1 Praise the Lord.

Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
who find great delight in his commands.

2 Their children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in their houses,
and their righteousness endures forever.
4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
who conduct their affairs with justice.

6 Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
they will be remembered forever.
7 They will have no fear of bad news;
their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
9 They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,
their righteousness endures forever;
their horn will be lifted high in honor.

10 The wicked will see and be vexed,
they will gnash their teeth and waste away;
the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

Psalm 112

Dear God, see, this is why I don’t spend too much time praying through Psalms. I’m not sure this content has been thoroughly theologically vetted. It’s a little too much prosperity gospel for me. The verse of the day for Bible Gateway was verse 5: Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. Really? Always? I mean, this is a nice platitude, and I wholeheartedly believe we should give generously and conduct our affairs with justice, but sometimes good coming our way just isn’t part of your plan–and that’s okay.

I don’t understand your ways, but I know they are better than mine. And I know that I cannot and should not put rewards like this in front of me as my motivation for giving generously and conducting my affairs with justice. That only turns my eyes on me and my selfishness, and takes them off of you.

One of the hardest parts about the fundraising aspect of my job is to check my motivations at the door. Sometimes I’m better at this than others. Am I just trying to do good to people so they will give our organization money, or is their joy and health my motivation. I’m about to spend the next few hours writing thank you notes to people who donated this week. Will my communication with them be motivated by selfishness and manipulation so they will send another donation, or will I put my own needs and desires to the side and love them (and be your love for them) through what I say?

Father, you must increase and I must decrease. I must give my utmost for your highest. I need to keep my eyes on you, following you, my Lord. Help me to do that as selflessly as possible.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen