I recently came upon a delightful challenge to biblical meditation specially tailored for us #wordnerds. The challenge is to rewrite Psalm 23 alliteratively, that is, using a single letter for as many words as possible. I’ve now alsocompleted (to the best of my ability) the letter Q, and you’ll find it at the bottom. But in the meantime, here’s my meditation using the letter S. I hope it blesses you. Find L and G at the link above.
Psalm 23 in the Letter S
The Sovereign is my shepherd,
I am sufficiently supplied.
He settles me in a supple country side,
He escorts me beside silent streams,
He strengthens my soul.
He steers me straight on suitable streets
For the sake of his historic significance.
Suppose I stumble through shadowed situations,
Still I am not scared of Satan,
For you surround me;
Your stick and your staff soothe me.
You set a sumptuous spread before me
In sight of my disparagers.
You smear my skull with slick oil;
My glass spills with surplus.
Surely your sanctification and security will support me
Through the sunset of my life span,
Thus I will stand in the shelter of the All-Sufficient One ceaselessly.
Want to try? You can add yours in the comments below or post it on your own blog. I’d love to read them!
Psalm 23 in the Letter ‘Q’ (with a bit of ‘K’)
(This is the best I can do with ‘Q.’ Let me know in the comments if you think of a better word at any point. I’d love to make it better, but I’ve searched the dictionary* and stretched my brain as far as it goes. There’s a short glossary at the bottom.)
The Quintessential One is my keeper; He quenches every quandary.
He quiets me in exquisite quadrants.
We quest beside quiescent waters.
He quickens my quiddity.
He quarterbacks me in qualities of His quintessence
for the sake of his kudos.
Even though I carry myself in the quarry of the quagmire of quietus,
I will not quake at knavery,
for you keep me company;
your quarterstaff and your quirt,
they quell my qualms.
You construct a banquet before me
with a quorum of my enemies;
you quench my head with oil;
I quaff what cannot be quantified.
Surely kindness and quittance shall never quit me
until I am quashed,
and I shall be qualified for the quarters of the Lord
for unquantifiable years to come.
Glossary
- Quintessence – for righteousness – the essence of something in its purest form
- Quietus – death
- Quirt – a type of riding whip
- Quiddity – for soul – (2nd meaning) the essential nature or ultimate form of something
*With deep regard for Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 2002, at my local library.
I would like to try. I thought your S version was powerful, and I could imagine writing it helps to lean into Our Maker. I will let you know if I write one✏
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I found it very meaningful to lean into the meanings of the more difficult phrases and search for words that conveyed the same meaning. P wouldn’t be too hard…
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Psalm 23 in the letter D
Dubbing His dear domesticated dimwits ‘devoid of desires’ does the Divine.
He deliberately drags me to dales of dewy daisies and delivers me to the drink.
He deems me delivered from death; He dares me to dance divinely for His Deity.
Dabbling in deep darkness, I defy despair, for Divinity doubles me; Your Divine dowel drains my doubt.
You deal me dinner before my detractors. You deck my dome with Dapper Dan; my dessert dish is doubled.
Declarations of delight and desire do not dwindle for days, and I definitively dwell with the Divine for decades and decades of dawns!
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This is really great, Chris! I’ll forward it April, who is making a collection.
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This is right up my brother’s alley! He loves alliteration and word play. I sent him the link. Hopefully, he’ll respond with one!
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Oh, I hope so, too!
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His name is Chris Wallace—he posted above!
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Wow, this seems like it must have been quite a challenge, but it certainly made you dwell on His word to search for just the right S word. Seems like spending that much time rewriting stamped this passage on your heart forever!
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It was a pleasure for me. I love to dig into the words and images of Scripture, plus I love alliteration. (You’ll notice if you read my blog for very long!)
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Awesome – enjoyed your alliteration – like ‘s’ the most. matrixmoments.com
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Thanks! It was not only fun but meaningful to do it.
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