ENOUGH

I can't recall when this beleagured bird bath became a part of our yard. Perhaps it was a freebie somewhere because it already had a notch missing from its hard-plastic basin. But there's still enough of a “bowl” to hold bread crumbs, and when I get to the hard heel of a loaf, I usually break it in there. Within minutes, birds—typically sparrows—are feasting and spreading the word. It's almost amusing to watch the landings and departures escalate and then fade as the supply is picked clean.

Jesus noticed that, too, bringing a lesson recorded in Matthew 6 (The “Sermon on the Mount”):

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Although I've lived through lean times, when there wasn't much food on hand, I have never gone hungry. And in this season of “aging” and now being alone, I feel a kinship with the birds that swoop down for a few bread crumbs. It's not just about what's in my cupboards and refrigerator (I have plenty--and that includes the cookie jar with granola bars for growing grandboys), or what I pump into my car's gas tank. Or the wires going into my house for electricity, phone and internet, or the pipes that bring water and remove our sewage. I've always lived more simply, but do pause at times and thank the Lord for these conveniences.

More than that, I want more than enough of His love and assurance, of which He has an infinite supply. Paul reminded those who came to Christ through his ministry to make sure they were “givers” as well as “takers.” As someone living on “love offerings,” he never was sure of where his next meal would come from, or what Mediterranean culture where he preached would influence the menu!

I love how the book of Philippians ends with thanksgiving. Paul talks about contentment and generosity. Plus, how he learned that “our God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Not the wants (not a perpetually-full bird feeder) but the needs. There's a huge difference—a divine difference—between those extremes.

ROLL WITH IT

If you came to our front door, you’d find a huge cardboard tube swathed in black plastic bags to keep it from disintegrating in the rain. Catch us on a sunny day with grandsons visiting, the protective bags off and the tube in the front yard, you’ll likely find the little guys crawling through it (enjoying its echo chamber), rolling inside it, one rolling/the other inside, straddling it—you name it. Who would guess that a construction form for a pillar (from a yard sale) could provide so much entertainment?

Okay, so their grandma is always thinking, and this time the phrase “roll with it” came to mind. The saying has several versions. In sports, we hear “roll with the punches” for how boxers shift their stance to avoid incoming strikes. Todd Beamer’s last known words on a soon-doomed airplane on Sept. 11, 2001, were “Let’s roll,” calling any to help him storm the cockpit which hijackers had commandeered.  But I’m going for the generic meaning of “roll with it,” which means to adapt to unexpected hardships.

Wow, could that also be a Biblical concept? I think of a verse I’ve often recalled as I faced a difficult or potentially impossible situation: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).  This, alas, is a verse that some folks twist and distort to their expectations. It’s not claim to super powers or a guarantee that they’ll rise about the world’s common woes. Its context was Paul’s note of appreciation to this particular early church, which took up an offering for his “keep” while chained up in a prison in a foreign country. In his early life (particularly “before Christ”), Paul presumably had a comfortable living. That all changed when the Christ he once despised became the Christ he loved and served with all his being. Even in putrid First Century jails.

In other words, Paul looked around at his impossibilities and still said, “Let’s roll.”  Let’s still witness for Christ and let Him show us “the secret of being content in any and every situation,” comfortable, primitive or even what the world would call miserable (Philippians 4:12).

My grandsons enjoyed their short dizzy rides in the tube. They laughed over the echoes of their voices. This cheap little toy was a happy place for them.

But sometimes life is a tube with both ends closed off. It’s dark, the air is suffocating, and we don’t know how to get out. But God knows, and His “exit strategy” may surprise us and build our faith. I think Paul pointed to that as he composed the “close” to his letter to the Philippians. He thanked them again for their sacrificial “support” gift, reminding them that God was equally able to meet their needs:

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (4:19)

Roll with life’s dizzy, bumpy, unknown journeys? Absolutely, if you know who’s in charge of things “on top”—the One Paul described in closing as “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 23).

 

ENOUGH (Psalm 23)

"My cup overflows....."

The Lord is my Shepherd.  I have everything I need. –Psalm 23:1 (New Living Translation)

As much as I love the King James translation of Psalm 23:1 (“I shall not want”), I am especially drawn to this version. “Everything I need.”  In my heart, it pairs so well with the apostle Paul’s declaration of contentment: “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” He wrote this as part of his thank you to the church at Philippi for a monetary gift for his basic living expenses.  Remember, he was a missionary, living on the erratic First Century version of “support.”  At times he had to go back to work stitching tents in a local business.

Years ago I also read W. Phillip Keller’s A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, and was enlightened further about sheep when I visited a friend during her lambing season. She talked about fractured nights helping ewes in difficult deliveries and keeping the bad-tempered ram in another pen. Other things she shared from her experience with sheep reminded me of how David’s patience was tried in his early occupation as a shepherd.  And yet, his most beautiful picture of God comes from just that.

