Giver of Life

"Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live...give me life according to your word! ...give me life in your ways. ...in your righteousness give me life! ...your promise gives me life. ...Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; ...In your steadfast love give me life...by [your precepts] you have given me life. ...give me life, O Lord, according to your word! ...Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live...give me understanding that I may live. ...O Lord, according to your justice give me life. ...give me life according to your rules. ...Give me life according to your steadfast love. ...Let my soul live and praise you..." (fifteen verses from Psalm 119)

Like everyone who has ever lived,
I want to live.
And not just live (survive, keep breathing)
but truly LIVE--
the abundant life You promise.

I know as surely as the air in my lungs
that You are the Giver of Life:
breath, food, water, working organs;
that You sustain life,
determine the quantity of my days.
Yet in my foolishness I look elsewhere
for the quality of my days,
forgetting that You are not simply Giver of Life,
but Giver of LIFE--
that You came to give me full, abundant LIFE.

I believe the seductive, age-old whisper
that LIFE is found in a bite:
the satisfying crunch of success,
the juicy sweetness of companionship,
the fullness of my belly.

I survive.

In Your mercy You bring to remembrance
that only He who makes the promise
can keep it.
You promised me LIFE,
and in Your Word I find it--
find You, Giver of LIFE.

“He’ll give you what you need to live on if you need him in order to live.”
(David Powlison, Seeing with New Eyes)