For some time now, I've been attending services at the Salvation Army Chapel located in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. The pastors, or corps officers, who serve the congregation there are the husband and wife team of Majors Bryan and Beverly Smith. While I try to attend the meetings there as often as I can, I have long felt there was more that I could do to serve God in a more personal way. So I began to search my soul and realized that the best way to do that would be through what I love and do best: write.
When I approached Major Beverly about it, she asked if I'd be interested in working with the Book of Psalms and rewording a different one to be used each week during the Sunday service during the Responsive Prayer time. She started sending me lists of one or two months' worth of Psalms at a time along with a link to the Lectionary, which is collection of Scripture readings that all Christian churches use to plan their services around.
I was a bit intimidated by this at first. For after all, I have always accepted God's word as eternal and unchanging. Aside from the many different versions that the Bible is now translated and reworded into, I wasn't sure it was proper of me to further manipulate what is generally accepted as His Holy Word. After giving it some thought, I decided that it was yet one more way for God to use me as His voice in the world. So I instinctively approached it from the point of view of making the Psalms more personal in nature in order to create a group dialogue and a deeper connection between Our Heavenly Father and his congregation. As I reworded and paraphrased each Psalm, it became easier to put myself in David's place; and the more I worked with God's word, the closer to Him I grew.
The result is that I now have quite a collection of reworded Psalms, or portions of them, depending on which passages are used on any particular Sunday as suggested by the Lectionary. I find it very helpful to revisit these wonderful words, over half of which were written by David who was King of Israel at the time, and to reshape them into a more intimate interaction with the Lord. I hope to share as many of them as I can here so that others might benefit from a more personal approach to God through the Book of Psalms and, in the process, achieve a greater closeness to Him as I have done.
***************
March 17, 2019
Psalm 27
SPEAKER: Heavenly Father, you are our light, our strength, and our salvation.
RESPONSE: We fear no one, for evil can never prevail against us. Those who seek to destroy us, Lord, will fail, and we will stand strong against our enemies.
SPEAKER: We ask only this, Lord, that we might behold your magnificence and live with you forever.
RESPONSE: There, we will be safe. You will shield us from adversity and honor us.
SPEAKER: You will lift us high above our enemies, Lord, and we will celebrate in your holy place with joyous music.
RESPONSE: Hear our cries and have mercy on us as we continue to seek you always.
SPEAKER: Do not turn away from us, God, as others have done. Teach us and lead us as we move past our enemies.
RESPONSE: We will trust in you and remain strong in our faith as we await you, oh Lord our God!
***
March 10, 2019
Psalm 91: 1-2,
9-16
SPEAKER: How blessed we
are, Lord, to have you near! When we place our trust in you, you charge your
angels to watch over and protect us.
REPONSE: We can then rest
in the knowledge that we are safely in your care.
SPEAKER: Your angels
lift us, Lord, and hold us high above those who would seek to harm us.
RESPONSE: You give us
the power to suppress our enemies and to weaken evil’s hold over us.
SPEAKER: You save us,
Lord, because we love you and because we speak your holy name.
RESPONSE: We are
honored, for you respond to us in our times of need and reward us with your
salvation.
***
MARCH 3, 2019
Psalm 99
The Lord is Just and
Fair
SPEAKER: From your
throne among the angels, Lord, you rule over the whole world.
RESPONSE: You are so
great and so holy that the very ground moves beneath us.
SPEAKER: Lord, you are
King, powerful yet fair. You are a just God who treats all his children
equally.
RESPONSE: We lay our
needs and prayers at your feet, for you are our God.
SPEAKER: Your priests
served you, Lord. They called out to you and you responded.
RESPONSE: You spoke to
them from a cloud, and they honored and followed your every command.
SPEAKER: You teach us
through our transgressions, Lord, and then you forgive us for them.
RESPONSE: Your holiness
reaches down to us from above, and we lift our voices to you in praise!
***
March 3, 2019
Psalm 91: 1-2,
9-16
SPEAKER: How blessed we
are, Lord, to have you near! When we place our trust in you, you charge your
angels to watch over and protect us.
REPONSE: We can then rest
in the knowledge that we are safely in your care.
SPEAKER: Your angels
lift us, Lord, and hold us high above those who would seek to harm us.
RESPONSE: You give us
the power to suppress our enemies and to weaken evil’s hold over us.
