A Psalm of Faith, Hope, and Love

I wait not so patiently for God.
I am broken. I yearn, I long, I ache, I sigh:
Beauty, intimacy, and depth must be mine.
Do not withhold your motherly mercies from me, O my Creator!
Return and redeem me.
Let your lovingkindness and warmheartedness surround me.
Because of my envy and my grief, I am not able to look up;
And because of your abandonment, I can only wish within my heart
To be more significant in your eyes in days to come.
But still I declare my faithfulness to you.

Then the Lord says: “Lo, I am come!”
The Divine Spirit inclines to me, and hears my cry!
My Maker understands me, retrieves me,
And brings me up out of a melancholy pit, out of the miry clay.
With hope, God sets my feet upon a rock, puts my mind to rest,
And rescues my heart and my spirit.
My Beloved calls me to a meeting of lovers.

Spirit puts a new song in my mouth, a tune of my faith and the hope God gives.
Many shall hear it, and love. They will paint and dance, sing and write of love.
Many, O Great Spirit, are those who will feel your love through me.
Your acts of love, O God,
If I could, I would declare and speak of them,
But they are more than can be humanly imagined.

I proclaim glad tidings of your tenderness, and
Lo, I will not refrain my lips.
Let all those who hear me rejoice and race to your protective arms.
Let everyone live in your equanimity, and be loved in the spaciousness of your heart.

Even me, who is flawed and incomplete,
And whose feelings spill everywhere;
The Lord thinks enough of me
To love me, and give me faith and hope.

Barbara Sloan