Praying the Breath of God

The last stanza of Psalms one hundred and fifty in the Old Testament concludes with these words. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”

It is the sixth verse finalizing a description of man’s worship carried out in the sanctuary and His mighty heavens. The praise is responding to God’s power and surpassing greatness. The outward manifestation of the inward blessing is done with the sounding of the trumpet, with the harp and lyre, tambourine and dancing, with the strings and flute and ending with the clash of cymbals and resounding cymbals.

It is also good to note the living, and non-living of the Creation give praise and glory to the be-all and end-all of the heavens and the earth. The Messiah entering the city of Jerusalem is challenged to quiet his disciples, and he proclaims in Luke chapter nineteen, “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Richard Rohr shares a rabbi friend taught him we praise God with every breath of life. In Jewish tradition, you were never to speak the name of God. It was blasphemy for a created man to know and understand the Creator and speak His Name. In reverence, the vowels were never spoken. The written consonants of Yahweh (JH-VH) sounded like our breath. In pronouncing it, you were not to close your lips or use the tongue in proclaiming it. In every breath we take, we breathe the name of God. It sounds on the inhale and exhale of breath. On the inhale, the “YAH” is sounded and on the exhale sounds the “WEH.”

With every breath, you praise the name of God. All living creatures who have ever lived praise His Name. So relax and pray in the name of God with every breath you take in life. (Inhale-YAH, Exhale-WEH) God is as close as your breath. God is your breath. YAH-WEH is your life.

Scripture:

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke19:40 NIV

Image via Pixabay by Echoyan

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