tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81057646285262494672024-03-05T01:51:09.333-05:00PsalmSpeakWelcome to my journey. Join me as I compose 150 psalms of today's world.Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.comBlogger161125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-54059965892922076112012-09-03T22:10:00.002-04:002012-09-03T22:10:08.881-04:00Psalm:SpeakMarleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-4721790267030584982012-03-03T11:50:00.004-05:002012-09-03T22:09:24.635-04:00Psalm:Speak<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gX2SiNv7JH8/T1JMJf9ZyrI/AAAAAAAAAsA/9OluvzuxB-4/s1600/PsalmSpeakWalletCard.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715714603168156338" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gX2SiNv7JH8/T1JMJf9ZyrI/AAAAAAAAAsA/9OluvzuxB-4/s320/PsalmSpeakWalletCard.jpg" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-33333674536335878482012-03-03T11:49:00.005-05:002012-03-04T00:04:13.730-05:00Introduction<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Sometimes participants of Bible study groups, when reading the Book of Psalms, will attempt to write a psalm, often one based on the well-known Twenty-Third Psalm. A particularly enthusiastic student might undertake the composition of 150 psalms, the number of psalms in the Book of Psalms.<br /><br />In this collection of 150 original psalms, I have presented content relevant to today’s world, while drawing inspiration from the biblical psalms. As I composed, I posted my psalms in progress in chronological order, along with my nature photography, to my blog, titled, <em>PsalmSpeak</em>.<br />http://psalmspeak.blogspot.com/<br />http://psalmspeak.wordpress.com/<br /><br />The final manuscript, titled, <em>A Crown of Psalms: 150 Poetic Meditations</em>, is categorized into three main sections:<br />“A Peal of Psalms,” a children’s book (psalms 17 through 9, 17 being the first);<br />“Psalms on Our Lips,” a selection of psalms on spiritual themes;<br />“Psalms in Plain Sight,” a selection of psalms on religious themes from my personal Baha’i perspective.<br /><br />To readers who may identify some inconsistency in capitalization of sacred names, I offer the explanation that my method involves a degree of poetic license, using Baha’i conventions as a rule, but observing the style of the King James version of the Bible at times for effect.<br /><br />These psalms are simple expressions. I regard them to be a kind of folk art, possibly evolving as they are shared. In the case of the biblical psalms, we have lost their melodies; perhaps the psalms in this collection will be modified if music is added. It is my hope that they will be uplifting suggestions for the reader’s consideration.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-80225465955575097022012-03-02T10:36:00.001-05:002012-03-02T10:43:56.609-05:00Psalm 150<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Praise the Lord of gladness in your grief:<br />~~the solstice may shift, but the sun is the same.<br /><br />Praise the Lord of acceptance in your anger;<br />~~praise the Lord of confidence in your fear.<br /><br />Praise the Lord of eternity in your earthly life:<br />~~the Lord of beginning of enlightenment is end without end.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-5877507547165032222012-02-28T11:41:00.001-05:002012-02-28T11:42:31.745-05:00Psalm 149<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Merciful Lord, Your myriad mercies—<br />~~and I, like a forest at the timberline—my musings and metaphors.<br /><br />Merciful Lord, Your multitude of mercies—my years of sin—<br />~~if I had words . . .<br /></span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-32275733980834927542012-02-26T21:18:00.001-05:002012-02-27T02:03:55.076-05:00Psalm 148<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A child of God is a wonder;<br />~~the wonder of God is a child.<br /><br />The wonder child at play is king and pauper, feast and crust.<br />~~Ah, child wonder, stormy season, young bud love!<br /><br />The spirit of truth, like science, grasps it;<br />~~the truth of spirit, like art, releases it.<br /><br />I am that child;<br />~~that child: I am.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-13420348732033533902012-02-26T21:17:00.000-05:002012-02-26T21:18:27.507-05:00Psalm 147<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">They drove their art like chariots;<br />~~ they rode their poetry like cavalry, on hooves and dust, into the new day of God.<br /><br />Soldier psalms charged the blast like trumpets;<br />~~versed apostles sought true seeker like treasure:<br /><br />they marked a measure of the new day’s dawn,<br />~~and moment to carry it on.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-39718798913117967212012-02-26T21:16:00.000-05:002012-02-26T21:17:43.420-05:00Psalm 146<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The first step is no slight foot;<br />~~the first step is no narrow gain on a willing map.<br /><br />Hail storms the summer pasture;<br />~~hail storms the sleeping homeland the way illness brings desire for better.<br /><br />Hail summons a start;<br />~~hail summons the one ready to follow faith’s path.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-23922935939984109452012-02-26T21:15:00.000-05:002012-02-26T21:16:18.859-05:00Psalm 145<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">God Within, my guardian, disclose my soul, crest of an honest life:<br />~~not unlike the peacock, plainly a simple bird, simply a splendid bird.