Sunday, May 11, 2025 AM

Thanksgiving for Life and the Hope of Christ

Heavenly Father, we come before you today and we give you thanks. We thank you for the gift of life, we thank you that from the beginning. You are the giver of life. That you, even in the wake of sin and death.

Ensured the hope of life in your son, the seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, and we thank you. For your preservation of life, as Adam called his wife Eve, the mother of all the living, and you promised to keep life going, even though all we deserve is death and your promises to to Noah.

A man of comfort and a sign of the rainbow that we see around the throne of Christ in heaven. So, Lord, we give you praise. Thank you for the comfort and the hope that we have in Christ, we thank you for the gift of life.

We thank you for this morning that we may gather together and look at your word and rejoice in its truth, and I pray that you would have your way in our lives. You would not leave us unaffected, you would not leave us distant, but that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would bring your word to bear directly upon us and that to your great pleasure, you would make in us an amen of your will in heaven.

We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the one with whom you are well pleased. Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to Acts 20. We'll be reading verses 28 through 38 this morning and finishing our consideration of the last words of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian elders.

Paul’s Last Words to the Ephesian Elders

Last words are treasured. They are held with great significance. We desire that last words be pressed full of love and truth, that last words would be gracious words, that would continue a blessed work long after our stammering tongues lie silent in the grave.

And we desire that our last words be more than a bare will and testament. We desire to deposit a legacy. We desire the adornment of wisdom to be upon our sons and daughters that they would wear in their lives an inheritance of glory.

It gives us an opportunity to ponder what last words will we entrust? What last words will we commit to letters written in our own hands? Or perhaps the modern version of scheduled emails that pop up years after our departure, hopefully not too spooky, but comforting.

Or even better, what longstanding prayer requests are we going to bequeath to our grandchildren that they would continue the intercession forward? I'm grateful for Paul's example here of last words, and it's worth thinking about.

It's worth thinking about what last words will we give. I invite you to stand with me as we read God's holy word, beginning in verse 28 of Acts 20. This is the word of the Lord by His Spirit through His servant Luke.

Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Also from among yourselves, men will rise up, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore, watch. And remember that for three years, I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.

As you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who are with me, I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus.

That He said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when He had said these things, He knelt down and prayed with them all, and they all wept freely and fell upon Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more.

And they accompanied him to the ship. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Last words often address the most pressing needs. Last words will often take into consideration the weak, the sick, those left behind who.

Are sorrowing.

Are we not compelled to remind the strong to care for the weak, even as our own strength.

Leaves?

And the desire for loving words and lasting instructions converge at this point. We see this, of course, in the last words of Christ. In three out of the seven of His last words on the cross, we have a concern for the weak.

There's a concern for the needy. There's an appeal for forgiveness. There's an assurance to the fearful. There's an arrangement made for family. He says, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

He says, truly, I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise, He says to the man next to Him on the cross. And then, of course, woman speaking to His mother, here is your son, and to the disciple, meaning John, here is your mother.

Christ on the cross made arrangements for the care of His own mother. Last words that took into consideration those who were weak, those who were in need. And Paul also reminds the Ephesian elders in his last words to them to have this same concern.

And, of course, the Ephesian elders are vitally interested in all that Paul has to.

Share.

Here was the wisdom and love and truth pressed into a moment with them on Miletus. He's never going to see their face again. This is it. Paul, so central to the establishment of that church in Ephesus, and they're not going to see him again.

They're not going to hear his voice again, that side of heaven. And so they are deeply burdened by that. But he reminds them to keep on following his example, an example that puts them into a following after Christ that benefits the weak among them.

Paul gives them gracious words, words that meet the need of the moment with a hope of eternity. Paul wants them to heed the warning in verses 29 through 31, a warning about wolves. He says to them that there are wolves that are going to try to come in among them, and there are wolves that will even arise from within them, and that they're going to know what these wolves are by what they do.

