Psalm 76 from the Parma Psalter
Psalm 76 is a psalm of hope for the peace makers, for it says that the coming of the Lord will bring an end to human violence and reduce our weapons to nothing: There brake he the arrows of the bow: the shield, the sword, and the battle. and again: The fierceness of man shall turn to thy praise: and the fierceness of them shalt thou refrain. As you will see these are themes I have also drawn out in my poetic response to this psalm.
These poems will all be gathered together and published on January 30th under the title David’s Crown. There is already an Amazon page for the book if you wish to pre-order it Here
As always you can hear me read the poem by clicking on the play button or the title.
We lift the cup of blessing, life and hope
To one whose name has leapt from Israel
To circle all the world, who opens up
His heart to every nation. Weapons fail;
The sword and shield will rust; the tank and gun
Must come to nothing. Every dark betrayal
Of peace will come to judgment. For the one
Upon the throne will vindicate the meek
And turn our fierceness into praise: The Son
Of God, become the Son of Man. The weak
Will find their strength in him. He will restrain
The men of violence, but all who seek
Their peace in him will find it. And the stain
Of our blood-guiltiness will wash away
As heaven’s mercy falls like gentle rain.
If you would like to encourage and support this blog, you might like, on occasion, (not every time of course!) to pop in and buy me a cup of coffee. Clicking on this banner will take you to a page where you can do so, if you wish. But please do not feel any obligation!
Malcolm Guite 