One Line-One Breath

Recently in a time of prayer, I discovered that rearranging a psalm so that its phrases are on separate lines can help the scripture sink deeper into my heart and help me to grasp it better.  To do this, simply separate each phrase as it seems best to you, and put each phrase on a different line.  Then, go back and read through the psalm prayerfully.  Read the first line silently as you inhale, and the second line silently as you exhale.  Take long, deep breaths, and make sure you don't move to the next line until your inhale has changed to an exhale, or vise versa.

Rearranging the psalm doesn't make it say anything different than it did before.  It does, however, emphasize certain points in my spirit.  I won't elaborate on the realizations I had when I did this exercise with Psalm 55.  I'll simply copy it below, and let you come to your own conclusions.  I hope you'll consider this as a spiritual exercise for yourself.  Just take any psalm, and give it a try. See how you perceive the scripture differently when you experience it in this way.

Here's an example of the way I've rearranged Psalm 55 (ESV):

Give ear to my prayer,

            O God,

                        And hide not yourself

                                    From my plea

                                                For mercy.

Attend to me,

            And answer me;

                        I am restless

                                    In my complaint

                                                And I moan,

Because of the noise

            Of the enemy,

Because of the oppression

            Of the wicked.

For they drop trouble upon me,

            And in anger

                        They bear a grudge

                                    Against me.

My heart is in anguish within me;

            The terrors of death

                        have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling come

            upon me,

                        and horror

                                    overwhelms me.

And I say,

            “Oh, that I had wings

                        like a dove!

                                    I would fly away

                                                And be at rest;

Yes, I would wander

            Far away;

I would lodge

            In the wilderness;

Selah

I would hurry

            To find a shelter

                        From the raging wind

                                    And tempest.”

Destroy, O Lord,

            Divide their tongues;

                        For I see violence

                                    And strife in the city.

Day and night

            They go around it

                        On its walls,

And iniquity

            And trouble

                        Are within it;

Ruin in its midst;

            Oppression

                        And fraud

                                    Do not depart

                                                From its marketplace.

For it is not an enemy

            Who taunts me—

                        Then I could bear it;

It is not an adversary

            Who deals insolently with me—

                        Then I could hide from him.

But it is you,

            A man,

                        My equal,

                                    My companion,

                                                My familiar friend.

We used to take sweet counsel together.

            Within God’s house

                        We walked

                                    In the throng.

Let death

            Steal over them;

                        Let them go down to Sheol alive;

For evil

            Is in their dwelling place

                        And in their heart.

But I call

            To God,

                        And the Lord will save me.

Evening

            And morning

                        And at noon

                                    I will utter my complaint

                                                And moan,

And He hears my voice.

He redeems my soul

            In safety

                        From the battle

                                    That I wage,

For many are arrayed

            Against me.

God will give ear

            And humble them,

                        He who is enthroned

                                    From of old,

 Selah.

Because they do not change

            And do not fear god.

My companion stretched out his hand

            Against his friends.

                        He violated his covenant.

His speech was smooth

            As butter,

Yet war was in his heart;

His words were softer than oil,

            Yet they were drawn swords.

Cast your burden on the Lord,

            And He will sustain you;

He will never permit

            The righteous

                        To be moved.

But you,

            O God,

                        Will cast them down

                                    Into the pit of destruction;

Men of blood

            And treachery

                        Shall not live out half their days.

But I will trust in you.