Psalm 49:17-20: When we die we shall carry nothing away

From Psalms

Psalm 49:17-20

¹⁷For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away:
       his glory shall not descend after him.
¹⁸Though while he lived he blessed his soul:
      and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.
¹⁹He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
      they shall never see light.
²⁰Man that is in honour, and understandeth not,
      is like the beasts that perish.

I continue from the last psalms' comments on using the time, and the gifts, that God gives here on earth wisely.  Last time I wrote about, among other things, not being able to take riches with us when we die.

I would like to take another perspective on not taking things with us when we die.  Just like when we face an important game or competition we gave our all and finished with no energy remaining.  We say we left everything on the field.  That's the same way we need to face life and when I think about it maybe everyday.  For when we die we take nothing with us - we need to give in life like an important game or competition and have nothing left at the end.  Leave everything on the field.  Give everything we have and nothing less.  At the end of the day today, think about it...was there anything else I could have done?  Did I truly give everything I had to give?  Leave here without anything - leave here with no regrets.

Recently, I have observed, and as I proof read this, I realize I have not been giving everything I have to give.  Not in every aspect of my life.  In some areas, yes.  Not in the areas of my addiction.  Not in some areas related to my family.  And certainly not in many of the areas the bible tells us to.  I realize now how hard a proposition it is to give everything you have to give is.  How many options there are to find an easy way out.

I realize also that this approach is true about successful recovering addicts and is part of the big book on AA. "If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it-then you are ready to take certain steps.  At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not.  We realized that half measures availed us nothing."

Here's to giving everything we've got - with everyday we've been given.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 49:1-16: Nobody can buy his brother's redemption

From Psalms

Psalm 49
(For the director of music.  Of the Sons of Korah.  A psalm.)

¹Hear this, all ye people;
      give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
²Both low and high,
      rich and poor, together.
³My mouth shall speak of wisdom;
      and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
⁴I will incline mine ear to a parable:
      I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

⁵Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil,
      when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
⁶They that trust in their wealth,
      and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
⁷None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
      nor give to God a ransom for him:
⁸(For the redemption of their soul is precious,
      and it ceaseth for ever:)
⁹That he should still live for ever,
      and not see corruption.

¹⁰For he seeth that wise men die,
      likewise the fool and the brutish person perish,
      and leave their wealth to others.
¹¹Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever,
      and their dwelling places to all generations;
      they call their lands after their own names.

¹²Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not:
      he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This their way is their folly:
      yet their posterity approve their sayings.                Selah.
¹⁴Like sheep they are laid in the grave;
      death shall feed on them;
and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
      and their beauty shall consume in the grave
      from their dwelling.
¹⁵But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave:
      for he shall receive me.                                   Selah.

¹⁶Be not thou afraid when one is made rich,
      when the glory of his house is increased;

Psalm 49 is in interesting in the truths and wisdom it brings.  In particular, verses 6 and 7, tell us the truth we know - that salvation and redemption cannot be bought.  In terms of an addict, salvation, which is truly sobriety, cannot be bought.  If it could be bought, either the form of a pill, or medication, or treatment - there would people lining up with their check books open.  No, of course we know that sobriety can only come from work - there is no easy solution to this problem we face.

To me psalm 49 is about the gifts God has given us - and he has given us all gifts, whether you believe it or not.  God gave me the gift of sobriety - but it is my responsibility to maintain it.  It was not for sale but it is through my commitment that I keep it.

I believe there is more still to psalm 49.  The psalmist demonstrates that people who boast themselves in riches is "their folly" (verse 13).  They will all die like everyone else and all of these riches will not mean anything.  However, we close today by saying do not fear becoming rich.  In itself is not a bad thing, the evil comes from boasting in the riches.  Using riches as false idol boosting ourselves up from our riches.  True strength, true power does not come from riches.  Rather it comes from the Lord and being able to serve God here during the time we have.  So we need to use that time, and those gifts, wisely.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 48 (KJV): he will be our guide unto death

From Psalms

Psalm 48
(A song.  A psalm of the Sons of Korah.)

