Tools or Treasure
A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
how I praise you!
I will praise you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.
I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
Because you are my helper,
I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.
But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin.
They will go down into the depths of the earth.
They will die by the sword
and become the food of jackals.
But the king will rejoice in God.
All who swear to tell the truth will praise him,
while liars will be silenced. -Psalm 63, NLT
“The longing of these verses is not the groping of a stranger, feeling his way towards God, but the eagerness of a friend, almost of a lover, to be in touch with the one he holds dear.” -Derek Kidner
“Verse 8 provides a beautiful picture of what God intends for the divine-human relationship, for as the psalmist holds tightly to his God, he finds that God is holding on to him. There is comfort in knowing that my grip on God is not my only security.” -Stephen J. Lennox
“…it is to God Himself, not some lesser goal, that David is drawn…” -Derek Kidner
Tools or treasure is not my original phrase[i]. I picked it up from another pastor. I do find it to be a helpful reminder though. I am often drawn to the tools and perfecting them and forget about the Treasure- God Himself. I have sort of spiritual ‘check list’ and use it to diagnosis how I am doing and where I need to improve. And that isn’t all bad. Where neglect of spiritual disciplines sets in, we need to be reminded and become more diligent. The problem I find is that the means become the end. I see reading through the Bible in a year as the goal. It is not the goal. It is a means to an end- knowing and loving God more. As we warp up this series on pursuit, it seems good to remind myself (and anyone still reading) that diligence with the tools will get us to the Treasure but they are tools and nothing more.
Any trades person will tell you that you need to have high quality, well-functioning tools to do good work. They will also tell you that the tools are not the goal- the trade they engage in is. A plumber’s job is about pipes and wrenches and soldering tools and all other manner of gizmos and whatchamajigs. But, end of the day it really is about pipes that function in the delivery of whatever material is to be carried from here to there. If you have a plumber obsessed with the tools but unfocused on the end goal, you’ve got a messy situation on tap.
The reality is that yes you need spiritual disciplines. They are, in fact, the way we get after God. They are never intended to be anything more. They are the means to an end. So yes read your Bible, pray, attend church, fast, confess, memorize Scripture, get alone with God, sing to Him and so forth but, not for the sake of the tools, for the pursuit of the Treasure.
[i] Forgetting and Pursuing in 2011. Sermon by Matt Chandler, The Village Church.
