The Holy Breath

Psalm 119: 33-40 ה He 33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. 34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. 35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. 36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. 37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. 38 Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear. 39 Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good. 40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.

The letter He in the Hebrew Alphabet makes the sound of a breath, and represents the breath of God bringing the world to life. The letter He is also within the Hebrew name of God, יהוה (YHWH), encapsulating this truth that God’s breath is in and through all creation. God spoke the world into existence, and through His breath all existence is sustained.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God SAID, Let there be light…”

We can observe this pattern of God speaking into existence throughout the entire first chapter of Genesis. He spoke creation then, and He continues to speak creation now through His Church. God’s power is made manifest through word and speech, and speech is made manifest through breath. You cannot speak without breath. Further, when God breathed life into Adam, He gave a part of himself for Him. Life from Life. The letter He captures this nature; giving of the self, unto others.

Now, let us look at the Hebrew word for spirit, “ruach”. This word means breath and wind, and specifically and intentionally refers to the action of breathing. So when we say the Holy Spirit, one of the trinity of the God Head, we are saying Holy Breath/Wind. The Holy Spirit (Ruach) is breathing God’s life into us, or more specifically, God’s breath is His own entity and He is the Breath of Life leading into salvation.

“Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleans you. A new heart also I will give you, and I a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

The new spirit is the Holy Spirit, or Holy Breath, and through that Holy Breath he will breath life into us. As a result we will naturally “keep” or know His judgements, and then do them. We will become the vessel of the Lord’s Spirit and life giving breath. Not of our strength, but of His power to revive what is dead.

We can observe this same flow throughout our section of Psalm 119 this week. So then, what is the negative that the psalmist is asking of God to cure them of with His life giving Breath? They ask God to relieve them of “covetousness”, and from their “eyes beholding vanity”, and rather requests, that God will “quicken” them in His way. The word “quicken” here has the meaning of reviving, returning to life. The Psalmist is asking for God to breath life into them, as a direct assault against covetousness and the beholding of vanity.

Covetousness, can be broken down simply as wanting something that is not yours to have, or wanting something that God has not given you. In a sense, it is discontentment, or ingratitude, or an inability to focus on being grateful for what you do have and intensely focusing on obtaining what you don’t have. This attitude unavoidably expresses a deep rooted distrust in God’s plans and provisions, and ultimately leads to a separation from God, not because God leaves a person, but because a person leaves God. They fail to receive because they are too busy taking to wait. They fail to hear, because they don’t like the answers. They fail to appreciate because they are too busy longing for more. This sets us in a direction that is diametrically opposed to everything that helps us grow closer to God and in our faith in Him. This is also why it is the root broken down for us in what we identify as the 10 commandments given to Isreal, because it is the provoking cause of many of the preceding commandments.

17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. (Exodus 20:17)

“Beholding vanity” has a bit of a different flavour than covetousness, however it is another evil that firmly plants itself between us and God. Vanity can be some what complex to breakdown, but it can be described more simply as an intense focus on building your own image and kingdom rather than God’s. Promoting the importance of yourself above others. Loving oneself more than others. Pride and vanity go hand and hand, and we know the Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. When we succumb to vanity and pride, we ask for God to set his face against us. Notice here though, the psalmist doesn't just say vanity, they say "beholding vanity", admiring vanity or valuing it. This isn't just fighting against vanity within ourselves and our own image, but it is refraining from enjoying vanity in others also. It is refraining from feeding or admiring vanity in the world around us. This can be applicable to so many things, but no doubt we are surrounding in this world by people celebrating vanity. May we, as the church, not be one of those who do

“Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” (1Peter 5:5)

Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us be like the psalmist; humbling ourselves and asking for God to revive us with His Holy Wind.

Psalm 23 Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.