Psalm 119

My soul clings to the dust;
revive me according to your word.
When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
Put false ways far from me;
and graciously teach me your law.

On first reading, it sounds desperate:

"My soul clings to the dust."

But another reading and consulting the Hebrew suggests something else.

Too often I waste my life on rubbish: On regret, worry, offense, doubt, emotional debris blowing in the wind.

Revive me. It is but one Hebrew word: חָיָה or chayah.

The definition of this single word: to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live for ever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health, to live prosperously, to quicken, revive, refresh.

Help me to let loose of the dust and receive the blessings of this life, O God.


Psalm 119