PSALM CHAPTER 34 - 41

PSALM 34

1 A Psalm of David when he feigned
Madness before Abimelech,
Who drove him away and disdained,
And he departed. I will bless
YHWH at all times, His praise confess
Always by mouth along my trek.
2 My soul shall make its boast in YHWH,
The humble shall hear it on cue
And be glad. 3 Oh, magnify YHWH
With me saying ‘The Lord is great’,
Let us exalt His name in state.

Together down the row of congregants
I hear the words in tones of resonance
Repeated, whispered by the few who will,
Loud sounding by the others, none are still,
But all say You are greater than the days
And ways that make our humble lives and stays,
That You are greater than all human thought
And deeds no matter with what power they’re wrought,
That You are greater than the universe
That has no purpose better than or worse
To raise aloft Your name and fame because
You are mighty even above Your laws.
The humble hear of it and they are glad
To hear You praised with every voice we had.

4 I sought YHWH, and He has heard me,
And saved me from all my fears’ plea.
5 They looked to Him with radiant eyes,
And their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out with surprise,
And YHWH heard and saved him unblamed
Out of all his troubles replies.

I too look at You, my Beloved to see
With radiant eyes the One’s eternity,
The hope of gnat and fly and bumblebee.
I too look for You without call to shame,
Remembering now to declare Your name
With each breath I breathe in the humble game
Of forest, glen and boulder under flame
Of painted cloud and dome of sky for wear.
I too look to You, my Beloved and share
Of life and love and faith and charity.
Beloved, I look with radiant eyes and find
Salvation without sacrifice to bind,
With nothing to give merit to my claim
But Your grace only upon land and sea.

7 The angel of YHWH encamps all
Around those who fear Him and call,
And saves them. 8 Oh, taste now and see
That YHWH is good, and blessèd be
The man who trusts in Him! 9 Oh, fear
YHWH, you His saints! No wants appear
To those who fear Him. 10 And the young
Lions lack and suffer on tongue
With hunger, but those who seek YHWH
Shall not lack any good thing due.
Come, you children, listen to me,
I’ll teach you fear of YHWH sweetly.
Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days without strife,
That he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue
From evil, and your lips from rung
Of speaking treachery. 14 Depart
From evil and do good, seek art
Of peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes
Of YHWH are on the righteous wise,
And His ears open to their cry.
The face of YHWH’s against the sty
Of those who do evil, to cut
Off their remembrance from the rut
Of earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and
YHWH hears, delivers from the hand
Of all their troubles. 18 YHWH is near
To those of broken heart and fear,
And saves such as have contrite spirit.
19 Many afflictions may come near it
But the righteous YHWH saves from all.
20 He guards all his bones should he fall,
Not one of them is broken there.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked share,
And those who hate the righteous shall
Be condemned alphabetical.
22 YHWH redeems the soul of His slaves,
And none of those shall suffer staves
Who trust in Him nor be condemned,
But rather with honour begemmed.

They say in the gospels that have been set
In churchly canons for the righteous met
That no bone of the son of David broke
When Roman soldiers came by on the stroke.
Like Paschal lamb he was lifted up whole
While soldiers of the cross gambled the dole,
Dividing up the spoil with joke and word
That echoes everywhere and is still heard.
Some say that You saved him from death and took
Him back to be with You in safety’s nook,
And so no bone was broken though he shook.
But I say that that evil come to slay
Your Christ or any other in the play,
Beyond destruction I see divine ray.

PSALM 35

A Psalm of David.
1 Plead my cause, O YHWH, with those who strive with me,
And fight well against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler, stand for my help.
3 Draw out also the spear, stop pursuing whelp.
Say to my soul, “I’m your salvation begun.”
4 Let those be shamed and dishonour garrison
Of those who seek my life, let those be turned back
And brought to confusion who plot my attack.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind, and let
The angel of YHWH chase them. 6 Let their way get
Dark and slippery, and let the angel of YHWH
Pursue them. 7 For without cause they would construe
Their net for me in a pit, which they have dug
Without cause for my life. 8 Let destruction hug
Him unexpectedly, and let his dire net
That he has hidden catch himself in the set,
Into that very destruction let him fall.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in YHWH’s recall,
And it shall rejoice in His salvation. 10 All
My bones shall say, “YHWH, who is like You, saving
The poor ones from those who are too strong for wing,
Indeed, the poor and needy from plunderer?”
11 Fierce witnesses rise up, and they would concur
To ask me things that I do not know. 12 They give
Me evil for good, to sorrow where I live.

