Psalm 37 | Generosity

Trust in the Lord and do good . Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness . Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart . Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked . The Lord knows the days of the blameless and their heritage will remain forever . They are not put to shame in evil times .

In the days of famine they have abundance . The wicked borrows but does not pay back . But the righteous is generous and gives , for those blessed by the law by the Lord shall inherit the land , but those cursed by him shall be cut off . I have been young and now I'm old , yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread .

He is ever lending generously and his children become a blessing . This is God's word .

If you have a pickup truck , you know that's part of the blessing and the burden of owning a truck . And so one time somebody borrowed his truck , moved , something brought it back with a gigantic dent in the back bumper . They felt terrible and they said I'm so sorry . He said , hey , listen , it's okay . But it was not okay . You see , it was not okay .

He was so upset and frustrated and angry , but he didn't want to take it out on them , they didn't really do it on purpose . And so what did he do ? He kind of took it out on the Lord . He went and he prayed , and this was a version of his prayer , something like this Lord , why did you let them dent your truck ?

You see , because in that moment he was trying to live his theology , he was trying to practice what he preaches In that Psalm 24 says the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof all of the people that dwell therein . In other words , everything belongs to God .

That's what he was living in light of when my children went through that phase , or when they go through the phase where they learn the word mine and everybody knows this phase , my wife and I would catechize them Whenever they would say it . We would say nothing is yours , everything belongs to God . And it worked until they worked it on us .

And so we would be eating ice cream as a family . They would devour it and I'd still have a little bit left , and one of my kids would say daddy , can I have some of your ice cream ? And I'd say no , dude , this is mine , you already ate yours . And they'd say but , dad , nothing is yours , everything belongs to God . Right , and that's true .

It is true , and in fact , what happens is is that the sin in our hearts takes our time and our stuff and our money and claims it and clings to it as if it's ours . But the scriptures actually describe us as simply stewards , because everything belongs to God . And so we're going to look at that together .

We're going to look at what does it mean that we are simply stewards , and I want to point out this is actually really important , because everything that you have , it's not yours that's an individualistic approach but it's also not the state's that's the socialistic approach . But it's also not the states that's the socialistic approach .

But it's not even your families . That's the traditional approach . It's God's . It's God's and that's the biblical approach , that if everything belongs to God , then

he has entrusted the things that we have to us as stewards . And so what I want to do is I want to ask and answer the question how do we steward our life ? What does it look like to be stewards ?

I want to look at Psalm 37 together and I want to point out kind of a theology of stewardship under three words simplicity , industry , generosity , simplicity , industry and generosity . Let's look at the text together .

If you have a Bible or a device or your worship guide , go ahead and get Psalm 37 out in front of you , because we're gonna look at some of these scriptures together . I want you to see that simplicity is learning to steward your heart . It's stewarding your heart . Look at verse 16 with me .

Psalm 37 , verse 16 says this better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked . How can a little be better than a lot ? How is that possible ? That's what that verse is saying Only if you're free from wanting more . That's how Socrates , the ancient philosopher , believed that a wise man , a wise woman , would live a simple life .

But he was also known for doing something . He would go down to the marketplace and he'd spend hours just looking around , wandering around what we would call window shopping today . And so one of his friends actually approached him and said hey , why is it that you go and look at all the things and you seem so intrigued by all the stuff ?

To which Socrates replied I love to go there to discover how many things I am perfectly happy without . That's simplicity . That's stewarding your heart properly . You see , simplicity is about stewarding your heart toward freedom . It's not necessarily about having less , it's about wanting less . That's what simplicity of heart is . Richard Foster defines it like this .

He says simplicity is the quote joyful unconcern about possessions in order to seek his kingdom first . You see , in Matthew 6 , jesus taught us that where your treasure is there , your heart will be . Also . Another way to say that is is your heart follows your treasure . Our culture likes to say follow your heart .

The Bible likes to say , yeah , but what's your heart following ? That's your treasure . That's what your heart follows after , and so it's important to understand that your treasure is whatever you will sacrifice for . If you want a little indicator of that , look at both your calendar and your bank account . That's how you find out where your treasure is .

Where do you sacrifice your time , where do you sacrifice your money ? That's your treasure . And so 10 days ago , I sat down and I journaled , I dated it that's how I know when it was and I just simply put at the top of the paper I said why do we love money ? And I just started journaling . I have like 20 things . I'm gonna summarize them .

