God's breath in us
If I asked you to visualise your soul, what do you imagine?
The Hebrew word for “soul” is “nephesh” and it also means “breath” and “throat” because your breath and food comes through your throat to keep you alive. Cut your throat and you die!
No wifty-wafty ideas of soul from Greek philosophy here! In Genesis 2:7, God breathes life into humanity and that’s how Adam becomes a living soul, a living “nephesh”. The biblical soul is a physical, breathing, eating one. It’s who you are. That’s why the Old Testament word for murderer is nephesh-killer. That’s why when I say, “Bless the Lord O my soul”, it is the same as saying, “All that I am, bless the Lord!” (Psalm 103).
I love this reminder – when I praise God, it’s with the breath that God first gave to me. Gloriously, Jesus breathes the breath of his Spirit into us (John 20.22). Watch the wind whirling the auburn leaves on a wild autumn day and remember where your breath comes from and where it is heading. We do not pray and worship alone but through God’s breath in us. As George Herbert so beautifully puts it, prayer is “God’s breath in man returning to his birth”.
God’s breath is in our physical bodies. We live in a strangely disembodied age; ever-increasing interactions are via our screens. Yesterday, I met an elderly lady at my doctor’s surgery who has come solely to ask the receptionist to make her an appointment - she couldn’t manage the online process. She wanted a real living person. I am all for the benefits of tech, after all, the internet will carry these thoughts to you, but oh, it is good to know that our physical selves matter. Your breath matters to God.
So breathe! It is foolishly negligent but it is possible to forget to breathe. There is a condition called screen apnoea where you concentrate so hard on what you are looking at that you end up holding your breath. We can spiritually do that.
The Psalmist urges us to take a breath and praise God with it. Worship isn’t supposed to be just cerebral; when we sing our praise and speak out our prayer, it engages our physical selves. Apparently, when we sing, it makes right-left brain connections which anchor knowledge deep within. That’s why it’s easier to memorise Scripture in song. Singing engages the core of who we are.
A while ago, I wrote on David singing, “Awake my soul – awaken the dawn! (Psalm 57:8). It has lingered with me – this call to address our souls, to wake them up to breathe and worship. It’s a God-given way to awaken the dawn in a dark world. If you’re in darkness today, wake up your soul.
I was ministering at a prison last week with a worship team from our church. Some there struggle to read and so the best songs to use are call and response ones. At the end, we finished with a song that wonderfully turned into dancing - awakening a sunrise of hope in dark prison walls.
Father, we give the breath you have given us back to you. Awaken our souls to awaken the dawn today.