They don't spare the flock. They're savage, and they express their savagery in two ways. The first way is that they will teach perverse things, and therefore, Paul commends them to God in the Word of His grace because they're going to need to feed the sheep and protect the sheep by the very same means of the Word of God, to make sure that they are being nourished in Christ by the Word, but also that they are being kept and preserved against false teaching by, again, profitable instruction in the Word.

So heed the warning and hear the Word, but he also says, help the weak. And by this, he brings in to focus the other way that false teachers, that the wolves, savage the flock. And you can hear Paul addressing that by contrast.

In his example that he gives to the elders, so listen to verses 33 through 35 again, be very instructive. "'I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who are with me.

I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.'". So Paul continues to set himself as an example before the Ephesian elders, and Paul was not shy in doing this.

He wasn't trying to promote himself, but he was often putting himself out there as an example, imitate me insofar as I imitate Christ. He was giving a practical way forward to the elders of the Ephesian church as he did with the leaders of the Corinthian church and so on.

And he is given this warning about wolves, and he shows himself as an example of being a shepherd, and there's an interesting contrast between wolves and shepherds, that they may be in the same place and they may be among the same folks, but they are doing very different things.

They may have even a corroborating degree of influence. A wolf among the sheep has a big effect, but also a shepherd among the sheep has a big effect, but they are of different character and they do different things.

The wolves draw sheep away from Christ and after themselves, we read. They want the sheep to come after them instead of attaching them firmly to Christ. Now this is a draw for many false teachers. It is a stroking of the ego, an inflation of the pride, and for many that's enough motivation.

However, we find in the Scriptures that there is a continual comparison, a continual connection of false teachers with those who are greedy. That those who teach falsely also seek unjust gain. And in 1 Timothy chapter 6, we have this connection being made.

Paul, again, speaking to an elder, Timothy in this case, very dear to him, instructing him on how to pastor, probably in Ephesus, the very same city that these elders are going to go back to and minister in.

Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6 verse 3,. If anyone teaches otherwise, meaning what? And does not consent to wholesome words. Remember that we've already looked at the wolves teaching strange things, perverse things.

Even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, if someone does not consent, does not agree with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which accords with godliness. Remember what a concern it was to know where does godliness come from?

How are we set apart and holy? And Paul addresses this in Colossians 2 and 3. At the end of Colossians 2, he says, your holiness is not in the box of do-nots. Do not taste, do not handle, do not touch.

You think, oh, well, there's holiness. Do not, do not, do not. But he says, no, it's not in those laws of restriction that you would pull forward out of the old covenant, but your holiness is in Christ.

Your renewal is in Christ. You are being made new in the image of the invisible God who is Christ. And so the doctrine which accords with godliness is the doctrine that accords with our Lord Jesus Christ.

So Paul warns about those who would teach otherwise. Also, he says in verse 10, same context, he warns, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Now, normally it's quoted, money is the root of all evil, and, you know, it's good to remember that Satan is a preacher and he never quotes the Scripture straight.

It says, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. So the warning is serious and needful, and we should take it as it is written, a caution, a caution. And Paul says, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

And so in this, Paul is saying there is a love of money. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. He didn't say that money is the root of all evil. He's not saying that those who have money are evil in and of themselves.

There could be someone who is extremely poor but extremely focused on getting more and more money at all costs. And this person is the one who is pierced through with many sorrows. But it's in the same context.

You see, there's a warning about false teachers and a warning about the love of money, and even closer connection is found in Titus 1, verses 10 and 11. Paul says, for there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision.

So false teachers of a Jewish persuasion, verse 11, whose mouths must be stopped. They subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not for the sake of dishonest.

Gain.

So when Paul warns about wolves, it's not just about the false teaching that they bring, but also it is the way they prey upon the flock, not only to draw them away from Christ but to attach the sheep to themselves in a way that they are able to fleece the flock, in a way that they are to get unjust gain from them.

