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PSALM 63:1-7 AMPC
O GOD, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is.
So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.
So will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips
When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches.
For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice.
Are you weary? Are you struggling with a tiredness or lassitude where you have no inclination to ‘pull yourself together’ and forge ahead with vigour? If not at this moment you will most assuredly have encountered weariness at some time or another. You are in that dry and dreary land where no water is.
As an artist, I sometimes find myself in such a place; looking for the water of inspiration, and lacking the peace to contemplate, seek and develop ideas — in other words to drink of The Lord’s creative fountain. “So much to do; so little time” is often brought to mind. We are so busy in the day-to-day that the stuff of the Christlife can be pushed aside. And it is not simply in creative pursuits that this is so. We can find ourselves weary from a whole gamut of emotional turmoil. Anxiety and stress often drain our energy faster than we realise.
Webster’s dictionary explains weariness as ‘a complete depletion of energy or strength’. The Bible defines weariness as ‘distress, hardship, toil, labour’ and weary means ‘drought, faint, suffer, thirst’. In a dry and dreary land where no water is. That place is within us, and we can fail to notice that my inner self thirsts for You, Lord.
When we turn to The Lord and give thanks and praise Him, we are restored and refreshed because His lovingkindness is better than life, and joy fills our whole being.
Hebrews 12 gives us this lesson …
As an artist, I sometimes find myself in such a place; looking for the water of inspiration, and lacking the peace to contemplate, seek and develop ideas — in other words to drink of The Lord’s creative fountain. “So much to do; so little time” is often brought to mind. We are so busy in the day-to-day that the stuff of the Christlife can be pushed aside. And it is not simply in creative pursuits that this is so. We can find ourselves weary from a whole gamut of emotional turmoil. Anxiety and stress often drain our energy faster than we realise.
Webster’s dictionary explains weariness as ‘a complete depletion of energy or strength’. The Bible defines weariness as ‘distress, hardship, toil, labour’ and weary means ‘drought, faint, suffer, thirst’. In a dry and dreary land where no water is. That place is within us, and we can fail to notice that my inner self thirsts for You, Lord.
When we turn to The Lord and give thanks and praise Him, we are restored and refreshed because His lovingkindness is better than life, and joy fills our whole being.
Hebrews 12 gives us this lesson …
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; — [see also Job 5:17-22]
For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
HEBREWS 12:3-6
In other words, always look to Jesus Christ, who gave His life that our redemption and restoration is guaranteed. It is another expression of our Heavenly Father’s loving-kindness.
It is difficult to realise that many of life’s difficulties are a test of our mettle — the fiery trial of our faith as Peter called it — however, it is so. But remember also that this test of faith has the glorious consequence of bringing us closer to The LORD. We are brought from a dry and dreary land where no water is to the place Jesus described in John 4…
It is difficult to realise that many of life’s difficulties are a test of our mettle — the fiery trial of our faith as Peter called it — however, it is so. But remember also that this test of faith has the glorious consequence of bringing us closer to The LORD. We are brought from a dry and dreary land where no water is to the place Jesus described in John 4…
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
JOHN 4:13-15
A PRAYER FOR HEALING
A few days ago I came across a small card tucked inside a book, and printed on it was this ‘Prayer for Healing’. I think it must have been given to Gill or myself on one of our occasions at the Irish Christian Community we often visited and indeed lived with for a season. Special people indeed who love the Lord. We felt to share this with you now…
Lord
I ask your favour in a special way today.
I ask the gift of Your healing love.
I do so with confidence, knowing that You love me
and that You want what is for my best.
I do so with trust, knowing that You care for me
more than I care for myself
and that I am precious to You.
I ask You Lord to release me from anything within me
which keeps me from opening my heart, soul, mind and body
to your healing love
In Jesus name.
Amen.
THY LOVINGKINDNESS IS BETTER THAN LIFE — Maranatha Music
A CLOSING WORD from … CARTER CONLON
For our CLOSING WORD this time we recommend the following YouTube video from Carter Conlon, the Overseer of Times Square Church in New York. Entitled ‘Seeing the Reward of the Wicked’ it was broadcast on 18th March 2025. It plays for 53 minutes approximately.
2025-03-18 — SEEING THE REWARD OF THE WICKED — Carter Conlon (Times Square Church)