Psalm 112:5 – “The Golden Mean”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

⁵A good man, being gracious and lending.

    He will sustain his affairs with discretion.

Here in this one little verse I believe we find two truths which invariably stand side by side in a genuinely godly person. On the one hand he is generous and giving to others, while on the other hand he manages his own affairs well. I would suggest that, for most of us, we do one or the other well, but it takes grace to help us put the two together. It’s easy on the one hand to be generous to a fault while on the other hand all too many people can build a huge portfolio and never give a dime to anyone. I come from a very giving family, so the generosity part has always come easily. I am very thankful for that, but like most of those before me, I have without a doubt been “generous to a fault.”

All down through the years I have been aware of verses encouraging me to be giving, like Prov 11:25, “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” That is the very spirit of Christianity, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father … For I was hungry and you fed Me, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.” You can read enough verses like this and begin to feel it is always right to give and even to “give to a fault.”

On the other hand, the Bible is full of verses that admonish us to be wise, like Prov 27:23, “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds,” or  Prov 24:27, “Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.” To these we could add Jesus’ words in Luke 16:10,11, “He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much, so if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” To that we can add, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to finish it?” (Luke 14:28).

I have always known both are there but I have found it a considerable struggle to keep them in balance – how to be generous while at the same time being wise. Many of the old writers acknowledged the problem too. One said, “The golden mean (keeping them in balance) is much needed in those matters which concern justice on the one hand and generosity on the other. How to do good with money, time, influence, etc., without inflicting an injustice on self and injury on others is often perplexing.”

I would suggest that traditional Christianity has, if anything, faulted on the side of generosity. Often, the only financial principle ever taught from the pulpit is the importance of giving. Little or nothing is ever mentioned how the Bible addresses not only how we give our money but also how we earn it, spend it, save it, invest it, etc. I would suggest this has created a Christian culture that does in fact “give to a fault.” Charles Spurgeon observed, “Those who neglect their worldly business must not plead religion as an excuse, for when a man is truly upright he exercises great care in managing his accounts, in order that he may remain so … he is prudent, thrifty, economical, sensible, judicious, discreet … Alas, some professedly good men act as if they had taken leave of their senses; this is not religion but stupidity … Attention to the things of Heaven does not necessitate the neglect of the affairs of earth; on the contrary, he who has learned how to transact business with God ought to be best able to do business with men.”

Again, the challenge is to how to be both generous and wise.

I think this is the first time I ever saw both thoughts together in the same verse: “A good man will be generous and lend freely; he conducts his affairs with discretion.” I don’t see immediately how it helps me not to be “generous to a fault,” but seeing both thoughts side by side in the Bible certainly confirms in my mind that both need to be considered. As I said earlier, I think it is a grace thing. What I think that would mean is, instead of worrying about “which rule to follow,” we should take things to the Lord, realize He wants us to be both wise and generous, then just let our love for Him and others settle the matter and proceed accordingly.

Two quick observations from the text and then I’ll quit. Interesting that the good man gives and lends. Even the words themselves mean that sometimes he just flat out gives to someone, expeting nothing in return. On the other hand, what another person may need is just temporary help, in which case it is actually the better part of wisdom to grant them the dignity of repaying the loan. Once again, wisdom (grace) is needed to discern the difference. The other thing to note is that some versions translate the opening words “a good man …” while others translate “good will come to the man …” Frankly, I don’t know which is better. All the Hebrew says is “good man.” You would think that would settle the matter except that in Hebrew, like French or Spanish, the adjective usually follows the substantive. It’s not a “blue house” but literally a “house blue.” So when the Hebrew reads “good man,” you have to pause and ask, “Why is the writer putting the adjective first?” And then, being Hebrew, it is very possible that they paint the picture “good” then that of “a man” and they’re thinking of good coming to the man. That is certainly possible. I chose to stay with the more literal translation, but really only because it’s more literal. Either way, we’ve already established he’s a good man in the previous verses and we’re talking about the blessings that come to him. So either way it works.

So I head out into my day, asking the Lord to help me be both generous and wise.

Psalm 112:4 – “Grace-Changes”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

⁴In the darkness light will rise to the upright ones,

    Gracious and compassionate and righteous.

