Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, Your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is Your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. Psalm 36:5-9
“I treat this as a psalm of confidence… The psalmist addresses God directly to extol His character and the benefits of a relationship with Him…
God’s people enjoy His love, His righteousness, faithfulness, and justice. God displays these qualities in abundance. His love and faithfulness reach upwards to the heavens. His righteousness is as high as the highest mountains and His justice as deep as the deepest sea.
The benefits of a relationship with God include protection. The psalmists expresses his intention to trust God by evoking the refuge provided by bird’s wings…
God provides the sustenance needed for life, both food and drink. The reference to God’s house is likely a reference to the sanctuary, thus perhaps linking the feast’s abundance to the fellowship offerings enjoyed by worshippers…
God is a fountain of life… as a fountain spews forth refreshing water, so God is the source of life. He provides light, light that illuminates our life.”
Tremper Longman III in Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary (TOTC; Downers Grove: IVP, 2014) 175-177.
It’s been an amazing journey to reflect on the relationship between abundance and generosity in 2018. As we near the end of the year, I thought it was fitting to look at a psalm that celebrates this theme.
From Psalm 36 we discover the source of our confidence in life. It flows from a relationship with God and our experience of His abundance of love, righteousness, faithfulness, and justice. Since those are big words, let’s pause to consider their function and meaning.
Looking ahead to 2019, no matter what you will face, rejoice that nothing can separate you from the love of God. Pause daily and ask God to fill you with love, so that you are deeply satisfied and enriched to bless all those you touch each and every day.
In a deep relationship with God we also find an abundance of righteousness, faithfulness, and justice. This reminds us that God will show us the right ways we should go each day, and we can rely on His faithful promises and presence each step of the way.
Many people try to find security in money, while the psalmist beckons us instead to rely on the priceless care of God. In His justice we can trust, and we find rest and protection in the shelter of His wings. Even as there is no such thing as generosity apart from God (as God’s Word teaches us that generosity is a fruit of the Spirit), we cannot experience it or grow in it apart from a relationship with God.
So, to grow in generosity in 2019, I suggest you make sure you are practicing disciplines to deepen your relationship with God. Tune out the noise in your life so you can hear from God. Block 15 minutes each morning to read through a chapter in God’s Word a few times to nourish your soul.
Take time to pray too. I like to follow the simple acronym, PRAY so that my prayers center on God and not myself. Open with Praise, take time for Repentance, Ask God to minister to others who are in need or hurting around you, and then last, lift up requests for Yourself.
And perhaps get outside and enjoy the life and beauty of God’s creation like the psalmist undoubtedly did. Celebrate the greatness of God that surpasses the majesty of the mountains, the serenity of the sea, and the tranquility of rivers.
If you need help with this, enjoy these two fly fishing videos that my son, Sammy, recently gave me as gifts for my birthday (Whitehorse Basin Cutthroat Trout Fly Fishing) and for Christmas (Northern Great Basin Redband Fly Fishing). They celebrate seven new sub-species of trout we tracked down in a week-long expedition in Southeastern Oregon this past summer. The footage is stunning and the music will minister to your soul.
Nurture your relationship with God with intentional disciplines in 2019. It will take your faith to new heights and depths, and best of all, you will gain unfathomable confidence in God’s abundance.