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Psalm 37:21-26 March 2017
THE BLESSINGS OF THE GODLY
Ill. I have a friend who owned a furnishing business in Auckland many years ago. The business was struggling financially because so many customers were defaulting on their payments. I offered to visit some of these customers to see if I could get them to pay up. Unfortunately I had very little success, because most of them knew there was very little my friend could do to recover the money and that it would be very expensive for him to pursue it through the courts. The unpaid debts and the stress of it all led him forced him to close down the business.
In NZ unpaid debts are a sad factor of life. 15 billion dollars of tax payer money is currently on loan to students and 70% of those students with loans living overseas have not repaid their loans.
At present there is $500 million dollars owing in unpaid fines and millions more owed by people who have no intention of repaying what they have borrowed.
David begins this section by saying, “The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers.”
This morning we are going to look at the godly distinctive and the God given blessings.
THE GODLY DISTINCTIVE
This Psalm was written by King David and in it he is comparing the lives and behaviour of the wicked with that of the righteous.
At the risk of repeating myself; the Bible teaches us that righteousness is being right with God and this is not something that we earn or achieve by our own efforts. We are made right with God when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”
So we aren’t made right with God with God by what we do, but when we are made right with God it will impact what we do.
The proof that we are right with God is seen in the way we behave and we read all about this in 1 John. David says here that one of the main characteristics of someone who is right with God is that they are generous givers.
V21 The godly give generously
V26 The godly always give generously to others.
We are told that the 2 forces that drive the world’s economies are greed and fear. The greed that keeps wanting more than we have and the fear that we will not have the enough and might lose what we have.
These are the two attitudes influence the way most people view money and possessions.
But there is another attitude that should influence the we believers view money and possessions and it is called “Faith.”
It’s faith that is not concerned with having more than we need, and doesn’t worry about not having enough because God will provide our needs and will never abandon us.
And when we truly believe this we can give generously.
Ill. When I began my training for pastoral ministry in 1970 I had some Christian friends who rented an old house in Auckland and took in alcoholics and drug addicts who wanted help with their addictions. I was there one day and there was not enough food food in the house and they were praying that God would provide their dinner, and that evening someone turned up out of the blue with their evening meal. But what touched me deeply was when I later received a letter from them and in that letters was a cheque to help me with my expenses as a Bible student.
They gave generously because they believed God would provide them with their needs.
The same greed and fear that controls the ungodly keeps trying to control us believers. I believe it is satanic, because the Bible calls it the root of all kinds of evil and when it gets hold of people it causes them to behave in ways that are downright ugly and evil.
How can we stop that happening to us? Trusting God and giving generously. When we do this we break the power of greed and fear over our lives and I have found that it is something you have to do continually because it keeps trying to sneak back in.
Every time we get some extra money that greed urges us to hoard it or spend it on ourselves. Every time we are challenged to give generously, that fear tells us that if we give it away we may not have enough for ourselves.
Ill. Like many of you I have saved up for our retirement and trust that we will have enough to live comfortably until we die, but the temptation is to think of how we can use our savings for our own pleasure and enjoyment, instead of how can we use them for the Lords His purposes and to bless others.
I would never decry Christians for going on a cruise or buying a new car. I have done both in the last year, but I want to balance that with generosity and responding to genuine needs when they are presented.
I don’t want to get sucked into the hedonistic, pleasure seeking ways of this godless culture. As someone who has received so much from God, I want to give generously as God has given to me.
Some people say that if they ever have a lot of money, they will become generous. History has proven that prosperity does make people generous. In fact it’s just opposite.
We are living the most prosperous time in our history and yet a recent survey revealed that Kiwis gave only 1.35% of their income to charitable causes. Which is even less than what was given during the Great depression of the 1930s. It also revealed that the wealthiest 40% gave less that the poorest 40%.
Whenever you receive some extra money or get the opportunity to make some more money, who do you think of first? God? others? Yourself?
Ill. Richard Foster told of the time when his children had outgrown the swing set in their back yard. He decided to advertise it for sale. It was a quality piece of equipment and in excellent condition. He knew he could get a good price for it. As he looked at the swing set he thought, “If I touched up the paint I could charge even more.” “All of a sudden I began to sense a spirit of greed taking hold of me.” I asked my wife, Carolyn, if she would mind if we gave the swing set away rather than selling it. ‘No, not at all!’ I thought to myself ‘rats!’ But before the day was out we’d found a couple with young children who could make good use of it, and we gave it to them – and I didn’t even have to paint it! This simple act of giving crucified the greed that had gripped my heart – at least for the time being.”