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-47198311112684158772012-02-22T11:27:00.001-05:002012-02-22T11:27:43.827-05:00Psalm 144Listen, Lord, and hasten:<br />~~hear my plea.<br /><br />Teach me the unheard language of peace;<br />~~let me learn to speak through my tongue of tears.<br /><br />Words of war increase my fear:<br />~~they have become too heavy for me to bear.<br /><br />But Your word is great:<br />~~You can create from death.<br /><br />If you leave me, who can lead me?<br />~~If you retreat, my hope will be like the weary wail of the<br />last leaf, leashed to a snow-leaning tree.Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-22507539775050972892012-02-22T11:26:00.001-05:002012-02-22T11:26:55.951-05:00Psalm 143<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Why deprive me, Lord, when You are king of everything;<br />~~when you hold all life’s wonder in Your hand?<br /><br />And why make man depend on earth,<br />~~when his soul is all he really has?<br /><br />How can I divine the days of my life<br />~~when You are author of both faith and wealth, maker of<br />both mirage and miracle, worker of the ocean and an ocean in a conch shell?<br /></span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-26674526663906800012012-02-22T11:25:00.000-05:002012-02-22T11:26:05.229-05:00Psalm 142<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A hateful mortal cannot be like the friends of God;<br />~~the friends of God are like a mist lifting, a wound<br />healing, green fruit ripening.<br /><br />A hater is like a sword stuck in stone, defeated before one<br />has begun;<br />~~but the friends of God are like the blade set free: deed<br />and champion, reason and reflection.<br /></span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-35831215171458663232012-02-22T11:23:00.001-05:002012-02-22T11:25:00.292-05:00Psalm 141<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Building up is a bowing down:<br />~~raising the world is an offering placed on the path of the<br />Lord.<br /><br />Work is as sacred as speaking the words of the Book;<br />~~care is as pure as sounding the hymns of heaven.<br /><br />Greater than gold is one’s calling:<br />~~glad is the girder calling the name of the Lord.<br /></span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-62984975320247179712012-02-18T21:20:00.001-05:002012-02-18T21:25:05.820-05:00Psalm 140<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">End my pain, Lord, the way spring ends winter, the way sunshine ends a rain, the way laughter reshapes the air;<br />~~finish my suffering, please, the way song ends silence, the way bread breaks separateness, the way a friend turns when called by name.<br /><br />Strength, I need it; thanks, I have none.<br />~~I am weak, but You are strong.<br /><br />If there be no end, then make me able;<br />~~and when I find no finish, make me thankful.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-27804870802379374522012-02-18T21:19:00.001-05:002012-02-18T21:20:39.249-05:00Psalm 139<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Oh that men would live like a shout of stars, bright taste in the night sky;<br />~~oh that men would dream with a tiger’s eye, would stir deep chambers with vulcanian desire.<br /><br />Oh that men would not seek easy rest, but steer the torch of vesuvian fire;<br />~~oh that men of God would quest, not like a sparkle’s spark, but like light light in the dark dark.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-57210657955521460062012-02-18T21:15:00.001-05:002012-02-18T21:18:56.716-05:00Psalm 138<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">My refuge is a garden in the desert;<br />~~a river in the wilderness is my hope.<br /><br />There the Father of the Covenant blessed Abraham;<br />~~there the Father blessed the tribes of man.<br /><br />There the Father of the Law led his chosen;<br />~~there the Father of the Way lifted the poor in heart.<br /><br />And in the days of Arabia, the Father of Submission raised the dwellers of earth;<br />~~there, from nomads in barren lands, He raised nations.<br /><br />He did not desert His children there, but eased their thirst;<br />~~neither did He fail to feed the fishers of men.<br /><br />He did not abandon His children, even in the time of the end:<br />~~there He founded the Garden of Paradise, His promised kingdom; His lovers, rose-like, opening.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-38356797260948564342012-02-18T21:13:00.001-05:002012-02-18T21:15:28.141-05:00Psalm 137<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Like a find of berries in winter is forgiveness;<br />~~like hyacinths springing to life in the tender season are favors of human kindness.<br /><br />Like a shadow, best seen in the brightest sun, is patience;<br />~~like an echo, best heard from the purest voice, is humility:<br />~~like a pond’s reflection is virtue, greatest shown by the tree of the highest nature.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-17410126541567768812011-12-27T16:19:00.002-05:002011-12-27T16:28:59.572-05:00Psalm 136<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">May you soar beyond your search,<br />~~and may you find the Source of love.<br /><br />May you see your knowledge as a gift and favor,<br />~~not to beam or overshadow,<br />~~but to warm the fruit of unity.<br /><br />May the spirit of your surrender brook such contentment<br />~~as to melt the winter mountain’s power,<br />~~and stream a secret valley of budding wonder.<br /><br />And may your pooling will evaporate and rise to a high place,<br />~~and then be gently sent to green the faith of every living thing.