But Paul is still in these last words, laboring to bring home not just a negative, not just a prohibition, not just a sign with the wolf and a red circle and a slash through it, no wolves allowed, not just the negation but also the positive, this is the way in which you are to relate to the weak, not to prey upon them but to minister to them.

So how do we do that? Paul says, consider my example of loving diligence and consider the blessing of generosity. First of all, loving diligence, in verses 33 and 34, Paul says, I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.

Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who are with me. So Paul puts his example out there in a negative and a positive. He has not been covetous but he has been diligent and in a loving way.

The negative is, I have not coveted your stuff, and it can be stated positively, I have been satisfied without your stuff. And then he has a positive thing to say, I provided, through his tent making, you may remember, I provided for my team and I by my own hands, which also includes a negative,.

Doesn't it?

We did not burden you with our needs. So he's putting that out as an example to the Ephesian elders. Consider first of all Paul's satisfaction in that he has not coveted anyone's silver or gold or apparel.

The wealth that he mentions here, the list of wealth, reminds us that wealth was a little different, not completely different, but a little different back in the ancient Near East. Today, gold and silver and fancy clothes are used to show wealth, to boast about wealth, to signal I have lots of wealth.

But in Paul's day, gold and silver and apparel were wealth used for economic transactions. If you went to court and they sued you, your paycheck would not be garnished. You had no paycheck. But they might take your clothes from you because that was wealth.

Gold and silver were hidden in the inner storeroom of your house, which had two rooms. And Jesus said, if you try to store up wealth for yourself on earth, don't be surprised if thieves break through and steal.

Actually, He says, dig through and steal because they're going to be digging through the back of your adobe house into your storeroom while you're not watching and taking things out of your home. Gold, silver, additional clothing, weren't these the items that caught Elisha's servants, I, Gehazi, where Elisha would not take anything from Naaman, but Gehazi ran him down, lied to him, and took the wealth of silver and extra changes of apparel?

So Paul says, I have not coveted. It's important to understand what covetousness is because covetousness tends towards wolfishness. Wolves see that which does not belong to them, but more importantly, which is not supposed to belong to them, and they go after the sheep.

When you think of covetousness, you might think of the Tenth Commandment, thou shalt not covet anything a man possesses in his relations, in his household. The same term there, thou shalt not covet, is also found in Genesis 3 and verse 6, so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

She also gave to her husband with her and he ate. Was the fruit beautiful? You bet it was. God made it, and it was very good. Was it edible and nutritious?

You bet it was.

God made it, and it was very good. But that tree and that fruit did not belong to Adam and Eve, and more importantly, it wasn't supposed to belong to Adam and Eve, and it would not belong to them. The desire was then cast upon that which was not supposed to belong to Eve, which was not supposed to belong to Adam, and the desire for it, that is covetousness.

It is not simply noticing beauty, it is not simply being somewhat attracted to beauty, as we find from Genesis 2 verse 9, and out of the ground the Lord made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, pleasant to the sight, same word in the Scripture that says, thou shalt not covet.

Same verb, same exact word, but in this case, all those trees, with the exception of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, were given to Adam and Eve to enjoy and to rejoice.

In.

It's not noticing something that is full of wealth, noticing something full of glory, noticing something full of beauty, that is not sin. What is sin, what is covetousness, is setting your desire on that which God has forbidden you, that which is not to be possessed by you.

To put it another way, if you see fish in the water, you're not fishing. Now, if you cast a line, even if you don't catch anything, you're still fishing. There's a difference. Casting the line of jealousy and envy and desire for that which is clearly not supposed to be possessed by you, which God in His moral authority as our Creator has forbidden you, that is covetousness.

And it's a concern that arises time and again in God's Word. There's a broadness, if you recall, in the first and last of the Ten Commandments that reminds us of the close relationship between desires and worship.

There's a close relationship between idolatry and covetousness. In Colossians 3 .5, Paul says,. "...therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.".

