They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow. – Psalm 144:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 20, 2019): Psalm 144

If you live in a colder climate, you know that sometimes breathing is a visible experience. There seems to be a moment every winter, in the bone-numbing cold, where I find myself standing somewhere just breathing and watching the vapor pour out of my mouth and rise into the air. The visible breath does not last long. Even in the coldest of temperatures, in the length of time it takes to draw the cold air back into your lungs, the vapor disappears and is no longer visible. The air in front of your eyes is once again clear and waiting once more to receive your exhale visibly.

David might have known that experience. The city of Jerusalem itself does not usually get cold enough to make breath visible, although it can come close. But David had likely climbed mountains where the temperature does dip far enough to make the breath visible. He had probably stood somewhere and marveled at the vapor that came out of his mouth, drifted upward, and then quickly disappeared. And the poet inside of David saw that this disappearing vapor was an excellent example of the fragile nature of life.

David lived, he reigned over an empire in his days. Israel was feared by her neighbors as long as David was on the throne. I am sure that no one could imagine that one day, Israel could disappear. And yet that is precisely what happened. Israel the strong became Israel the oppressed and then Judah the defeated. There is no doubt that the people in later generations, and maybe even today, longed for another David and another chance to rule on the world stage. But David’s life and kingdom, in spite of all its strength, was nothing more than a vapor.

We are people who often live in the moment. And the reality that exists right now is often the only one that we can imagine ever existing. But this moment is only a vapor, a fleeting breath that you can see for a moment when the weather turns cold, but quickly disappears. Even the most influential people that we know are more fragile than we realize. And our concern should be about what it is that happens next.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 145