# The breath of God Day 2 ### Opening Prayer: *O Loving God, who breathed me into being, breathe your Divine Breath in me again this day—that I might be filled with your life and guided by the winds of your Spirit. For the sake of your Son. Amen. (JLB)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 104 #### O Lord My God, You Are Very Great *104 Bless the Lord, O my soul!O Lord my God, you are very great!You are clothed with splendor and majesty,2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,stretching out the heavens like a tent.3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;he makes the clouds his chariot;he rides on the wings of the wind;4 he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.* *5 He set the earth on its foundations,so that it should never be moved.6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.7 At your rebuke they fled;at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.* *10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills;11 they give drink to every beast of the field;the wild donkeys quench their thirst.12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;they sing among the branches.13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.* *14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate,that he may bring forth food from the earth15 and wine to gladden the heart of man,oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart.* *16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.17 In them the birds build their nests;the stork has her home in the fir trees.18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.* *19 He made the moon to mark the seasons;[a] the sun knows its time for setting.20 You make darkness, and it is night,when all the beasts of the forest creep about.21 The young lions roar for their prey,seeking their food from God.22 When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens.23 Man goes out to his workand to his labor until the evening.* *24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.25 Here is the sea, great and wide,which teems with creatures innumerable,living things both small and great.26 There go the ships,and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.[b]27 These all look to you,to give them their food in due season.* *28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.30 When you send forth your Spirit,[c] they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.* *31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works,32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,who touches the mountains and they smoke!33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;I will sing praise to my God while I have being.34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more!Bless the Lord, O my soul!Praise the Lord!* #### The Lord's Faithless Bride *16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.* *6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.* *8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.[a] 11 And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.* #### Scripture for the Day: Ezekiel 37:1-14 #### The Valley of Dry Bones *37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;[a] it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath[b] to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”* *7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling,[c] and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.* *11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”* #### Reading for Reflection: *When ancient man confronted the mystery of death, which is also the mystery of life—when he looked at the body of a dead man and compared it with himself as a living man and wondered at what terrible change had come over it—one of the first things that struck him apparently was that whereas he himself, the living man, breathed, the dead man did not breathe. There was no movement in his chest. A feather held to his lips remained unstirred. So to be dead meant to have no breath, and to be alive—to have the power to rise up and run and shout in the world—meant to have breath. And the conclusion, of course, was that breath was not just the little wisps of air that men breath in and out, but that it is the very animating power of life itself. Breath is the livingness of those who are alive. This is why in so many languages the word for breath comes to mean not only the air that fills the lungs but the Mystery and power of life itself that fills a living man. Such is the Latin word spiritus, from which our word spirit comes. (The Magnificent Defeat by Frederick Buechner)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Wind of God *Spirit, come, like a mighty wind;* *Raise these bones back to life again.* *Lift us up from this desert land;* *Breathe upon us and we will stand.* *Come and blow, Wind of God;* *Blow, Wind of God* *Lead us out of our wilderness;* *Be our Savior, our hope, and rest.* *All our idols have turned to dust;* *You alone can deliver us.* *Wind of God, come and blow;* *Holy Spirit, let your power flow.* *Stir our hearts, Breath of Life;* *Speak your Word, and we will rise.* *Come, revive, come, restore;* *We can't live without you, Lord.* *Come and blow, come and blow,* *Wind of God* ### Closing Prayer: *Father, you alone know what lies before me this day, grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to you. Let me today embark on no undertaking that is not in line with your will for my life, nor shrink from any sacrifice which your will may demand. Suggest, direct, control every movement of my mind; for my Lord Christ’s sake. Amen. (A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie)*