A Psalm of Me

It wasn't until the last few months that I have come to better appreciate the Book of Psalms and the Book of Proverbs in the Bible. For most of my life, Psalms was the strange really long book of the Bible that was the location of the ever so popular 23rd Psalm. I remember as a small child in Children's Church having to memorize Psalms 23. I got a neat little wooden wall hanging with a painted sheep on it and the words, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

Beyond that Psalms was just a bunch of really short chapters that I guess were once sung by David with a harp. And Proverbs, the times I remember hearing something from Proverbs, someone was trying to make THEIR point with a bit of wisdom from Solomon as their crutch. Proverbs to me as a child was the location of every little bit of common sense that you alway heard your parents saying. "Better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Don't run with scissors. Wait 30 minutes after eating before swimming." Obviously those things are not written in Proverbs, but to the random reader of the Bible (or at least me) that was the content of the Book. I actually attended a sunday school class that was using a book about Proverbs for its lesson book for a few months. The author of the book was trying to convince others that by conducting yourself in the ways described in Proverbs, you could be very successful. I think the word "GOD" was mentioned maybe 5-10 times in the whole book. That's sad.

So why this talk of Psalms and Proverbs. Well, this past year I have started reading the Bible on a two-year plan. It is a really cool Bible with daily devotionals by Max Lucado and several other religious authors. For the first time, I have actually stuck to reading the Bible without straying too far off of the path. Well, I am almost halfway done and Psalms and Proverbs are about halfway through the Bible. By reading each Psalm carefully and then reading a brief commentary on the reading, I began to understand that the Psalms could have been written by someone like you or me. Many of the Psalms seem to be confessions of a person who is scared of what is about to happen to them in their life. I personally am not to concerned about being slayed by a Giant, but I think you get the picture. Psalms are about telling God how great He is, and yes I believe you could probably sing along with some of them. I definitely have a better appreciation for this book.

As I was reading, my devotional for that day said that I should write a Psalm about myself. So here goes:

A Psalm of John (Johnny) - Sung to the tune of Finlandia (just kidding)

You brought me into this world,
into open loving arms.
You raised me up under your wings,
though my eyes were not yet opened.
I stumbled aimlessly for many years,
yet you watched over me and kept me on the path.
You blessed me with an earthly guide and companion
with whom I could walk and love and be loved.
You blessed me with a loving church
and softened my heart.
You blessed me with a child
and opened my eyes as a father.
You blessed me with another child
and opened my heart as a loving father.
You continue to bless me and my family.
You are so good to me.
GOD is Good!