Psalm 23:1-6 – What Do You Do When Your Cup Gets Full? – Bible study

Psalm 23:5 What Do You Do When Your Cup Gets Full? The Psalmist is describing Gods goodness to him. 1. \#1\ God had supplied everything he needed. 2. \#2\ God was leading him into the rich meadows and peaceful rivers of life. 3. \#3\ God had restored the bridge of fellowship between David and God. 4. \#4\ God had removed the fear of death and replaced it with comfort. 5. \#5\ God had prepared a table of plenty, even abundance, for him despite what his enemies might have wanted. 6. \#6\ David was confident that God would continue showing goodness and mercy to him all the days of his life. However, the one phrase that I want to focus on is in \#5\ – "my cup runneth over." The question I want to ask and answer is, "What do you do when your cup gets full?" Lets consider some thoughts: I. What does David mean when he speaks of an overflowing cup? A. David meant that God had been so good to him that he could not contain it all. 1. What a marvelous description of the goodness of God! 2. I have said it before but it is worth saying again. 3. God has been good to us all. B. I know that some have a hard time agreeing with that statement; however, the truth is that most of those same people have a hard time accepting the consequences of their decision. 1. Did you know that most of our trouble is our making? a. Now, no doubt, some things are out of our control; but those are mostly the short range thingslose a job, get sick, have an accident. b. But the long range thingsnot getting an education, alcohol or drug addictions, unhappy marriagethese are the things that we do to ourselves. c. Some people need to quit blaming a good God for their dumb decisions. 2. Did you know that entire nations are largely to blame for their own conditions? a. There are nations around the world with much of their population starving to death. (1) We feel compassion for these people and we want to help them. And we should. (2) However, while they are starving to death, some have cows roaming around that they will not eat because they believe it might be a dead ancestor reincarnated. b. There are nations around the world which are oppressed by dictators and despots. (1) And again, we should feel compassion and try to help these people. (2) But many of the nations of the world did this to themselves when they had the opportunity to turn to Christ and refused. (a) The war-torn continent of Africa had the gospel of Jesus in the days of the apostles. i. Ethiopian eunuch \#Acts 8:27\ ii. Of course, one man doesnt make a movement but the gospel was there. (b) All of the oppressed countries of todays Middle East had the very FIRST opportunity to accept Jesus as their Savior. (c) Sadly, the largely Christ-less religions of Catholicism and Orthodox churches swept through the Iron Curtain countries long before there was an Iron Curtain. (3) Any nation which turns away from God is condemning itself to poverty, oppression, and in justice. C. I am not trying to condemn either people or nations. 1. I am trying to point out a truth. 2. I am trying to say that God is a God of goodness and blessing and freedom and liberty. 3. He has offered this goodness to all, and it is time for people and nations to quit blaming God for what they have done to themselves. 4. David, by saying that his cup was running over, picked a beautiful term to say that God has blessed him with more goodness than he could hold! D. Might I suggest that God has been very good to you? II. Having established what David meant with the phrase, lets ask the question, "What do you do when your cup gets full?" A. By no means should you ever try to hinder or restrict the goodness of God! 1. The point of this message is not in anyway to say it is bad to have the goodness of God on your life. 2. Neither do I want to say we should try to slow down Gods goodness, hinder it, or in any way restrict it. 3. LET THE GOODNESS OF GOD COME IN BUCKETS SO BIG THAT IT WOULD FLOOD THE WHOLE WORLD! 4. However, while we dont want to hold Gods goodness back, there are some things we can do with the excess that you might not have thought of. 5. So what do we do when our cup gets full? B. You can let it run over! 1. That is exactly what David was doing! a. David is saying that Gods goodness is so great that he cannot hold it all. b. God promises His obedient children more blessings than they can hold. Lu 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Pr 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. 