Monday, March 27, 2017

Grasping Or Receiving?

"Grasping Or Receiving?"
Psalm 23

The Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, once wrote a short story titled, "Land Enough For A Man."  In the story there is a man who decided he needed more land.  He already had quite a bit of land, but he wanted more.  In some of the vast plains of Russia, the government allowed people to set up land claims if they would settle there and farm the land.  So this character set out to stake his claim.

To stake a claim, each person had to walk the distance in circumference around the amount of land they desired.  In one day.  The man decided to walk as far as he could in one direction, then, when he thought he had enough for a man, he would drive a stake in the ground.  Then he would turn 90 degrees and start walking again until he felt that would be enough for a man.  There he would drive another stake in the ground.  He would keep doing so until he had walked off a huge square of land, "land enough for man," he would tell his family.

So he set out walking, with his four stakes in hand.  After having walked a long journey with two more stakes yet to be positioned, the man began to be weary.  "I don't have enough," the man talked to himself.  "This isn't land enough for a man," he spoke to the sun.  He hadn't taken enough water or food with him for the trip.  He pounded in his third stake and headed for home.  His feet were dragging.  His tongue was caked and dry.  He was out of food and out of water.  The sun beamed down upon him like lasers.  In total exhaustion, before his final stake was driven into the land to make his claim, at the end of the day, the man collapsed and died.

His family searched for and found the man.  At the place he died, they buried him.  It was a plot of ground, as Tolstoy's last words of the story described, "that was land enough for a man."


Like I've been telling people lately, I've been watching nature documentaries on Netflix.  With each show I am always amazed at what a beautiful planet we have, put together by such a creative God, who must have a great sense of humor when you look at the colors and behaviors of plants and animals that also call this planet home.

In parts of central Africa, one of the big "industries" is the capture and export of monkeys.  Trappers have a unique way of catching monkeys.  First, trappers spread the kinds of foods the monkeys like around on the ground.  They do this for several days.

Then they fill a hollowed out coconut with some of the food.  There is a hole cut in the coconut just large enough for a monkey to put its hand in.  On the other end of the coconut, a thin but strong rope is attached.  The trappers leave the food filled coconut lying on the ground.  Holding on to his end of the rope, the trappers hide in the bushes.

When the monkey finds the coconut, it is as ecstatic as a gold miner coming across the mother lode.  It reaches in and grabs a handful of food.  But because of the size of the hole, it can't get its full and fisted hand out.

That's when the trapper starts reeling the monkey in.  The monkey, greedy as it is, will not let go of its handful of food.  Therefore it has doomed itself to being caught and shipped off to one of the world's zoos or pet stores.


If we have evolved from monkeys, it appears we haven't evolved very far, behavior wise.  We seem to be greedy graspers by nature, when the opportunity for being greedy presents itself.  We grab for things and we don't want to let go of them once we have them, even if those things become our cage or lead to our demise.  We generally are people who aren't satisfied and always want more—or want something different.  A deep sense of satisfaction, at-homeness, or peace eludes most people.

There seems to be a law—and I think it's a spiritual law—that the more you grasp or grab, the more you lose (or stand to lose).  But, the more you are willing to receive, the more you gain.

Psalm 23 is about that law.  In order to understand that law, in light of this psalm, do some imagining with me for a moment.  Imagine King David, the author of this psalm, as an old man.  He is looking back over his life, remembering, reviewing the high and low points.  He is making a mental ledger sheet of sorts, dividing up what he assesses to be the things he has been able to keep and the things he has lost.  He ponders why he was able to keep the things he has kept, and lost the things he lost.

As you watch David in your mind's eye, and hear his thoughts, it suddenly becomes clear to you that what he lost are the things he grabbed for, particularly in his episode with Bathsheba.  His grabbing for her cost so much, including the death of his son.  But the things he kept were the things he received as gifts from the LORD, particularly those things related to his kingship and devotion to God.

And then you watch, as this old man David, who, through his memories, has come to realize that truth:  The more you grasp, the more you lose, or stand to lose.  The more you receive the gifts from God, the more you find satisfaction, contentment, peace, well-being, roundedness, and at-homeness; in other words, the more you gain.

The philosopher, W.P. Montague, suggested that the question we start each day with should be, "How can I keep from letting the things that matter most from being at the mercy of the things that matter least?"  I would add and amend that question to be, "How can I keep myself from grasping and grabbing at the things that matter least and recognize and receive from God the things that matter most?"

If David did write this Psalm in his old age, as some scholars think, why must we wait until old age to look back and ask such questions?  Why does it take so long for us to understand such a truth?  When you grab, you lose; when you receive, you gain.

The Lord is my shepherd
I have everything I need.

There is power and meaning behind the truth I am talking about.  Part of the power of this opening phrase in the psalm has to do with the structure of Hebrew poetry.  There is no word rhyme in Hebrew poetry.  Instead, they rhyme ideas.  One phrase makes a statement, and the next phrase rhymes, or builds on and enhances the first.  The second phrase restates the meaning of the first statement so that a fuller understanding can be gained by the reader.

This opening verse of Psalm 23 forces us to examine what it is we really need, versus all the things we want and therefore grab at.  What is it that we really need, according to this verse?  Answer:  The Lord as our shepherd.  Beyond that, there is nothing else we need.  But we can't get the Lord as our Shepherd, or what the shepherding Lord has to offer, by grabbing.

Here's your journaling exercise for this week.  Walk through your house, barns, fields, offices, and look at all your things.  Look at all the stuff you have accumulated around you.  As you look at each thing, simply put a label on it:  grabbed, or received.  Be honest.  And when you have completed your walk and assess the amount of stuff under each of the words grabbed or received, what was the cumulative effect?  Write about that.

What are the things you really need, that give you a sense of personhood, meaning and identity?  My guess is they really aren't the things you have grabbed and acquired over the years, but things you have received from God.  What, in your life, is represented by "still waters," "green pastures," "right paths," "shepherd's rod and staff," "a banquet," an "overflowing cup," "a home."

I believe you ultimately come to the realization that David did, that one's companionship with God gifts you with everything you need, both spiritual and material.

It is that companionship with God which transforms every situation in life, as this Psalm alludes:

Where there was stress there is rest;
Where there was dry, sultry noise, there is quiet;
Where there was weakness, there is strength;
Where there was a sad string of misguided choices, there are now right paths;
Where there was deepest darkness and fear, there is presence and protection;
Where there was running from enemies, there is a banquet enjoyed in front of them, before which they are not invited;
Where there was the loneliness of being an outsider, there is the welcome as an honored guest;
Where there was homelessness, there is eternal home.


All of this issues from the transforming companionship of God, who is the Creator of a new orientation, the Giver of all that is needed, and the Provider of amazing options.  Our Shepherd God only asks that we receive what He has to give.  All that we receive from our Shepherding Lord, we will never lose.  Because, ultimately, as David discovered, all that we have grabbed along the way will be lost from our grasp and become meaningless.  The only things that will remain is what we have received.  Because all that we receive from the Lord is all we need.

The Lord is my shepherd;
I have everything I need.

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