Money in the Word Episode 7: Psalm 24:1

In this video, we take a look at Psalm 24:1 with Amy Artiga, CFP®, of Guide Financial Planning, and how it applies to us today.

Welcome to Money in the Word. I'm Amy Artiga and I'm one of the financial planners here at Guide Financial Planning. Thank you for taking the time to join me today as we dig into what the Bible says about money and how it applies to our lives.

Today's passage is Psalm 24: 1. It says, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." "Psalm" is a funny word, but it really just means a hymn or prayer used in worship of God. This Psalm number 24 was written by David, and it was composed either for when David brought the ark to Jerusalem, or a festival commemorating that event. I actually took a class on Psalms when I was in Bible college, so I can tell you that this is a didactic Psalm, meaning its goal is to instruct. David used this Psalm that he wrote to teach his people theology, and then we see in the New Testament the Apostle Paul used this same Psalm to teach when he quoted it in 1 Corinthians 10:26. And now it still teaches us today. What it teaches us is that God owns it all, it's not yours, it's his. This is something that God has really been teaching me over the last two years. I've had to learn to let go of many things. He's enabled me to let go by teaching me that they were really never mine to begin with.

In this verse, it tells us that God owns everything, and the following verse right after it tells us why; because he made it. It's basic copyright law- if you created it you own it, and you're the only one with rights over it. That's how God is with everything. He made it all, so he owns it all. Part of the Christian journey is recognizing that fact and allowing it to shape how we live our lives. Andrew Murray was a famous preacher from the 1800s. He addressed this in his sermon called "Absolute Surrender." He explains that God cannot use us as he wants to unless we are fully surrendered to him. He uses a great example of a pen. Let me read it to you. He says, "You know in daily life what absolute surrender is. You know that everything has to be given up to a special, definite object in service. I have a pen in my pocket, and that pen is absolutely surrendered to the one work of writing, and that pen must be absolutely surrendered to my hand if I am to write properly with it. If another holds it partly, I cannot write properly."

If we truly believe in the God of the Bible who made everything and thus owns everything, we must strive to surrender to him. This surrender isn't a bad thing, it can actually bring us peace to know that God is in control, and we can surrender to him. After all, if we believe that God is good and that he truly knows what's best for us, then we don't have to begrudgingly surrender to him, but rather we can surrender to him with joy. Now what does surrender mean for your personal finances? It means you treat your money as if it belongs to someone else and you're just managing it. Managing it for him. It's not yours, so you don't make decisions based on what you want. It's God's, so you manage it the way he wants.

Here are some questions to ask yourself: Does the way I use my money bring glory to God?  Now bringing glory to God with your money doesn't mean you have to give it all away. You can spend your money on a family vacation and bring him glory through strengthening family ties and imparting to your children. Here's another question: Does the way I think about and relate with money bring glory to God? Even if you do all the right things, you can still miss the mark depending on what's going on internally. Now the last question to ask yourself is this based on what I know about him: Is there anything God might want me to be doing differently? I'd encourage you to ponder that and pray about it. The good news is surrender isn't all up to us. Andrew Murray goes on to say in his sermon "Absolute Surrender," "God does not ask you to give the perfect surrender in your strength, or by the power of your will. God is willing to work it in you." He cites Philippians 2:13, which says, "For it is God who works in you, to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." What is his good purpose? That we would behave as stewards and recognize his ownership of everything.

Our verse today is Psalm 24:1, which says, "The Earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it." What it tells us is that God owns it all. It's not ours, it's his. Let's pray together. Lord, we and all we have is yours. Help us to recognize your Sovereign ownership over everything. Help us to surrender what we believe is ours, since it really is yours. Reveal to us areas where we're not pleasing you with our finances, show us how to glorify you with our resources. Give us the strength to make any changes you want made, whether they're in our hearts or how we use money. Thank you for all that you have provided for our use. We give you praise for who you are and all that you've done for us. In Jesus name. Amen

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*Absolute Surrender, Andrew Murray: Free Audio Book