Monday, May 25, 2020

Is Prosperity a bad Thing?


May 15, 2020



Worship in the WORD

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.

30 I will exalt you, O Lord,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
2 O Lord my God, I called to you for help
and you healed me.
3 O Lord, you brought me up from the grave;b
you spared me from going down into the pit.

4 Sing to the Lord, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said,
"I will never be shaken."
7 O Lord, when you favored me,
you made my mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

8 To you, O Lord, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
9 "What gain is there in my destruction,d 
in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me;
O Lord, be my help."

11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.

NIV

30:9 d Or there if I am silenced
  A psalm of David. A song for the dedication of the Temple.
30 1 I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me.
You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you restored my health.
3 You brought me up from the grave,* O Lord.
You kept me from falling into the pit of death.

4 Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones!
Praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

6 When I was prosperous, I said,
"Nothing can stop me now!"
7 Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain.
Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.

8 I cried out to you, O Lord.
I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,
9 "What will you gain if I die,
if I sink into the grave?
Can my dust praise you?
Can it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me.
Help me, O Lord ."

11 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!
New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved_
A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.

30 I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.

2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

7 LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

8 I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.

9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.

11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
KJV
Joy Comes with the Morning
A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.

30 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”
7 By your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

8 To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!”

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

ESV

I. Personal/Public Purpose - Title
II. Personal Praise: vs. 1- 3
III. Public Exhortation & Encouragement: vs. 4 - 5
IV. Personal Plea: vs. 6 - 10
V. Personal/Public Praise: vs. 11 – 12

In verse six, we read of David’s admission of pride and presumption.  He had boasted of his prosperity. This particular form of the word used for prosperity appears only here in the OT. The TWOT has this to say about the Hebrew word, “sālû.”

š¹lû. Prosperity. A separate word and found only in Ps 30:7... The context suggests the idea of the gross delusion that prosperity guarantees stability and is foundational: "In my prosperity I used to say, nothing can ever shake me."
(from Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Copyright © 1980 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)

He presumed that such prosperity was permanent and would protect him, but that proved to be an illusion. Was this not the attitude of the rich man in one of our Lord’s parables?
  
18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
Luke 12:18-19

And we all know how that story ended


"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
Luke 12:20 NIV

Thankfully that was not David’s end. In verse six, David reveals the sinful attitude that led to him almost losing his life. In verse seven, we see David acknowledging the source of his security and his shattering. Both were from the LORD.

In verses six and seven, we have the opposite happening of what we saw in verse five. In verse five, sorrow comes for a brief stay, followed by the life-giving and lasting joy of God’s favor. Here we see God’s favor, albeit taken for granted by David, followed by a night of sorrow. Favor follows God’s elect. However, if and when we become complacent, presumptuous, or prideful, we should expect the discipline of the Lord to follow.

Now all this begs the question, “Is prosperity than a bad thing?” Or, “should we avoid prosperity like the plague?” And of course, the answer is no. Prosperity in and of itself is not evil. Job was a rich man who was also righteous. What makes prosperity so perilous is the propensity of fallen humanity to abuse their blessings. God often uses wealth as a test to reveal a weakness in a believer. And as always, the enemy of our souls is lurking in the shadows to try to turn God’s testing into a temptation. And if they give into to that temptation, God often turns it then into a trial to teach His child to trust again in the Giver of gifts and not the gift itself.














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Worship in Witness: (written on May 10, 2020)

I am actually writing this portion of my journal before I delve more into Psalm 30:6-7. Today my sleep was short and interrupted. My sister had set up a Zoom meeting at noon today (Sunday, May 10th) with her, my mom, my two brothers, and me. I usually go to bed between 8 am, and 9 am, but today I stayed up to try to send some Mother’s Day e-cards to my daughters and daughters-in-law. After a long struggle with what I thought was a slow internet connection, I managed to send one to each of my daughters. However, after that, the website I was on crashed on me. I guess too many people had the same idea at that time, which overwhelmed their system. So I sent my daughters-in-law a brief note wishing them a “Happy and Blessed Mother’s Day.”
After that, I laid down to take a nap, and what seemed like just a few seconds, the alarm went off, and I got up for the meeting. It was good to see my older brother, who lives “across the pond” in England. I also got to see his wife and two “kids.” I say kids, but they have grown so big. His oldest will be attending college in the fall. Boy do I feel old.
The meeting lasted about a half-hour, but I was not able to fall asleep after that for about another half an hour. Before I knew it, the alarm was going off again at 6 pm to get up and get ready to go out to eat with my daughter and grandkids, who live next door (I planned to go to church on our Monday service this week). That was an ordeal in and of itself. It took four tries to find a place that would seat us or could seat us in less than an hour.  We finally found a restaurant which took us right away.
After that, I returned home to my empty house – except for my dog, who was excited to see me as always. I felt drained and depressed. When I am tired, it is easier for me to feel that way. Though my wife left me five years ago, I still feel sad, especially during the holidays. My wife and I should have been celebrating my birthday last Friday, and Mother’s Day today. Sorrow washed over me. Accusatory and second-guessing thoughts besieged my feelings, and a cry for the Father to allow me to climb up into His arms emanated from deep within.
At the time this occurred, I was folding laundry and putting it up. Suddenly my phone pinged, and I walked over to see which friend was messaging me. To my surprise, it was from somebody I had never corresponded with before. I had friended this person back on Jan. 30th of this year but had never communicated with them. He sent me a scripture image of Proverbs 30:31. 














