(For Jeduthan, the worship leader: A David psalm.)
I made a promise to myself:
Watch what you’re doing.
No destructive talk.
Leash your tongue
While idiots and haters are around.
So, I kept quiet.
Totally quiet.
I didn’t even say anything good.
But that just plugged
A volcano.
The pressure kept building up
Inside me.
The more I mulled,
The hotter the magma became.
Finally, I erupted.
Tell me when I’m going to die, Yahweh.
How much time do I have?
I want to know just how
Little is left.
This life is a quick ride,
Done as soon as it’s started.
A brief breeze,
Gone before it’s noticed.
Money may buy a lot,
But not more time.
We’re all just ghosts,
Intangibles.
Still we rush around
In our self-importance,
Gathering a home full of stuff
That’ll end up in a yard sale
After we die.
So, what’s the point, God?
This one thing:
I hope in you.
Save my from my own stupidity
And the stupidity of others.
I’ll keep my silence,
Not saying a single word,
Because I know
You know what’s going on.
So, please,
Stop being so hard on me.
If you keep knocking me down,
I won’t be able to get up anymore.
How much more do you think
I can take?
The rough love of your discipline
For our sins
Eats up everything we have
And us with it,
Till we blow away like crumbs.
Yahweh, please.
Hear me as I pray to you.
It’s a plea for help,
So don’t ignore it.
Don’t treat me like an illegal alien,
Unwanted,
A stranger,
Just as my immigrant ancestors were.
Then, again,
It just might be best to be ignored
By you.
I might actually enjoy
The last bit of my life
Before I die
And dissolved into dust
And am finally forgotten
For good.