Psalm 112 – How the Godly Man Can Live Open-Hearted

[Listen to an audio version here]

When I was in Egypt, I saw over and over again a spirit of generosity that really surprised me. Everywhere I went I had experiences like the ones I had in a restaurant one night. A guy had on a Star Wars shirt, and I really liked it. I told him so. Without any hesitation, he replied, you can have it, if it fits you. This was the sort of response I got everywhere.

Here’s another example. After going to two restaurants, I told our tour manager, this is just too much food. We cannot eat all of this. We can’t even come close! Here’s what he suggested. After you eat, he said, ask for a box. Then, ask them to give it to someone who needs this food or have your tour guide help you give it to someone in need. That way, you will bless someone who needs it, and it will help you build a relationship with the people who see you give.

Everywhere I went, I found this same sort of attitude. It was not just giving to the poor. It was welcoming people with gladness. It was truly valuing people. I came up with a name for this type of living. I call it open-hearted living.

It’s not easy to live open-hearted. We get wrapped up in our own activities. We have anxiety over our own things. We get preoccupied with our own problems. So, here is the question I kept asking myself, how do we find the resources that will enable us to live in an open-hearted way toward others? How can we keep giving, when others don’t give to us? How can we remain gracious when times are tough? What resources do we have to enable us to show kindness when others are unkind? That’s the question that I think this Psalm answers for us. Let’s consider this answer in four steps. First, let’s consider the reaction that we should have to those around us. Second, let’s look at the resources we have to react that way. Third, we’ll look at how we should respond to the resources available to us. Finally, we will look at the amazing results that come from using this resource.

Our Reaction to Those Around Us
How does the blessed man live in relationship to those around him? He is a giver. “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor” (Psalm 112:9). The word used here for “freely scattered” indicates a wide variety and large quantity of gifts. It involves money and material resources but also encouragement, friendship, and emotional support as well.

Let me note on the side here that the person who is truly open-hearted is not only a good giver. He is a good receiver. You build community not only by giving to others, but you also build community by allowing others to do you good. In other words, you build community not only by loving but also by letting others show love to you. Continue reading “Psalm 112 – How the Godly Man Can Live Open-Hearted”

The Meaning of the Circumcision of Christ

The circumcision of Christ may seem like an odd topic, but it is an event that the church has remembered and celebrated as the 8th day of Christmas. Right after the famous Christmas passage about the shepherds, we have the less famous passage about the circumcision of Christ: “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived” (Luke 2:21). This was the time in which Jesus was officially inducted into the people of God and given the name Jesus.

This event has a much greater significance for Jesus and for us. John Milton has captured in a beautiful poem the abiding significance of this event for Christians. Here it is:

Upon the Circumcision

Ye flaming Powers, and wingèd Warriors bright,
That erst with music, and triumphant song,
First heard by happy watchful Shepherds’ ear,
So sweetly sung your joy the clouds along,
Through the soft silence of the listening night,—
Now mourn; and if sad share with us to bear
Your fiery essence can distill no tear, Continue reading “The Meaning of the Circumcision of Christ”

In the Bible, Anxiety Is the Occasion of Sin

In the Bible, anxiety is the occasion for sin. Anxiety is not in itself sin, but it is the occasion that tempts us to sin. Thus, there is nothing wrong with seeing a threat, difficulty, or challenge. The question is, what do we do with it?

I believe that this is a true analysis of sin in our life based on several considerations. I was surprised, though, at how explicit this is in the Bible as I reviewed its various stories of sin. Here are just a few examples that demonstrate the connection between anxiety and sin. Continue reading “In the Bible, Anxiety Is the Occasion of Sin”

In Isolation & Crisis, God Is at Work

[Listen to an audio version here].

When we are alone and isolated, it’s easy to miss the amazing things that God is doing. In the midst of crisis, it’s easy only to see the crisis and miss the things that God is doing under, with, and around it. The story of Elijah and Obadiah in 1 Kings 18 reminds us that in times of isolation and times of crisis, God is at work. Here is the story of 1 Kings 18 from the perspective of Elijah and then from the standpoint of Obadiah and back to Elijah again.

Elijah Returns

Elijah had been in relative isolation for a long time. Our text tells us it was three years. He had spent the first few months of the drought crisis in the total isolation of the Kerith Ravine and the next couple years in the foreign town of Zarephath cared for by a widow.

Finally, after three years, he returned to his homeland to speak to King Ahab. King Ahab and his wife Queen Jezebel had led the people of God to turn from the Lord to the false god Baal. But the Lord had not left His people. He confronted them and called them back to Himself by withholding rain. This was the crisis of a severe drought.

The devastation was real. As Elijah entered Israel, he would have seen the barren land from three years without rain. As he headed toward Samaria, he came across Obadiah, the palace administrator. And who better could he have met for his encouragement than Obadiah? Continue reading “In Isolation & Crisis, God Is at Work”

The Challenge of Isolation & Insecurity

[Listen to an audio version here].

According to ancient records, King Ahab did a good job in building the Israelite economy. He also made strategic alliances, evidenced by his marriage to Jezebel, that brought security to Israel’s borders.

The problem with Ahab was that he did not serve the Lord. In fact, he was worse than the bad Israelite kings who came before him. The previous kings had worshiped the Lord, Jehovah, but in a wrong way, through a golden calf. Ahab worshiped the gods of the nations around them, Baal and Asherah, the fertility gods of the Canaanites.

Enter Elijah

God had promised that if His people turned away to other gods, He would call them back to Himself through judgments and through messengers or prophets. At this low point in the life of Israel, God called one of the greatest of those messengers into public service. His name was Elijah.

People looked back on Elijah with a veneration equal only to that given to Moses. They looked for another Elijah to come in their time of need. He was from the hill country on the east bank of the Jordan, a sort of highlander or mountain man. During his labors, God did amazing things. This is captured wonderfully in the song, “The Days of Elijah.”

In spite of these amazing things, the story of Elijah is remarkably human, just as Moses’ is. It conveys the fears, challenges, exhilaration, doubts, loneliness, and difficulties Elijah faced in doing such momentous work. In a time of crisis, Elijah’s ministry offers us many lessons for how God takes care of us in the ups and downs in life in general and the more wild swings of a time of great anxiety. Continue reading “The Challenge of Isolation & Insecurity”