David says here that one of the main characteristics of those who are right with is that they are generous.
I would exhort you today to be generous with what God has given you and whenever you sense that spirit of greed and fear wanting to take of hold of you, reject it, trust God and keep on giving.
Dr Karl Mennenger founder of the famous Mennenger Clinic says, “Generous people are rarely ever mentally ill. People with a giving spirit are the most positive people I know, because giving is the highest level of living.”
We have looked at the generosity of the godly; now let’s look at the generosity of God.
And here David speaks of 6 blessing that God has given to the godly.
THE GOD-GIVEN BLESSINGS
It’s a contradiction to say you are a Christian and yet be mean and stingy. That is not the Spirit of Christ and that is not the way God has treated us.
I don’t know about you but I often find myself consciously and even unconsciously thanking and praising God for all His blessings.
It doesn’t matter what our present situation or circumstances are, if we stop and think about what God has given us and done for us, we have to admit that we have been blessed far, far more than we deserve.
Ill. Martin Rinkat was a pastor in Germany during the 30 years war in the 1600s. In one year he buried 5000 of his parishioners. His town was ravaged by war, death and economic disaster. In the midst of this very dark time he sat down at his table and wrote this grace for his children.
“Now thank we all our God….” Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices, Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices; Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.”
In spite of the trials Martin was so aware of the blessing of God.
So let’s look at 6 of these blessings that God gives to the godly.
Inheritance v22
“They will inherit the land” – Revelation tells us that when Jesus returns He will make all things new and there be a new heaven and a new earth. On that day the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ and He shall reign forever and He will give the land as an inheritance to those who belong to Him.
For centuries people have been fighting a warring over territory. This group and that group claiming that this land is rightfully theirs. Think of the millions of lives that have been lost in wars over territory. And even here in NZ there has been the ongoing claims that the land rightfully belongs to those who got here first.
The earth does not belong to any person. It belongs to God. He created it and He sustains it.
Ill. One of the best banners I ever saw carried at the Waitangi day commemorations had written on it, “Give the land back to God.”
And the day is coming when the One who truly rightfully owns it will return and take over the leadership and appoint those he wants to rule under Him and when that happens there will be no more fighting or war. His Kingdom will be a Kingdom of righteousness, truth, justice, love.
Guidance v23
The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
When you entrust your life to Christ, and continue to trust Him nothing will happen to you unless God allows it. We may not understand why God allows some of things to happen to us at the time, but I believe that one day we will.
Ill. Listen to these words from 1 Corinthians 13:9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will pass away.
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”
Ill. One of Britain’s leading judges Christopher Compton wrote, “Over 23 years ago my first son Harry died after only 36 hours. At the time it seemed monstrously unfair. With hindsight I am certain that his death was one of the best things that could happen to me. It began the process of breaking me down so that with God’s grace I could understand how others felt and how others have suffered.
Personal interest v23
“He delights in every detail of their lives” Remember Jesus said that God even knows how many hairs are on our head.
This thought blows your mind that the God of the universe is interested in every detail of your life.
Ill. A Christian woman once said to time that God had more important things to do that listen to all the trivial things that concerned her. I said to her, “But that’s the amazing truth about God, He is deeply interested in every little detail of your life.”
Ill. John MacArthur told of time when he fasted and prayed for a needy situation. After a few days he sensed in his heart that God had heard him and had answered his prayer, but he didn’t want to be presumptuous, just in case he got it wrong. By this time he was feeling really hungry but wanted to be really sure that God had answered his prayer before he stopped fasting. One of his church members was passing the church building late at night and saw his study light on. She felt led of God to go home and make a sandwich for John and took it up to his office. What touched John was that God cared enough about him to move this lady to do this for him.
Eternal security v24
“Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”
How many of you have stumbled in your Christian walk? We all do and we spoke about this in 1 John.
A genuine follower of Jesus does not deliberately continually, go on doing what they know is wrong and offensive to God, but there are times when we stumble and slip up.
If you are trusting in Jesus and truly seeking to do what pleases Him, He will not allow you to fall away. You will get it wrong at times and feel really stink about it, but He won’t let you fall away from Him, because He is holding you by His hand and that hand is the most powerful in all the universe.
