Meditations for Difficult Days - No. 24 - My Cup Overflows!
Pastor’s Blog - By Pastor Roy Summers
2D may not be the same as 3D, but it's still good!
My are we learning some valuable lessons through this Coronavirus pandemic.
Here is one:
On the one hand, while it is wonderful to have fellowship through Zoom, WhatsApp, Skype, whatever - it is better than not having fellowship at all - we are discovering the limits of 2-D fellowship. Here are three:
We're all looking at the whole group at the same time on the same single screen - in real life our gaze can only be towards one person at a time. This may make some self-conscious saints nervous, because they think "people are staring at me" (we're all a tad paranoid!) They're not but we can feel they are.
We're not always clear who is speaking and so it is all too easy to misjudge and step in too slowly or too quickly.
We lack the great number of bodily cues that tell others exactly how we are feeling. A face alone can deceive.
So one blessing that hopefully will come out of this pandemic is a new appreciation of in-the-same-room, in-the-flesh fellowship.
However, we need desperately fellowship now, and though Zoom fellowship may not be as good as the real stuff, we ought to be thankful for it, and persevere in it.
And that note of thankfulness is at the heart of Psalm 23:5, "my cup overflows."
The Abundance of God
King David means but one thing by this little line, "my cup overflows": God is no miser when it comes to blessings, he is a generous and bounteous God. As I write this blog two little choruses spring to mind.
One we sang as kids:
Running over, running over
My cup is full and running over
Since the Lord saved me
I’m as happy as can be
My cup is full and running over
And one we sang as grown-ups:
God is so good,
God is so good,
God is so good,
He’s so good to me!
Three simple truths will help us unpack this deceptively simple line. First,
God's Abundance is a Fact
David does not say, "on some days my cup overflows, on others it is half full I'm afraid." He says that it overflows, fullstop. All the time. Every day!
Many Scriptures testify to God's abounding goodness:
"The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love..." (Numbers 14:18)
"You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance." (Psalm 65:11)
"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2)
God's abundance arises from his loving nature. Just as parents instinctively lavish gifts on their children, so, but infinitely greater, God pours good gifts on his children.
What is the "wine" that not only fills our lives but overflows the cup? David is talking, surely, about both spiritual and material blessings.
God fills our whole lives with many good things.
God's Abundance must be Counted
We know from experience, however - and this is partly something to do with our characters, and something to do with our old sinful natures - that we are not naturally thankful.
One of the marks of the unconverted mind is that it does not give thanks, says Paul in Romans 1. I know that at 8:00pm in the UK, people are coming out of their houses and clapping various people who are serving them in this pandemic, but according to Scripture, thankfulness is not often found in the world.
Of the ten lepers cured, only one returned to say thank you. That is par for the course.
We know in our own hearts that thankfulness does not always come naturally. The Grumbler's Song bears that out:
Grumble on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Grumble on Thursday too
Grumble on Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Grumble all the whole week through.
Oh what a misery to be among thankless grumblers! (Some nations are more prone to this wretched disease than others!)
No, David says "my cup overflows" because he has counted his many blessings.
So why don't we stop right now, take out a piece of paper, or a notes app on the phone, and list all our blessings. Here are some headings:
Material blessings
Housing, job, etc.
Situational blessings
Family, geography, time born in history, etc.
Spiritual blessings
List all the salvation words, what do they each mean? Adopted, chosen, indwelt, sanctified, redeemed, forgiven, etc....
Tell again how the Gospel came to you...
Your present security...
Our future blessed hope...
Go on,
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
A thankless (and thus miserable) Christian is an anomaly!
God's Abundance Needs to be Acknowledged in Praise
Once we have counted our blessings, we can turn them into praise! Do you sometimes run out things to say in prayer? Fill your prayers with thanksgiving!
"I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds." (Psalm 9:1)
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." (Psalm 106:1)
"Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind." (Psalm 107:31)
Paul says that giving thanks is "God's will" for us in Christ Jesus, something God wants us to do.
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
A simple blog, but let's be honest, sometimes thanksgiving is a neglected theme, an absent note in our busy lives.
May God help us to count, to acknowledge and to thank the Lord for our overflowing cups.
A SONG FOR THE DAY
The Christian who wrote our song had just lost four daughters in a sea tragedy and had recieved this short telegram from his wife: "Saved Alone." He was able to recognise that in spite of what happens in this life, his soul was safe.
Take note of the "sea billows" theme, now that you are aware of his heart-breaking, heart-wrenching losses.
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul!”
It is well with my soul!
It is well, it is well with my soul!
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to His Cross, and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live;
If dark hours about me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
Horatio Gates Spafford
Here it sung here by one brother singing four parts -
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Our Abounding Father in heaven,
We thank you for every good gift that comes from you.
We include those who, in this present crisis, serve us day by day, whether in our hospitals or in our governing authorities.
Thank you for bin men and doctors, street cleaners and prime ministers.
We thank you for every material gift: help us to be good stewards of what you entrust to us.
And above all else we thank you for your "indescribable gift", the gift of your beloved Son whose sacrificial, atoning and self-giving death we remember on this Good Friday.
We thank you and bless you for him, and every spiritual blessing that has come our way, freely, through Him.
We pray these things in Jesus' Name
Amen.
Pastor's Blog
This post is taken from our Pastor Roy Summers’ blog, where he discusses and comments on a wide range of current subjects and issues both in the world and in the church.