Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

How deserted lies the city,
    once so full of people!
How like a widow is she,
    who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
    has now become a slave.

• Lamentations 1:1

In you, Lord my God,
    I put my trust.

• Psalm 25:1

A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.

• Proverbs 31:10

The Scriptures above are the first verse in biblical acrostics.

I was praying about what to write for this Saturday Evening Post.

Then, I realized that this next Monday, I will finish Psalm 119 as I have taken each letter of the Hebrew alphabet as a psalm unto itself.  The reflection questions have been to write a few verses starting with one letter or another, but I have not been doing it.

As I showered, God kept telling me that I should make an attempt.

This is strictly from my head to the keyboard, with a lot of prayer.

Don’t worry about rhyme.  Don’t worry about meter.  Just write what comes into my head. But here goes:

Artful poetry is not my thing
Bible Study is where I feel calm
Confidence is lacking on this endeavor
Doubts are entering my mind.
Excellence in writing may seem to fail
Forgetting the next letter is probable
Great is my God, for I am lacking
Help me, oh Lord, I waver in doubt
Infinite is Your Power and Love in such times
Jesus, You are by my side
Kill these doubts and steady my fingers
Lovingly, letting me fix one mistake
Mighty is God, who loves His children
Next half of the poem might get more shaky
Occasionally I do not listen to You, Lord
People will pour jeers at my poetry
Quietly, I turn to You for strength
Reality setting in that my lexicon is lacking
Strength and courage come from You, Lord
Tests of faith are better than tests of ability
Unusual that I’m almost there
Victory is Yours, for I would falter
With Your help, I made it through
X-Rays would show my mind is scrambled
You alone have gotten me through
Zealously, You carry Your servant.

Perfectly Pathetic Poetry, but that was my scrambled brain going through the alphabet as fast as I could type the words.

God is Great.  And sometimes, he helps this writer, but often He simply takes over the fingers on the keyboard.  I owe it all to Him.

And I have fought the urge to edit the “poem.” 

But then, I did as I said I would do, I left out the letter “L”.  So, God “Lovingly let me fix one mistake.”

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.