Call and Response

Psalm 65     For the lead player, a psalm. For David, a song.

To You silence is praise, God, in Zion,

   and to You a vow will be paid.

O, listener to prayer,

   unto You all flesh shall come.

My deeds of mischief are too much for me.

   Our crimes but You atone.

Happy whom You choose to draw close,

   he will dwell in Your courts.

May we be sated with Your house’s bounty,

   the holiness of Your Temple.

With fearsome acts justly You answer us,

   our rescuing God,

refuge of all the earth’s ends

   and the far-flung sea,

Who sets mountains firm in His power

   —He is girded in might—

Who quiets the roar of the seas,

   the roar of their waves and the tumult of the nations.

And those who dwell at earth’s ends will fear Your signs.

   The portals of morning and evening You gladden.

You pay mind to the earth and soak it.

   You greatly enrich it.

God’s stream is filled with water.

   You ready their grain, for so You ready it,

quench the thirst of its furrows, smooth out its hillocks,

   melt it with showers, its growth You will bless.

You crown Your bountiful year,

and Your pathways drip with ripeness.

The wilderness meadows do drip,

   and with joy the hills are girded.

The pastures are clothed with flocks

   and the valleys are mantled with grain.

      They shout for joy, they even sing.

Be Still and Know –

A Response to Psalm 65

If

I do my work

Of stilling my being

Of training my mind

And tending my body

And opening my heart

Then God will be free

To do God’s work

Of gladdening

Grace-ing

Melting

Maturing

Ripening

Restoring

Satisfying

Smoothing

Quieting

Quenching

Crowning and robing

Filling me so full

That I will shout for joy, even sing

I will be a stream, a fountain

Flowing from the throne of God

If I do my work

Of silence

And song

And you do yours

And we gather to tell about it

Then God will be free