These are the things that came up . We love money because it's a metric of success . It's a way of keeping score . You can tell if you're winning based on how much money you have , because it's an agreed upon status symbol in our culture . Again , I'm not saying these are good things , I'm just saying these are things .

Also , money can't buy happiness kind of , because it can buy a measure of pleasure , that's for sure . Money can buy experiences and comfort . It can buy physical attractiveness so that you get more attention from people . It can buy a modicum of protection so you get a sense of security . It can buy some favor with other people . We call that ingratiation .

Money can buy leverage over other people too . You see , let me just kind of summarize . Here's the thing . Money has this ability to actualize many different desires . If you want it , if you've got enough money , a lot of things you can actually get it . You can have it . This is why we love money . You're not crazy for loving money , but you are vulnerable .

You're profoundly vulnerable . The reason why is because , if money is your treasure , you will never be free . You will always live in fear . Rainier Marie Rilke , the famous poet , said it like this our fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasure . Where are you afraid ? Where do you feel fear ? Those are dragons guarding your deepest treasure .

You want to know what you treasure . You want to know what really has captivated your heart . Right , if simplicity is stewarding your heart , where does your heart treasure ? Pay attention to your fears . What are you afraid of ? You see , simplicity is about freedom , setting you free from fear . How do we gain this ? How do we get this simplicity ?

Look at verse four . Verse four says delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart . The way you get set free , the way you steward your heart , the way you learn simplicity of heart , is by learning to treasure the one who treasures you . It's by learning to tell him all of your desires .

If it's true that money actually is potent in our lives because it can pay for what we want , if that's true , one of the ways to deal with that is to just simply tell the Lord what your desires are . Lord , I want security , significance and satisfaction . I want those things . Let me just let you in on a secret . You are made to want those things .

You have creational desires that evil comes in and perverts and distorts and warps . But the desire to be secure and satisfied and significant is something God put in you and evil comes along and distorts it , misdirects it , and so we go to the Lord . We say Lord , I want security . Teach me what that looks like . To find security in you .

What are you doing in that moment ? You're delighting yourself in the Lord . Delight yourself . That's a reflexive action . It's something you do to you . That's the command there . Do this to yourself , delight yourself . So if you're right here now going , I don't really delight in the Lord .

I'm saying yeah , and the Bible's commanding you to do this action , to learn the practice of reflexively delighting , cultivating a certain amount of delight in the Lord , and that's actually what will set you free the freedom of simplicity .

Aw Tozer , in a phenomenal book called the Pursuit of God it's worth reading says it like this the man who has God for his treasure has all things in one . Many ordinary treasures may be denied him , or , if he is allowed to have them , the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness .

What if you could be set free such that having certain things were not necessary to your happiness ? He , if you could be set free such that having certain things were not necessary to your happiness .

He goes on , he says this or if he must see them go one after one , he will scarcely feel a sense of loss for having the source of all things he has in one all satisfaction , all pleasure , all delight . Whatever he may lose , he has actually lost nothing , for he now has it all in one , and he has it purely legitimately and forever .

That's the freedom of simplicity . Have you touched that Like ? Have you touched that in your lived experience as a disciple of Jesus . I have , but then it fades away pretty quickly . I return back to finding my security , significance and satisfaction other places .

But here's the thing the times when I've touched it , the times when I can truly honestly , sincerely , say to the Lord take what you want , just leave me yourself and I'll have enough . When I can say that prayer , it's usually in times of peak experiences , high points of joy or low points of pain . Why both of those ?

Well , because when you have peak experiences , high points of joy or low points of pain , why both of those ? Well , because when you have peak experiences , you recognize that it's still not enough to satisfy your soul . Like if you could just have everything you ever wanted , you'd realize it's still not enough .

So in those peak experiences , I recognize that those are simply beams coming down from the sun . Capital S , the one who is worthy of all of my desire . But in those moments of pain you realize , when everything's stripped away , what do I have ? What do I have if I don't have the Lord ?

And so the Lord invites us , will walk with us through peaks and valleys in order to invite us into recognizing better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked . So not only do we steward our hearts through simplicity , we steward

our hands through industry . Point two look at verse three with me . It says this trust in the Lord and do good , dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness . Look down a little further at verse 27 . It says this turn away from evil and do good , so shall you dwell forever . Two times in this psal Psalm it just simply says do good .

Simple , clear Christians are doers . We are people who are active in the world . We are actually working things out . We believe we can contribute to the betterment of our society . And so we've been known for doing good throughout the history of humanity .

