Psalm 41 opens with a declaration: "Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble, the LORD delivers him."
Most of us think about the law of sowing and reaping in the negative. If I'm bitter, I'll reap bitterness. If I sow discord, I'll harvest conflict. That's true, and the Bible is consistent about it. But Psalm 41 presses us to think about the other side of that same law.
What if I sow generosity? What if I consider the poor — not just in a detached, write-a-check kind of way, but truly consider them? Think about their situation. Care about their circumstances. Act in ways that cost me something?
The LORD delivers him in his day of trouble. The LORD protects him and keeps him alive. The LORD sustains him on his sickbed. That is what comes back to the person who pours out for others.
This is not a prosperity gospel. It is not a formula for getting rich by giving. It is a principle of kingdom life that the New Testament confirms: "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you" (Luke 6:38).
The tragedy is not that this principle doesn't work. The tragedy is that most of us never give generously enough to find out.