Better than dust...

I love reading Psalms.

This morning it was Psalm 30, David's psalm to dedicate the temple. Which, interestingly, doesn't really say much about the temple at all. Hmm. Anyway, it's basically just David singing thanksgiving to God, for his repeated care and deliverance over David's lifetime. He recalls a circumstance in which he was desperate, and during which he cried to the Lord...

"To you, O LORD, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
'What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?' "

What I love about psalms is, it's easy to get into the heart of the psalmist. As David praises God for all these things, it's natural that I look back on my life and see how the Lord has provided for me and delivered me. And that's no short list.

But I want to have the heart of the psalmist in this short passage, too. David here isn't just asking the Lord to rescue him merely so he can have more days on this earth. He's pleading for rescue so his continued life can be a vehicle of praise for the Lord, of telling of his faithfulness.

And so this morning, I'm reminded that I want my life to be better than dust. I want to use my days as a way to proclaim God's greatness and declare his faithfulness.

That's a sobering challenge to a woman who slips very easily lately into focusing on herself.