by Carolyn Miller @CarolynMAuthor
Recently I
was reading through Psalm 45 when I noticed the last phrase of verse 1:
“My heart
is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” (NKJV)
A ready writer.
Those last three words might vary from my particular version – perhaps your Bible says a ‘skilful writer’ or something similar, but the ‘ready’ aspect really struck me, with its sense of preparedness, of letting nothing slip. Matthew Henry’s commentary says of this particular psalm “The song was a confession with the mouth of faith in the heart concerning Christ and his church…of that Spirit of prophecy that dictated the psalm to David, that Spirit of Christ which was in the prophets.”
The poets
in biblical times had to be prepared, ready for when a moody king (ahem, Saul)
might want a song or a poem outlining their greatness, or when a more
God-focused king might want a faith-building reminder of God’s accomplishments
in the past. I imagine that much of their time would have been spent in
contemplating such things, spending time in prayer and God’s presence to hear
His heart, spending time in ancient manuscripts to remind themselves of the
past, and then carefully crafting their words to best reflect God’s truth for
today. All of these elements would have served to build within a plethora of
praiseworthy phrases and words ready for when the king might need a song of
encouragement and demand something immediately – with threats of imprisonment (or
worse!) should such a request not be fulfilled.
Chances are
we won’t be required to produce a psalm-like hymn to an insecure authority
figure in our life (or maybe we will…), but I like to think that we are ready
writers in the sense of being prepared, of knowing our subject matter to a
degree that means our words can flow rather than be stilted and halting, that
we can trust God and the leading of the Holy Spirit as we begin our times of
writing in prayer.
So how can we be a ready writer?
· Being a ready writer might mean
taking care to record those snippets of dialogue that come to us in the middle
of the night, necessitating pen and paper by the bed, or a smartphone or voice recorder that can
record those phrases of gold that tumble from our mouths as a song inspires us
to find exactly the right words as we drive or we’re on a walk.
· Being a ready writer might mean
taking this writing journey seriously so we carve out space in our houses so we
can easily create, rather than treating our writing as an afterthought, hidden
under layers of papers and bills and the stress of modern life.
· Being a ready writer might mean
committing time each week to doing exactly that: writing, even without a
deadline approaching.
· Being a ready writer might mean
preparing to invest in quality resources and materials, and attending writer’s
conferences and online writing seminars.
· Being a ready writer is about
allowing God to speak to us, taking time to hear His voice, so our words can be
moulded by the King of King for His use.
I’m trying
to be a ready writer, and I’m sure you are, too.
What are your tips for being a ready writer?
Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New
South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. Together with her husband she has
pastored a church for ten years, and worked part-time as a public high school
English and Learning and Support teacher.
A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen and
Georgette Heyer’s Regency era, Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and
loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace
in our lives. Her Regency novels include The Elusive Miss Ellison, The
Captivating Lady Charlotte, The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey, and Winning Miss Winthrop, all available
from Amazon, Book Depository, Koorong, etc
