Harmless Contentment || Psalm 56:3-4 || Manna for the Mind #62

Welcome to Day 62 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional series! This series is about taking scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses) and building our understanding of their teachings through their context and connecting scripture. I believe that doing this helps us understand how to be the type of human that God created us to be.

Today’s passage is Psalm 56:3-4, with a focus on verse 4.

Psalm 56:3-4

3             But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.

4             I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?

In one of the most quoted verses, David said, “What can mere mortals do to me?” It’s a partial quote that we repeat, but still. How much can people harm us? Well, they can cause pain, suffering, and even death. How much harm can we do to ourselves? We can cause ourselves pain and suffering. The worst thing we can do is reject our heavenly Father and lose the chance of being with him for eternity. No one person can steal our souls or the future beyond this life. This tells us that our choice to be with God for eternity resides with us. Jesus even said, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul.” Instead, our fear should be in God because he controls our lives and the life beyond here.

This is a weird juxtaposition of how we live today. We shouldn’t be afraid of the things going on around us. The life we live should not be one that we’re afraid of. There’s plenty to be afraid of, such as murder, arson, car accidents, muggings, bullies, guns, natural disasters, arguments, abuse, death, trauma, mental health, and more. Our mindsets continuously focus on what to be afraid of. We must reframe our minds to focus on what God can do for us when we’re afraid. God can protect, shelter, comfort, shield, and love us through the chaos. This isn’t an either/or spectrum. There will be things we need to do to protect us, but we also trust that the things we do to protect us honor God and reinforce his teachings.

The author of Hebrews talks about this with money in Hebrews 13:5-6. We’ll specifically focus on verse 6.

Hebrews 13:5-6

5             Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

6             So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”

How can we learn to be satisfied with what we currently have? It’s about striving to live with less rather than desiring more. The idea is to give out of your abundance rather than continually accumulating more. It’s about relishing what you have rather than resenting what you’re missing. It’s why we’re seeing an increase in the minimalist mindset nowadays. We are collectively learning that items don’t mean anything, and we should use our resources to create experiences rather than extra clutter. However, the biblical mindset encourages us to use our abundance for the needs of others rather than for more experiences. It’s okay to take a trip every once in a while, but there’s a balance. Enjoy life and enjoy caring for your neighbor.

We can feel satisfied when we realize God’s sufficiency for our needs. There’s an abundance of clothes and food to buy, dwelling spaces to live in, experiences to embrace, and more. God has created things that will benefit us but might not benefit others and vice versa. While God created all this, we must do the work to get those things. It requires us to work, receive a paycheck, save, and spend wisely on the things that further progress the plan that he has for us. This isn’t easy because of the greed of the world. Companies upcharge food and basic needs by multiple hundreds of percent because they strive for the most profit regardless of what that means to the consumer. Landlords and real estate owners will often extort rent and housing prices to make a “reasonable” profit, not worried about how a family of four making ends meet can afford to pay $1,000 a month to live in a safe place. Some Christians will accumulate wealth to say that God might not always care for them – or at least that God won’t care for them the way they want.

Whether we feel rich or poor, anxiety and insecurity can lead to the love of money and a lack of compassion for others. Trust that God will meet all your needs and remove discontentment. Share your gratitude with him for what he’s provided you, and remember that every treasure and possession will pass away. The things we have on earth, whether our homes, cars, entertainment centers, streaming services, video games, and more, are nice to have in the moment. These don’t sustain us. They don’t grow us. They don’t provide for us. These are benefits to enjoy but not live off. God will provide you everything you need. I pray that you receive and strengthen the give of discernment to see what you need and how you can obtain it.

Father God, thank you for what we have. Our homes, food, clothes, and luxuries are all gifts from you. We often take them for granted, for our neighbors might not be as lucky as we are. Please help us to give our abundance to them. Don’t let us covet, but bless those around us with the things that don’t give us fruit in our season. It’s in your name, we pray. Amen.