This simply amplifies, this forbidding of covetousness simply amplifies that sin in.

The garden.

In fact, Paul thought a lot about covetousness. He singles out covetousness when he's describing in Romans 7 his losing battle against sin while in the flesh and under the law. Covetousness is what seems to hit him hardest there in Romans chapter 7.

But what's the answer? New life in Christ, Romans 8. How did Paul not covet? When in Romans 7 he talks about he was consumed with coveting, couldn't get away from coveting. It just possessed him from beginning to end.

How did he get away from coveting so that when he was in Ephesus, this capital of Asia in the ancient Near East, so full of gold and silver and fancy clothes, this capital of the witchcraft trade where money was flowing, how did Paul not covet in that context?

What we recall from Acts 20, in verse 24, how did Paul put it in verse 24? He says, "'None of these things move me,'. Listen, "'nor do I count my life dear to myself.'". He does not count his life dear to himself.

"'So that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.'". You see, he can't finish his race with joy if he continues to reckon his life as precious and dear to himself.

He cannot save his life by grabbing hold of it, but he can only have his life saved in the joy of Jesus Christ by letting go of it to him. This reminds us of something very basic that Jesus said. If anyone wants to come after Him, we deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow after Him.

As we think about gracious words being words that bring the need of the moment into view of the hope of eternity, we think about our new life in Christ as something that puts us on the cross each and every day, to remember that the end of us is brought forward to the now of us that we may live in the light of Christ in us.

And that the graciousness of last words would be on our lips each day. Paul says, I didn't covet your silver, your gold, your apparel. Coveting is something that, of course, begins in the heart with disordered affections, but it always makes itself known.

The fruit of covetousness is seen in the actions of the wolves that Paul has warned them against. His covetousness makes an appearance through a variety of unloving and envious and bitter and jealous expressions.

You think of the such expressions in light of Esau, Hebrews 12, the jealousy and the bitterness spawning from his covetousness in Hebrews 12, verses 15 through 17. It is good to note that godly satisfaction and good stewardship go together.

When we talk about godly satisfaction, when we have been clear about what coveting is, try to be very clear on this because the sin of coveting gets misdefined and then there's a pastoral abuse that comes with preaching against covetousness.

Please note, coveting is not desiring that which simply does not belong to you yet or maybe, but it's that which has been forbidden you. If a young man sees the beauty of a young woman and pursues a righteous course of action that they may belong together in holy matrimony, that is not covetousness.

If a man sees that there is a better opportunity to provide for his family through using his skills and his gifts and he pursues that which does not belong to him yet, that is not covetousness. That has not been forbidden him, you see.

So, there is a godly satisfaction with what God has already provided us in the midst of pursuing that which we know is right for us to pursue that goes hand in hand with good stewardship. Notice that Paul, in his satisfaction, was no hermit.

In his satisfaction, he was not hiding out in a cave with no means to provide for his own food. He didn't adopt an ascetic lifestyle which required other people to come groveling to him with food to discover his holy thoughts.

He labored hard. Verse 34, yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who are with me. Paul worked hard enough to provide for himself and his missionary team.

Just as obvious as covetous behavior is, so also is good stewardship. These things bear fruit. And Paul has a clear testimony. Now, Paul had met a godly couple, Aquila and Priscilla. He had met them in Corinth.

We read about them in Acts 18. He stayed with them because they all shared in the same trade, that of tent making. Aquila and Priscilla traveled with Paul, and they stayed in Ephesus when Paul moved on to other works.

But as he came back and remained in Ephesus for a long time, he was there tent making, we discover from Acts 19. This was Paul's obvious pattern in Ephesus. He labored during the day doing his tent making, and then he taught during the evening in the school of Tyrannus.

This is what we've already noted, that night and day, he was warning them with tears, laboring amongst them, showing them his example. He put no burden upon the Ephesian church. And this was important for the Ephesian context.