In my last post, I lauded the wonder of God’s light and how much I enjoy it. This time I want to notice to whom this light is given. It is to the “upright ones, gracious and compassionate and righteous.”

What is particularly notable to me is to stop and consider that these four adjectives occur together. First of all, what does our culture teach us to expect of the “upright and righteous?” They are, of course, self-righteous, judgmental, mean-spirited, cold-hearted people who hate everyone and everything. Right? Uhhhh, excuse me? How about “gracious and compassionate?” Here I go, headed for my soap box. This twisted perception of the godly is no doubt first of all the work of the Adversary but it is endlessly fueled by our misguided Christian propensity to exalt Pharisees. Yes, Pharisees. Those are the people who say all the right things at the right times, who show up at church looking sharp (for every service), carrying their Bibles, volunteering for every ministry, who are prepared to fight to the death for all the right doctrines, and who arduously protect our precious traditions. Never mind there isn’t the slightest hint of the love of Jesus in their hearts … and certainly not in their mouths.

Folks, they’re called Pharisees and they were Jesus’ most bitter enemies. They are not our friends and they certainly should not be our leaders. People like Jesus should be the Christians we admire. People like Jesus should be our leaders. People like Jesus are upright and righteous and gracious and compassionate.

I am of course crowing at the streetlight. We humans are incorrigibly legalistic and will never recognize legalists until we repent of the legalism in our own hearts. We need to truly embrace grace before we can be truly gracious, and only when our own hearts are gracious will we be quick to detect the lack of it in others. Only then will we stop exalting Pharisees to leadership, which is what perpetuates the perception that godliness = meanness. Yes, Pharisees look good on the outside. But their hearts are rotten and they ought never be allowed in leadership.

Off soapbox. Real godliness does not equal meanness. Real godliness = Jesus.

In contrast to all of that, we can return to the underlying thesis of this entire Psalm, that, in fact, “the people who know their God” will become more and more like Him. This verse is case-in-point. In Psalm 111:4, the psalmist praised the Lord because He is gracious and compassionate. Now in 112:4 we find the same said of the godly man. This is more of the wonder of grace righteousness. Practically any religion aims to make people “righteous” and “upright,” but, as we all know, “religion” also typically makes people insufferable bigots. Only grace makes people upright and righteous and gracious and compassionate. Grace never says, “Here are the rules. Now follow them.” That endeavor is precisely what produces the arrogance. Grace is the heart of Jesus calling to people “Come unto Me all who are weary …” Grace captures the hearts of the Marys of this world and draws them to sit at Jesus’ feet and fall completely in love with Him. Grace draws us into a love relationship with our God where we see for ourselves what real love is, what forgiveness is, what it means to be loved unconditionally. Grace makes us want to be like Him and changes us forever.

And so it is true that a godly person will be upright, gracious, compassionate, and righteous – not because they’re doing “a good job,” but because “their eyes have seen the King.”

I love this whole thing of knowing God, and this thought before us is one of the huge reasons why – because, as I seek to know Him better, to understand the Bible and what He says and thinks and how He sees the world, He makes me better. He makes my world make sense. He helps me be the person my heart knows I ought to be – and not because I try hard or do “a good job” but purely and only because Grace changes me. Grace makes me better. “Religion” only makes people mean. Grace-changes are fueled by grace and accomplished by grace, and no matter what “better” may mean, it is always attended by graciousness.

Psalm 112:4 – “Let It Shine”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

⁴In the darkness light will rise to the upright ones,

    Gracious and compassionate and righteous.

Yes, yes, yes. “Rejoice not against me, mine enemy, when I fall, for I shall arise, and when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me!” “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?” “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

This is a subject near and dear to my heart. I know we’re all wired differently and different things bother different people different ways, but, for me, one of the things that drives me almost psychotic is confusion. I hate to be confused. I hate it when I don’t understand, when things don’t make sense, when they don’t add up. I think that is one of the reasons I have so enjoyed engineering. I remember sitting in classes where we were studying so many things, like why a bullet rises and falls, and why music must be in octaves, and why the sunset is red and dirt is brown. So many things that make perfect sense. But the best words of all were Jesus’: “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

And so He has.

I also love II Cor 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was.”

I think those simple words are the story of my life.