SPEAKER: You save us,
Lord, because we love you and because we speak your holy name.
RESPONSE: We are
honored, for you respond to us in our times of need and reward us with your
salvation.
***
March 17, 2019
Psalm 27
SPEAKER: Heavenly
Father, you are our light, our strength, and our salvation.
RESPONSE: We fear no
one, for evil can never prevail against us. Those who seek to destroy us, Lord,
will fail, and we will stand strong against our enemies.
SPEAKER: We ask only
this, Lord, that we might behold your magnificence and live with you forever.
RESPONSE: There, we will
be safe. You will shield us from adversity and honor us.
SPEAKER: You will lift
us high above our enemies, Lord, and we will celebrate in your holy place with
joyous music.
RESPONSE: Hear our cries
and have mercy on us as we continue to seek you always.
SPEAKER: Do not turn
away from us, God, as others have done. Teach us and lead us as we move past
our enemies.
RESPONSE: We will trust
in you and remain strong in our faith as we await you, oh Lord our God!
***
March 24, 2019
Psalm 63:1-8
SPEAKER: You are the
Lord our God, and always, we seek you!
RESPONSE: Like those who
search for water in an arid land, we thirst for you!
SPEAKER: We see you in
your Holy Place, God, where we gaze upon your greatness.
RESPONSE: Your love for
us matters more than our own lives. Glory to you, oh Lord!
SPEAKER: We sing your
praises always, Lord, for as long as we live, and we lift our hands in your
honor.
RESPONSE: Fill us with
your love, and for this, we will sing our praises to you!
SPEAKER: Be with us,
Lord, all through the long night. Shield us with your presence.
RESPONSE: Sustain and
protect us, and hold us always in your hands.
***
March 31, 2019
Psalm 32
The Joy of Forgiveness
SPEAKER: How blessed we
are that God forgives us all our sins and never keeps account of them!
RESPONSE: He clears our
spirits and purifies our souls!
SPEAKER: Our silence
separates us from the Lord. Our sins weigh us down and our spirits grow weary.
RESPONSE: But when we open
ourselves to Him and admit our transgressions, He removes our guilt.
SPEAKER: Let all of us
who are faithful pray to the Lord while we can.
RESPONSE: Let us rest in
the comfort of his protection and glory in our salvation.
SPEAKER: We welcome all
knowledge of God and of His plan for us. Evil brings misery, but His love
surrounds and sustains us.
RESPONSE: Let us rejoice
in the goodness that comes from repentance, and sing our praises to God, who
has wiped away all our sins!
***
APRIL 7, 2019
Psalm 126
SPEAKER: Lord, you
smiled on the City of David and renewed our hope in you.
RESPONSE: The world knew
what you had done for us, and we raised our joyful voices to you in songs of
praise.
SPEAKER: We trust in you
always, Lord, and never stop marveling at the treasures you provide us.
RESPONSE: Make our
spirits whole again that we might benefit fully from your greatness.
SPEAKER: Lord, our
sufferings lead to the delight that is found in you alone.
RESPONSE: What we sow in
sorrow we return to you as a bountiful harvest of joy!
***
April 14, 2019
Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29
SPEAKER: We are grateful
to you, Lord, for your goodness and your love that knows no bounds.
RESPONSE: Keep the way open
for us to go to you where we can give you our thanks.
SPEAKER: You have shown yourself
to us, Lord. You reward our worthiness with salvation.
RESPONSE: Let us rejoice,
for YOU have done this wonderful thing!
SPEAKER: You are the
Lord our God who shines his light on us. We gather together in this holy place
to praise you!
RESPONSE: We approach
you as one body and celebrate your presence among us.
SPEAKER: Lord, we praise
and glorify you! You are our God!
RESPONSE: We extol your
goodness and your perfect and infinite love!
***
April 28, 2019
Psalm 150
SPEAKER: We praise you,
God! We glorify you in your holy place!
RESPONSE: Our praises
reach you on your throne in heaven!
SPEAKER: Lord God, we
praise you for your wondrous acts!
RESPONSE: We celebrate
you and extol your greatness that knows no bounds.
SPEAKER: We sing and
dance for you, Lord, and make music for you.
RESPONSE: Our joyful
noise echoes throughout the heavens. Let all that lives praise you!
***
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