Praying through Psalm 118 in order to keep my attitude adjusted to the glory of God rather than the doom and gloom message of this world. Today I am in verses 25-26: “O LORD save us; O LORD, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.”
When I read this verse, I got stuck on that word success. The NKJV translates verse 25 as “Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.”
The Hebrew word for success or prosperity means “to advance, to prosper, to make progress, to succeed, to be profitable.”
In our culture we often think of prosperity in terms of financial rewards. Success is tied to our own efforts, to job promotions, sports, or other personal achievements. It is an “I did it” type of thing. I got that promotion. I won that race. I invested in the right stocks. I made it happen.
I think the Psalmist gives us a different perspective. “O LORD, grant us success; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.”
Fear of a virus has shut down our economy. Opportunities for personal success or prosperity have been crushed in fear’s wake. When told to stay home, shut doors, do not work, there is not much we can do to be able to proclaim, “I did it.” But with the LORD, godly success and prosperity are not only within reach, they are ours for the taking.
Our success, our prosperity is contingent upon our relationship with our God. “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” [2 Peter 1:2-4 NKJV]
Now that’s success and prosperity! Amen.
