Living Psalm Submission for November 3, 2024, Proper 26 (31)
by Eric Anderson
Psalm 119:1-8
“Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the way of the LORD.”
Who exactly are those, Holy One?
As I look back upon my course,
the lines upon the spirit’s map
have wandered strangely many times.
Nor can I claim that when I’ve kept
the route as best I could, and only placed
a foot a feather’s thickness to the side,
that I’ve been happier than when my course diverged.
I know the sick sensation of deep-seated shame.
I’ve gagged on guilt as my soul’s eyes
lost focus on the precepts of the LORD.
I’ve praised, but rarely with an upright heart.
So if I strain to find my history of soul
in this so-confident of Psalmist’s lines,
I find this one which I have prayed not once,
but many times: do not forsake me utterly.
In hope of this thin prayer I pray.