Oh yeah! An Exercise in the Psalms

Because we are studying the Psalms, I asked my students to write their own Psalms with a partner. Each student received a fill-in-blanks Psalm of praise to work with.

This is the worksheet they received:

We give thanks to you, O Lord, for you are _________, __________, and __________.
Who can fully proclaim your might acts, O __________ or fully declare your praise?
You have _____________________ and _____________________.
We ____________ you, O ____________.
We _____________ your holy name.
For you turned our _________________ into ________________.
You lifted us out of _________________________.
You are there when we __________________ you.
You will never __________________ us.
We praise you, O Lord, for you are _________, __________, and __________.

I would like to share with you some of my students’ responses:
We give thanks to you, O Lord, for you are the morning, the evening, and the day.
Who can fully proclaim your might acts, O Lord or fully declare your praise?
You have taken away our fears and made us brave.
We praise you, O Lord.
We sing your holy name.
For you turned our sadness into happiness.
You lifted us out of darkness.
You are there when we need you.
You will never leave us.
We praise you, O Lord, for you are the past, the present, and the future.

Two by two, my students shared Psalms like this with the class.

Imagine my surprise when two of my students began their Psalm in this way:

We give thanks to you, O Lord, for you are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Who can fully proclaim your might acts, O yeah or fully declare your praise?
You have saved and redeemed us.
We love you, O yeah.
We bless your holy name.

My students make me laugh. Oh yeah.