A Psalm of Strength: For When You Feel Like You are Falling Apart

When I feel like I’m falling apart, I write a psalm. It’s like a prayer on paper that God will hold you close and hold you together. Let the psalm I share here offer strength to the weary woman who is falling apart.

In the psalms, we find praise, lament, joy and sorrow, often all in the same poem. The psalms are how we put all our humanity on a page! And this endears us to the Lord. He loves when we come to Him with all our heart, all our strength or lack thereof, and all our joy and all our grief. That’s why David was a man after God’s own heart… He was honest with God.

We’ve been looking at what is a psalm and why they bring healing. We’ve also been learning what is a lament psalm and why that is an ancient practice for good mental health.

We ended on a challenge to write your own psalm. (If you do that, share it with me? I’d love to read your psalms!)

Today, I’d like to share a psalm that bubbled out of me when I was praying for a fellow widow and her children. It’s easy to pray for someone when they are walking a trail you’re all too familiar with.

If you can feel like a woman who is falling apart today, may this bless you with peace.

A Psalm of Strength

You are Defender of the widow,

   And your eye is on the sparrow.

You’re the Father of the orphan,

   Jehovah Nissi—God is my banner,

   And your banner over me is love.

In anguish, I cry, “God do you even see me right now??”

   You say, “My plans for you are still good.”

You are the God who sees me,

   You are always attentive to my cry.

You collect every tear in jars,

   You collect every prayer in bowls,

   And our praises fill the air like lilies.

These are your treasures,

   The only things I’ve ever heard of you collecting

   From earth into heaven.

I love you Lord! Pour out your Spirit on all flesh!

You are my Wonderful Counselor—lead the way.

You’re Jehovah Jireh, my provider—

   I lack no good thing!

You’re my Refuge and my Fortress—

   You’re the God in whom I trust!

I bless your Name—

   You are Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty

   Who was and is and is to come!

With no sleep and no support,

   You anoint me with the Holy Spirit

   To run in the power and strength of Elisha.

You are Waymaker where there is none,

   You are faithful when I am fresh out of faith.

You are my Protector and Deliverer,

   You are my Redeemer and Friend.

You bless me and give me peace,

   Jesus, Lover of my Soul.

   You dry my tears and make me whole.

So hide me under your wings; hide me under your feathers—

   Hold me close and hold me together.

-danita jenae, 2025