Much like his work in Corinth and in Thessalonica, Paul's labor in Ephesus was very careful. In Thessalonica, there was a problem with clients of patrons who, once they decided to become faithful to Christ and they turned away from their idolatry to serve Christ, the patron would go on to the temples and worship the idols, and then their client would no longer go with them, and then they would lose their job.

And then they would look at the church and say, okay, you're my patron now. You supply all my needs. And Paul says, no, work with your own hands. Be diligent. Those who don't work, don't eat. And so when Paul was there in Thessalonica, he worked, and he did not do something that would stumble these new believers in following a bad example.

Although it was okay for him to be supported by the saints in the gospel ministry, he didn't do so in that context because that would have stumbled the weak. In like manner in Ephesus, what was the problem in Ephesus?

That every single claim of a cure and spiritual deliverance came with a price tag, which is why it was so shocking when Paul's sweat rags and work aprons didn't make it to the river with the dirty laundry, but started getting passed around for free amongst those who were demon-possessed and ill in Ephesus, and they were being healed in the name of Jesus Christ, whom Paul preached, and it didn't cost anybody a dime.

And so Paul emphasizes here, I worked with my own hands, I was diligent, I didn't take any money from these folks because he knew that would stumble the weak. So bivocational work, as we sometimes call it, it's not always necessary, not always better, often more difficult, but not less valuable.

Sometimes it just makes sense. In either case, we need to remember that Christ's work was not self-serving. As Paul speaks to the elders of Ephesus in saying, here's my example, he's really saying, here's Christ's example.

This is how Jesus has loved us and served us, and this is how he brings his authority to bear in our lives. Think about the way that Peter addresses the elders in 1 Peter 5 verses 1 -4. He says, the elders who are among you, I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed.

You see, gracious words that bring the hope of eternity to the need of the moment. Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade.

Away.

And that's why in Titus and in Timothy, the elders' household is important. It reminds us that patience is the plan, that the ministry is to be organically supported. There should be no fleecing of the flock.

And so this loving diligence that Paul sets before the Ephesian elders is then coupled with a reminder of how blessed it is to give, a blessed generosity. Verse 35, he says, I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support.

The weak.

And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. So Paul is not simply giving an example of saying, hey, I'm virtuous. Why don't you be virtuous too? Don't you wish you were as virtuous as me?

That's not what he's after. He's saying, I'm showing you how to be a good elder. I'm showing you how to be a good shepherd. Here's how you take care of the weak by this approach of giving, which, of course, is what Jesus wants us to do anyway.

So this is an example of compassion there in the beginning of verse 35, says, I have shown you. This is a clear example. I have shown you in every way. It's a comprehensive example. I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you support the weak.

So it's a compassionate example, and he expects this example to be continued among them. Keep on doing what I did among you. To put it simply, shepherds help weak sheep. How did Jesus put it? Leave the 99 to go get the one, right?

How do we think about the weak? Now, helping weak sheep is not the same thing as entertaining cantankerous goats, right? And Jesus was not in favor of entertaining cantankerous goats. He says in John 10, 26, to those demanding signs and wonders from him, come on, Jesus, give us a song and a dance.

He says, you are not of my flock. And he did not do a dance number for those who demanded it. And helping weak sheep is not the same thing as slopping insatiable pigs. Do not cast your pearls before swine.

Do not give what is holy to the dogs, he says in Matthew 7, verse 6. And yet there are weak sheep. We are reminded of this throughout the Scriptures. Throughout the New Testament, we are reminded of this.

Supporting the weak is difficult labor. And there is a temptation that we toss out bruised reeds along with the tares. But remember how compassionate, how careful the owner of the field is. That the wheat would not be pulled up by the roots in the removal of the tares until the proper time came.

And this idea reminds us of how loving the Lord is toward those who are His own. And we want to identify the weak then. If we're going to support the weak, then we need to know who they are.

Who are the weak?

