Psalm 112

1 Praise the Lord!

How joyful are those who fear the Lord
and delight in obeying his commands.
2 Their children will be successful everywhere;
an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.
3 They themselves will be wealthy,
and their good deeds will last forever.
4 Light shines in the darkness for the godly.
They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.
5 Good comes to those who lend money generously
and conduct their business fairly.
6 Such people will not be overcome by evil.
Those who are righteous will be long remembered.
7 They do not fear bad news;
they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
8 They are confident and fearless
and can face their foes triumphantly.
9 They share freely and give generously to those in need.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.
They will have influence and honor.
10 The wicked will see this and be infuriated.
They will grind their teeth in anger;
they will slink away, their hopes thwarted.

I think that this is one of those days where my usual commentary on a passage in the Bible is not totally necessary. This is a joyful Psalm, and it fills my heart to near-bursting just reading it. One of the things that this passage really highlights is generosity. Verse nine says "they share freely and give generously to those in need." Have you ever noticed that some of the most generous people have little themselves? They are so willing to share what they DO have, their generous spirit is so prevalent. I think of some friends of ours who always seem to be struggling just a bit to make ends meet. On the rare occasion where they find themselves with a little extra in their pockets, the first thing they are trying to do is figure out who needs it, and how they can share their blessing.

Generosity is definitely a learned discipline. I think it is our nature for the most part to be a little miserly. To put something aside for a rainy day instead of sharing what we have. It takes a shift in mentality to transform that attitude. It takes a bit of God, actually. By loving God, and wanting to be more like God, we ourselves begin to want to share everything we have. God has, after all, blessed us with what we do have. He has blessed us with every penny in our bank account, and every morsel of food in our pantry. By sharing his blessings, we will only be blessed further. The blessings received back may not be in the tangible sense... but I look out my window today, and the sun is beginning to come out in full force, and the snow is rapidly melting into a lake in the backyard, and I am so grateful and overjoyed with the promise of spring. Today as I tackle the housework, I have the warm sunshine to keep me company, and today that is the best blessing I could possibly ask for.