Indeed, I’ve got the evil for my share
Instead of the good that I brought to bear,
And by that token I come in to keep
The company of David’s son with sheep.
Indeed, when I’ve done good, a rare thing too,
Reward upon my head has been the shoe,
But that’s as may be typical in state
Where president and priest both come to mate.
Beloved, I flee to You, where only’s found
The glory of creation in the bound
Of forest laced with birch on morning wing
Through noon at last at evening where they sing
Who look for nothing better than Your day,
The trudging through the hours beneath your sway.

13 But as for me, when they were sick, I was dressed
In sackcloth, I humbled myself, fasting breast,
And my prayer returned to my own heart unblessed.
14 I paced round as though he were my friend confessed
Or brother, I bowed down heavily, as one
Who mourns for his own mother and is undone.
15 But when trouble hit me they rejoiced to be
Gathered together, attackers against me,
And I did not know it, they tore sore at me
And did not stop, 16 ungodly mockers at feasts
They gnashed me with their teeth of ravenous beasts.
17 O YHWH, how long will You look on? Rescue me
From their destructions, my darling devotee
From the lions. 18 And I will give You the thanks
In the great assembly, I’ll praise You in ranks.
19 Let then my wrongful foes rejoice over me,
Nor let them wink the eye who wrongly hate me.

O YHWH, how long is what the Psalmist cries,
And that’s because all human’s realize
That time is the chain that catches the eyes
Created on earth to look for the prize.
O YHWH, how long is what the prayer must say
That’s caught in rounds of night and noon and day,
And punctuates the brief life of the will
With prostrations upon the sacred hill.
Beloved, I too say how long in the fray,
How long does fleeting breath and word give way
To hopelessness, if that were just the sound.
Fact is, to hope all men are chained and bound.
Free me from time, Beloved, and hope, and I
Will find You visible beneath the sky.

20 For they speak no peace, but in deceit devise
Matters against the quiet ones in the land.
21 They also opened against me their mouth grand
And said, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it.”
22 This You have seen, O YHWH, do not keep quiet.
O Lord, do not be far from me. 23 Stir You up,
Awake to my vindication, my cause’ cup,
My God and my Lord. 24 Vindicate me, O YHWH
My God, according to Your righteousness do,
And let them not rejoice over me. 25 Let them
Not say in their hearts, “Ah, so’s our stratagem!”
And let them not say “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be ashamed and brought into the cup
Of confusion all who rejoice at my hurt,
Let them be clothed with shame as is their desert
And dishonour who exalt them against me.
27 Let them shout for joy and be glad, who sweetly
Favour my righteous cause, let them always say
“Let YHWH be magnified [Allahu akbar], who has pleasure’s sway
In the prosperity of His servant’s song.”
28 And I’ll sing Your right and Your praise all day long.

I have no tongue to praise You all day long,
O my Beloved, yet so says here the song
That David sang. So let my breath repeat
Unthinkingly that praise, I do entreat,
When I have turned to find my bread and drink
And found my daily words and deeds to think.
I kindle in my heart Your praise with tongue
And when tongue’s still the praises still are sung
Within the burning love remaining there.
My loves praise on upon the road and stair
And through the weary steps and through the laughter,
And through the mirth and songs and sorrows after.
In my prosperity I sing Your praise,
And may You, my Beloved, so guide my days.

PSALM 36

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David,
YHWH’s slave. 1 A voice in my heart for the wicked
Transgression: no fear of God’s before his eyes.
2 For he will flatter himself in his own eyes,
When he finds out his errors and when he hates.
3 Wickedness and deceit are what his mouth states,
He has stopped being wise, and stopped doing good.
4 He invents wickedness on his bed, like hood
He sets himself in a way that is not good,
He does not abhor evil things as he should.
5 Your mercy, O YHWH, in the heavens abides,
Your faithfulness reaches up to the clouds’ sides.
6 Your righteousness is like the great mountainsides,
Your judgments are a great deep, O YHWH, besides
You preserve man and beast. 7 How precious is Your
Lovingkindness, O Ælohim! And therefore
The children of men put their trust beneath Your
Wings’ shadow. 8 They’re abundantly satisfied
With the fullness of Your house and glory’s pride,
And You give them a drink from Your pleasures’ stream.
For with You is the fountain of life and dream,
In Your light we see light. 10 Oh, continue Your
Lovingkindness to those who know You, and Your
Righteousness to the upright in heart. 11 Let not
The foot of pride come against me, and let not
The hand of the wicked ones drive me away.
There the workers of iniquity will stay
Having fallen, they have been cast down today
And are not able to rise up in the way.