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-27025933551180961442011-12-23T12:59:00.002-05:002011-12-23T13:03:53.554-05:00Psalm 135<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pastel petals, bright-ripened spikes; bitter medicine from sweet poison:<br />~~my Lord, the giver.<br /><br />Camouflaged predator, camouflaged prey; clever cover with clear purpose:<br />~~my Lord, the giver.<br /><br />Measurement, infinity; oneness and one:<br />~~my Lord, the giver.<br /><br />Natural disaster, natural wonder; folding an order in forming another:<br />~~my Lord, the giver, giver of treasure, coin of loss and gain.</span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-21808135508048603242011-12-16T10:23:00.001-05:002011-12-16T10:24:57.696-05:00Psalm 134<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Generation follows generation,<br />~~and son follows father.<br />Abdu’l-Baha, perfect follower of perfection,<br />~~son and light of the Blessed Perfection:<br />His example was set ray by ray and hope;<br />~~and in His twilight He set a plan to continue His work,<br />~~for generations sun by sun to continue His work.<br /></span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-38534469625001995792011-10-15T13:18:00.000-04:002011-10-15T13:19:46.149-04:00Psalm 133Contented generations worship in the traditions of their fathers;<br />~~the centered bend their knees from the loins of their origins.<br /><br />Believers sense Your wonder, Lord, and find a towering view;<br />~~they realize Your reason in their minds.<br /><br />But I am poor in You, Lord; I mourn with the orphan,<br />~~and I hold nothing greater than the openness of his hand.Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-22405281415163107822011-09-15T02:03:00.003-04:002012-03-08T18:26:08.678-05:00Psalm 132<div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Where, Lord, are your children of community,<br />~~and where are your children of human unity?<br /><br />Where are your former rule and order, Lord,<br />~~and honored borders under your sovereignty?<br /><br />The seed of this generation is scattered past reach:<br />~~is this your plan?<br /><br />As the ripened fruit drops and rolls its core to a new place,<br />~~and winged seeds flutter in the wayward wind,<br /><br />and as the burr and barb snarl in fur and feather,<br />~~so they all fall by your design and plant a sign of your good nature:<br /><br />and as surely as your friend the squirrel will lodge more acorns than he needs,<br />~~so each new life will embrace a greater season’s company.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /> </span></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 240px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717671482213885458" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ouDVucM92wM/T1k_62e9ZhI/AAAAAAAAAsU/o21X1DbrCe0/s320/100_4376.jpg" /></span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-13866805967923579552011-09-08T23:56:00.001-04:002011-09-09T00:50:49.988-04:00Psalm 131<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Saving Grace, save us from the safe war, unmanned arms that captivate our minds: at their impact, I quake.<br />~~God, spare us the undeclared war, the terror of surrender to it: this new wave.<br />~~Set down the horror of remote war: the minute detail it leaves in its wake.<br /><br />We praise the wonder of wireless fire,<br />~~we prize the ash of earth where we see the target die,<br />~~and we believe this artificial ease will become less dire.<br /><br />Keep us, Lord, until the rain of self-propelled intelligence is seen as drought,<br />~~until a reign of peace is found,<br />~~until we have in hand the nearest perfect end for which we fought.<br /><br /></span>Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-54114947739875040322011-09-02T19:04:00.001-04:002011-09-03T15:40:45.508-04:00Psalm 130<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">They say war can be won;
<br />~~they say in war we stand to gain:
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<br />I say the soul has stepped back before training has begun;
<br />~~I say our ground is set back if we march to win.
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<br />Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8105764628526249467.post-43766817401836867022011-08-26T13:21:00.002-04:002011-08-26T13:26:28.648-04:00Psalm 129<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">In home and travel, love;
<br />~~if plan or puzzle, love;
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<br />from need or nourishment, love;
<br />~~when seed or tree, love;
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<br />whether stored or spent, love;
<br />~~when the neck of hope is broken, love;
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<br />whatever color and clear, love;
<br />~~from temple to ankle, love;
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<br />above sold or stolen, love;
<br />~~under one in anger, love;
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<br />although wronged, love;
<br />~~even as soon as wronged, love;
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<br />my child, blue spruce, white pine, green tree, yellow daffodil,
<br />~~do everything with love;
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<br />again, again, again, my love,
<br />~~love.
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<br />Marleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184467903300911504noreply@blogger.com0