The plea has been scattered 6 times thus far throughout Psalm 119. But in the eight verses I’m hovering over this morning it is repeated three times. Chewing on the songwriters concentrated request to “give me life.”

Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to Your promise!
Great is Your mercy, O LORD; give me life according to Your rules.
Consider how I love Your precepts! Give me life according to Your steadfast love.

(Psalm 119:154, 156, 159 ESV)

Given life almost 64 years ago on the day I was born. Given new life about 45 years ago when Jesus responded to the feeble prayer of a seeker in darkness who was beginning to see the light. And still, the repeated plea to “give me life” seems more needed today than ever.

Not that I need to be birthed again — impossible. Not that I need to be born again again — that’s a done deal for eternity. But that, as the NKJV puts it, I need to be revived.

Weariness needs to give way to wakefulness. That which binds needs to be broken. The sense of being harassed and oppressed replaced with a song of hope and optimism. (Sure, the blues are just smart thinking if everyone and everything seems against you, but if God is for us, really who can be against us!)

Give me life. Bring refreshing. Revive us again!

And within this triumvirate plea is a wonderful equation, a connecting of the dots tying God’s word to God’s love.

If A=B and A=C and A=D
then
B=C=D

so

If LIFE is according to GOD’s PROMISE and
LIFE is according to GOD’s RULES and
LIFE is according to GOD’S STEADFAST LOVE
then
GOD’s PROMISE
is integrally connected to
GOD’s RULES
is integrally connected to
GOD’s STEADFAST LOVE.

Life, revival, renewed vigor is found in God’s word, according to God’s ways, fueled by God’s promises, as a reminder of God’s unfailing love.

Life sourced in the Son. Life infused by the Spirit. We flourish when we feed on God’s word.

So, when the weight is weighty and the get-up-and-go seems to have got-up-and-gone, we remain in God’s word. Reminded of God’s promises. Rejuvenated by God’s ways. Revived and refreshed through God’s steadfast love.

Only by God’s grace. Always for God’s glory.