And a lot of that is because in Ephesians 2.10 , it says that we are God's workmanship , created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them . Now I just want to be . We define a disciple as someone . A disciple is united to Jesus , in communion with God , community with one another , co-mission for the world .

And we double click on co-mission . We say your mission with God and others in this world is your work and your witness . When we say work , we mean good works , like Ephesians 2.10 , but we also mean your work , your occupation , your vocation .

You see , the reason why is because I believe most of the good works God ordained for you are actually worked out through your daily work . That's where you most of the good works God ordained for you are actually worked out , through your daily work . That's where you're doing the good works that God intends for you to do in the world .

You see , this has actually marked Protestantism in particular . This has been a truth that's been core to who we are , as children of the Reformation , if you will .

Max Weber is the one who kind of popularized this phrase , the Protestant work ethic , and what he pointed out was that , essentially , we have a value attached to our work , that work really matters and it's a part of your calling . And the thing I'm just going to go real nerdy , real quick . Historically , what happened is in the Reformation .

The Reformation recovered a lost doctrine called the priesthood of all believers . You see , the Catholic church had made it seem as if the highest order vocations are priests , monks , missionaries , the type people like me Some of you still believe that that's okay . Lord's still at work in your life .

You see , the Protestant Reformation said actually no , the priesthood of all believers means that it doesn't matter what your particular work is .

It's a calling from God to do the works that he prepared beforehand , that you should walk in them and by so doing , sanctified , made holy every type of work , every type of work that's according to his will , and so in doing that , actually it inspired and invigorated an industry that Protestants changed the face of the world through .

By industry , I just mean a commitment to hard work . Now , here's the thing . There's other historians and scholars , social scientists , who will point out that we've actually lived in the last 300 years in the United States of America .

We've lived in a secularized version of the Protestant work ethic , and really what's being pointed out there is that no longer do we work because we believe it's a calling from god . Now we work in order to find our worth , and so work still has religious significance , but now it's a salvation scheme .

You see , in in this world there's there's a problem because , um , ephesians 2.10 follows right after Ephesians 2.8 and 9 , because that's how numbers work Eight , then nine , then 10 . And so this is what Ephesians 2.8 says . It says this for , by grace , you have been saved through faith , and this is not your own doing .

It is the gift of God , not a result of work , so that no one may boast .

So the hard , full court press against thinking your works contribute anything to your salvation or your standing before God Ephesians 2 , 8 , 9 , and then seamlessly shift to and yet God's prepared good works for you to walk in , be industrious , and so only when we hold that tension we realize that Protestants didn't just recover the priesthood of all believers , but

also justification by faith alone . In other words , you work from acceptance with God , not for acceptance with God . You work from status , worth , dignity , identity , not for those things .

When you secularize the Protestant work ethic , you find , actually , our work is where we find all of our worth , and when that's the case , what ends up happening is that you , you find yourself living in such a way where busyness is a status symbol . Um , I heard a man recently say it like this .

He said hey , there's , there's two things that I really like but need to repent of . First , I really like being exhausted because of how busy I am . Second , I really like telling you about it . What is that ? That's a cultural status symbol , isn't it ? How are you ? You know , I'm just really busy and exhausted .

That should be like oh wow , you're failing at life . You don't know how to manage your time well . You don't know how to actually give your best time , energy and attention to the things that matter most . That's what that should sound like , but we all know it doesn't . That's why you're laughing right now .

And so here's the thing Simultaneously , the Christian gospel removes the need to prove yourself from work by your work , through your work , and also makes your work profoundly meaningful .

It does both of those together , but only when the Christian gospel sets you free from having to earn favor , earn status , earn worth , justify your existence through your work , because if you live like that , time management becomes time enslavement . But actually God is inviting you out of the idolatry of industry to work and to rest with him .

So here's something that maybe a tool , maybe a metric how well do you keep the Sabbath day ? How many times , how many 24-hour blocks in seven days ? Do you do nothing that you know to be work ? It's an indicator . It's an indicator of how well you really believe that your status and value and worth is received , not achieved .

But listen , some of you in the room today , you need to hear that when God created the world , he created it in six days and rested on the seventh , and then he commanded humanity to do the same . He said this work six , rest one . Some of you in here actually need to hear work six , like stop being lazy , get after it .

Have some holy ambition to bring goodness , beauty and truth into the world . Some of you need to hear that , but I think a lot of you need to hear rest one , rest . Let yourself be refreshed as a human being , not a human doing . For once . Don't live under Pharaoh's regime anymore . You think Pharaoh died in ancient Egypt .