Those simple words are basically the reason I’m sitting here typing. One day the Lord stepped into the darkness of my life and said, “Let there be light,” and there was! I remember being a young man and so enjoying how the Lord opened my eyes and made my world make sense. I savored every glimmer of light He shined in my heart and so, it wasn’t enough for me to attend church, I wanted to study the Bible myself. Someone showed me how to use a Concordance and a Vine’s and I was “off to the races!” I think at one time I had four file drawers filled with the notes I’d accumulated from studying the Bible. But of course, it wasn’t the notes on paper that I have so cherished, it is the wonderful truths He’s showed me, how He’s made life make sense, how He has freed me from me and given me hope and all His good gifts.

Of course it is still true that my life is full of darkness. There are still so many things I don’t understand. But as I go on studying the Bible it seems like He doesn’t go two weeks and He drops another atom bomb on my heart. He shows me something that absolutely rocks my world. “Now I see!” Bit by bit by bit He steps into my darkness and once again says, “Let there be light,” and there is! I love how He said, “Call unto Me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!”

Just from my recent studies, my head is still reeling thinking about how this world is His world, my life is His life, my job is His job, how it’s not a matter that I have all these challenges and I need Him to step in and help me … but, rather, they’re the challenges He has created because He’s doing a great work in this world, and the big question is not whether He’ll help me but whether I’ll get on board and be a part of what He’s doing! That sudden realization propelled me light years ahead in putting away my endless grinding worry and also has begun to actually let me experience real Holy Spirit joy in my life. It’s all been there in Psalm 111 all these years, but I didn’t see it until I slowed down to study it and He turned on the lights.

And this thing of grace righteousness – that is so profoundly encouraging to me. I’m so glad to know that what matters is not legal righteousness (“Here’s the rules and I do a good job keeping them”) but grace righteousness, the righteousness that is present in my life because grace has changed me. What I need is not better rule-keeping. What I need is to sit more at Jesus’ feet, fall more and more in love with Him, hear His gracious words and understand His big loving heart, so that I suddenly find myself different because “I’ve been with Jesus.” That just so totally blows my mind!

And I could go on and on.

Now, once again and just for the record, I have to say there is still so much I “don’t understand” about life and who I am and what I’m supposed to be and why things are the way they are, but this simple little verse absolutely ignites my heart and fuels me with hope: “Even in darkness, light shines for the upright.”

Shine on, Great One!

Psalm 112:3 – “Righteousness”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³Wealth and riches [are] in his house,

    And his righteousness stands forever.

As I noted in my last post, both lines of this verse call for some serious pondering.

Isn’t it interesting that, in one line, the man has wealth and riches in his house, and in the next line, we’re talking about his righteousness? It is a shame that the two so seldom run together. It seems to me that, in this world, the “wealthy” are usually frankly wicked. And yet a righteous man can amass wealth because of his righteousness and then not lose it along the way. It is a shame that the two so seldom run together. It seems like a person with wealth could do so much good. But, as the old saying goes, “It takes a steady hand to carry a full cup.” Apparently, when it comes to material wealth, very few of us have that steady hand.

As I stated in my last post, I suspect the godly man’s “wealth and riches” aren’t material anyway. Rather they are the things money can’t buy. Then it really makes sense how he gained them through righteousness and, rather than undermining faith like material wealth seems to do, real wealth tends to secure it. What I mean is that, as I go about living my life and the Lord helps me to do a few things right and I enjoy the blessings He gives, the very blessings I’ve received only make me love Him more. When I see everywhere His kindnesses, it only makes me want to draw closer to Him. I guess that is one of the wonders of grace and why grace is so far, far better than law.

Speaking of grace, that leads me to the other thought I want to ponder particularly in light of the second line, “His righteousness stands forever.” Hmmmmm. If the statement were about the Lord (which it was in 111:3), we would all heartily agree. If it’s even about another person I know, I might heartily agree, “Yes. He’s just a good man.” But where my heart winces is if I think of it applying to me. It’s interesting to me how my heart doesn’t even like considering these words with me in the mirror.

I immediately run to the Cross and want to say, “It’s not my righteousness anyway. ‘My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.’” If the “righteousness” in view is actually Christ’s righteousness imputed to my account, then all I can say is “Hallelujah for the Cross! My (imputed) righteousness will stand forever!” That is all true and certainly worthy of praises to the Lord. Praise God that our imputed righteousness is eternal!