¹Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God,
      in the mountain of his holiness.
²Beautiful for situation,
      the joy of the whole earth,
is mount Zion, on the sides of the north,
      the city of the great King.
³God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

⁴For, lo, the kings were assembled,
      they passed by together.
⁵They saw it, and so they marvelled;
      they were troubled, and hasted away.
⁶Fear took hold upon them there,
      and pain, as of a woman in travail.
⁷Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish
      with an east wind.
⁸As we have heard,
      so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of hosts,
      in the city of our God:
      God will establish it for ever.                     Selah.

⁹We have thought of thy lovingkindness,
      O God, in the midst of thy temple.
¹⁰According to thy name, O God,
      so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth:
      thy right hand is full of righteousness.
¹¹Let mount Zion rejoice,
      let the daughters of Judah be glad,
      because of thy judgments.

¹²Walk about Zion, and go round about her:
      tell the towers thereof.
¹³Mark ye well her bulwarks,
      consider her palaces;
      that ye may tell it to the generation following.
¹⁴For this God is our God for ever and ever:
      he will be our guide even unto death.

I continue to learn much over this journey through the 12 steps.  As I went through Psalm 48, trying to find meaning, I thought the palaces and towers of Mount Zion were metaphors for spendorous mountain features - only to find out that there has always great palaces and towers on Mount Zion.  Many of those buildings were part of Jesus' live.

So, I go through it, again, trying to find what the point of this psalm and how it applies to my recovering life.  Every day is a gift and every day we need to celebrate the small victories.  Finding something in common with somebody who normally gets under your skin.  Understanding that people have more in common than they have differences.  That if we pray when things are bad and uncertain, God will show his way. 

This last week the word I was using to describe my life was overwhelmed.  My kids were starting back to school, there seemed like there were 50 projects are spiralling out of control at work.  And then there were the kids sports, between the two of them there was something every night.  Once the sports were done there were the conference calls with people from work in other countries in other timezones.  Overwhelmed.

But I prayed.  At first, a little, and maybe half-heartedly, and not very specifically.  But slowly as the days passed the prayers became more focused and more true - more honest.  As they did things stopped spinning and spiralling.  Things started to become more clear.  Today as I type this - I now see the meaning in Psalm 48.  God will be our guide...unto death.  Open your heart and your mind and he will show the way.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 47 (KJV): Sing praises to God, sing praises

From Psalms

Psalm 47
(For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.)

¹O clap your hands, all ye people;
      shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
²For the LORD most high is terrible;
      he is a great King over all the earth.
³He shall subdue the people under us,
      and the nations under our feet.
⁴He shall choose our inheritance for us,
      the excellency of Jacob whom he loved.                       Selah

⁵God is gone up with a shout,
      the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
⁶Sing praises to God, sing praises:
      sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

⁷For God is the King of all the earth:
      sing ye praises with understanding.
⁸God reigneth over the heathen:
      God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
⁹The princes of the people are gathered together,
      even the people of the God of Abraham:
for the shields of the earth belong unto God:
      he is greatly exalted.

I get the sense that we should be singing praises to God from this psalm.  Which is something I love to do...as I approach my 1st Birthday/Anniversary of my sobriety, which is incredibly hard to believe considering how low I had sunk and how deep I felt I had gotten.

That's not to say I don't have bad days anymore now that I have some sobriety - because I still have bad days.  There is stress, there is fear, there is procrastination.  However, now I have tools and weapons to battle those things.  I have prayer, I have psalms, I have twelve steps, I have fellowship, and in all of that I have hope.

Every now and then I stumble on things that remind me of my days in my addictions.  Like today I happened to pick-up an old New Yorker magazine which had a story about an alcoholic that lied and cheated and drank.  I remembered doing all those things and it reminded me what a journey it's been and how much I have to be thankful for.  The nurse also happened to have the quote "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is history, today is a gift that's why it's called the present," over her cube.  As cliche as that quote is, combined with the story, to give quite a perspective.  To appreciate every sober day I have been given.  To spend with friends, to spend with family, and to spread the love of God.

Sing praises to God, indeed.

Thanks for letting me share.