I stop in hurried rush about the days
Of life to take a drink from the kind rays
Of that stream that runs down from Paradise
Where the four hidden ones above the dice
Of world affairs look down on trial and turn.
I see the blessing waters from the urn
In chosen hands pour out to quench the thirst
Of all who come in faith, rejecting worst.
Four rivers come from Eden and they hide
Beneath the sands where trees of life abide
Until the golden rays outshine the sun
Below the lovely visions John begun.
I come at last to Kauthar hidden fast
Beneath the silver syllables and last.

PSALM 37

1 A Psalm of David. Do not fret
Because of evildoers’ bet,
Nor be envious of the workers
Of such iniquity and shirkers.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like
The grass, and wither as the spike
Of the green herb under the strike.
3 Trust now in YHWH, do good and live
In the land, and feed on His true.
4 Delight yourself also in YHWH,
And He’ll give you your heart’s desires.
5 Commit your way as YHWH inspires,
Trust also in Him, and He’ll bring
To pass. 6 He’ll bring forth your judgement
Of right as the noonday unspent.
7 Rest in YHWH, and wait patiently
For Him, do not go fretfully
Because of him who prospers in
His way, wicked and man of sin.

If patience is a virtue, by my faith
I find it rather ghostly and a wraith,
As rare in me as anything to be.
And yet, Beloved, I come to rest in Thee.
My ways have led me all around the earth
To find its beauty and to dare its dearth.
But now I shall commit my ways and means
To You, Beloved, and forget other scenes.
Beloved, Your judgement of the noon is right,
Your carrying of sombre, silent night
Is ready and appropriate in sight.
Let me fret no more for the willowed wrath
That snares my feet before the loose-vined path.
I turn returning to the waiting math.

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath,
And do not fret in the harm’s path.
9 Evildoers shall be cut off,
But those who wait on YHWH to scoff,
They shall inherit the earth’s pile.
10 For yet you wait a little while
And the wicked shall be no more,
Indeed, you’ll search about his shore,
But his place, it shall be no more.
11 But the meek shall inherit earth,
And delight themselves in the worth
Of Islam. 12 The wicked one plots
Against the just, and aims the shots
Of his teeth at him. 13 The Lord laughs
At him, for He sees his day coughs.
14 The wicked have drawn out the sword
And have bent their bow at scabbard,
To cast down the poor and the needy,
To slay those who, though maybe seedy,
Are of upright conduct. 15 Their sword
Shall enter their own heart adored,
And their bows shall be broken shored.
16 A little that a righteous man
Has is better than riches’ span
Of many wicked. 17 For the arms
Of the wicked shall meet alarms,
But YHWH upholds the righteous’ fight.
18 YHWH knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance for aye.
19 They shall not be ashamed to spy
The evil time, and in the days
Of famine they shall have their trays.

I have a little as compared to those
Who live around me with their twinkling toes,
But I know that around the world there be
Many who are far more righteous than me,
Who have so little of the worldly store
That life can barely glimmer on the shore.
Is little that the righteous has enough
To be better than all the sinful stuff
The wicked in the companies and gruff
Display around the market when they’re tough?
That may be the view of the king and great
David who’s raised to near divine estate,
It may be Your view too, who have no pate
To bald nor stomach empty where to wait.

20 But the wicked shall perish, and
The enemies of YHWH not stand,
Like the fields’ glory, they shall vanish,
And into smoke their grass shall banish.
21 The wicked borrows, does not pay,
But the righteous will give away
With mercy. 22 For those blessed by Him
Shall inherit the earth undim,
But those cursed by Him are cut off.
23 The steps of a good man in soph
Are ordered by YHWH, He delights
In his way. 24 Though he fall through spites,
He’ll not be utterly cast down,
For YHWH upholds with His hand’s crown.
25 I have been young, and now am old,
Yet I’ve not seen the righteous fold
Forsaken, nor his descendants
Begging for bread or shirt and pants.
26 He is ever merciful, and
Lends, and his descendants in hand
Are blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and
Do good, and live forevermore.
28 For YHWH loves justice, and what’s more
Does not forsake His saints, they are
Preserved forever like a star,
But the descendants of the wicked
Shall be cut off because they’re crooked.
29 The righteous shall inherit earth
And live forever in its worth.

