Psalm 112:9 (NKJV) 9 He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor.
As we have studied the man in Psalm 112 we have found several things that result from his steadfast life. The final thing we have been learning are the things he has built into his life that make him so stable in God. He fears God and loves his commandments first of all. He also is upright and righteous in his lifestyle. We spent some time looking at the definitions of these words and saw many qualities of character that we need to develop to have the stability that he displays. There is one more that I want to add to the list as we finish looking at this Psalm. He was a giver.
As I said earlier in this study, the idea of prosperity for God’s people has gotten something of a bad reputation over the last 30 years. I believe that this is due to some things that got out of balance. Nevertheless, the Word of God teaches that God blesses his people. Caught up in this controversy has been the grace of giving. Certainly, some have abused the biblical exhortations to give and caused great harm in the body of Christ. That does not change the fact that the Bible teaches God’s people to be givers. In Psalm 112, giving is one of the things established in this man’s heart that leads to his stability.
There is something about giving that is far more than just a natural thing. Our money is a representation of our lives. For most of us, we exchange time for money. We spend a certain amount of our time doing a job and our employer or our customers give us money. That money represents days and hours of the time that God has given us to live. When we give financially, we are not just giving money but the time it took us to earn that money.
This is not to say that giving is only about money or wealth. It is about time, so when I give my time in service or love or helping others it is the same principle that is applied. We will look at it in the context of money because it is easier to quantify, but remember that all forms of giving apply in the same way. Acts 10:4-5 give us some insight into the power of giving.
Acts 10:4-5 (NKJV) 4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.
Cornelius was a Roman soldier who was open and generous in his dealings with the Jewish people. It is apparent that he had some interest in the things related to their God. This was at the beginning of the church age. God was moving beyond the Jewish nation to include all peoples in his family. The angel says something that I find very interesting. “Your prayers and your alms have caused a memorial to come up before God.” The word alms here is speaking of his giving to the poor. Giving being the operative word. His giving was noticed by God. So is yours.
The result of this “memorial” was that God sent an angel to direct him to Peter so he could hear the Gospel message. As the story progresses we find that the Lord also visited Peter to change his “doctrine” about what was clean and unclean. He then told Peter about Cornelius and told him to go to his home. As Peter preached the Word of God to them, these gentiles were filled with the Holy Spirit just as the disciples in the upper room had been. Peter recognizes that, if God filled them with the Holy Spirit they must have believed in Jesus as savior and Lord. He baptizes them and they are now part of the church and more important, given eternal life. This is at least partially due to Cornelius heart of giving. Wow.
Why is this so important? Giving is part of the nature of God. In Genesis God created the physical universe. At creation, it was perfect. He then gives this creation to man to have dominion over. God gave. After the fall, man had lost God’s gift to His adversary the devil. God was separated from his family. How did he choose to deal with this problem? He gave.
John 3:16 (NKJV) 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
This pattern continues as God’s only begotten Son gave his life as a ransom for ours. God is a giver. When we choose to make giving a central part of our lifestyle, we show ourselves to be children of our Father and imitators of God. In Psalm 112, this is part of what made the man so stable and grounded in his trust in God.
Luke 6:38 (NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
This scripture tells us what giving does in the spirit. If we give, it will be given back to us. This is a principle that the devil cannot stop. If I give, it creates a draw in the kingdom of God. Whatever I give, money, resources, time, love care…..whatever it may be, is drawn back to my life. It is the same thing that happens when we turn on the faucet in our homes. There is water in the pipes whether from a city water supply or a well. However, if we never turn on the faucet, we could die of thirst. When we turn that valve lifegiving water comes to us.
All that God has is available to his children. Giving is the valve that brings the flow of whatever we need to us. It taps into the nature of God within us and good things come back. That is why this man is so stable. He gives. His giving creates something in the spirit that manifests in both the spirit and the natural. He knows he will have what he needs because he has “opened the tap” to the reservoir of God’s resources and power. He does not need to worry (Ecclesiastes 11:1.)
In 1 Timothy 6 we see some more important things about giving. He tells Timothy that some people’s attitudes towards wealth will lead to their destruction (1 Timothy 6:9-10.) However, this same chapter tells us how to avoid this. In the 17th through the 19th verse he tells us the proper attitudes we should have about our resources.
In this verse he is speaking to the rich, nevertheless, we all have something. If we live in the United States, we have been so blessed that what we call poverty would be considered wealth by many in the world. Paul gives some instruction to us. We must not depend on uncertain things like money, but on God. We must not just give money but be willing to do good works. We must be ready to give but also to communicate. I think this can mean giving of ourselves in every way we can. We must be willing and ready to share. In this way we produce a foundation for now and for eternity. Let me close with 1 more verse that shows us how important a giving lifestyle is.
2 Corinthians 9:7 (AMP) 7 Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving].
For Audio Messages Visit: https://anchor.fm/bill-kiefer or search Practical Wisdom from the Word of God or Bill Kiefer on Spotify or where you listen to podcasts.
Leave a Reply