Pursuing God?
Is that what He does
Police?
Patrol?
Supervise?
We seek the salvation of Israel
The saying goes
Hoping prophets will return
To reestablish justice
Mercy
And universal love
Did someone say God?
Baby
We can do this ourselves
Can’t we?
Oh
Psalm Fifteen
1 God, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle?Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness,And speaketh truth in his heart;3 He that slandereth not with his tongue,Nor doeth evil to his friend,Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor;4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,But who honoreth them that fear God;He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not;5 He that putteth not out his money to interest,Nor taketh reward against the innocent.He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
Let’s hear it
For the righteous
Who tip twenty-five percent
And praise their friends behind their backs
Who never descend into political hysteria
Polarizing, defaming, slandering presidents and vice presidents
All those who have placed their hands on the Bible
Promising to serve the common good
I can think of five
No four
Four just men
Or two?
The Righteous Brothers?
Is that enough?
As for myself
I work on correcting my course
Inevitably off-track
And wandering
One day I will forgive you
For making me mortal
Translated
Deaf
Dumb
And blind
Let’s hear it for the righteous
I’m not there yet
Are you?
Psalm Sixteen
1 Preserve me, O God; for in thee do I take refuge.2 O my soul, thou hast said unto God, Thou art my Lord:I have no good beyond thee.3 As for the saints that are in the earth,They are the excellent in whom is all my delight.4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that give gifts for another god:Their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer,Nor take their names upon my lips.5 God is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup:Thou maintainest my lot.6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places;Yea, I have a goodly heritage.7 I will bless God, who hath given me counsel;Yea, my heart instructeth me in the night seasons.8 I have set God always before me:Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:My flesh also shall dwell in safety.10 For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol;Neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption.11 Thou wilt show me the path of life:In thy presence is fulness of joy;In thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Preserve me
I say to Silence
In Thee I put my trust
Knowing I will be preserved as long as body lasts
And not a second longer
No matter how much I curl up in a ball
Like Sparky
Our yellow Labrador
Hoping no one
Not even you
Will notice me
I am told you will not let my soul remain in hell
Or my flesh corrupt
Although it will surely rot
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
Who’s kidding who?
And whom
And you
In the meantime
I rest in hope
That unlike my dead compatriots
Now cinders in a cookie jar
I will rise into light
Transfigured
And alive
Psalm Seventeen
1 Hear the right, O God, attend unto my cry;Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence;Let thine eyes look upon equity.3 Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night;Thou hast tried me, and findest nothing;I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.4 As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the ways of the violent.5 My steps have held fast to thy paths,My feet have not slipped.6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God:Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.7 Show thy marvellous loving kindness,O thou that savest by thy right hand them that take refuge in thee From those that rise up against them.8 Keep me as the apple of the eye;Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,9 From the wicked that oppress me,My deadly enemies, that compass me about.10 They are inclosed in their own fat:With their mouth they speak proudly.11 They have now compassed us in our steps;They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth.12 He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey,And as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.13 Arise, O God,Confront him, cast him down:Deliver my soul from the wicked by thy sword;14 From men by thy hand, O God,From men of the world, whose portion is in this life,And whose belly thou fillest with thy treasure:They are satisfied with children,And leave the rest of their substance to their babes.15 As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness;I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form.
Like everyone else
I pray to be safe
Rich
And to live forever
With all my teeth intact
In the meantime
I am surrounded by lions
And tigers
And Republicans
Who would devour me if they could
Cancer lurks in the shadows
With diabetes close behind
Featuring neuromuscular disease
And lunacy at every turn
Ha ha
Who will stop the lion from ripping my flesh?
Who will protect me from drones
And local alcoholics?
More to the point
Who will save me
From me myself and I?
Is that your purpose –
To make me untouchable