Stock market decline. By Rido/stock.adobe.com
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 748 points on Friday, its worst slide in two months. The Financial Times explained: “A bout of gloomy economic data showed sentiment among consumers and businesses has cooled a month into Donald Trump’s presidency.”
For all I know, the markets will rebound today. Or they could close mixed, or they could continue to decline. But you’re not reading this article because you want stock market advice from me. The next finance class I take will be my first one. My economics acumen rivals my ability to dunk a basketball or fly a jumbo jet.
However, I am interested in discussing with you a verse I encountered in my personal Bible study over the weekend; one that speaks to foundational issues we all face, whatever the markets do today.
“Don’t do what I did”
Psalm 52 was written by David after someone named “Doeg the Edomite” betrayed his whereabouts to King Saul (1 Samuel 22:9–10). This mattered because Saul at the time saw David as a threat to his throne and sought to kill him.
David said to Doeg and to all whose character he represents, “Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? . . . Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit” (vv. 1–2). The future king goes on to warn Doeg that “God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent” (v. 5).
Now comes the part that caught my eye: “The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, ‘See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!’” (vv. 6–7).
Stop there for a moment. According to David, the person who “trusted in the abundance of his riches” is the same person who “sought refuge in his own destruction.” Repetition is a central feature of Hebrew poetry. In this case, the second phrase affirms and amplifies the first.
How would a person who “sought refuge in his own destruction” do so? He might seek shelter from a hurricane in a building that then collapsed and killed him. Or he might consume poison thinking it was medicine and die. Or he might react to adversity by using drugs that kill him.
I remember watching a sports icon being interviewed shortly before his death. After many years of drinking that he thought made his life better, he was dying of cirrhosis of the liver. He looked into the camera and said, “Don’t do what I did.”
How can we take his advice today?
“God means to fill each of you with what is good”
David continued: “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever” (v. 8). Again, the second phrase amplifies the first: if we trust not in material wealth but in the unconditional love of God, we are comparable to a “green olive tree in the house of God”—alive and perpetually thriving.
I am reminded of CS Lewis’s famous maxim: “Aim at Heaven and you get Earth ‘thrown in’; aim at Earth and you will get neither.” Living for eternity is the best way to maximize our temporal lives. Focusing on heavenly reward leads to our earthly best.
Why is this so?
St. Augustine (AD 354–430) explained:
Suppose you are going to fill some holder or container, and you know you will be given a large amount. Then you set about stretching your sack or wineskin or whatever it is. Why? Because you know the quantity you will have to put in it and your eyes tell you there is not enough room. By stretching it, therefore, you increase the capacity of the sack, and this is how God deals with us. . . .
God means to fill each of you with what is good; so cast out what is bad! If he wishes to fill you with honey and you are full of sour wine, where is the honey to go? The vessel must be emptied of its contents and then be cleansed. Yes, it must be cleansed even if you have to work hard and scour it. It must be made fit for the new thing, whatever it may be.
Said differently, when we do what leads to reward in the next life, we live our best lives in this one. For example:
- Living for God’s glory rather than ours produces the humility that positions us to be empowered, led, and blessed by God’s Spirit (Proverbs 15:33; Ephesians 5:18).
- Thinking and living biblically aligns us with God’s “perfect” will for our lives today (Romans 12:2).
- Leading people to eternal life in Christ infuses us with purpose and significance that transcends anything secular culture can offer (Acts 1:8).
- Staying ready to meet Jesus requires us to refuse temptation that poisons our souls and corrupts our culture (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:2–11.
How to be “freed from selfish desires”
St. Maximus the Confessor (AD 580–662) noted:
If a man’s service toward his brothers is genuine and if he really renounces worldly concerns, he is freed from selfish desires. For he now shares in God’s own knowledge and love. Since he does possess God’s love, he does not experience weariness as he follows his Lord and God.
Theologian and novelist Frederick Buechner was therefore right:
“If you lose yourself in your work, you find who you are. If you express the best you have in you in your work, it is more than just the best you have in you that you are expressing.”
Will you “express the best you have in you” for God’s glory today?
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