Psalm 24 opens with an emphatic statement – “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it…” It sets the stage for a big view of God and carries it through to the end of the Psalm. So what does it have to say to us?

Image by Eliskan

The ultimate point of the Psalm is praise to God but that opening line raises some very interesting questions about concepts of ownership and they put forward some personal challenges for me and may for you as well.

In a culture where getting more is a life pursuit what does it mean to understand that nothing we have is ultimately ours? What does it say to that pursuit? What does it mean for what we do with the things we have in our life, the resources at our disposal?

Truly understanding that everything belongs to God firstly compels me to view all that I have as a gift, but not for my ownership. Rather those gifts are given for my stewardship, enjoyment and use. All of those ways of engaging what ultimately belongs to God fall within service to His purposes.

Now, let me be honest, really living with that understanding at the heart of what I do is hard and doesn’t come naturally. We’re bombarded with messages all the time about getting, possessing and using things (and people) to fulfil our own desires and wants. To give everything up in service to something that transcends me is tough and to do it properly I need to draw near to God – to have all of who I am shaped by him so I can properly challenge those parts of myself that seek to serve only me. I want to properly see what has been gifted to me, know gratitude for it and in turn, use it all for His purposes. Maybe you face the same challenge?

A key starting point is thankfulness. Learning to really see what we have been given no matter how big or small it may be. A good practice for that is to weave a time of reflecting on it into our regular life practices. Daily is ideal – pausing at the end of the day to look back and no matter how rubbish the day may have seemed, finding things to just say thanks to God, no matter how minor those things may seem.

May we be people who cultivate a sense of thankfulness, recognising what has been gifted to us, that it all ultimately belongs to God and in turn, may we use it all to be generous to the world around us and in so doing, show something of the character of the divine in all that we do.

Read more of my reflections on the Psalms.

Here’s why I’m walking this journey through the Psalms.

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