and all glory

forever and ever

Amen

My echo of The Lord’s Prayer for today - JoMae

        2/15/21

Echo of Psalm 18:1-19

Echoing the Psalms - 

Sometimes when I read a psalm, I hear it as a prayer and adapt it just enough to be my own - building on the scaffold of the ancient language. So most of these words are straight from the NIV, yet personalized for today's voice in echo of David’s. Enjoy!

~ Love Song of Psalm 18 ~

echoed by JoMae

My Godde is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I called to my Redeemer, who is worthy of praise,

and I have been saved from deep distress.

The cords of death entangled me

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me

the cords of the grave coiled around me

the snares of death confronted me

In my distress I called to my Redeemer;

I cried out to my Godde for help.

<><><><>

I love you, O Jehovah, my strength

you are my rock, my fortress, my deliverer

please accept my prayer of thanksgiving

even before I was able to ask, O Godde,

from your eternal throne you heard my voice

my cry came before you, into your ears

I knew of your covenant

had long lived in your love

remembering your faithfulness

trusting your grace, I found peace

your Presence held me through

death’s upheaval and the turmoil of grief

to prevent my falling into the pit of despair

your presence in the chaos saved my life

<><><><><>

while the earth trembled and quaked

the foundations of the mountains shook

they trembled as when you are angry

smoke rose from your nostrils

consuming fire from your mouth

burning coals blazed forth

parting the heavens

you descended, dark clouds under foot,

then mounted the cherubim and flew

soaring on the wings of the wind

you made darkness your covering

your canopy around you --

the dark rain clouds of the sky

out of the brightness of your

Presence, clouds advanced with 

hailstones --  and bolts of lightning

You O Godde, thundered from heaven

your Most High Voice resounding, you

shot your arrows, scattering the enemy --

with great bolts of lightning you routed them

the valleys of the sea were exposed, the

foundations of the earth laid bare at

 your sovereign rebuke - at the blast

of breath from your nostrils

you reached down from on high 

took hold of me and drew

me out of deep waters

you rescued me from my powerful enemy

from loss, too strong - confronting me 

in the day of my disaster, but you

O Godde were my support

you brought me out into a spacious place

rescued me because you delight in me

because of your great love for me

with a heart full of praise and gratitude,

~ Thank You ~

JoMae

12/3/20

David’s graphic description of Godde’s fierce anger battling on our behalf, echoes well the chaos felt after the trauma of sudden loss of one’s beloved - and the confused disorientation that ensues. Yet through the chaos, we are rescued. Saved because of our Redeemer's abundant love for us. Amazing Grace!

Psalm 56 Echo

~ Finding Peace on Dark Days ~

(Pondering Psalm 56)

Psalm 56:1-4 NIV

For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David.

A miktam. ^b When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
https://biblehub.com/niv/psalms/56.htm

Be merciful to me, my God,

for my enemies are in hot pursuit;

all day long they press their attack.

My adversaries pursue me all day long;

in their pride many are attacking me.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise—

in God I trust and am not afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me
<><><><><>

How can David’s song inspire my day all these years later and as far removed by situation as by time.  I am not oppressed by enemies wanting to harm me.  I know others in my day are. I know that many in this very summer live in the palpable fear of being attacked by the covid19 pandemic and/or its accompanying crisis, while I live rather isolated in my comfortable home, cautious yet protected by family and friends willing to care about and shop for me. 

Yet I wonder if Psalms like this, while reminding of life threatening fear and suffering many endure, also hold a template to help express the agony of non lethal life struggles. 

Godde was certainly merciful to me when my enemy, death, was in hot pursuit and with one last hard pressed attack, won the battle. Removed the one who loved me more than any - and in so doing caused the self I knew, to die as well.  No. Physically I did not die. Yet in the twinkling of an eye, ALL changed for me as well.  Life norms, so long familiar within the safe circle of ‘we’ were now gone. I’d been transplanted into a foreign world whose terrain, customs and culture must be learned. Whose language I did not understand. 