Pharaoh's alive and well , ruling over you , saying more bricks , less straw . It just happens through your email inbox now , and so one of the ways we can be set free from industry idolatry is by resting , keeping the Sabbath day holy . But here's another way we can recognize that , in the end , all that we will receive will be simply an inheritance .

Look with me back at the text . Six times Psalm 37 talks about land , the land , and five of those times it uses the word inherit . Look at verse nine . It says this those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land . Verse 11, . The meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace . Verse 22, .

Those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land . Verse 29, . The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever . Verse 34 , wait for the Lord and keep his way , and he will exalt you to inherit the land . What's the big deal ? Why keep talking about this over and over and over again ? Why the land ?

Deuteronomy 8 , which we just read recently in the McShane

Bible reading plan , says this this is the most beautiful description of the land I know in the scriptures . It says this the Lord , your God , is bringing you into a good land , a land of brooks of water , of fountains and springs flowing out in the valleys and hills . A land of wheat and barley , of vines and fig trees and pomegranates .

A land of olive trees and honey . A land in which you will eat bread without scarcity what a beautiful word without scarcity . Eat bread without scarcity , in which you will lack nothing .

A land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper and you shall eat and be full , and you shall bless the Lord , your God , for the good land he has given you . That's why the land is such a big deal .

That's why I can say unequivocally that security , significance and satisfaction were God's idea because he provides for it for his people in the land . But here's the thing the land was a gift from God but simultaneously always belonged to God . His people were simply stewards . That's why they got kicked out of the land .

They refused to steward the land that God intended . Now let me just do a little excursus here on what's called hermeneutics , the study of how you read scripture . Okay , in reading the Bible , any promise or prophecy always has an immediate , intermediate and ultimate fulfillment .

Promises and prophecies , like the land promises here , have immediate , intermediate and ultimate fulfillment . Okay , so the land in scripture , the immediate fulfillment is the geography in the Middle East . That's the immediate fulfillment . God's giving them actual land , real boundaries . Okay , that's the immediate fulfillment in Psalm 37 . That's important .

But here's the thing even in the Hebrew Bible , where those promises are made five times , the dimensions of the land are given and they're different every time . So what's the boundaries of this land ? You see , what I think is happening is the Lord is sowing , even into the Hebrew Bible .

He's sowing some idea that there's something bigger happening here than simply a chunk of land the size of New Jersey , and that's the intermediate fulfillment . The intermediate fulfillment of the land is the Lord Jesus himself . It's Jesus himself , and this is what I mean by this . All of the promises of God find their yes in Jesus Christ .

That's what 2 Corinthians 1.20 says . And so when the New Testament says that we who believe in Jesus are , that's what 2 Corinthians 1.20 says . And so when the New Testament says that we who believe in Jesus are in Christ , that is a locative meaning of that word . This is what that means .

It means that you , if you belong to Jesus , simultaneously are a you're a resident of Orlando and a resident of Jesus . That's what that means . Some of you are like I live in Oviedo , it still counts , oviedo , okay . It means that you are both simultaneously right here , right now , a Floridian and a Christian , because you live in Jesus Christ .

He is the location , he is the land , he is the ultimate or he is this intermediate fulfillment of what it means to inherit the land from God . The Lord has given him to you and so , listen , the geographical locus of God's blessing is no longer a place in the Middle East , but a person in heaven , the man , christ Jesus . This is essential to know .

Ephesians 1.11 says this in him , that is Jesus . In him , we have obtained an inheritance . Do you see that All of the promises in Psalm 37 , five times , you will inherit the land , inherit the land , inherit the land . It's found in Jesus , but that's not the ultimate fulfillment of this promise .

Look at verse 11 , it says this but the meek shall inherit the land . Does that sound familiar ? Jesus quotes this in Matthew 5 in his great sermon on the Mount , and awkwardly , jesus gets it wrong because he says blessed are the meek , for they shall inherit the earth . It's like oops , jesus , you should have read your Bible , or maybe not ?

Maybe Jesus knew that the immediate and intermediate and ultimate fulfillment of the promise of the land was that the meek shall inherit the earth . We preached on meekness last year and simply put the meek . Meekness is love-constrained power . It's people who have power , but it's constrained by love , the love of God and the love of neighbor .