But I am inclined to think that the thought here at least includes one’s practical righteousness. I think the verse is considering the reality of the man’s life. Once again, I have no problem applying it to someone else. I have had the pleasure of knowing many people whose practical righteousness was exceptional. They really were just plain “good people.” But then there’s me.

Yikes.

The Lord has actually helped me do a few things right in my life and for those I am very thankful, but even as He was helping me I was failing Him. Whatever “righteousness” I may possess is entirely not me and certainly not mine. Even now, I’m keenly aware that I will only do “right,” I will only love well, I will only say the right things, if His Spirit works through me. Even as I type, I find in that truth a great hope, this power I have found in letting Him have my life, my mind, my mouth, and seeing the wonderful love and joy and peace He brings as it happens. But even as I say that, again, I am very aware, it is not my righteousness. It is not me. Leave me to myself and, God have mercy, I self-destruct every blessing He ever tried to give me.

Maybe therein lies the truth of this verse – that, for the godly man, his righteousness stands forever because even his practical righteousness is not his own?

Oh, wow. I feel another atom bomb bursting in my heart. (By the way, this is so much fun! This is so often true that I study a passage and pray over it and ponder it and then it’s only as I sit down and start typing that the Lord turns on the lights. Yes, yes, yes – in His light we see light!)

The godly man’s righteousness endures forever because, in fact, it isn’t his. We’re talking about grace godliness not legal righteousness. We’re not talking about the righteousness of “Here’s the law, here’s the rules, and I do a good job of following them.” We’re talking about the righteousness that comes through grace, the righteousness that comes from falling in love with the Lord, from sitting at His feet adoring Him and learning His heart, and getting up changed because “mine eyes have seen the Lord.” We’re talking about Mary’s righteousness, not Martha’s, the “doing right” because He has changed my heart.

Yes. That “righteousness” I don’t mind talking about. It is true. He has changed me. I myself am still completely rotten but it is true that grace has changed me. He taught me that love is what matters and I “see” it. He showed me His faithfulness and made me want to be faithful too. He showed me people’s brokenness and made me want to be kind. He showed me my rottenness and made me want to let His Spirit rule instead of mine. He showed me Jesus’ strength of character and made me want to be strong too. There is definitely a sense in which all of this is my righteousness. It is me. But it isn’t me. It’s Him … in me. And it does stand forever because He’s done it in me. When He changes me I am changed forever. I can never be the same.

Oh, my. What a wonderful Lord He is. As rotten as I am, even I can talk about my righteousness that stands forever – not for anything I’ve done but because His grace has conquered me. What a wonderful Savior Jesus is – to not only save us with His imputed righteousness but then to go on and fix us with a practical righteousness that’s still His!

Wow.

Psalm 112:3 – “The Best Kind”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³Wealth and riches [are] in his house,

    And his righteousness stands forever.

Here are a couple of interesting statements. Both lines of this verse need to be pondered.

The first line, “Wealth and riches are in his house,” would seem at first glance to be a straightforward statement of fact: When a person “fears the Lord” he will make far better decisions, order his life with more wisdom, maintain better relationships, and, in  general, do the kind of things which tend toward prosperity. As it says in Prov 10:4, “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” I don’t think anyone would seriously debate the fact that much of the world’s poverty is first of all a character problem. It is almost shocking to me, over my lifetime, to think of how many people I have known who were very talented, very capable, very intelligent, who could literally have been mechanical engineers or nuclear physicists, but lived in relative ignorance and poverty simply because they had always made the “easy” decisions. Some simply never set about the hard work to develop their talents (like going to college) but others chose the party life and self-destructed on drugs and alcohol. It saddens me to see their faces parade through my mind and wonder what could have been if only they’d had “the fear of the Lord” in their hearts and sincerely sought to do what is best – not necessarily what was easy or appealing. The Lord only knows how many Einsteins and Beethovens have been born and died and never made good on the talents He had given them.