Now, the term is rather broad, and we're thinking about the context. What does this actually mean? But interestingly enough, this term in the New Testament never, ever refers to the poor. Never, ever once refers to the poor.

And you only have two possible definitions for the term. Either they are weak physically, meaning sick and in need of strength, in need of help, in need of health, in need of help. Or this weakness refers to the weakness of an inner man, the weakness of spirit, the weakness of faith.

Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. That kind of weakness. So, sick of body or sick of heart, two candidate meanings of this term. Sometimes they are the same. Sometimes they are not. It is a clear biblical maxim that weak in the body does not necessarily mean a weakness in the spirit.

Now, we are united in one person, our inner man and outer man. And so, therefore, they do affect each other on a number of levels. An interesting read would be Psalm 38. And to see how the inner man and outer man are simultaneously affected by the deep and dire issues.

Nevertheless, weakness in the outer man does not mean the same for the inner man and vice versa. Consider 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 16 where Paul says,. Therefore we do not lose heart, for even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

And so we see here that there can be a loss of strength. There could be a weakness in the outer man while a gaining of strength on the other side. We've got a loss of strength in the outer man but then a gain of strength in the inner man.

These are not necessarily tied one to the other. So we need to remember that about this word weakness. But in either case, supporting the weak among the body is right and correct. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 26 says,.

If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Do you remember what matters to Jesus Christ? At the end of all things, having sorted the sheep and the goats, and he says to the sheep, As much as you did it to the least of these, my brethren, he did it to me.

Jesus is concerned with how his saints treat those who belong to him, those who are weak on a number of levels. Let's think then. How is it that Paul's lack of covetousness and his diligent bivocational labor supports those who are weak?

In this case, I think the term weak is majoring on those weak in the faith. Paul in his tent making wasn't patching people up. He wasn't building wheelchairs. He wasn't making casts. He wasn't making medicine.

He was not a doctor in this case. His diligence in tent making was so that he would not stumble anyone in Ephesus by seeking remuneration, money from people so that he could survive. This was the stumbling block for the saints in Ephesus.

This is the meaning of support. Support the weak. This word of support is not the picture of a crutch, a support for a man with a broken leg. This word of support is not that of financial arrangements, mission support, child support.

It's not that term of support. The spiritually weak don't need a crutch, and they don't need cash. They need Christ. They need Him more, and they need Him more. And to bring Christ to them by the word of His grace may cost us something.

We may have to give of ourselves in ways that isn't writing a check, that isn't even necessarily volunteering time. There's going to be a giving of ourselves in a way of putting aside that which would be right for us to claim.

Not only does Paul not covet that which does not belong to him and should not belong to him, Paul doesn't even grasp at things that he could by right claim, a support in the gospel ministry. He says, even that I don't even grab because I want to give in a way that supports the weak.

He praises the Lord Jesus as the example. This term support is very interesting. It's only used three times in the New Testament, and every time it has the idea of a reversal, a putting into hand one thing rather than something else, that kind of support.

It has the idea of someone is falling and unbalanced, and rather than put your hand in theirs, you grab them by the wrist and you put their hand on that which will keep them standing. You see? Rather than my hand, I'm going to put your hand on that which is going to keep you from falling.

That kind of support. The term is used, for instance, in Mary's song. She sings praise to God in Luke chapter 1 when she learns that she is going to be the mother of the Messiah. She praises God and sings about all the reversals that he brought about in the history of Israel.

She praises him for those reversals and then says, you are Israel's support. You took these things away, but then you gave these things, and how majestic is your name. It's also used in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 1 and 2.

Instructions to Christian slaves who will be tempted to dishonor their Christian masters. And Paul says to them, rather than dishonor, serve them in a way knowing that God is pleased with your service and that will only increase that Christian master's household.

So also here, there's a rather than. Rather than covetousness, rather than taking what maybe belongs to you. You have an opportunity for giving, and this giving is gracious. This giving is not what's fair.