The Christ and blessed Messiah also speaks
Of those who should inherit after weeks
The earth and all its glories and its peeks.
Too many sweet ones think he got his words
From You directly or the passing birds,
Forgetting that his mother knew the tunes
Of David’s Psalms before the busy croons
Of jazz and rock spilled out upon the dunes.
Beloved, the righteous shall inherit earth
Is well put, since they have not yet from birth
Found resting place on sea or land or air,
But falls the fatal mesh of toil and care.
Beloved, the righteous shall receive indeed,
But first I wait the germinating seed.

30 The mouth of the righteous speaks wise,
And his tongue talks of justice’ size.
31 The law of his God’s in his heart,
None of his steps take sliding part.
32 The wicked watches the righteous,
And seeks to slay him, slay not us.
33 YHWH will not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he’s judge manned.
34 Wait on YHWH, and keep to His way,
And He’ll exalt you in your sway
To inherit the land, and when
The wicked are cut off again,
You shall see it. 35 For I have seen
The wicked in great power and spleen,
And spreading himself like tree green.
36 Yet he passed away, and behold,
He was no more, though I was bold
To seek him, but he was not found.
37 Mark the blameless man on the ground,
And observe the upright and calm,
The future of that man’s Islam.
38 But transgressors shall be destroyed
Together, for the future’s void
For the wicked. 39 But the salvation
Of the righteous is from YHWH’s ration,
He is their strength in troublous time.
40 And YHWH shall help them from the slime
And deliver them, He shall save
Them from the wicked and his grave,
Because they trust Him as they climb.

The forty verses of this Psalm reflect
The Abdal who in forties stand erect
To whirl below Your throne and guard the way,
And guide the way to where You hold the sway.
The green trees of earth’s kings have roots that sink
Into the dry sand desert without drink.
They are judged by their doings and their day
Of fine destruction dawns already bright.
Above the groaning of their power the sight
Of Your anointed guide stands still to steer
The course of suns and stars. I never fear,
As sure today when hidden from the stars
His hand is resting on the guiding bars,
As when he shall reveal his form and cars.

PSALM 38

1 A Psalm of David. To bring to remembrance.
O YHWH, do not rebuke me in Your wrath’s dance,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure’s stance!
2 For Your arrows pierce me deeply, and Your hand
Comes to press me down. 3 No healthy spots still stand
In my body because of Your anger, nor
Any health in my bones because of my sore.
4 For my iniquities go over my head,
Like a heavy burden heavy with my dread.

Perhaps the good man Job wrote out the Psalm
Upon the day when he got his first qualm.
I should not be surprised, yet many since
Have read his words beneath their time to wince
And found them fragrant with familiar sound.
Many there be that suffer on the ground.
Beloved, my bones ache too, for age perhaps,
Or just because I’ve been caught in the lapse
Of my intemperance in work or lack
Of drinking enough nectar when Your back
Is turned. Beloved, my pains are small compared
To those who wrote the Psalms when they despaired,
And yet I take my comfort for my small
Hurts at the jaspered, jewelled, singing wall.

5 My wounds are foul and festering all because
Of my foolishness. 6 I’m troubled at Your laws,
I am bowed down greatly, I go mourning all
Day long. 7 For my loins are full of caterwaul,
And there is no soundness in my earthly flesh.
8 I’m feeble and severely broken, I thresh
And groan because of the turmoil of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before You, the start
Of my sighing is not hidden from Your eye.
10 My heart pants, my strength fails me, as for the wry
Light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.
11 My loved and friends stand far from my destiny,
And all my kin avoid me. 12 Those also who
Seek my life lay snares for me, also those who
Seek my hurt speak of destruction, and they plan
Deception all day long. 13 But I, like deaf man,
Do not hear what they say, and I’m like a mute
Who open’s not his mouth when they come to shoot.
14 And so I am like a man who does not hear,
And in whose mouth there is no response to fear.

My loved and friends stand far off too and see
My plaints and passions here where I run free,
But not for ill, I trow, but rather for
The lack of funds to buy one ticket more
And lack of time to take so long a trip
Across the sea to sit down where I sip
Your gifts of life and love and plenitude
Beside the failing waters and the brood
Of springs the quartzite hillside is imbued
With in the springtime and the happy lip
Of waking from the winter’s joint and hip.
Beloved, though loved and kin may not be near,
May never answer missive for a tear,
Still You are comfort and You are my dear.

