The Gift of Life

“I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.” (Ps 102:24 AV)

According to the previous verse, the writer states God weakened his strength and shortened his days.  Then we see this prayer.  We don’t know who the writer is nor the specific circumstances of this writing.  The title of the psalm is, “A prayer of the afflicited, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD.”  It appears the LORD allowed some set of circumstances, perhaps disease, that had the potential of cutting off the writer's life before he was prepared to go.  The psalmist, in the midst of an overwhelming situation, felt his life may end before he desired it to, so he seeks more time from the LORD.  Matthew Barnes writes, “The psalmist appeals to what God himself enjoyed - as a reason why life - so great a blessing - should be granted to him a little longer. By all that there was of blessedness in the life of God, the psalmist prays that that which was in itself - even in the case of God - so valuable, might yet a little longer be continued to “him.”  In reflection, Job felt just the opposite.  He saw no reason to continue and asked the LORD to take his life.  This writer, knowing of the blessedness and gift that of life which the LORD had given, asks it be prolonged that he might enjoy the gift a bit longer.

Life is a precious gift given directly from the hand of God.  Each individual is unique.  There has been, nor ever will be, someone identical to another.  The mathematical probability that you are who you are is one in one quadrillion.  Imagine that!  To give you an idea of how unique the individual is, if you laid down dollar bills over the entire land area of the United States, that would be approximately one quadrillion dollar bills.  If I asked you to find one specific dollar bill, perhaps with a  specific serial number, you couldn’t do that in ten lifetimes.  Not without help, anyway.  The chance that two of those bills would be identical in every way (serial number, ink patterns, wear and tear, etc) is virtually impossible.  That is how unique the human individual is.  When the LORD created you and me, he created no one else like us.  We are unique.  On that fact alone, we can concur that life is a gift.  The uniqueness of it is a testament to its value.  Why would we want it to end before its time?

We are faced with difficult times.  Between 2001 and 2017, suicides have risen 33%.  One of the major concerns regarding our present pandemic is the rise in suicides.  Under normal conditions, suicide is the tenth leading cause of death.  In 2017 alone, there were more suicides than there were homicides.  That is startling.  Now, faced with the probability of financial collapse and other disasters, suicide will surely spike.  Those inflicted with the virus may also despair of life.  What we cannot do is consider life as a gift only when things are going well.  This is what the writer is trying to share.  It appears by his comments in the previous verse, whatever illness or trouble from what he was suffering meant a shortened lifespan.  At least that was his opinion.  Rather than succumb to a certain end, he desires the LORD to extend his days.  He wishes to live as much as he possibly can no matter the conditions.  This is an attitude which we need to emulate.  Unless we see life as a gift, no matter the quality, we cannot share this writer’s heart.  I am aware you may assume this is easy for me to say.  But there was a time I too despaired of life.  A dark time of life.  A time which I prayed the LORD was done with me and would call me home.  I understand.  Life is a gift.  We should treasure it no matter how hard it might be.  To do otherwise is to insult the giver of that gift.