Prayer on Psalm 51

(based on Psalm 51)

“But you desire honesty from the heart,

so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being.”

Psalm 51:6 

Not just in my heart
but in the secret space
it holds.

In the heart of my heart.
In the place where I am myself.
In the space that I protect the most
and share the least.

In the hidden chamber
that I sometimes close off
even from myself.

In the realm
where you wait
and watch,
where you see each thing
that lies in shadow,
where you know the names
of all that makes its home
in me.

Here
in my secret heart:
here
teach me to move
with your wisdom,
to open the doors
that will draw me deeper still,
to live in the truth
that you desire;
here
let me open
the windows wide
so that those who pass by
will see you
looking out.

--Jan L. Richardson (1947- ), American Methodist poet, teacher, and artist, and posted on The Painted Prayerbook.