15 For in You, O YHWH, I hope, and You will hear,
O Lord my God. 16 For I said “Hear me, lest they
Rejoice over me, lest, when my foot slips, they
Exalt themselves against me.” 17 For I’m ready
To fall, and my sorrow is continually
Before me. 18 My iniquity I’ll declare,
I will be in anguish over my sin’s share.
19 But see my foes are vigourous, and they’re strong,
And those have multiplied who hate me in wrong.
20 Those also who render me evil for good,
They are my enemies, since I follow good.
21 Do not forsake me, O YHWH, O my God, be
Not far from me! 22 Make haste to come and help me,
O Lord, my salvation and eternally!

Now every sheikh and grandfather and aunt
Brings out a text for sema’ ground and gaunt!
Yet here is one word of remembrance sweet
That David wrote down as a special treat.
I sing the sema’ of his wrinkled words
And watch the circling of the stormy birds
Of repentance sink on the carcass’ flesh.
Once all is eaten then the air is fresh.
I too repent my veils and blindnesses
Beneath the lowering clouds and sun that is
Too stark to share my looking and my pain.
I too repent reciting in the rain.
And as a bow to You I see the tumble
Of all earth’s kings and priests except the humble.

PSALM 39

1 To the Chief Musician and to Jeduthun.
A Psalm of David. I said “I’ll guard my boon,
Lest I sin with my tongue, I’ll restrain my mouth
With a muzzle, while the wicked range the south.”
2 I was mute with silence, I even held my peace
From good, and my sorrow was stirred up in lease.
3 My heart was hot within me, and while I mused,
The fire burned. Then I spoke with tongue unused:
4 “YHWH, make me know my end, and what’s the measure
Of my days, know how frail I am a treasure.

The thought is that if I could mind the fact
That my end is so near, I’d not be whacked
To fall beneath temptations piled and packed.
That’s optimism for the weighty show
Of heart bent on the flame and fatal glow.
Truth is that nothing can abate the power
Of the illusion of the human hour
That self is great and never born to die:
The crowds believe eternally that lie.
I only know mortality is true
When I am willing to attend that You
Alone are Self and my self is the view
Reflected from Your face and glory’s hue.
It is Your wonder that makes men to rue.

5 Indeed, You have made my days as a handbreadth,
And my age is nothing, before You a breath,
6 Surely every man at his best is mere mist.
Surely every man walks about like a kissed
Shadow, surely they busy themselves in vain,
He heaps up riches, and does not know what brain
Will gather them. 7 “Now, Lord, what do I await?
My hope’s in You. 8 Deliver me from the gate
Of all my transgressions, and do not make me
The reproach of the foolish. 9 I stood mutely,
I did not open my mouth, because it was
You who did it. 10 Remove Your plague and sharp claws
From me, I’m consumed by the blow of Your hand.
11 When with rebukes You correct a man on land
For iniquity, and You make his beauty
Melt away like a moth, and surely every
Man is a vapour. 12 “Hear now my prayer, O YHWH,
And give ear to my cry, do not be undue
Silent at my tears, for I’m stranger with You,
A sojourner, as all my fathers before.
13 Remove Your gaze from me, that I may restore
Strength, before I go away and am no more.”

Though forty men surround me and Your throne,
I’ve learned a man must whirl, and whirl alone.
The hand that sweetly dips within the pot
Set before me is often in the plot
To trip my feet while my eyes rise to see
The glory of Your passing solemnly.
Though forty men surround me and do right
By tracing out the sema’ in the night,
I can rely on neither friend nor store
To keep me pure and constant at love’s door.
Though friend despise and in his treachery
Sink teeth in my washed flesh for cemetery,
I make no sign my clammy skin can feel
Any pulse but Your sacred name to heal.

PSALM 40

1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
I waited patiently for YHWH,
And He inclined to me to do,
And heard my cry. 2 He also brought
Me up out of the horrors’ plot,
Out of the miry clay, and set
My feet upon a rock well met,
And established my steps and taught.
3 He’s put a new song in my mouth
Praise to our God from north to south,
Many will see it and will fear,
And trust in YHWH with eye and ear.

4 Blessed is that man who sets his trust
On YHWH, and does not tread the dust
Of the proud, nor such as turn back,
Aside to lies of wicked slack.
5 Many, O YHWH my God, are Your
Wonderful works which You’ve made score,
And Your thoughts toward us cannot be
Recounted to You in their fee,
If I should declare and speak them,
They’re more than can be numbered gem.
6 A sacrifice and offering You
Did not desire, but my ears You
Have opened. Burnt offering and sin
Offering You don’t want in the bin.
7 Then I said “Behold, I come, in
Scroll of the book of me it’s written.
8 My delight’s to do Your will fitting,
O my God, Your law’s in my heart.”

