Psalm inspired by Lovely, Still

Give from excess. 

What is excess?

It can't be riches, 

for the rich man cried, 

Father Abraham, 

have mercy on me,

and send me Lazarus, 

so that he may

dip the tip of his finger 

in water and

cool off my tongue, 

for I am in 

agony in this flame. Luke 16:24

It can't be physical beauty, for

Charm is deceitful, and 

beauty is vain. Proverbs 31:30

I can't find excess in doing good works, for

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds

which we have done in righteousness,

but according to His mercy... Titus 3:5

Nor in knowledge can I have excess:

If anyoone supposes that he knows anything,

he has not yet known as he ought to know...  

1 Corinthians 8:2

Nor can I find it merely in the passion of marriage, 

For in the resurrection [we] 

neither marry nor are given 

in marriage, but

are like angels in heaven.

Matthew 22:30

How then, can

I give from excess?

How can I give, 

if from nothing 

I can gain excess?

Am I doomed to be only want, only need? Will I never acquire excess?

I remember 

when you asked the Samaritan woman for water.

She tried to remind you that you had nothing to draw water with. You replied,

Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again;

but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him

shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him

will become to him a well of water springing up 

to eternal life. John 4:13-14

You spoke again of this water;

If anyone is thirsty, 

let him come to me 

and drink. He who 

believes in me, 

as the Scripture 

said, From his 

innermost being 

will flow rivers 

of living water.  John 7:37-38

This living water -- I remember where it dwells, for the prophet Ezekiel was brought a vision of the Temple of the Lord:

The he brought me back to the door of the house; 

and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold

of the house toward the east...When the man went out 

toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured

a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water,

water reaching the ankles. Again he measured a 

thousand and led me through the water, water reaching

the loins. Again he measured a thousand; and it was a 

river that I could not ford, for the water had risen,

enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded... 

Then he said to me, 

"These waters go out 

toward the eastern region 

and go down into the Arabah; 

then they go toward the sea, 

being made to flow 

into the sea, and the 

waters of the sea 

become fresh. It will 

come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live... so everything will live where the river goes... By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not whither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." Ezekiel 47:1-12

The living water is the excess, from which all things grow.

But still I wondered from whence this water began. 

And then I saw that that which brings excess, the living water, was there in the beginning with man;

Then the LORD God formed 

man of dust from 

the ground, and breathed 

into his nostrils 

the breath of life;

and man became 

a living being. 

The LORD God planted a garden towards the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden... Genesis 2:7-10

From the beginning you gave us access to the excess. It is not alone riches, beauty, good works, knowledge or even passion that excess can be found. Rather, from excess flows all these things. 

And so,

Give the excess.

It is the only thing left to give.