Mere Breath
“LORD, make me to know my end,
And what is the extent of my days;
Let me know how transient I am.
Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight;
Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.
Surely every man walks about as a phantom;
Surely they make an uproar for nothing;
He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.
And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Make me not the reproach of the foolish."
-Psalm 39:4-8
Transient. Handbreadths. Nothing. Mere breath. A phantom.
In vain I amass wealth, and acclaim, and power – and yet it will all be taken from me, in a short number of days… and I can’t even control to whom it will go. Generation after generation strives after earthly reward – and generation after generation vanishes into the void of history.
This will all decay. This will all burn. This will all be given to another. Nothing is mine. Ownership is a deception. All is borrowed. All on loan. Nothing is built to last. My father will die. I will die. Jonah will die. Do not invest in this side of eternity. None will remember. None will care.