Being “down” or depressed is like putting on eyeglasses with a bad prescription.  You don’t see clearly and stumble in confusion. Psalm 23 bids us rest and just look to the shepherd, who takes care of our needs.  Not our wants, necessarily, but our needs.

 I’ve been around people who have a pretty long “entitlement” list that they think God should supply. Yet they do not walk in the “paths of righteousness” that God has shown them.  They stumble off the path into the brambles of bitterness and anger. While they’re thrashing in the thorns, the Shepherd is nearby with His crooked staff, waiting to pull them out.

Contentment eludes them because they stray from the shepherd. Pastor and author F.B. Meyer said it so well:

This is the blessed life—not anxious to see far in front, nor eager to choose the path, but quietly following behind the Shepherd, one step at a time.  The Shepherd was always out in front of the sheep.  He was down in front.  Any attack upon them had to take him into account.  Now God is down in front.  He is in the tomorrows.  It is tomorrow that fills us with dread.  God is there already.  All the tomorrows of our life has to pass before him before they can get to us.”*

*F.B. Meyer (1847-1929), a contemporary of D.L. Moody, was a pastor and author who focused on inner city work on both sides of the Atlantic. Quote accessible at AZquotes.com/author/19129/F.B.Meyer

Making "Psense" of Psalms--Psalm 16: Now, and Then!

Part of a continuing series on selected Psalms.

 It wasn’t how I imagined my life at 32: sleeping on a borrowed twin mattress in the corner of someone’s bedroom, a box holding my lamp, clock and Bible. That first night, I stared at the ceiling and prayed, “Thank you, God, for shelter.” The shorter version of this long story was that my parents died while I was pursuing graduate studies 2,000 miles away. I finished the degree but couldn’t land a job. Then, days before I had to vacate college housing, with nowhere to go, I was offered a job nearby. Someone at the company offered to take me in temporarily, providing this bedroom corner. 

God’s just-in-time provision at this desolate time made Psalm 16:5 come alive for me: “LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you made my lot secure.”

 Psalm 16 is one of six psalms labeled “A Miktam of David,” an obscure musical term related to the word “engraving.” What’s more revealing are the circumstances named for the other five miktams (Psalms 56-60). In those, David faced life-threatening situations involving local enemies and murderous King Saul. Most likely, Psalm 16 grew out of David’s years of fleeing Saul and wandering in the wilderness with 600 ragtag followers united by distress, debt, and discontent (1 Samuel 22:2). No wonder he began this psalm with almost a sighing “help!”: “Keep me safe, O God, For in you I take refuge.”

The first part of the psalm affirms his trust in God in his present circumstances. In the second, he expresses his faith that his life after death will be better by far.

 THE “NOW”

David talks of the blessedness of being connected to God: “I say to the LORD, “’You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing’” (v. 2). “Lord” in this verse is actually two different Hebrew words. More accurately, he said, “I say to the strong-powerful-God-of-all, you are the master of my life.” He lives out his allegiance by siding with God-followers (v.3) and having nothing to do with idol-worshippers (v. 4). Even though he’s living on the run, surrounded by malcontents, David finds that inner peace: “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance” (vv. 5-6).

“Portion and cup” probably refers to daily food—no small feat in the wilderness. “Made my lot secure” alludes to the tribal allotments of the “Promised Land” after the Exodus and 40 years of wandering. As a fugitive, David couldn’t live in his family’s territory, but he could be content. His attitude was similar to that of Paul, who wrote from a prison: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in in and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:12).

THE “THEN”!

Rather than mull over the negatives, David focused on God’s help and protection. After all, God had Samuel anoint David the next king of Israel! Yet the constant danger reminded David how fragile life can be. In thinking about his own death, he made this remarkable statement: “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.  You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:9-11).

In some versions, “grave” in verse 10 is translated “Sheol.” In Old Testament times, this was understood to be a type of “netherworld” for both believers and unbelievers when death separated one’s personality from the body. What happened there was a murky subject. With the New Testament, after-death concepts changed to the spirits/souls of non-believers going to a state of suffering called “Hades” (Luke 16:23). But when believers died, their souls/spirits went to the presence of Christ in heaven (2 Cor. 5:8, Phil. 1:23).

Verses 9-11 were prophetic, and not of David. He died, was buried, and his body decayed. Instead, this spoke of the future--of Christ. After Christ’s ascension, the apostle Peter preached from this passage, explaining to listeners that the Jesus they crucified, and who rose again, was the Messiah who fulfilled David’s prophecy. Convicted and convinced, 3,000 made decisions that day to follow Christ (Acts 2:25-41).

That also helps explains the “path of life” in Psalm 16:11. God has shown us the path of eternal life, through faith in Christ. He will lead us from death to the joy of eternal life in Heaven, in God’s presence.  Being at His “right hand” means the place of honor and pleasure.

What a journey in this little “miktam”! It models gratitude for God’s protection and provision, and it reminds us that, for believers, eternal joy waits beyond the grave.

 

Next week: Psalm 18