3.229 Blessed Is...

In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world, reminding us that our lives are meant to preserve, illuminate, and point others to him. This season on Savory Salt, we'll walk through the Old Testament, one verse and one thought each day. Perhaps these moments will add greater savor and brighter light to our lives as we seek to truly live as Savory Salt.

Hello, my friends. It's a new day with new opportunities. Choose ye this day whom you will serve.

Coming forward, a first on Savory Salt. This episode will have something that has never happened before on Savory Salt episodes. It comes as we begin the Book of Psalms.

An interesting study, a collection of poetry, hymns, songs of praise, poems of praise, and more. Psalm number one, verse two. This is the middle of a thought.

Verses one, two, and three kind of collect together inside of this thought. We're talking about being blessed. Blessed the man that does this and does that.

It says in verse two, "but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law that they meditate day and night." Now, while I just picked that verse there, really the collection here is about being around those that follow the laws of the Lord and how much it can help you in your life. Four years ago, I have a note in my own scriptures here from our Sunday school class about kind of the order of these typical individual lament type psalms and how to make them. And then we had an activity four years ago that I kept as a note inside of my scriptures here that kind of walks through this pattern we're going to see inside of Psalms.

This individual lament, which is really quite common inside of these different verses and praise. The order of operations goes like this: Address the Lord, provide your lament or complaint, express your trust in the Lord, provide a request from the Lord, and then praise the Lord in terms of what you know is coming. And then I have mine listed here that I took my first shot at.

What I wanted to do for Savory Salt here was give you a challenge to consider writing your own psalm in a couple of different styles and brands and see what it looks like for you. In this pattern that I've provided here, you give two lines for each one of these. So you address the Lord in two different ways.

You provide the lament in a couple of different lines, express the trust in two lines, express the request in two lines, and the praise in two lines as well. And so, my friends, what I thought would be interesting, now with the age of AI being what it is and the ability to produce our own psalms, I thought I would take my first shot and provide it for you inside of Savory Salt. So I give you my first attempt here at a psalm and what it perhaps could have sounded like with just a bit of strings and flute as would have been the ancient Hebrew type of poetry.

Mine is called "Be With Me." I give it to you now. Speak forth, O Savior, show Thy will to me. Thy servant stands burdened, struggling still to stand as one who bears Thy name.

I know, O Lord, Thou art near to all who seek Thee. I know Thou wilt answer those who seek Thy will. Be with me, my Savior, when I stumble in unbelief.

Lead me forth to stand strong. Thou wilt show Thy power. And so, my friends, there's my first shot at writing a psalm.

I took a chance like David did. I hope you have a great day. Hope you are too.