Year 2, Day 187: Psalm 41

Psalm 41

After our short stint into the writings of Paul, we now return to the psalms.  Today we focus on a single psalm: Psalm 41.

David begins this psalm with a bit of a look at blessedness.  What is it that David considers to be blessed?  Today, David focuses on generosity.  The blessed person is the one who gives of himself to those who do not have enough.  Sounds remarkably like “It is better to give than to receive.”  It sounds remarkably like “The Lord loves a cheerful giver,” too.  God loves when we receive gladly and gladly give out of what we have received from Him.

Why does David have this focus?  Personally, I think David is in a moment of persecution and he is looking to the Lord for a little help.  He knows that he has been generous in the past and he is counting on the Lord to remember his peace and generosity when he was in a time of receiving.  I’m not saying that David was generous with a self-centered bent.  I don’t think David was generous and thought, “Gee, this way I can come back to God and force Him to be generous to me when I am down on my luck.”  Rather, I think David is generous in times of prosperity because he knows God will carry him through the lean times.  When you don’t have to worry about the down times, you can be far more generous during the good times.

This is a really great lesson on faith.  It’s really the same theological argument about doing good works.  Do I do good works because I am going to try and prove to God how good I am?  Or do I do good works because I know how good of a person I am not and I am thankful that I can rely upon God instead of trying to rely upon myself?  The same is true about generosity.  Am I generous because I’m at a time in my life where I know I have extra (and am thus leaning upon my own strength) or am I generous at all times because I am truly relying upon God?

Then David goes on to speak about the people around him.  His words are also true about us and our predicament in life.  Every one of us has known the experience of having an enemy, I’m certain.  If you’ve been through middle and high school, I’m sure you’ve had someone who didn’t like you.  It’s even true in the adult world.  Perhaps not all of us have had the pleasure of having someone say, “When will he die, and his name perish?”  But I’m pretty sure we’ve all felt at one time or another that people are whispering about us in the shadows.  I’m sure that every one of us has had a close friend turn on us and work against us.  I think every single one of us has had the experience of feeling like the people around us are just waiting for us to get out of their lives.  It’s just life.  We don’t always get along with people and for good or for bad our agendas do not always match up with the agendas of other people.

What are we to do in those times?  Are we to speak maliciously of those who rise up against us?  Are we to react violently against them?  Are we to seek out ways for harm to cross their path?

How is it that God has dealt with His enemies?  Are we not all enemies of God at some point in our life?  Does God cast us aside and look for ways to bring harm into our life?  If He wanted to, He certainly could!  No, God seeks to love us.  God desires that we turn to Him while we are alive.  Yes, there will come a day and a place where He will judge us.  But until that judgment is necessary He desires to love us and He desires for us to turn and come to Him in repentance so we can know His forgiveness.

So how do we respond when people are waiting for us to die – or at least go away?  How are we to respond while our friends turn and stab us in the back – as David suggests happened to him?  We are to love.  And we are to be patient.  And we are to let God deal justly with them as only God can do.

However, that’s not all that we can do.  We can also turn to God and focus on His gracious nature.  We can focus on His salvation.  We can focus on His love.  We can focus on how all of these characteristics (and more!) of God will endure forever.

As the old familiar song by Helen Lemmel goes:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace

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