A Southern Psalm

Lord have mercy
You are so very good to me
Ya’ll know He knows what we need
But I get stuck like pluff mud in what I want.

Lord have mercy
What would I do without You.

You save me from myself
Over and over again, more ways and times
Than I can shake a stick at
You delight in me and straighten my path
You make my way straighter than
A Tri-Delta’s flat-ironed hair.

Yes ma’am, His love is unfailing
Just like clockwork
He faithfully keeps watch over me
The grandfather clock in the front hall
Passed down to me, tick tock-ing away
Day after day
The one that’s been in my family for years
Has nothing on You, oh Lord.

You lighten my load
I can bring all the heaviness of my day to You
You alone take the weight of my life on yourself
And I rise up like hot biscuits dripping in butter, then soaked in honey
Fresh from the oven
Because of who You are.

Glory be You are great and good
Worthy of praise
I rise up and lay down
In a bed of fresh clover under the Magnolia tree
I gaze up
Look left and look right
The whole world
Down to the red clay earth is full of your glory.

There is not a secret family recipe
More precious than You.
Not one handed down
Not The best pound cake recipe in the whole world.
More valuable and treasured
Are You, oh God
A million times a million more treasured is Your loving kindness.

There is not a day that goes by
That I am not reminded of your unfailing grace
Everything I have is from your hand
Oh Lord, have mercy
My red solo cup of sweet tea spills over with your
Provision.

Your gifts are too precious
Too numerous to name
Even the yellow lab
And the black one too
Oh heck, I can’t forget the chocolate lab
Even they are counted among your gifts to us.
What joy you give your children.
We are blessed, so blessed.
I am not even kidding.

A gold embossed monogrammed  thank you card falls short
Where do I go and what do I give
To express my thanks adequately to You.

Lord, I give you my life.
Lord I give you my love.

Lord have mercy, You are a great and mighty God.
I could sing Amazing Grace at the top of my lungs
All five verses or is it four
From the front pew
And it would fall short of the praise due You.

But I will try
Until the day I die
To tell You
You bless my socks off

And  Lord
Have mercy on me
When I fall short
And let you down

Forgive me my sins
And help me make a fresh start
Fresh as sheets flapping on the backyard clothes line
I want my soul to be with you
Clean and shiny
As grandmother’s  just polished silver on Christmas Eve
I want my transgressions washed away
Down the drain with Ivory soap bubbles.

I lay down my life
At the foot of your cross
And I will tell you one thing
You are good, so very, very  good.
Precious is Your name to me.

Can I get a loud Amen.
To the ends of the Earth
And back again
The Amens and Hallelujah choruses
Echo again and again
Down the white picket fence lined streets
Every heart shall turn itself to praise.

Precious Lord
Have mercy
Yes sir
You are worthy of praise and glory.
And all God’s people say a loud Amen.
Yes ma’am they do.

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Joining Emily and her community for Imperfect Prose

and Jennifer for #tellhisstory