I stood and took it

Haiku of vindication

The Lord God gave me

a teacher’s tongue, to speak words

to bless the weary.

Every morning

God wakes me, opens my ear

to learn the Lord’s ways.

I obey the Lord,

never turning back, always

looking towards God.

When they struck me, spat

upon me and pulled my beard,

I stood and took it.

The Lord is my strength,

I have set my face like flint,

I will not be shamed.

God vindicates me,

who will accuse me? Come on,

I’m ready for you!

God is my helper.

My accusers are nothing;

like moth-worn garments.

© Ken Rookes 2023

The Vision was Strong

Haiku of rattling bones

The vision was strong.

The valley lay before him,

covered with dry bones.

Ezekiel heard

God speak; Tell me, mortal man;

can these bones yet live?

The prophet demurred,

You alone know these things, Lord.

(A careful answer.)

God said: Prophesy

to these bones. By your command

call them back to life.

The prophet called out;

the bones began to rattle

and come together.

The assembled bones

became covered with flesh, skin;

but were without life.

Prophesy, Prophet,

call up the winds that these slain

might take breath and live.

Ezekiel did

what God ordered. The army

rose and stood before.

Israel’s people

are lifeless bones, without hope,

They have no future.

Speak to them, Prophet;

The Lord will open your graves,

God will bring you back.

God makes a promise;

I will give you my spirit,

I will give you life.

© Ken Rookes 2023

Take your oil and anoint him

Haiku of choosing

Saul was rejected.

God told Samuel, the Judge,

to choose a new king.

Fill your horn with oil,

go to the house of Jesse;

it’s at Bethlehem.

One of Jesse’s sons

is destined to be made king.

I have chosen him.

If Saul hears of it

I’m dead meat! Take a heifer;

make a sacrifice.

The elders come out

from Bethlehem. They’re trembling.

Have you come in peace?

I make sacrifice

to God. Come, join me. You too,

Jesse; and your sons.

The first, Eliab,

came before him. Surely he

is God’s anointed!

But no; for God looks

not upon a man’s stature,

but upon his heart.

In all, seven sons

are brought before Samuel.

Is there another?

The youngest, David,

is with the sheep. Send for him,

we’ll wait ‘til he comes.

The lad was ruddy.

Take your oil and anoint him;

he’s the one, says God.

© Ken Rookes 2023 

Jacob's Well Rap

 

Jacob’s well Rap

It was hot, just south of Sychar, Jesus sat there by a well

One that was dug by Jacob in the stories that they tell.

A woman of Samaria came bearing bucket and a jar,

Jesus was quite thirsty, he had travelled from afar.

He said

It’s really good to see you, I’m so glad that you came by.

Could you please give me some water, I’m tired and I’m dry!

She answered with a question, How come a Jewish man

asks such of a foreign woman? I fail to understand.

He answered, I am come here because God loves you too;

I’ll give you living water, because that’s what I do.

It’s really good to see you, I’m so glad that you came by.

Could you please give me some water, I’m tired and I’m dry!

The Samaritan woman answered, That’s easy for you to say,

but you don’t have a bucket to draw water on this day;

Our father, Jacob, dug this well, two thousand years ago,

are you a better man than he was? Tell me if it’s so.

It’s really good to see you, I’m so glad that you came by.

Could you please give me some water, I’m tired and I’m dry!

Jesus spoke: The water here is good and clear and sweet.

It will quench your thirst, no worries, for an hour or two at least!

But the ones who come to me and drink the water that I give

will never thirst again; yeah, they will truly live!

It’s really good to see you, I’m so glad that you came by.

Could you please give me some water, I’m tired and I’m dry!

The woman grew excited; Give this water now to me!

The Messiah Christ is coming, he’ll make things plain to see.

Said Jesus, (in all modesty), I am the one you’re seeking,

the one who stands before you, the man with whom you’re speaking!

It’s really good to see you, I’m so glad that you came by.

Could you please give me some water, I’m tired and I’m dry!

© Ken Rookes 2023

The italicised part of the chorus can be made as a response.

Underlined for stress to help you find the rhythm. If you find a better rhythm that works for you, that’s fine.

Fur use with children and the young at heart

Come to the water

 

Come to the water

The water, it dances, it gurgles and flows,

it sings alleluia, new life it bestows.

It sweeps over rapids, around unseen bends,

to vistas surprising and landscapes of friends.

This river, it eddies, and catches us all

in long graceful turnings; love’s generous swirl.

This water lives deeply, our thirst, it is quenched;

our bodies are freshened, our souls they are cleansed.

The Spirit is given, she hovers and cries

delights in the dreamings and aches with the sighs.

Give yourself to the water, and hear Jesus' call

to be a disciple, be a servant to all.

Some are wrinkled from birth, some are wrinkled with age;

Hey, come to the water; whatever your stage!

Drink freely, my sister, my brother, my friend;

drink deep from the fountain, receive grace without end.

The water is justice, the water is peace;

it saturates living, its strivings won’t cease

Let none withhold water, the Spirit commands;

as we join in one body to fulfil love’s demands

© 2023 Ken Rookes

Can be sung to the well-known tune St Denio,

Together in Song 143, AHB 80

I have made few adjustments to this hymn, first published in 2016.
The theme of water is strong in this week’s bible readings, especially in the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.
I initially wrote it for a baptism, but adjusted it for more general use.

Complaining place

Haiku for the thirsty

Water; essential

for all creatures, without it

there can be no life.

Understandably

they thirsted, craving water;

I would complain, too.

In the wilderness

with no river, pool, or spring;

what was he thinking!

How about it, Mo?

Did you bring us here to die,

along with our kids?

Where’s your God, Moses?

It’s getting hard to believe

when our throats are parched!

Okay God, your turn!

They are ready to stone me;

what am I to do?

Take your staff, Moses,

stand at the rock of Horeb,

I’ll give you water!

Moses struck the rock,

water gushed out. He called it,

Place of Complaining.

© Ken Rookes 2023