Give ear to my words, O my Beloved; give heed to my groaning.
Listen to the sound of my cry, my Love, Heart of my heart, for to You do I pray.
O my Beloved, in the morning You hear my voice;
throughout the day, I offer myself to You; I wait for You in silence.
For You are love and You delight in goodness; all that is of love walks with you.
The humble stand before You;
You dwell with those who open their hearts to receive you.
You smile on those who speak truth;
tears from your Heart fall on those who separate themselves from You.
Through the abundance of your steadfast love I shall enter you house;
I shall worship in your holy temple with reverence for You.
Lead me, O my Beloved, in your mercy lighten my fears;
make your way straight before me that I may follow.
For there is no truth in fear; it leads to separation, it opens the door to loneliness,
it speaks not with integrity, but out of illusion;
Let this guilt I bear, my Beloved, be seen in your light;
forgive the many false ways I have, surround them with your love,
for they keep me separated from You.
Let all who come to Love rejoice, let them sing for joy!
And protect them, so that those who live in your love may dance in your light.
For You bless the peaceful and just, O Friend to all,
You encircle them with your healing light and hold them in your love.
Nan C. Merrill Psalms for Praying
Reflection:
Words have power.
Lies are wicked, especially those lies that hurt others.
The psalmist has been hurt badly by a lie that someone told about her. She prays to God to restore what has been taken from her, her image within the community. This wicked lie has made her life unbearable and she prays for God’s justice to make things right again.
God deals in truth and love.
Our political system is manipulating all of us with lies and misinformation. We are being divided by those who seek power and wealth at the expense of the rest of us. The damage will not end until the lies end and truth has its day… or year… or decade… How long, O Lord, will the wicked prosper? How long until truth will reign?
Holy God, come quickly and transform us with truth and love.
Check out other psalm reflections in the links below or find more of my writing published in Presbyterian Outlook or listen to my experiments in podcasting on the Period Pastor Podcast. Follow me @periodpastor
I began writing Psalm reflections during Lent of 2020. Shortly after, we decided to close the church building, work from home, and worship via zoom. Many churches use the Revised Common Lectionary (RLC) that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C). Starting in Advent 2019, the church decided to worship with the texts from Year D, which is still not circulated as are years A, B, and C. Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others. While we were using Psalms in year D, most other lectionary followers were using Year A. In Advent of 2020 we rejoined those who use the lectionary in year B. Advent of 2021 year C. When we returned to in person worship, we took the psalm reflections out of the order of worship. I continued to write them for the blog. Advent of 2022 year A. I left church work in July of 2023 but continued the practice of writing psalm reflections. Advent of 2023 year B. Advent of 2024 year C. I finished year C early, so I posted Psalm 119 and began work on missed psalms from Year D and others not in the lectionary. Advent of 2025 year A.
I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings and the PCUSA planning calendar to make text selections.
Year D Psalms that I haven’t come across in the other lectionary years, yet:
18, 144, 44, 110, 73, 75, 76, 28, 12, 61, 11, 88, 108, 64, 60, 10, 120
These are the psalms I haven’t found in any lectionary, yet:
5, 21, 53, 64, 81, 131, 134, 135
Sources and notes:
“… for we can never hear the declaration that wickedness contradicts the will and way of God without trembling at our own need of repentance and dependence on grace, nor can we ever pray in the midst of the conflicts of life as thought we could distinguish in an ultimate and final way between the righteous and the wicked.” Mays p. 56
“This prayer is one of the biblical witnesses that the lie is one of the most dangerous and detestable forms that evil takes, especially when a falsehood is used to harm another. The psalm may have been written for a person who was falsely accused or slandered in a way that destroyed standing or rights in the community. The psalm would be prayed in the temple as a last resort to appeal to God as the final administrator of justice, looking for a vindicating answer through oracle or sign or event. Used as liturgy, the psalm became a prayer of the community and of individuals in it for divine protection against the misrepresentations or slanders used within and against the community.” Mays p. 58
“Speech is the distinct human capacity, the interpreter of others and of all that is around us. It is also the cheapest, most common and inhumane means of causing trouble and anguish for others. There is a profound and essential relation between truth telling and God. To use speech that is empty of truth about another is to practice the opposite of God’s will. “You shall not bear false witness.” So this psalm asks us whether we take the opposition between truth and life seriously enough as a matter of faith, whether we are ready to stand with those damaged by falsehood and propaganda, and whether we are alter to the lies to us and about us told by the powers and opinions of our culture.” Mays p. 58
“The style and arrangement of the psalm instruct us to pray according to the reign of God. The prayer is based on God’s way as sovereign over humanity: Wickedness is rejected, righteousness favored. Remember that in the theology of the psalmist, the righteous are those who love, trust, and depend on God and want to be led in God’s way. The psalm sees the predicament as a question placed against the reign of God and prays in an Old Testament way, “Thy kingdom come–now,” and in this particular situation. The prayer against the enemies is a way of saying that in the time and experience of the one who prays, there seems to be no other course for the righteousness of God to take.” Mays pp. 58-59
Alter, Robert. 2007. The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary New York: W. W. Norton & Company
WBC Allen, Leslie C. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 101-150. Vol. 21. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1974. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 8th ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press.
Bourgeault, C. (2006). Chanting the psalms: A practical guide Audio Book. New Seeds.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2007. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Brueggemann, Walter. Davis Hanskins, Editor. 2022. Our Hearts Wait: Worshiping Through Praise and Lament in the Psalms Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville KY.
Brueggemann, Walter. (2002). Spirituality of the psalms. Augsburg Pub. House.
Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg.
Chilson, Richard, ed. You Shall Not Want: A Spiritual Journey Based on the Psalms. Ave Maria Press, 2009.
Chittister, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing.
Cudjoe-Wilkes, G., Wilkes, A. J., & Moss, O. (2022). Psalms for black lives: Reflections for the work of Liberation. Upper Room Books.
WBC Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1-50–Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Waco, TX: Word Books.
Creach, Jerome Frederick Davis. 1998. Psalms: Interpretation Bible Studies. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX.
W de Claisse-Walford, Nancy L. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 4-5. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 22. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2020.
Green, Barbara. 1997. Like a Tree Planted: An Exploration of Psalms and Parables Through Metaphor. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
W Hopkins, Denise Dombkowski. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 2-3. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 21. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2016.
NIB Keck, Leander E. 2015. The New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Lewis, C. S. (2017). Reflections on the Psalms. Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.
Mays, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.
McCann, J. C. (1993). A theological introduction to the book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
McCann, J. C., & Howell, J. C. 2001. Preaching the Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Merrill, N. C. (2020). Psalms for praying an invitation to wholeness (10th Anniversary Edition ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Miller, Patrick D. 1986. Interpreting the Psalms. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.
Morgan, Michael. 2010. The Psalter for Christian Worship Revised Edition. Westminster John Knox Press.
Schlimm, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know. Nashville, TN: Abington Press.
Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.
WBC Tate, Marvin E. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100. Edited by David Allan. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. Vol. 20. Waco, TX: Word.
Weems, Ann. 1995. Psalm of Lament. Westminster John Knox Pres
OTL Weiser, Artur. 1998. Old Testament Library: Psalms. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Manchester University Press.
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