So I found refuge in the safe embrace of the familiar home we built together - loathe to leave its walls and all the memories they held. So much the same, yet even here each room held an ’elephant’ named silence. Deathly quiet formed a huge black hole, a vacant void holding the deafening echo of John’s absence, his missing presence.  It seemed only half a home without our mingled voices.

——

Now over three years on this path of being on my own. Of being ‘me’ - no longer ‘we’ - I’m finding ‘home’ again.  Still rooted in the old yet discovering new skills and interests, (while honing the old) polishing emerging gifts, learning new ways, embracing the joy of solitude.  At first, alone and lost in the void, unable to focus even on reading a book - which had always been my escape and rescue - I grabbed the only other lifeline within reach.  I began to fill a page with words - another long loved habit/hobby. I’d often written notes to myself in an effort to sort out the chaos inherent in raising our wonderful boisterous growing family. In thinking through the best way to respond to unexpected questions and challenges. It had become a pattern for reflecting on life and truth. 

As I wrote and pondered, the loss didn’t go away, but out of it, new gifts appeared. Small skills developed. Poems popped up.  A dream to share them was born.  I felt thankful, not for death - which by now I had accepted, but for silent time to read, think and write to my heart’s content - which did flow from death’s wake.  I am now thankful for this new life to which I've been transplanted and for all I’m finding here. Thankful also for this era of online media where one’s work can so readily be shared and find a home. And most of all, for the joy of writing born anew.

Thankful for friends and family far and near, including those online I will never meet in person, yet whose writing and voices steadily sustain.  And for my Godde whose Love encases all, who holds me safe with frequent rescue and guides me back when wandering. When I am afraid, I put my trust in Godde whose Word I praise — in whom I trust and therefore need not be afraid. 

<><><><><>

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise—

in whom I trust and am not afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me

 (Ps 56:3-4 NIV)

JoMae

7/25/20

Today's reflection prompted by Psalm 56

Prompt: Psalm 42 Echo

Photo by Bonnie Kittle @bonniekdesign

~ BE STILL ~

As a deer looks for flowing streams

so my soul reaches out to you, O Godde

cries out to behold the face of living Godde

my soul turns to you, my ever present help

yet surrounded, held by your love as in a womb

I’m apt to miss the flow ready to quench my thirst

- prone to let the noise of my loud panicked cries

drown out the object of my search: your touch

your quiet answer breathing in my heart

the piercing of my blind spots

shading your ever present

flood of love from view

<><><><><><>

When shall I come to know your breath again

dear Godde? Your familiar presence holding me?

As a fawn resting by the stream, I know, and

am reminded; I’ve been swimming in your

living waters all along. Safely held

Here I will live and breath and

listen for your Wisdom with

hope and a thanksgiving

stirring in my heart

Thanks be to Godde

JoMae

6/16/19

The Psalmist goes on to speak of sorrow, fear, wounds and feeling downcast -  forgotten by God, then recalls and repeats:  “Hope in God; for I shall again praise…”  That hope is reinforced by remembering moments when God was not distant. When God’s face had been more clear.  

Sympathy cards often wish the recipient many happy memories to comfort you.  At some point I realized that warm memories of the past not only sooth and comfort, but can also become the underpinnings for future joy. After loss, life is largely ‘before’ and ‘after’.  Memories, and all one has learned from them - from the past - provide the building blocks for what lies ahead. Each chapter of our lives is built on or against the one before. Life goes on. In deep mourning, one might not even want it to go on. Yet it does. 

At first we stand disoriented with one foot in the past, one unwillingly pulled ahead. Finally, when we reluctantly accept that the old chapter is closed and the new is inevitable, we do well to put both feet into it. Start building with every tool and memory we’ve known before.  Let each joy and sorrow be a teaching block. Turn any hobby and small skill into a gift to share in making a new friend, in finding a new purpose for this next chapter.  

May we allow past memories to serve as a firm anchor for life ahead, let them be a gift of hope as we create new joy and find the strength to build bright futures, Godde helping us.  -JoMae 

Today's Prompt: My echo of  Psalm 42