Ill. Some years ago a father was watching his son swimming in the Everglades and realised he was heading for a waiting alligator. He called to his son to get out of the water and his son began swimming towards the bank but the alligator caught his legs. The father grabbed the boys arms and eventually pulled him free. When the boy was in hospital a reporter asked to see the scars on his legs and he proudly showed him, but what he wanted the reporter to see more than anything else were the scars on his arms where his father’s finger nails had dug in. “Dad just would not let go.”
Jude v24 “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.”
Daily necessities v25
David wrote this Psalm when he was an old man and from his experience and observation he could confidently say, “I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.”
Jesus made it clear in Matthew that we believers shouldn’t worry about our daily needs, because we have a loving heavenly Father who has promised to provide what we need.
Like David, I can honestly say that over the 50 years I have been following Jesus, God has faithfully met all my needs and more.
He hasn’t promised to give us everything we want, but everything we need.
Ill. George Muller experienced this when he established 5 orphanges in Britain caring for 1700 children. He never asked for financial aid and never let anyone know except God what he needed and yet he could say at the end of his life, “God faithfully provided all our needs when we needed them except on one occasion when He was half an hour late with our dinner.”
Beneficial offspring
(1) Generosity turns your focus outward. Giving is simply changing your focus from yourself to others. When you’re occupied with helping others there’s little room for selfishness. Seneca said, “No man can live happily who turns everything to his own advantage. You must live for others if you wish to live for yourself.”
(2) Generosity adds value to others. The greater your giving, the greater your living. President Woodrow Wilson said, “You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget that!” Jesus spent His life lifting people. Why? Because nobody stands taller in the climb to success than when he or she down to help someone else up. And, when you add value to others you take nothing away from yourself.
(3) Generosity helps the giver. A beggar once asked a woman for money. “I’ll give you a dollar, not because you deserve it but because it pleases me,” she said. “Thank you, ma’am” he replied. “Why not make it $10 and thoroughly enjoy yourself?” Doesn’t it make you feel good when you do something for another person? And don’t you feel specially rewarded when their need is acute? Ruth Smeltzer said, “You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you’ve done something for someone who’ll never be able to repay you.” That’s why Solomon wrote, “The world of the generous gets larger and larger… The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed” ( Proverbs 11:24-25 TM). Do you want to be blessed? Become more generous!
Many Christians suffer from a disease Dr. Tony Evans calls “cirrhosis of the giver.” It’s been around since the earliest days of the church, first diagnosed around 34 A.D. in a couple named Ananias and Sapphira who became greedy with God’s gifts and suffered some really bad consequences (Acts 5:1-11). It’s an acute condition. Those who have it show symptoms that include sudden paralysis and inability to reach for their purse or wallet at offering time. This strange symptom often disappears in shops, at entertainment centres , or when dining in fine restaurants. Some have attempted to treat this condition by offering tax deductions for charitable giving. But judging from the prevalence of the problem this incentive has not had great effect.
Years ago, Dr. Wilfred Grenfell served as a medical missionary in Labrador. On a recruiting tour, he challenged nurses at Johns Hopkins Hospital to join him for a summer in his difficult ministry. He promised them hardship and discomfort. He warned that instead of earning a salary, they would have to pay their own expenses. But he also promised them they would experience joy because “it’s having the time of anyone’s life to be in the service of Christ.”
A nurse who accepted that challenge wrote this after her return from Labrador: “I never knew before that life was good for anything but what one could get out of it. Now I know that the real fun lies in seeing how much one can put into life for others.” If we change that word fun to blessing, we have the key to Christian self-fulfillment.
As the years of America’s lagging economy drag on, one thing has remained fairly constant: Americans, overall, give about 3% of their income to charity. What has changed, however, is the relative proportion of giving amongst America’s upper and lower classes. A new report based on IRS data shows that between the years of 2006 through 2012, richer Americans (those making over $200,000 per year) gave 4.6% LESS to charity, while their less affluent counterparts (those making less than $100,000 per year) gave 4.5% MORE.
There are three kinds of givers: the flint, the sponge and the honeycomb. To get even a spark from a flint you have to hammer it. To get anything out of a sponge you have to squeeze it. But a honeycomb just overflows with sweetness. Which kind of giver would you like to be?
Jesus said, ‘Where your treasure is [invested], there your heart will be also.’ (Matthew 6:21 NIV) Research from the Institute for Social Change showed that in the UK a few years ago, the poorest 20% of people gave 3.2% of their income to charity, while the richest 20% of people only gave 0.9%.