The actual title of Longfellow’s poem is ‘A Psalm of Life’, but I have
used a little license in changing today’s blog title to ‘Life is a Psalm.’
When we read the Psalms we notice that they are always honest; often contain
stories of pain and suffering; include moments of celebrations as well as
lament; show off the depth of the psalmist’s prayers and usually end off on a
note of intense hope and trust in the grace of God. They (the Psalms) mirror
our lives in so many ways and that is why I suggest we can use the phrase – Life is a Psalm.
Psalm 16:11 - You make known to me
the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal
pleasures at your right hand.
If you would like to read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, I am including
it here. Enjoy.
"Tell me not, in
mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait." - Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow
Living in Grace
D3LM3
