{"id":14217,"date":"2025-07-26T22:53:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T02:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/?p=14217"},"modified":"2025-08-12T22:52:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T02:52:58","slug":"happy-ending-psalm-for-tough-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/?p=14217","title":{"rendered":"Happy Ending Psalm for Tough Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve been neglecting this blog since I wrote the weekly posts in my Laments for Lent<\/a> series. Naturally, I took a break after finishing that series, and then I had a vacation in June to Oregon (see the Columbia Gorge picture above), and a trip to ALA Annual Conference in Philadelphia<\/a> after that, and then a mini-retreat to Canaan Valley State Park in West Virginia – and I need to get in the swing of writing again.<\/p>\n

I recently read another book on praying laments, which I will review before long. But it got me thinking about ways my own book, Praying with the Psalmists<\/em> (as yet unpublished) is different. Yes, I talk about Laments, but I go through the entire book of Psalms and divide them up into ten types – and I talk about how we can use each type as an example in our prayers.<\/p>\n

And the most difficult type, honestly, to explain why we should use it in prayer was Messianic Psalms.<\/p>\n

Now, many Psalms have elements that ended up being fulfilled in Jesus – and I do think some of the Laments would have surprised the original psalmists. But the Psalms I named as specifically Messianic were talking about the ruler, the Anointed One, at the time – Psalms 2, 45, 72, 110, and 132. I doubt that the psalmists who originally prayed these Psalms realized they were being prophetic, and I certainly am not suggesting that we must prophesy when we pray. But think about it: We know how the story ends! <\/p>\n

So in my book, I call them Happy Ending Psalms. I believe that the arc of the universe does tend toward justice and I believe that Christ will return and make things right.<\/p>\n

I found four key concepts that show up in Messianic Psalms: God’s Rule, Coming Justice, Certain Victory, and Eternal Scope.<\/p>\n

All that is to say that in posting about Psalms tonight, I’m going to attempt a category I’ve been neglecting – a Messianic psalm or better called a Happy Ending psalm or Justice psalm:<\/p>\n

Justice Psalm for Troubled Times<\/p>\n

Lord, why do the nations rage,
\nand the peoples plot in vain?
\nWhy are the rulers of our land
\nblaming immigrants for every woe?
\nWhy are they abducting people
\nwho came here seeking refuge
\nand locking up people
\nwho answered the call on the Statue of Liberty
\nand came here for a better life?<\/p>\n

And Father, I don’t know what I can do about it.
\nI feel helpless when I hear of detention,
\nhorrible conditions, and harsh treatment.<\/p>\n

Let the evil not go unnoticed, Lord!
\nHelp us to not look away.
\nYou’ve said that your people
\nare to care for the stranger in the land.
\nWatch over the immigrants,
\nthe homeless,
\nthe hurting.
\nWatch over everyone wrongly imprisoned –
\nlet them know they are seen.<\/p>\n

And I don’t know how,
\nI don’t know when.
\nBut I pray that justice will be done,
\nthat those responsible for these deep wrongs
\nwill be called to account.<\/p>\n

Let America once again –
\nor maybe for the first time –
\ntruly become the land of the free
\nand the home of the brave,
\nwhere we take in the tired, the poor,
\nand the huddled masses yearning to be free,
\nwhere we defend the fatherless and the oppressed
\nand never turn a deaf ear
\nto the cry of the poor.<\/p>\n

I know that the day will come
\nwhen you will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
\nBut, Lord, hear now the cry of the poor
\nand the immigrant.<\/p>\n

May your justice come swiftly
\nand your unfailing love shine.<\/p>\n

— And I still feel at a loss. But it helps my spirit to pray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been neglecting this blog since I wrote the weekly posts in my Laments for Lent series. Naturally, I took a break after finishing that series, and then I had a vacation in June to Oregon (see the Columbia Gorge picture above), and a trip to ALA Annual Conference in Philadelphia after that, and then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messianic-psalms","category-praying-with-the-psalmists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14219,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14217\/revisions\/14219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}