Now, Psalms are a book of the Bible, all official and unchanging. They’re beautiful and real and we’ve been studying them and worshipping through their words for hundreds of years.

Then, they were poems and prayers written by people going through some stuff, or having just survived some stuff, who wanted to bring all their fears, joys, frustrations, and praises to God. They reflected what people had on their minds and hearts in their everyday life–including the impulse to turn to God.

I loved teaching Psalms to kids. Not just because I love the Psalms, but because I taught their structure and had us write our own Psalms about what was going on in the children’s lives. Those were funny and heartfelt sessions. A child’s worries are precious cargo, and it was a privilege to give them spiritual tools for carrying that cargo to God, with others.

Here is the form I developed for turning what’s going on in your life into a Psalm. I’m going to be using it today: Election Day here in the USA. Because I’m scared. I know God did not give us a culture of fear, but that’s the reality of my human heart today, and probably many others.

All I can do is vote and make sure those in my sphere of influence can get to that voting booth–and write out my situation in a Psalm. The best sections are This is what I know about God and that This is what I’m going to do, because they help settle my heart every time.

I encourage you to write your own Psalm. The words don’t have to be pretty or publishable. You’ll notice that I’m not including mine here. It’s raw. Don’t forget the turn of This is what I know about God. It’s that And yet moment that comes towards the end of so many Psalms, when you turn from your own fears and feelings and look at who God is and remember what God has done in your life and in the world. It will ground you in the presence of a God who has been with his people through political turmoil for hundreds of years.

Here it is as a downloadable pdf you can print and write out by hand (my favorite practice): My Psalm.