“Gaining happiness & prosperity by obeying God” (by Diane Webb)
Psalms 5: 12
“For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield”.
To be righteous is to be free from sin. Sin is an act which goes against God’s will and separates us from God. If God is leading us to do something and we do not do it then we have sinned. God leads each of us to do different things at different times. For example, if the Holy Spirit is leading us to say “hello” to a total stranger and we willfully disobey, we have just committed a sin and have stepped outside God’s presence until we repent and step back. This is a very simple illustration to point out sin is disobeying God. By disobeying God, we separate ourselves from his presence which is the natural consequence of sin. (He does not leave us, we leave him). Once we have separated ourselves from God’s presence we are also outside the circle of his favor. When we are outside God’s protective shield, we are open to attack by Satan which invariably leads to harm of one kind or another as well as yet more sin. The more we are under Satan’s influence the more danger we are in. It is therefore important to stay under God’s influence for safety as well as fellowship. This scripture emphasizes the benefits to those who stay within God’s influence and favor—the righteous. The righteous will be blessed (given prosperity and happiness). The righteous will be surrounded with favor (privilege, great kindness, gentleness). The passage indicates surrounded with favor—as with a shield. The word for “shield” here is a shield of the greatest dimensions—greater even than the shield of Goliath who stood 9 feet 6 inches tall. As noted earlier, favor is gracious kindness, privilege, and gentleness. So let’s read it this way: for you, Lord, will give prosperity and happiness to those who obey your will; you will surround them on all sides with kindness, gentleness, and privilege. Sometimes people are living outside the will of God and then blame God when bad things happen. It does not seem to be obvious to these individuals they are the ones who moved outside the circle of God’s favor. Conversely, these same individuals compare themselves to people who are living within God’s will who are prosperous and happy. This is not to say those living within God’s will never experience hardship or suffering. However, if it is part of God’s plan, God gives us the strength to endure and a sense of peace in knowing there will be good from the experience in the long run. There is a different feel to a situation that is within God’s will versus one that is not. There is a sense of “I am in training” or “I am being tested”. Sometimes it becomes clear rather quickly the overall good of the situation. Examples might include—learning patience, learning compassion, learning humility, overcoming pride, overcoming anger, and so on. With discernment (understanding and knowledge) you can begin to recognize the patterns and understand if your pain, hardship, and suffering are the result of disobedience or are God’s way of molding you into the person he wants you to be. If you know you are living within God’s will then you can be certain whatever is going on in your life is his will and you can trust the end result will be positive—no matter how difficult it seems now. The happiness and prosperity will come because that is God’s promise to the righteous.
Heavenly father, I pray you will help me recognize those areas in my life where I am unknowingly disobedient. Help me hear the Holy Spirit in my life so I can always obey and always be within your will. I humbly ask this in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, Amen.
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