A Psalm for Sunday: Praise to the Lord who Listens...

This has been a tough week. It began with my birthday but any celebrations were somewhat subdued because I awoke to the news that one of my brothers had been taken in for radical surgery. He then went to ICU where he has been all week. I and all the family are so grateful for the excellent care he has been receiving, from the surgeons, the ICU consultants and nurses, the physios and the whole team. Our NHS is amazing. The picture was fairly bleak at first, and whilst things are somewhat better now he is still not "out of the woods." But it was interesting that material I had already prepared for worship and other prayers and pieces of scripture that I read, some of which I have posted here, have been remarkably apposite for all that I and the rest of the family have been going through. For various reasons we have been very coy about making any details public and even now I don't want to go into details, but prayers have been and continue to be valued.

But again, in preparing for worship tomorrow, the words of the Psalm I have previously prepared to use as a call to worship as we continue our "Journey with Jonah" at Belfast South Methodist, are so appropriate:

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he looked my way and listened to my cry.
He lifted me out of the deep dark pit,

out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on solid rock

so I can stand without slipping.
He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and be astounded by the Lord

and commit themselves totally to him.

Psalm 40:1-3

Selah

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