Passages for Inner Peace. Tom McKinley
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thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work:
I will triumph in the works of thy hands.”
(Psalm 92:4, KJV)
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
(Psalm 46:10, KJV)
“Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:
Wait, I say, on the Lord.”
(Psalm 27:14, KJV)
“Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loadeth us with benefits.”
(Psalm 68:19, KJV)
“O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave:
Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.”
(Psalm 30:3, KJV)
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life:
In thy presence is fulness of joy.”
(Psalm 16:11, KJV)
“When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back:
This I know; for God is for me.”
(Psalm 56:9, KJV)
“Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.
Praise ye the Lord.”
(Psalm 150:6, KJV)
“The Lord on high is mightier
Than the noise of many waters,
Yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.”
(Psalm 93:4, KJV)
“O God, thou knowest my foolishness;
And my sins are not hid from thee.”
(Psalm 69:5, KJV)
“Honour and majesty are before him:
Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.”
(Psalm 96:6, KJV)
“For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
And his truth endureth to all generations.”
(Psalm 100:5, KJV)
“You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.”
(Psalm 65:11, NIV)
“Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings,
who cannot save.”
(Psalm 146:3, NIV)
“For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people.”
(Psalm 149:4, KJV)
“I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
(Psalm 84:10, KJV)
“Search me, O God, and know my heart:
Try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.”
(Psalm 139:23–24, KJV)
“For my brethren and companions’ sakes,
I will now say, Peace be within thee.”
(Psalm 122:8, KJV)
For Jia Qiong
“Return unto thy rest, O my soul;
For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.”
(Psalm 116:7, KJV)
The richness of the Psalms is beyond estimation. In their depth of language and emotion, in their ability to capture the human heart, mind, and soul, they surpass the most impassioned speaker, the most accomplished poet.
There is nothing that the spectrum of the Psalms does not comprise, from abject sorrow to ecstatic joy – psalms of praise, of thanksgiving, of agony, of anxiety, and of victory, all addressing God as the Savior to our troubles, all serving as affirmations of our faith in him as our source of inner peace and joy.
The Psalms are a cornucopia, an overflowing treasure-chest, of God’s abundance and benevolence, all presented to us humbly in black marks on white paper.
While I had known of the Book of Psalms since my youth, until adulthood I had only directly come across Psalm 23, the most famous psalm, mainly as a result of my literary studies. A search, generated by the unceasing vicissitudes of life, for inner peace, brought me to explore the Psalms as a whole, to read them with attention and appreciation. The result was sheer awe. It was as if I had once heard a beautiful song by a band and been told that they were a “one-hit wonder,” and upon listening to their entire canon, had discovered that every song was a masterpiece.
To read through the Book of Psalms on a regular basis, as I have done since and shall continue to do, is to experience an overcoming feeling of reverence, humility, optimism, and serenity. Such feelings contrast sharply with the world in which we live – a world that glorifies fame and fortune, a world where speed and impatience compete in a vicious cycle, and a world where mankind has more and more comforts yet is less and less happy.
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