Reconciliation.Cafe

Sometimes, while I’m sitting at my keyboard piano, I’ll flip through my Bible, and sing random scriptures. This could seem weird to some people, but I find it so refreshing from time-to-time. I stumbled upon this scripture, and it really stuck out to me. I just began to meditate and sing on it. 

“My soul clings to the dust. Revive me according to Your word!” Psalms‬ ‭119:25‬ ‭TLV‬‬

Just a little context about this chapter in the Book of Psalms. It is the longest chapter in the Bible. The author is unknown. Some say it was David, since he has penned a majority of the Psalms, but some say it is post-exilic, coming from the days of Nehemiah or Ezra. Psalm chapter 119 is written in an “acrostic”pattern. An acrostic is a poem or other composition in which the first letter (or syllable, or word) of each line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. Its 176 verses are divided into 22 stanzas, one for each of the 22 characters that make up the Hebrew alphabet. In the Hebrew text, each of the eight verses of each stanza begins with the same Hebrew letter. One thing that most scholars agree on about this chapter in Psalms is that it was written over a long period of time then compiled together in this order. The verse and subsequent stanza that stuck out is under the heading of “Daleth” or the 4th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So, back to the verse :

“My soul clings to the dust. Revive me according to Your word!” Psalms‬ ‭119:25‬ ‭TLV‬‬

The Hebrew word for dust here is “aphar” meaning “dry earth, dust”. It is the same word used in Genesis 2:7, when God created Adam from the dust. 

“Then Adonai Elohim formed the man out of the dust from the ground and He breathed into his nostrils a breath of life—so the man became a living being.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2:7‬ ‭TLV‬‬

The Hebrew word used here for “word” is “dabar” which is “speech, word” or “the sum of that which is spoken”. The writer is longing for the revival that only the spoken word of God can bring.

To speak something audibly is to exhale in a way that forms words. It requires a breath. A breath is how we were created, and brought to life. (See the above scripture in Genesis.) Since birth, my physical body has been on a journey to return to the dirt in which it was formed. But Holy Spirit inside of me has been calling me homeward to the Heavens. This daily tug-of-war is embodied in Psalm 119:25. The only solution to our “dirt” is being more intentional to the longing of the Spirit inside of us. My soul cries out:

I am part dust. But I am also part breath. When I am holding tight to my humanness, revive me with Your word. Speak to the Spirit in me to come alive. In my time of struggle, it’s the gasp of life-giving fresh air. The revitalization of my priorities here on earth. When I cling to “where I came from”; when I’m holding on to the past, speak to my future. When I am grasping too tightly to things of this world, it’s Your spoken word that makes my spirit stand at attention, releasing the weight and cleaning the dirt from under my fingernails. Just one word, can move mountains, shape terrains, and totally disrupt the eco-system of my body. For while I’m birthed from the dirt, I am made for the sky. Your word, Your breath, Your life; speaks to the heavenly part of my DNA. When my grip on my flesh seems too strong, Your Word speaks to the other part of me; the part that is You.

 So I will seek Your Word, as the only oxygen for my lungs, the only meat for my bones, the only soil to my soul. Only You can take me from sandcastles to soaring. So I choose You. I choose Your Word. I choose Your breath.  

Nearness of You is my only good.