2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: c. There is nothing wrong with an overflowing cupin fact, we all need an overflowing cup from time-to-time. (1) It feels good to have more of Gods goodness than you need! (2) God likes for His children to feel good. d. However, there is some waste in just letting the goodness of God spill out. (1) I dont let gas just run over out of the tank or milk just run over out of the glass. Its too valuable! (2) We all need and want more of the goodness of God than we can hold. (3) We all need to let the goodness of God just spill over every once in a while. (4) BUT, when God has been as good to you for as long as He has been to me, you begin to realize that it is just wrong to let it keep running over in your cup alone! e. We have an example in the Scriptures. (1) \#2Kings 6:24\ Syria began a siege of Israels capital, Samaria. (2) \#2Kings 6:25 This lead to an extreme famine. (3) \#2Kings 7:1\ Elisha prophesies that the famine will end by the next day. (4) \#2Kings 7:3-11\ It took these men a little while to realize it, but they finally understood that to keep all the blessing of God for yourself, is just not right. f. So what else can you do when your cup gets full? There is a second option. C. You can share Gods goodness with someone else! 1. You dont have to let it all run out and spill. a. Let some do that. b. But take some of it and give it to another. 2. How do I do that? Well, it depends on what it is that you have too much of. a. Has your salvation cup run over? (1) Are just so impressed with what God did for you when He saved you that you cant hold it in? (2) Witness and give some of it to another. (3) By taking the over-flow of your salvation and sharing it with another lost soul, you give to that soul the same opportunity for a full and over-flowing cup that you have. (4) Do you understand that witnessing is nothing more than a directed over-flow of salvation? (a) It is the believer saying that I am so pleased with my salvation that I cannot hold all of it! (b) I am so excited about forgiveness, mercy, salvation, and heaven that I cannot hold it all! (5) Do you know what a football fanatic is? (a) It is an Alabama or Auburn supporter who is so excited about their football team that they cannot hold it all! (b) They think that their team and school is so great, so wonderful, so glorious, that they just have to wear funny colors, wear goofy hats, and make statements of loyalty that would never hold up in a court of law! (c) And they dont even care if the people that are around them want to hear all of that or not! (6) Friend, let your salvation cup run over and spill the excess on someone who needs Jesus! b. Has your prosperity cup run over? (1) Has God just blessed you with more than you can righteously spend? (2) Instead of letting the prosperity cup run over, give some of your prosperity to others! (3) Im not talking here about giving so that you will get in return (although that is a teaching of Scripture). (4) Im talking about directing the over-flow of your cup simply because it is a waste to just let it flow over and be lost. (a) I am afraid that many of Gods American children may have to stand before God and give an account of just wasting Gods blessings! (b) Some (most) are so blessed, that even after giving a tithe and an offering, they have more than they know what to do with. (c) Our small kids today have toys that cost $3 and $400. (d) Some buy dresses and shoes that they will wear maybe three or four times for $4 to $600. (e) Men will spend $1,000 to $1,500 just for a place to have a hobby. (f) And then we all grumble when we have to spend #3.50 for a gallon of gas. (5) I am not here to condemn you. I am one of you. I am here to say that I think our prosperity cup is over- flowing! (a) Some missionaries could use what you and I call MISCELLANEOUS MONEY to stay on the mission field. (b) The MAD MONEY that some use annually on a hobby might have built our new building by now. (c) What we spend in soft drinks might feed a starving child in a third world country. (6) I am not saying dont enjoy life. (7) I am not saying dont let your prosperity cup run over every once in a while. (8) I am saying that you might consider directing some of the over-flow instead of just letting it run out on the ground. c. Has your blessing cup run over? (1) Has God filled you with so many good THINGS, THINGS that you cant bank or count, that you just cant hold it all? (a) Not all blessings are financial. (b) Indeed, the best blessings are not financial. (c) Things like friends, family, stable income, a healthy family, a comfortable lifestyle, a revived spirit. (2) Pass them along to others with praise. (3) It is amazing how many Christians get excited about every- thing but Jesus. (a) Now, if that is your nature all of the timeif you are low-keyed and naturally unemotionalthat is fine. (b) But if you are a red-blooded, dyed-in-the-wool, ADHD, cant keep your mouth closed about anything else, loud-mouth, why is it that you never seem to have any praise for the Lord. (c) Is it because you dont think God has been good to you? Check the bank! You will find that He has! (4) You are letting your blessing cup over-flow! (5) Why not direct the over-flow in such a way that God receives the glory? What do you do when your cup gets full? There is nothing wrong with letting it over-flow, at least not for awhile. We all need the over-flowing goodness of God in our lives. But we have so much to be thankful for. Almost weekly, I receive emails requesting prayer, and sometimes help, for people that have less spiritually than we do. Yesterday alone, I received a request from Pakistan and India. God has been good to the Green Pond Baptist Church. Why not direct a little of the over-flow to others?!