I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of. For to have been thought about - born in God's thoughts
- and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, most
precious thing in all thinking.
-George MacDonald
@conservmillen Krick is like an aptronym to me. 'Krick' like a crick/stiff neck, exactly what the Bible warns against;
'Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost' (Acts 7:51).
This is the Oxyrhynchus Hymn, dated to the late 200s AD. It is the earliest known Christian hymn manuscript with both lyrics and musical notation. A plain English rendering of the surviving words:
โLet all creation be silent.
Let the shining stars be still.
Let the rushing winds and rivers cease.
While we sing to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
let every power answer: Amen, amen.
Strength, praise, and glory forever to God,
the only giver of all good things. Amen, amen.โ
When I talk about praying the Psalms, I donโt mean randomly selecting a psalm that fits your moodโwhether praise, lament, or thanksgiving. I mean beginning with Psalm 1 and praying through all 150 psalms regularly, ideally once a month. You can find a monthly reading/prayer chart online.
Hereโs the idea: pick a single Bible translation youโre comfortable with and stick with it. Iโve used the New American Standard for over 30 years and memorized many psalms in that version. If you constantly switch translations, you canโt learn the words by heart.
Start with Psalm 1 and pray it aloud:
"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked..."
Then move on to Psalm 2, Psalm 3, and so on. Speak the words as prayerโnot just reading them, but actually praying them to God.
Some psalms will feel natural, like Psalm 23. Others may feel foreign or even uncomfortable. Thatโs okay. The Psalms include prayers for every human experience, including the darkest and worst. Theyโre not your wordsโtheyโre Godโs words given for you to pray back to him.
Over time, those unfamiliar prayers will become your own. They will shape your thoughts, your emotions, and your relationship with God.
As you pray the Psalms, youโll also deepen your understanding of Christ, who is the true voice behind the Psalms. He prayed them, and we now join him in speaking them to the Father.
So, hereโs the plan:
1) Pick a translation.
2) Follow a monthly reading chart.
3) Pray the psalms aloud every day.
This is not meaningless repetition. Itโs letting Godโs Word form and fill your heart so that, in every circumstance, youโll have prayers already written on your heart.
โI, [state your name], do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of peace officer and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this state. So help me God.โ
This aligns with the general oath in the Fort Worth City Code (ยง 27), which requires city officers to support, protect, and defend the U.S. and Texas Constitutions and faithfully discharge their duties.