A leadership reflection from Psalm 26

Feeling Drained in Ministry?

I’m writing this on Saturday evening, ahead of my final pray and read-through for tomorrow’s sermon, and this is often when I feel most drained and running on empty. When is it for you?

For some, it’s Monday morning after a full Sunday. For others, it’s midweek when the weight of people, problems, and pressure all seem to land at once. You’re still showing up, leading, doing what needs to be done, but something underneath feels like you’re depleted. Not always in a dramatic way, but the energy isn’t what it was and the clarity takes more effort to find.

The truth is, that doesn’t always come from doing the wrong things. Often it comes from doing the right things for too long without renewal when the issue isn’t just your external workload. It’s your internal life. That’s why the language of restoration matters so much, which we are exploring all year together at Ivy Church, and it’s why Psalm 26 spoke so directly for me recently into leadership under pressure.

Restoration Begins With Returning, Not Striving

When I feel like this, the instinct is usually to push harder or tweak something practical. Adjust the diary, improve the system, fix what’s not working. Some of that may help, but it doesn’t touches the root.

I need now to hear afresh the great invitation, before I do anything more for Him, I must come back to Him. Jesus says, “Come to me… and I will give you rest”. That rest isn’t just stopping for a coffee. It’s renewal of the soul and spirit, where your true leadership actually flows from. It’s not something you achieve, but something you receive, when restoration begins.

A New Song, Not a Better Version of the Old One

I love to listen to music and when I’m feeling drained I will often try to perk myself up and put a record on my stereo (yes, vinyl, old school), but really what I need is for God to change my tune. When I put a worship track on rather than my favourite 80s album that’s when before long I find He puts a new song in my mouth. Restoration moves to refreshing – not a refined version of what was already there, not just improved habits layered on top of tiredness, but something altogether new from the Holy Spirit.

For way too long I was one of those leaders trying to solve internal depletion with external adjustment, but when the centre of me is tired, no amount of strategy will sustain you for long. Restoration has to go deeper than that – and give me back that responsive heart of flesh.

What Psalm 26 Shows Us in Real Time

Psalm 26 was not written in an easy season. We don’t know the detail but it comes out of pressure – misunderstanding, accusation, relational strain. Take a moment now to read the whole Psalm here then come back: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+26&version=NIVUK

I think David starts out angry – rehearsing what’s gone wrong (with everyone else) and why he’s right. Classic defensive church leadership mindset that gets you nowhere fast! For more on this, click here.

What stands out for me reading on is not that David’s situation improves, but that his posture shifts. He opens his frustrated life fully to God, inviting examination rather than avoiding it. That kind of honesty is where restoration always starts, because you can’t restore what you are still trying to protect or hide.

From there, he anchors himself in something far more stable than his circumstances: “I have always been mindful of your unfailing love”. That’s not a modern day mindfulness technique – it’s a refocus on the hesed, the loyal, covenant love of God that doesn’t fluctuate with pressure or performance.

That now shapes his choices. He becomes more aware of what is forming him, those external critics get quieter as they resonate within him – He’s more intentional about the voice that will influence him most and who he will and will not allows to define his direction – because who and what you ‘sit’ with shapes who you become.

Then in the middle of all that pressure, he says, “I proclaim aloud your praise…” A new song! Not ‘Nobody likes me, I’m unappreciated, it’s not fair…’ The situation hasn’t changed, but the life song, the sound of his life has. That’s one of the clearest signs of restoration – not that everything around you is different, but that something within you is.

A Steadier Centre for Leadership

People we lead don’t just respond to what we do, they respond to what we carry. Your tone, your presence, your reactions under pressure all set the direction for those you lead and that flows from whatever sits at the centre of your life. Others hear the song your life is singing.

That doesn’t mean we sing it for them – if we live and lead for approval, cheers and jeers will drive decisions in ways you don’t always see at first but will before long. But when the Lord’s restoration takes place, something less wobbly begins to emerge, and you can sing, as David does, “My feet stand on level ground…”

Why Jesus Changes Everything

David writes with confidence in God’s character, but as New Testament believers we stand on something even clearer.

Jesus didn’t simply point to restoration; He made it possible. Through a sinless life, a sacrificial death, and a resurrection that defeated sin and death, He opened the way for imperfect people like us to be restored fully to God. As Scripture says, “The just for the unjust, to bring us to God” So again, restoration isn’t something you have to manufacture – it’s something you receive and return to, again and again, by coming back to the One who knows us better than anyone, and loves us just the same.

So if you’re feeling drained in ministry (or next time), the most important question may not be what needs to change around you, but what needs to be restored within you. Because whatever sits at the centre of your life will shape the way you lead, and when God restores you, that centre changes. Not through effort or pressure, but through grace.

Invitation

If you’re a church leader navigating pressure, growth, or transition right now, remember – don’t start by adding more. Start by returning. Jesus still says, “Come to me…” That’s where restoration begins.

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If You’re Feeling Drained, Don’t Carry It Alone!

If you’re a church leader feeling drained, navigating pressure, growth, or transition, you don’t need to figure this out on your own. Most of the challenges we face in leadership aren’t solved in isolation, and they’re rarely solved by simply working harder.

That’s one of the reasons we’ve created various ministries through Launch Catalyst – to help leaders build healthy churches, develop sustainable leadership, and stay rooted in what really matters over the long term. It’s not about adding more noise, but creating space for clarity, conviction, and genuine renewal.

If this resonates with where you are right now, you can find out more and connect with us for coaching as well as conferences here:
https://www.launchcatalyst.org

And if you’d like more content like this – reflections that help you lead with strength and stay anchored spiritually – you can subscribe and stay connected here:
https://www.anthonydelaney.com

You don’t need more pressure. You need friends on mission and the right foundation. That’s where restoration begins.