Drawing from the well

July 18, 2022 0 0

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Psalm 77: 1-20 (NRSVA)

1 I cry aloud to God,
    aloud to God, that he may hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
    my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 I think of God, and I moan;
    I meditate, and my spirit faints.Selah

4 You keep my eyelids from closing;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old,
    and remember the years of long ago.
6 I commune with my heart in the night;
    I meditate and search my spirit:
7 ‘Will the Lord spurn for ever,
    and never again be favourable?
8 Has his steadfast love ceased for ever?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?’Selah
10 And I say, ‘It is my grief
    that the right hand of the Most High has changed.’

11 I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
    I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will meditate on all your work,
    and muse on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is so great as our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
    you have displayed your might among the peoples.
15 With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.Selah

16 When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    the very deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
    the skies thundered;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea,
    your path, through the mighty waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

I’m struggling, God.
I’ve put in my training
the good runs and the bad
the soaked to the skin days
the roasting in the heat ones
the heavy-legged wading through treacle
or flying as if on winged shoes.

Sometimes I wonder why I do this
why I punish my body
when I could curl up at home
with a good book.

But then I think back
to those feelings
of crossing the finish line
with jubilation and relief;
of peace and tranquility 
in the midst of a training session.
Of the sense of ‘me time’
or ‘You time’
and praying for those residents whose houses I run past.
I remember the days
when I didn’t think I could finish
but you knew
you were there
and somehow I did.

It’s more than a positive mental attitude
or a growth mindset.
Though I know 
that those who say ‘I can’t do it’
and those who say ‘I can do it’
are generally both proved right.

It’s realising that
the hard times aren’t as hard with you
and aren’t as hard the next time
And slowly
little by little
I grow 
and develop
into someone
who remembers my training
remembers your faithfulness
draws from the well
and keeps going
in the strength of your mighty arm
the right hand of the Most High

For our July theme In Good Time we are revisiting past weeks of Daily Worship. Our writers this month are taking us back in time as we meditate on time itself! The piece above originally came from 2019.