My Soul

“My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.” (Psalm 119:109)

“My soul is continually in my hand” is believed to be a Hebraism signifying a state of most extreme peril. This would be keeping in context with the rest of the psalm, although Augustine wasn’t quite sure what to make of the phrase.

But I rather think, especially when you take it as a stand-alone verse, that this has nothing to do with external dangers, but rather something much worse, the dangers from within. Self is our greatest threat.

God has us in His hands. But we have our soul in ours. What are we doing with it? Are we taking the course of action to preserve it?  Do we do and believe in the things necessary to purify our soul? Getting past right now, what future plans do we have for our soul? How do we plan to attain it?

David follows up with, “yet do I not forget thy law”. It’s as if there was a danger of forgetting God and His ways. Maybe so. Maybe we can be so enamored, infatuated or somehow caught up in the moment with the soul itself to be concerned with the bigger, weightier matter. God. Our soul. If there ever was a marriage to be made in heaven this would be it. Two become one. God and our soul. It is this unity that God is trying to open our eyes to. It is by His law, His dictum unto goodness and salvation, that we achieve this.

Yes, our soul is in our hand. What are we going to do with it?

Bill Hitchcock