Even My Last Breath...
A Psalm 30 Reflection
After reading Psalm 30, I'm reminded this morning of a mom who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The news was especially devastating because she seemed perfectly healthy, full of life, deeply loved by her family/
But beyond that diagnosis lived a zealous heart for the Lord.
The light she carried through her final year of life was so radiant that doctors and nurses volunteered and even fought to be assigned to her room—to witness her peace, hear her words, and see her worship. Though she battled for her life for over a year, she would ultimately be received into the arms of her Heavenly Father, not without leaving behind a legacy.
A mark of eternal worship.
A legacy of faith.
Her zeal resembled David's faith as he too potentially faced death from a plague.
1. “What good is my death?” — Worship Over Comfort
"To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: ‘What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?’”
— Psalm 30:8–9
In these verses, David cries out not for comfort, wealth, or more power, but to be kept alive so he can glorify God.
Not for more power.
Not for more children.
But for more worship.
This declaration—and the story of this mom—reminds us of something powerful:
They both lived with purpose.
They clung not to life for comfort, but to glorify God.
Never Finished Challenge #1:
Are you clinging to life each morning for yourself—or for God’s glory?
Unclench your fists.
Open your palms.
Surrender your life daily with this daily declaration:
“Lord, today is Your day. Use me as You will.”
2. David’s View of Death: The Shadow Before the Sunrise
In the Old Testament understanding, death (Sheol, "the pit") was often seen as a silent, shadowy place—not a realm of joyful worship.
David’s question—“Will the dust praise you?”—isn’t a denial of life after death, but an honest reflection of the limited revelation available in his day.
But then we get to Hebrews 11:
"All these people were still living by faith when they died... longing for a better country—a heavenly one."
Their hope wasn't in clarity.
Their hope was in God.
Today, we have a fuller picture—resurrection, eternal life, and the presence of God face-to-face through Christ. Yet how often do we live as if heaven is still far off?
Never Finished Challenge #2:
Are you using the full picture of eternal hope to live with urgency today?
Live like a foreigner on earth.
Don’t set your life up for retirement—
Set it up to run hard after God, as if you’ll never stop because you won’t.
You can’t take your bank account, your wife, or your kids with you into eternity. Purse God and He will help you shepherd these things.
But you can take your worship, your witness, and your obedience.
Let your daily life say:
“This world is not my home—I’m on my way to the Holy of Holies forever.”
3. A Zeal to Glorify God With Every Breath
David, and that mom with cancer, both modeled something rare:
A heart that wants to glorify God while it still has breath…even on the doorstep of death.
Psalm 115:17–18 says:
"It is not the dead who praise the Lord... it is we who extol the Lord, both now and forevermore."
Even with limited information about the afterlife, David lived with zeal—crying out:
“Let me live, not for myself, but to glorify You!”
And that mom wasn’t the only example I’ve seen. In the past few years, I’ve had friends facing death who clung to their final moments—not in fear, but in faith, saying:
“I just want to glorify God.”
Never Finished Challenge #3:
You don’t need a terminal diagnosis to wake up.
You just need to remember who you are:
A chosen heir. Adopted forever. Commissioned to worship in all things.
Ask God to help you live today as if it were your last. And thank Him that you have breath to enjoy another day.
Final Thought: What Does Today Say About God?
If God is so holy that standing in His unfiltered presence would obliterate every cell in your body, yet He made a way to draw near to you—not just a way, but every way— how could we not glorify Him?
It makes me feel humble.
Thankful.
Inspired.
What a King.
What a Creator.
What a Father.
Thank you, Jesus.