A story I’ve heard a thousand times: that you came
To Earth to live in the dust, to surrender to death, to
Cover this creation with your Grace and Saving Truth.
Oh LORD, this too-familiar Story made fresh by the
Reminder that You are mindful of us.

This mindfulness I cannot understand in my own
Finiteness. My inability to juggle daily demands,
My forgetfulness of what really matters, my self-
Seeking and self-absorbtion renders me stuck in
A shallow pool of dissatisfaction and angst.

Then your Word tells me that “You will destroy all
The adversaries of my soul for I am your servant”.
I am your servant. You keep this dusty, self-filled
Frame around to do your work in my wholly inadequate
Ways. And you wage war against my enemies.

You guide this fear-filled little heart to places
that demand courage; to mountain summits that
remind me that life is lived in the valley.
“When my spirit faints within me, You know my way!”
You are God-with-us, in steep paths upward and journeys down.

Oh LORD, continue to fill this shaky soul with the
Joy of this familiar story; that the Babe come to earth
Is the Soon-Coming King whose enemies faint when
He shakes His mane; Who will by His Breath
Raise this failing, frail body to Life.

Psalm 143:12
Psalm 142:3