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It was one I had seen before by others on “Stories” in Messenger. It had a depressing effect on me because I couldn’t see how it applied to me in relation to my wife. It only seemed to exacerbate my feelings of depression. Ping! Another message arrived just a few minutes later. It was another scripture image of a verse I was very familiar with and have used in my blog on several occasions. 


Ping!


























Ok, was God trying to tell me something? 


Ping!


Surely not another message from him?

























Yes, God was speaking to me, wasn’t He? He had enveloped me in the comforting and promised filled arms of His Word! Hallelujah!


A scripture leaped into my consciousness, so I sent it back to him in an image. I think it will speak for itself.



























There was no rhyme or reason for this person to send these pictures privately to me, which he had also shared publically on “Your Story” in Messenger. No reason on earth, that is.

   













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When I opened my Biblesoft program, look at what greeted me. Surely God is in this place, and he is not silent nor uncaring.

May 11 AM
"I am with you alway."— Matthew 28:20 It is well there is One who is ever the same, and who is ever with us. It is well there is one stable rock amidst the billows of the sea of life. O my soul, set not thine affections upon rusting, moth-eaten, decaying treasures, but set thine heart upon Him who abides for ever faithful to thee. Build not thine house upon the moving quicksands of a deceitful world, but found thy hopes upon this rock, which, amid descending rain and roaring floods, shall stand immovably secure. My soul, I charge thee, lay up thy treasure in the only secure cabinet; store thy jewels where thou canst never lose them. Put thine all in Christ; set all thine affections on His person, all thy hope in His merit, all thy trust in His efficacious blood, all thy joy in His presence, and so thou mayest laugh at loss, and defy destruction. Remember that all the flowers in the world's garden fade by turns, and the day cometh when nothing will be left but the black, cold earth. Death's black extinguisher must soon put out thy candle. Oh! how sweet to have sunlight when the candle is gone! The dark flood must soon roll between thee and all thou hast; then wed thine heart to Him who will never leave thee; trust thyself with Him who will go with thee through the black and surging current of death's stream, and who will land thee safely on the celestial shore, and make thee sit with Him in heavenly places for ever. Go, sorrowing son of affliction, tell thy secrets to the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother. Trust all thy concerns with Him who never can be taken from thee, who will never leave thee, and who will never let thee leave Him, even "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." "Lo, I am with you alway," is enough for my soul to live upon, let who will forsake me.(from Spurgeon's Morning & Evening, Biblesoft formatted electronic database Copyright © 2014 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Oh Lord,
You are my anchor in Heaven and my rock on earth
You’ve brought me salvation and given me new birth
My sorrows flee at the sound of Your voice
My sadness vanishes as I begin to rejoice
The trials of the present will soon be in the past
The peaceful rest in eternity will finally arrive at last
Amen

Worship in Song:   

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart?

Not because of who I am,
But because of what You've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who You are.

I am a flower quickly fading:
Here today and gone tomorrow.
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still, You hear me when I'm calling.
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling.
And You've told me who I am.
I am Yours; I am Yours.

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again?
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me?

Not because of who I am,
But because of what You've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who You are.

I am a flower quickly fading:
Here today and gone tomorrow.
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still, You hear me when I'm calling.
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling.
And You've told me who I am.
I am Yours.

Not because of who I am,
But because of what You've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who You are.

I am a flower quickly fading:
Here today and gone tomorrow.
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still, You hear me when I'm calling.
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling.
And told me who I am.
I am Yours; I am Yours, I am Yours.

Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
'Cause I am Yours, I am Yours.


Writer(s): Mark Hall
AZLyrics / C / Casting Crowns Lyrics
album: "Casting Crowns" (2003)

Lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/castingcrowns/whoami.html

Video: https://youtu.be/3rT8Re1EIQc





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