Complete Contentment
This is the second week of a 3 week series Title P23X (Psalms 23 Extreme). Last week we looked at the firt element of this extreme faith-sculpting passage: Trust. This week we look at the second element that will transform our walk with God and that is contentment.
Review of last week - Total Trust
5 Total Trust statements
And Moses told them, “It is the food the LORD has given you to eat. 16 These are the LORD’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.”
17 So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. 18 But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
19 Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” 20 But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.
21 After this the people gathered the food morning by morning, each family according to its need. And as the sun became hot, the flakes they had not picked up melted and disappeared.
Complete Contentment
5 confessions of the content:
I am content because...
1. I shall not want = ...I have all that I need
More is implied than is expressed, not only, I shall not want, but, “I shall be supplied with whatever I need; and, if I have not every thing I desire, I may conclude it is either not fit for me or not good for me or I shall have it in due time.”
Heb., lo’ ’ekhsar [3808/2637, 4202/2893] (I will not lack). All of the verbs in 23:1–5a are imperfects and give the psalm an unmistakably future orientation (see commentary). There is only one other use of the verb khaser [2637, 2893] that is grammatically identical (used with neither an object nor an explicit subject and used with the negative adverb lo’ [3808, 4202]); Neh 9:21 says of the wilderness generation, lo’ khaseru (they lacked nothing). The connection with the wilderness generation in Neh 9:21 suggests the idea that 23:1 may have the wilderness experience in the background; this is confirmed by comparison to a text like Deut 2:7, lo’ khasarta dabar [3808/2637/1697, 4202/2893/1821] (you have lacked nothing).
Psalm 23, perhaps the single most well-known biblical text, has a striking hold on popular American religion, no doubt for a number of reasons. Chief among them, it seems, is the surrounding and central motif of the psalm, the beneficent presence of a personal God. Someone once said, “You cannot get enough of what you do not want.” There is some truth to this, though its rhetoric overstates the case. It is true that some seem to never have enough; we always want just a little more—a little more money, a little more recognition, a little more car, a little more house, a little more …, a little more.… Some want a little more of this stuff because this stuff alone is not what we ultimately want. As human beings we were created to live in the divine presence, and our souls are restless until they find rest in that presence. What we ultimately want is God himself—and when we have God, we find true joy and satisfaction in all of the other good things of life.
As the divine name (yhwh) surrounds the psalm (23:1, 6), so the divine presence surrounds all of life (Brueggemann 1984:154). Since the Lord is my shepherd, I will have everything I need (23:1); since the Lord’s goodness and unfailing love will always pursue me, I will most assuredly return again and again to dwell in his presence (23:6); since the Lord is my shepherd (23:1a), I can be confident that his goodness and unfailing love will pursue me for the entirety of my life (23:6a); I will have everything I need (23:1b) as I return again and again to the divine presence (23:6b) (Tappy 1995:262). The central line of the psalm directs the soul to its chief passion, the divine presence: “You are close beside me” (23:4; McCann 1996:768 and Tappy 1995:260). The rest of the psalm fills in the details of this magnificent portrait of the beneficent presence of a personal God.
He restoreth my soul - I am whole
Thy Rod and thy staff they comfort me: I am secure
The one rod, which the shepherd holds up to guide the flock, and upon which he leans and anxiously watches over the flock, has assumed a double form in the conception of the idea. This rod and staff in the hand of God comfort him, i.e., preserve to him the feeling of security, and therefore a cheerful spirit. Even when he passes through a valley dark and gloomy as the shadow of death, where surprises and calamities of every kind threaten him, he hears no misfortune.
thou anointest my head with oil: I am favored
It was customary in those days to receive a guest by anointing him with fragrant perfume and with a cup filled with a choice wine. In this way, the host indicated that nothing was to be considered too good for his guest.
Anointing was an ancient custom practiced by the Egyptians and afterward by the Greeks and Romans and other nations. Olive oil was used, either pure or mixed with fragrant and costly spices, often brought from a long distance. (See note at Matthew 26:7 Alabaster—Tables) Anointing was done not only as a part of the ceremony in connection with the coronation of kings (see 2 Kings 11:12 Coronation Ceremonies) and at the installation of the High Priest (Psalm 133:2), but also as an act of courtesy and hospitality toward a guest. Thus Jesus accuses Simon of lacking hospitality in neglecting to anoint His head when Simon invited Him to eat with him (Luke 7:46).