Dave's Diary

Daily Reading: Psalm 104:27-35

“I will sing to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” (v.33)

It is absolutely fitting that every human being should promise: “I will sing praise to my God as long as I live”, because our lives are gifts from God. Every beat of our hearts and every breath we take are precious gifts of God’s grace which we have done nothing to deserve. As the Psalmist said in v.30

“When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.”

I suspect we would live our lives significantly differently if we were in fact consciously aware of each breath coming into or lungs from God as a gift. We would recognise more readily that every moment is meant be lived to the pleasure and praise of God. Each of those breaths God breathes into us would be used to express praise and thanks to God as it exited our lungs again.

While we are highly unlikely to remain consciously attentive to this truth every single waking second of our day, it remains right and fitting that every thought, word and action of our everyday lives should somehow bring honour, praise and glory to God. Because, of course, it is not only about the words and sounds we use the breath in our lungs to express. It is about the “song” our life sings in other ways too. Yes, our mouths should declare God’s praises, but so should our lifestyles, our interactions with others, our daily decisions and even our inner thought life.

Heavenly Father, every breath in my lungs comes from You. Every heartbeat is Your love-gift to me. Empower me, Holy Spirit, to use every breath, heartbeat and moment of my life to offer praise, thanks and glory to the One from whom these gifts come. Amen.