Day Eighty Eight - Fill all my vision Saviour I pray

Lungs are one of our vital organs and are meant to be filled with God’s air to oxygenate our bloodstream to keep our bodies healthy. As most singing coaches will tell you getting your breathing right is also a vital part of good singing. The words of this song, which I came across by chance, remind me that we NEED the breath of God to fill us too for our spiritual well-being.

Fill all my vision Saviour I pray,

Let me see only Jesus today

When through the valleys Thou leadest me

Give me thy glory and beauty to see

Fill all my vision Saviour Divine

Till with Thy glory my spirit shall shine

Fill all my vision That all may see

Thy Holy Image reflected in Me

With all that life throws at us we need to have oxygen tanks in reserve of God’s presence, in other words, the memory of when God has been there for us in the past as well as hope that God is ‘a present help in time of need.’ When facing challenges and trying to be joyful because the Scripture says ‘the Joy of the Lord is my strength’ is not easy so we need to know how to find that joy when life is terrible. During the last year it has been difficult to join with anyone to do much really, but especially to join the communal singing, which is so much a part of our Sunday worship. Not everyone lives alone or in a sufficiently secluded location to be able to sing at the top of their voices without the neighbours wondering when is that awful noise going to stop! But throughout the Bible we are encouraged to sing praises to the God of our Salvation, so however we do it this is part of a healthy relationship with Almighty God who can save us from our current predicament. God benefits from hearing us sing and we too are blessed. Listening to ‘religious music’ is wonderful but there is something quite different about filling our lungs with air and moving our lips to sing. We have been given not just a physical body but our inner person is made up of emotions too and feeding these is important. If we listen to darker type music there is a good chance we will feel miserable and conversely the inspirational tunes and lyrics of lots of Christian music can be transformative to our day.

As we sing praises to God we can feel lighter because we are tapping into the constant praise and worship that is going on around the world in different time zones and in very different circumstances. All this earthly praise is rising beyond earth’s atmosphere to join with the celestial choirs of angels and the multitude of saints from all tribes and generations who have gone ahead. How does this transform us?

We know that our characters are shaped by who we spend time with. How many parents say their child is ‘hanging out with the wrong crowd’ as the reason for their going astray? The expression ‘You are what you eat’ is equally true of whatever we imbibe spiritually. As we turn away from ourselves to acknowledge the Creator and sing about His character, so too we will be absorbing some of His image - - little wonder that we feel better after a good song of praise.

This is my prayer:

Fill all my vision Saviour Divine

Till with Thy glory my spirit shall shine

Fill all my vision that all may see

Thy Holy Image reflected in Me

Now Breath in and Breath out singing aloud the words of the Prophet Isaiah (55:12)

‘You shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills shall break forth before you and all the trees of the field will clap their hands’. Amen.

Elisabeth Sweeney Smith