So why is it that the meek inherit the earth ? They're the only ones God can entrust it to . They're the only ones who would be trustworthy stewards of the entire earth . That's why the meek inherit the earth , and so the whole , entire cosmos is the fulfillment of this promise for the land .

You see , the land promises from Genesis to Revelation , the land promises are always multi-layered and in their prophetic fulfillment , what does this all mean for you and me ? So what is another way to ask that question ? Well , there's a place called Mount Morgan in Queensland , australia , and the people who lived on this mountain owned this mountain .

They toiled arduously for years on its barren slopes , just trying to eke out some sort of an existence . What they didn't know until the late 1800s was that under their feet was one of the richest sources of gold the world has ever known . They produced over 225 tons of gold , along with copper and silver .

It was now , mind you , it was technically theirs , and yet not experienced , not accessed and not enjoyed . Brothers and sisters , those of you who belong to Jesus , you toil anxiously , day and night .

You work so hard , not realizing that you already have an inheritance in Jesus Christ , a greater treasure than you could ever earn or work for on your own , and it's been given to you . And so we cling to scraps of security and we think that we can kind of have this man-made existence .

But if you belong to Jesus , then what Paul calls the unsearchable riches of Christ are already yours . You just get to inherit it by faith and patience . And so , if you believe this , you can begin to steward your heart through simplicity . You can steward your hands through industry and then , finally , you can steward the results through generosity .

Look with me at verse 21 . Verse 21 says this the wicked borrows but does not pay back . But the righteous is generous and gives , for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land , but those cursed by him shall be cut off . It just says really simply here the righteous is generous and gives . Why ?

One of my favorite Old Testament scholars is a guy named Bruce Walkie , and Walkie says this famous quote . He says the unrighteous disadvantage others to advantage themselves . The righteous disadvantage themselves to advantage others . That's what it means when it says the righteous is generous and gives .

It's been said that obedience to God in this area , in this area of your life , obedience to God requires you to use your money , to quote , procure , preserve and further the wealth of others as well as your own . So obedience to God , your own wealth and other people . Wait , what ? Like ?

Which social justice warrior said that the Westminster Assembly in 1643 , when they wrote our catechism , the larger catechism ? They were talking about what it means not to steal Positively . What it means is to pursue the wealth of the other people around you as you do your own . That's our own denomination .

I actually believe a lot of our social justice issues that I talked about last week would be solved if we would just take our confessional documents and live into them properly .

The larger catechism teaches us what justice looks like when it comes to our money , and some of you are like , okay , fine , fine , fine , I'll give some money , but only to kind-hearted , upright people whose poverty came upon them through no foolishness or contribution of their own and who will respond to my aid with gratitude and joy . Well , that's something right .

I've moved you a little bit to start , but problem is is that almost no one exists ? Who qualifies , then ? And in fact , what if that was Jesus's stance toward you , where would you be ? Your generosity in the scriptures , especially to the poor and the undeserving , is a good test of your grasp of the gospel . Why is that ?

Well , in 2 Corinthians 8 , 9 , it says this for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ Pause . Do you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ? That's the question , because if you know it , you would know this . He goes on to say this that though he was rich , yet for our sake he became poor so that by his poverty you may become rich .

You see , paul makes your generosity with your money a test case of your grasp of grace . If you're materialistic and ungenerous , if the affections of your heart are clinging to material things , you may have a superficial intellectual grasp of your own undeservedness before Jesus , but in the end you're really just middle class in spirit .

But Jesus says that for those who are poor in spirit , those who are willing to have open and empty hands to receive the wealth that only he can give , those are the people who then responsively give generously . So what's the answer ? How do you become a more generous person ?

Is this where I crank the screws down a little bit more and like burden you with a little bit more guilt so that you'll pinch out a penny or two ? No , because 2 Corinthians 9 , 7 says this each one must give as he has decided in his heart , not reluctantly or under compulsion , for God loves a cheerful giver . That's what it says and what's going on here .

You see , I think what it really means is that God loves a cheerful giver , because God himself is a cheerful giver . Like I wish I had way more time to just go into the intraterritorial life of God , how God doesn't give , because that's something he does . God gives because God is self-giving love , father , son , holy Spirit .

I mean it's amazing , but suffice it for this . The most famous verse in all the Bible , john 3 , 16 , says for God so loved the world that he gave Core to the heart of who God is is he's a cheerful giver . Core to the heart of who God is is he's a cheerful giver . He just enjoys . But we don't believe that .

