Psalm 6:3

My soul is in deep anguish.
    How long, Lord, how long?

How long, O Lord, how long?

It’s like the refrain to a song

that I cannot get out of my head,

an anguished plea whose notes

are played and felt deep within my soul,

a song played out of step, out of tempo,

out of time with the anxious beating of my heart.

How long, O Lord, how long?

The whole world groans under the weight

of so much suffering, of so much illness,

of so much soul sickness that it cannot rest.

The world sits awake at night,

in the darkness, clutching its blanket

to its chin and calling out—

How long, O Lord, how long?

Lord, where is the light in all this darkness,

the lighthouse swinging its massive beam of hope

from horizon to horizon?

Lord, I am so desperate for Your light,

I would take just a candle in the window.

I would take the tiniest flicker of hope

and I would follow it.

I would get down on my knees

and crawl to it.

Just show me the path, Lord,

and I promise I won’t walk alone.

I will grab the nearest hand

and together we will walk,

together we will take the hands

of others and we will all walk

out of the darkness,
out of the night,
out of helplessness and despair,

and move instead into a new morning,
a new sunrise where we can be bathed,
our spirits forever renewed in the light of hope.

Amen.