(A David psalm.)
This is a love song.
It’s also a justice song,
A protest song.
You, Yahweh, are the inspiration of my singing.
I want to live a whole life,
A congruent life,
A life where the pieces all fit together.
The glue to this life is you.
When will you come to me?
I start in my own house.
This is where whole-heartedness begins,
A basic integrity
Extending to the rest of life.
I start with my eyes.
They are too easily drawn to what corrupts me,
What divides my heart.
I hate it that I so easily get sucked in
To things that twist my soul.
I’m determined to keep
From getting entangled by them,
From getting addicted to them.
I’m determined to walk away
From soul-poisoning situations.
I will not become intimate with evil.
Those whisperers,
Secretly,
Slyly
Slandering neighbors —
I will silence their gossip!
The self-important,
Self-inflated egos
Of me-first people —
I want to burst their bubble,
Let out all that hot air.
I start with my eyes,
Refocusing them on solid people,
Faithful people.
I need to surround myself with them.
People of integrity,
Always the same inside and out,
I need them on my team.
I start in my own house.
No secrets.
No hiding.
No deception.
A core commitment to truth-telling
Starts at home.
Every day I wake up,
I will begin by rejecting every destructive influence
In the culture around me.
And I will protect Yahweh’s city,
Yahweh’s people,
By driving out those who practice evil.