Psalm 66 - Abundance

This week my ANC Restore Community (Community Group) had the opportunity to hear from the National Director of Habitat for Humanity Egypt. He was a humble man with a huge heart. He started the evening by explaining what he would mean by “substandard housing”. It was obvious that he felt it an important obstacle to cross with Americans to define what that means. He did so by telling stories of families of 12 living in houses 8 x 10 ft. One family he met lived together with 23 people in a house that was 400 SF. He capped it off by telling us how $1300 would be enough to build them new homes and literally change their lives. Even better, since the original $1300 would be reinvested, it would build 10 houses for ten families over the next 30 years.

It reminded me of a conversation I had earlier in the week with Steve Fitch (Eden Projects in Africa) about their upcoming trip to Ethiopia when he mentioned the “minus” four-star hotels they’d be staying at. I mentioned being at some pretty lame motels, to which he replied, “Bro, until you’ve been in a bad motel in a third world country… you have no idea what I mean.”

Then I think about those who lost everything they had in the apartment fire in the St. John’s district in Austin this week. When I first got the email about what had happened from a pastor friend in town, they described the people as losing everything they had. Very few if any have renter’s insurance. Very few if any have extra money in savings. Few have family they can move in with long term. And most have no “Plan B”.

These were three reminders for me this very week, each one of them offering some perspective. Each brought a lesson through the lens of contrasting abundance. Abundance is defined as an “extremely plentiful or over-sufficient quantity or supply”. Supply of what?

Enter Psalm 66… David Says that God brings us to a place of abundance:

“For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads, we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.” (Psalm 66:10-12)

With all the wealth, power, and position David had, he still found himself on the run for his life, living in caves, being slandered by those he valued. Yet he always found a reason to worship God and was known as a man after God’s own heart. While he certainly took moments to genuinely express his times of struggle, the overwhelmingly majority of his Psalms were wrapped in remembrance of God’s faithfulness and hopes for His promise to come.

So where does he find abundance? Let’s skip ahead to Psalm 62. It leaves no doubt.

My soul finds rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation; 

he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God; 

he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Trust in him at all times, O people; 

pour out your hearts to him, 

for God is our refuge. 

Selah

Lowborn men are but a breath, 

the highborn are but a lie; 

if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; 

together they are only a breath.

Do not trust in extortion 

or take pride in stolen goods; 

though your riches increase, 

do not set your heart on them.

One thing God has spoken, 

two things have I heard: 

that you, O God, are strong,
and that you, O Lord, are loving.

Psalm 62:1-2,7-12

I had a conversation last week with a friend about the authority of Scripture. I was sharing with him how over the past year or two, while I’ve always known it, God has shown me how all of scripture points towards a singular theme: The Cross (our desperate need for it and God’s Kingdom come and eternity through it).

That being true, it exposes my nature to constantly place my mind on the temporal, especially on the topic of abundance. Abundance is not what we have physically. Abundance is what we have eternally. If we believe the Gospel, we must believe this. We have hope abundantly through Christ. While it’s true that we have so much, it should not be the source of our abundance. While we should be thankful and even humbled, we should consider it nothing compared to His unconditional love.

“But God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” – Psalm 66:19-20

God has not withheld eternity. Through His mercy and grace, He has offered life abundantly. Of all the days I’ve read Matthew Henry, I think today’s writing on David’s prayer in Psalm 66 nails it:

“It was not prayer that fetched the deliverance, but His mercy that sent it. That is the foundation of our hopes, the fountain of our comforts; and ought to be the matter of our praises.” – Matthew Henry

Abundant indeed.

“Through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” – 1 Peter 1:2-3

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” – 2 Peter 1:2

“Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” – Jude 1:2

Psalm 63 – Starving

Fun Friday. That’s what I call it.

It’s the first night when Jen is speaking at an out-of-state conference and I turn into “Super Dad”. Fun Friday usually entails a dinner out on the town, some type of entertaining event like a movie or putt-putt, and wraps up with a shake from Fran’s.

A couple of months ago, I had a bit of a busy Friday, and “Super Dad” was running a little late on delivering the Friday fun. To which the kids quickly pounced claiming they were “starving”.

Feeling a little under the pressure, I entered into a lecture on how none of them have ever known what it feels like to actually be “starving”. I went on to tell them that from now on, “starving” is not a word we are allowed to use. You can say, “I’m hungry”, but never “I’m starving”.

The reality was that I was starving too. And it was making me a bit cranky.

It’s amazing what we’ll say and do when we’re in need. It takes us to a place of vulnerability that we cannot easily hide. Eventually it shows up in our words, demeanor, and even actions. Sometimes it can be a good thing. Sometimes it can be bad.

David was in the desert when he wrote Psalm 63. He was in need. He might have been a little desperate. Probably a bit vulnerable. And for him, it was a good thing, because He leaned on the strength of God’s faithfulness and goodness:

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.

Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you. – Psalm 63:1-3

Matthew Henry wrote, “When faith and hope are most in exercise, the world appears a weary desert, and the TRUE believer longs for the joys of heaven.”

While Henry was speaking mostly of life after death, I think the true believer longs for the joys of the Kingdom of Heaven today. It’s the realm, that because of the cross, breaks through in our lives when we are desperately seeking God and His will becomes ultimate in our lives. It’s the perspective that manifests when we are starving and looking only to God and His goodness to fill.

Father, David wrote that his soul “clings to you” and “your right hand” holds him up. Help us to find this confidence and place. We so easily deceive ourselves and misread our own motives. We so naturally stay self-sufficient. In a “dry and weary land, where there is no water”, thank you for your continued grace and mercy. Amen.

Eccl. 6 – Smokin’ Dope

Empty calories are usually foods that give you a quick burst (sugar high) but the impending sugar crash is on its way. They seem to have substance but don’t. They offer no nutritional value and typically leave you wanting more. Drink a coke and you typically want another coke. Drink some water and you typically end up with a quenched thirst.

All man's efforts are for his mouth, 

yet his appetite is never satisfied.
Ecclesiastes 6:7

Here’s the problem. Empty calories typically represent all the foods I grew up loving. We quickly acquire a taste for them that is hard to deny. It takes work. The key is to do whatever it takes to acquire a taste for healthier food. While I have yet to master it, I know that if I were to put some discipline and even sacrifice into it and be creative and intentional about finding healthier foods that I like, I could and would acquire a taste for those as well.

And health would be my reward.

I’m thinking today of all my pursuits of faith that have left me feeling hungry. If I were to truly evaluate them, I’d probably find they were representative of empty calories. Most result in a quick hitting energy burst. And most were simply about me, my immediate craving or need, my own knowledge, my traditions, my Christian pride, whatever… Yet the things that leave me full, nourished really, are the things that begin and end with God and others. It’s once again a paradox.

The very thing we are chasing, nourishment of our soul, we allow to be hijacked by our own agenda and desires. And there are no winners.

What does this have to do with “smokin’ dope”? Kinda reminds me of President Clinton when he admitted to smoking marijuana. While he confessed he did it, he also confessed he didn’t “inhale”. Depending on who you talk to, that’s either good because he didn’t “really” want to take it in or bad because he “wasted” a hit. Either way, since he was just riding the fence, it was a lame attempt at both “appearing” cool and keeping it “innocent”. Falling short of both. It was really a lose/lose situation.

So my progression leads me to a reminder of this: Not only is there a natural leaning that leads us to emptiness and wasted effort where there are no winners, but there’s also a way in which the cost is even greater:

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” – Prov. 14:12