{"id":1576,"date":"2006-11-21T02:10:13","date_gmt":"2006-11-21T02:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2006\/11\/give-me-life.html"},"modified":"2006-11-21T02:10:13","modified_gmt":"2006-11-21T02:10:13","slug":"give-me-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2006\/11\/give-me-life.html","title":{"rendered":"Give me life!"},"content":{"rendered":"

At times the psalmist of 119 expresses his pain. In v. 25 he asserts that his soul clings to the dust. In vs. 28 he claims that he is “racked with grief.” Of course, we don’t know why he says these things. Is this a prayer after falling into sin? Is he opposed? What has happened to him? Is “he” a “him” or not? (Probably so.) I envision the psalmist prostrate on the ground. Somehow this person has been humiliated. What’s the hope?
\nThat God would “quicken” him (piel of chayah<\/em>).
\nThat God would “sustain” him (piel of qum<\/em>).
\nImportantly, his resolution is that he can be restored to life and sustenance by the “word” of God. If he thinking of “scripture,” he is contemplating spending time listening to God as he reads and meditates; he could be thinking of “word” as memorized utterances he has learned, but it is probably the first.
\nThe Word, the written Word, as God’s communication with us, as God showing the divine face and gazing at us so we can turn to face God back, is a restoring, healing, life-bringing communication. Why? Because words convey God’s grace to us; they convey God’s rebuke; they convey God’s restoration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At times the psalmist of 119 expresses his pain. In v. 25 he asserts that his soul clings to the dust. In vs. 28 he claims that he is “racked with grief.” Of course, we don’t know why he says these things. Is this a prayer after falling into sin? Is he opposed? What has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psalm-119"],"yoast_head":"\nGive me life! - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2006\/11\/give-me-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Give me life! - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At times the psalmist of 119 expresses his pain. In v. 25 he asserts that his soul clings to the dust. 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