When Breath Speaks
Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! Psalm 116:2 NLT
The Psalmist cried out honestly in Psalm 116 when he was afflicted and in distress. The cords of death had wrapped around his soul, and his eyes overflowed with tears. In this state of anguish, he was resolute that he would continue to pray. Why? Because he understood the nearness of God who bends down to listen to our faintest cry. And when words are not enough to express our sorrow, our very breath speaks. I encourage you to cry out to God as long as you live. He is compassionately devoted to you as, he bends down to listen to every prayer breathed from your heart.
The song below has helped me during such times, so I wanted to share it with you. Please listen and relax. Close your eyes and slowly breathe…
The Lord is closer than your every breath
“1I love the LORD, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4Then I called on the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6The LORD preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
8For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
9I will walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
10I believed, even whena I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11I said in my alarm,
“All mankind are liars.”
12What shall I render to the LORD
for all his benefits to me?
13I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD,
14I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.
15Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints.
16O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
17I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.
18I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
19in the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD!”