Who, then, is the man who fears the Lord? God will instruct him in the way chosen for him. He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land (Psalm 25:13).
Verses like this one bug me.
Yep, I just said that there are portions of Scripture that bug me. Feel free to grab your pitchfork, light your torch, and head over to my house–you won’t be the first.
(Actually, you would be the first. Please do not do that. If you’re offended, you probably should just stop reading…but I hope you won’t do that either.)
You see, I’m a hard core believer in the inerrancy of Scripture, so it bothers me when I read something that I can’t reconcile with the world I see out there. So many believers trust God, fear God, serve God, and yet are destitute. Why?
But Michael, you point out, this Psalm is from the Old Testament. The promises were for Israel; they don’t always apply today. Maybe so, but this really seems to be a general principle of trust and provision, not a specific time-and-place promise. If it is a general principle, the implication is that those who are poor just don’t fear God enough–and that doesn’t fit with what I know about our Lord.
But Michael, you next propose, this is a general rule. It isn’t meant to apply to every single person at every single moment. Perhaps, but what a bummer for you if you’re the exception to the rule.
But Michael, and here you bring out the big guns, you have to look at it spiritually. We are prosperous in the Spirit, and our inheritance is in Heaven. I hear you, and you’re probably right. We are, of course, children of the King of the Universe, and nothing can compare to that. It’s just that I always feel as if I’m copping out a bit if I classify text as spiritual simply because it doesn’t fit what I see. It’s the kind of thing non-believers point to and say “Ah-HA!”
And I hate it when they say “Ah-HA!”
Fret not, Beloved. My faith remains solid, my stand for inerrancy unchanged. I just like to be honest with you, and this is frustrating. If you have insight on this verse, please share it. In the meantime, I will place it on the shelf with other verses that my mind can’t fully grasp…yet. I will hold on to the fact that I am his, and he is mine, and that is eversomuchmore than enough.
Happy Tuesday, Beloved.
Does this verse from KJV help you to see it more clearly..
‘His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.’Psalm 25:13
If you’ve never used the blueletterbible.org website then check it out. Sometimes you might glean more insight and understanding of a passage or word. God bless you in every way.
Thank you!
Good question, Michael! Unfortunately, there’s probably no solid answer, so I looked up the root on the Merriam-Webster website, which said: “Middle English prosperen, borrowed from Anglo-French prosperer “to promote, foster, be fortunate or successful,” borrowed from Latin prosperāre “to cause to succeed, further” (Medieval Latin also, in passive, “to be granted success, succeed”), verbal derivative of prosperus “agreeable to one’s wishes, successful, prosperous.”
This offers an alternate view of prosperity as financial only, and make me think of how we’re to promote Christ, Christianity, and the church. Oh, for all Christians to promote good will and share the good fortune of God’s peace.
Having said all this, it occurs to me that the word “prosperity” wasn’t around in Bible-writing days. So….?
Well, now, you have me looking up word origins because I want to know more about this too. So I went to Bible Hub website and found https://biblehub.com/psalms/25-13.htm where several translations presented the idea of “abiding in well-being” and “living a good life” – places where you surely dwell!
Thank you, Mary!