Beloved, You do not wish a sacrifice,
You do not lust for burning flesh and nice,
Nor human offerings on the cross or altar,
But rather that humans come without falter
Obeying Your commands that You once spoke
Upon Mount Sinai with the thunder’s stroke.
You rather would that humans do Your will
Instead of looking up to Calvary’s hill.
Beloved, Your grace is good enough for me,
I bring no more than that to set me free
From guilt and sin, in penitence my prayer
Comes with the sweet incense upon the air
Of lilies-of-the-valley and the birch
Where pines and firs make columns of my church.

9 I have proclaimed the better part
Of righteousness in the assembly,
Indeed, I don’t restrain my trembly
Lips, O YHWH, You Yourself know. 10 I
Have not hidden Your justice’ die
Within my heart, I have declared
Your faithfulness, with others shared
Your great salvation, I have not
Concealed Your lovingkindness taught
And Your truth from compatriot.
11 Do not withhold Your tender mercies
From me, O YHWH, in controversies
Let Your lovingkindness and truth
Always preserve me from my youth.
12 For untold evils surround me,
And sunken in iniquity,
So that I cannot look up, they
Are more than my head’s hairs and grey,
Therefore my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased,
YHWH, to save me, YHWH, when I’m squeezed
Make haste to help me! 14 Let them be
Ashamed and brought to anarchy
Who seek to destroy my life, let
Them be driven backward to get
Dishonour who wish me not well.
15 Let them be confounded a spell
Because of their shame, who tell me,
“Aha, aha!” 16 Let all sweetly
Who seek You rejoice and be glad
In You, let such as love Your pad
Of salvation keep on saying
“YHWH be magnified [Allahu akbar]!” 17 For my thing
I’m poor and needy, yet the Lord
Remembers me. You are my sword,
My help and my deliverer,
Do not delay, O my God, stir.

You want no sacrifice, Beloved, I know.
You patiently endure the pageant show.
You stoop in mercy on the mosque and rail
Of church and synagogue without avail.
But You have opened up my ears to hear
The sema’ of Your Scriptures without fear,
While all the prancing popes go mutely by
Ignoring that small rustle from the sky.
Though I am poor and needy, still You tramp
With showers of words remembering in my camp
That my soul is a humble one and damp.
Yet the fire of Your memory bears the stamp
That flings the code of sema’ in the air
And traces Your remembrancers up there.

PSALM 41

1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Blessèd is he who considers the poor, YHWH
Will deliver him in time of trouble. 2 YHWH
Will preserve him and keep him alive, and he
Will be blessed on the earth, and You will not see
Fit to deliver him to his enemy.
3 YHWH will strengthen him on his bed of illness,
You will sustain him on his sickbed’s address.
4 And I said “O YHWH, be merciful to me,
Heal my soul, for against You I’ve sinned freely.”
5 My enemies speak evil of me, say “When
Will he die, and his name perish?” 6 And if then
He comes to see me, he speaks lies, his heart draws
Iniquity to itself, ex cameras
He tells it. 7 All who hate me whisper in choir
Against me, against me they devise my dire
Destruction. 8 “An evil disease clings to him.
And now that he lies down, to rise again’s dim.”
9 Even my own familiar friend I trusted,
Who ate my bread, has lifted up his dusted
Heel against me. 10 But You, YHWH, be merciful
To me, and raise me up, that I may in full
Repay them. 11 By this I know that You are well
Pleased with me, because my enemy is fell
But does not triumph over me. 12 As for me,
You empower me in my integrity,
And set me before Your face forever. 13 Blessed
Be YHWH God of Israel from the unguessed
Eternity to eternity again!
Say David’s assembly Amen and Amen.

Blessed is the One indeed whose memory
Is touched by the poor faqir’s artistry,
Who cites again and once more the words taught
From Torah and Qur’an and Zabur wrought
Into a Gospel bright though poorly sung.
Blessed is the One indeed who touches rung
Of the ladder’s first steps and in His fasting
Gives life and bread and nectar everlasting.
Let me too be blessed as I finish fast
And write a note upon my gypsum cast
To scatter bread of barley as well as
The words to eat the sacred volume has.
The height of spirit’s flight, the faqir’s goal
Is merely to engage the beggar’s bowl.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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