So, again, when a person has been godly, the statement, “Wealth and riches [are] in his house…”is not at all hard to understand. On the other hand, we have the undeniable Biblical reality that faith and poverty have more often than not gone hand in hand. “Hath not God chosen them that are poor in this world to be rich in faith?” (James 2:5). It would be callously unkind for us to assert that poverty is always the results of bad choices. James would imply that poverty may actually be a benefit to most of the human race as it tends to breed faith (James 1:9) while riches, more often than not, seem to diminish it. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matt 19:24).

So, clearly (to me), while it is generally true that godliness inclines a person toward better decisions and hence material prosperity, when it comes to that material “wealth and riches,” this verse can only be generally true. What is invariably and undeniably true is that godliness leads to spiritual wealth and riches. When it comes to people of real faith, we all know you could ask the poorest of men about his “wealth and riches” and probably bring a smile to his face. We can all hear him say, “No, I’ve never seemed to have two nickels to rub together, but, yes, I am a very wealthy man.” He would tell us of the wonderful hope he has of Heaven, the joy of knowing the Lord all day every day even as he goes about his struggling existence, about his wonderful wife and children the Lord has given him, good friends, good memories, and on and on. “The sounds of joyful singing and salvation are in the tents of the righteous …” (Ps. 118:15). “The blessings of the Lord make one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it” (Prov. 10:22).

So, I would conclude that the first line, “Wealth and riches [are] in his house” is generally true of material blessings, but absolutely true of the “wealth and riches” money can’t buy. I know it is certainly true of my life. I have made a lot of bad decisions that very predictably brought material poverty into my family’s life and, on the other hand, when I’ve let the Word rule my decisions it has directly benefited me financially. On the other hand, knowing the Lord and following Him (though, on my part, doing a very, very poor job of it) has granted to me a fabulous and almost incomprehensible wealth. I honestly don’t know, in a fallen imperfect world, and being a fallen imperfect man, how I could hope to possibly be any more blessed.

The Lord stepped into my life nearly 40 years ago and I took His hand hoping somehow He would fix the mess I was. And what utterly amazes me is, on the one hand, what a miserable follower I have been all along, while on the other hand, He has been to me such a wonderful Lord. I could never have dreamed just how true it would be when He said to me, “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

One last thought before I quit on this first line of the verse – it particularly strikes me how the Bible must be read in active relationship with the Lord. What I mean is that it is easy to read it like any other book, like something that was written down and now lies there to be read over and considered. The Bible is the Word, the words, of the living God and is itself alive and powerful. Some wise man once said, “To open the Bible is to look into the face of God.” One can read it simply as words or one can read it looking into the face of God, knowing Him and being known. The verse before is case-in-point. If I read, “Wealth and riches are in his house,” I can assert it is a simple statement of truth which obviously is teaching that every person who genuinely “fears the Lord” will be rich. And I openly admit, if you read it that way, that is what it seems to be saying. However, I am a follower of the Most High God, I am His child and He is my Father. I love Him and He loves me. As I read those words looking into His face, I see that little curve of a smile and He and I both know that “wealth and riches” are something far better than dollars in a bank account or gold chandeliers. He and I share the wonderful thought of the real blessings, the real wealth and riches that I know I enjoy and that I am quite assured are enjoyed by all those who “fear the Lord.” At that same time, He and I both know that what material blessings I do enjoy came from Him.

I don’t know if this makes sense to anyone else but I think it is exactly what Peter was talking about when he said (of Paul’s writings in particular) that “therein are many things hard to be understood, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” (II Peter 3:16). I have come to the conclusion that you can make the Bible mean anything you want it to mean. I suspect God even wrote it, in a sense, as a giant bobby-trap where, if you go to it for any reason other than knowing Him, you will find exactly what you’re looking for, be confirmed in your folly, and self-destruct, as Peter suggested.  The only way to actually read the Bible and know the Truth is to read it in an active relationship with God, to read it for the purpose of knowing Him, of having a relationship with Him – in a sense, reading it with Him … perhaps reading it as coming directly from His heart, reading it looking into His eyes. Then I don’t even care about all the other things it “can” mean. I only care what He means and I’m content with that.

Just a thought from this feeble mind pondering the wonder of our amazing Savior God.

Yes. My house is full of “wealth and riches.” And they’re all “wealth and riches” because they came from His hand. They’re the best kind!