Psalms…Exquisite and Horrible Darkness….

There is an exquisite and horrible darkness to living fully and the darkness must be gone through…

(U2 ~ 40)

"I waited patiently for the Lord.

 He inclined and heard my cry.

 He brought me up out of the pit

 Out of the miry clay.

I will sing, sing a new song.

 I will sing, sing a new song.

 How long to sing this song?

 How long to sing this song?

 How long, how long, how long

 How long to sing this song?

You set my feet upon a rock

 And made my footsteps firm.

 Many will see, many will see and hear.

I will sing, sing a new song.

 I will sing, sing a new song

 I will sing, sing a new song.

 I will sing, sing a new song

 How long to sing this song?

How long to sing this song?

How long to sing this song?

How long to sing this song?"

From The Psalms:

“…I am faint; heal me….for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long….how long?  I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.”

 “…I cry out by day….by night, but I find no rest.”

“…I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.”

“…I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak….I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends— those who see me on the street flee from me. “

“My tears have been my food day and night….My soul is downcast within me….Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.”

“My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.”

“I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.”

“I am a foreigner to my own family…”

"I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care. You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths….you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief.”

“For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. In my distress I groan aloud and am reduced to skin and bones. I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof…. For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears…My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.”

“Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away…. Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains…”

"The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

 You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”