Recently in Psalms Category

O Lord, why does life have to be so hard? I cry out but I hear no answer. I pray to you and ask you to help me be a better person. I work towards that goal thinking that I’m in partnership with you but persist in making mistakes. I do 10 things and 9 of them will turn out perfectly but it’s the 10th thing — the one that I mess up — that gets all the attention. Why am I not appreciated for the things that I do right? Why does the one thing that I mess up have to be the most important one of the 10 things?

I disappoint the ones that I love.

I dissappoint myself.

I am at war with myself, at war with the Enemy, and at war with others. I am attacked from all sides.

My soul is in pain, my chest is tight, my jaws are clenched, and I can’t laugh. People pity me. People wonder why a blessed, talented person like me has experienced so much failure.

Where is my joy, Lord; where is my peace?

Hear my prayer, O Lord, and fill me with grace and bounty in the land of the living.

Thank you, O Lord, for the gifts of laughter and joy. Thank you for your Spirit which rains down upon us and anoints us with the oil of your holiness. Sorrows come and sorrows go but your joy endures forever. Mere happiness gained from earthly things is fleeting and disappears like the morning dew in the hot sun of the desert. It is not dependable and it is not to be trusted. But surely God will give us joy in this life according to his promises, and that joy will last throughout eternity.

Lord, when your Spirit brings us laughter, it is true laughter indeed. It is a side-splitting laughter that knows no bounds. It is a laughter that renews a sorrowful heart and strengthens a tired body. It is a laughter that comes from you living inside of us and from our rejoicing that we are your child, created anew through Christ Jesus.

Blessed are those to whom the Holy Spirit gives joy and laughter.