We don't believe that in the very heart of God there is an irresistible urge to bestow blessing on his people . We don't trust that , we don't have confidence in that kind of a God , the kind of God whose very goodness brings him pleasure . When he gets to bring pleasure to his people , that he actually enjoys it .

Like if let me just quote Jesus here If you then , who are evil , know how to give good gifts to your children , how much more will your heavenly father give good things to those who ask him If we can do that ? How much more the father , who is himself a cheerful giver ?

And so we struggle to believe Psalm 37 , 19 , where it says that we are not put to shame in evil times , in the days of famine , we will have abundance , and Paul knows this . That's why , in Romans 8 , he says he who did not spare his own son but gave him up hear the word gave him up for us all .

Will he not also , with him , graciously give us all things ? Will he not provide for us ? You see , god knows that the gospel has gotten into your heart when it comes through your wallet , because that's when he realizes that you've been wooed and won over to a God who is a cheerful giver .

And so , listen , how do we learn this , not just intellectually but experientially , when we begin to give as an act of worship ? Now , you may or may not know this , but we have this big , fat blue book that nobody likes .

Some people like it , I'm suspect , called the Book of church order , and it defines a lot of things about who we are and how we function , all those things .

In the book of church order there's a section about how we're supposed to worship , and in that section on how we're supposed to worship , it explicitly says that giving an offering is a core part of what it means to worship the triune God . And so we're bringing it back . We're bringing it back into our liturgy ? Why Because we're short on cash ?

No , that's not why . Because what you do with your money is it's a thermometer to your heart and a thermostat to your heart . What do I mean ? A thermometer tells you what the temperature is right . Similarly , where your money goes . It tells the temperature of your heart . It tells what you love , what you treasure .

Like when you get a raise , do you raise your standard of living or your standard of giving ? That's a helpful way to diagnose the condition of your heart . It's a thermometer in that sense . But it's also a thermostat Because remember I told you earlier what you treasure is what you sacrifice for .

And so when you give , because you believe that God , in his cheerful

generosity , gave Jesus Christ to you and that moves you from the inside out to be a cheerful giver , when that's you , that's a thermostat .

It begins to trend your heart in the direction , stirs the affections of your heart for Jesus , makes your hands cling a little bit less to your possessions and your time and your money and your stuff and actually open them in open-handed worship and devotion to the Lord and generosity towards your neighbor .

And so my hope is that the outcome of this sermon is not that anybody would feel a hint of guilt , not a hint or pressure , because , remember , reluctance and compulsion mean nothing before the Lord , Only a cheerfulness of heart that responds in adoration to all that God is for you , all that he's done for you .

And so my hope for the outcome of this sermon is that we will hear stories , testimonies of people just they'd had some cash hanging out that they were waiting to do something with . They're like . Oh well , in that sermon I realized I want to give it to somebody lavishly as a gift and I want to hear dozens of those stories . That's my hope .

My hope is that verse 25 will come true here in our midst . Look at it with me . It says I have been young and now I'm old , yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread . He is ever lending generously and his children become a blessing . What a testimony , what a story . Let me close with a quick story .

In 1684 , there was a guy named Robert Bailey who was sentenced to death in Scotland for his convictions , his strong faith , in other words , he lived in a time when it was not cool to be a Presbyterian . Some of you are like it's still not cool dude , I know I understand . Bear with me , I'm trying here , okay .

The night before he was executed he told his young boy , george . He looked to him and he spoke Psalm 37 , 25 to him . He said , son , listen , I have been young and now I'm old , and yet I've not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread .

And before he was hanged he began a speech and he says my love for the Christian religion has brought me to this , but the officials ordered that drums be beat so loud that he could not be heard . Before his death he had some time with his wife and kids and he spoke these words .

He said that I am entrusting you quote to the compassionate and merciful heart of my God . Think about that . You're about to die and you're entrusting your children and your wife to your God . His son grew up to be a significant leader after the revolution and the Bailey family became known as having being one of the most respected families in the nation .

In other words , bailey died with nothing and yet God came through as a living testimony that the righteous will not be forsaken because they trust their God . Let's pray , father , we do . We look to you now , the God who so loved that he gave Jesus . We look to you . You were the one who gave your very life poured out for us .

Holy Spirit , you are the one who's been given poured out into our very hearts that we might be stirred up to become cheerful givers like our God , the cheerful giver . Jesus , would you move ? Would you move us ? Would we , as you said , not serve mammon but serve you ? It's a work of your grace . We pray for it now in Jesus' name .

Amen .