"The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalms 72:3,
"May the mountains bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness."
Prosperity is a theme in psalm 72. The word itself is used twice in the NIV translation, verses 3 and 7. In addition to the verse above, consider these others:
"May he [the king] be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth." (And thus providing a fruitful harvest), verse 6.
"In his days may the righteous flourish and prosperity abound till the moon is no more." Verse 7.
"May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts." Verses 10--11.
"May grain abound throughout the land; on the tops of the hills may it sway. May the crops flourish like Lebanon and thrive like the grass of the field." Verses 16-17.
"Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him." Verse 15.
The key to the prosperity presented in this psalm is brought by righteousness, "the fruit of righteousness", as we read in verse 3. It appears prosperity in this psalm flows from "righteousness."
I suspect many of us would just as soon experience prosperity, and if it be the "fruit" of righteousness, we might ask ourselves just what is righteousness? Merriam-Webster defines "righteousness" as "acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin", "morally right or justifiable."
That is a definition that brings more questions than it answers. What is "morally right"? How is that defined? What is ethical, good, honorable, moral, virtuous and right? How are these defined?
I think the answer is very simple: righteousness and all the above terms that might be used as synonyms, can be defined as that which is consistent with God's character and nature. As an example, God doesn't lie - therefore truthfulness is a righteous quality, deceitfulness is unrighteous. I think you get the idea. Stated another way, if God were the color blue, then the color blue would be "righteous". When we say God is "righteous", we are really saying God is simply consistent with his own character and nature.
It appears in this psalm that the prosperity of a people, of a nation, is connected to whether that nation lives its collective life consistent with God's character and nature. I wouldn't push this too far, however, as there are so many things going on with God, so many things he is accomplishing, so many things he is doing, that I don't think the Scriptures ever present an equation of "do right" and receive an automatic prosperity from God. God's grand agenda of the redemption of mankind is too invasive and involved to make that simple assumption. However, we might be able to think in terms of, all things being equal, a righteous people might expect those good things from God (prosperity) than an unrighteous people.
Just a few thoughts today... what do you think?
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"May the mountains bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness."
Prosperity is a theme in psalm 72. The word itself is used twice in the NIV translation, verses 3 and 7. In addition to the verse above, consider these others:
"May he [the king] be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth." (And thus providing a fruitful harvest), verse 6.
"In his days may the righteous flourish and prosperity abound till the moon is no more." Verse 7.
"May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts." Verses 10--11.
"May grain abound throughout the land; on the tops of the hills may it sway. May the crops flourish like Lebanon and thrive like the grass of the field." Verses 16-17.
"Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him." Verse 15.
The key to the prosperity presented in this psalm is brought by righteousness, "the fruit of righteousness", as we read in verse 3. It appears prosperity in this psalm flows from "righteousness."
I suspect many of us would just as soon experience prosperity, and if it be the "fruit" of righteousness, we might ask ourselves just what is righteousness? Merriam-Webster defines "righteousness" as "acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin", "morally right or justifiable."
That is a definition that brings more questions than it answers. What is "morally right"? How is that defined? What is ethical, good, honorable, moral, virtuous and right? How are these defined?
I think the answer is very simple: righteousness and all the above terms that might be used as synonyms, can be defined as that which is consistent with God's character and nature. As an example, God doesn't lie - therefore truthfulness is a righteous quality, deceitfulness is unrighteous. I think you get the idea. Stated another way, if God were the color blue, then the color blue would be "righteous". When we say God is "righteous", we are really saying God is simply consistent with his own character and nature.
It appears in this psalm that the prosperity of a people, of a nation, is connected to whether that nation lives its collective life consistent with God's character and nature. I wouldn't push this too far, however, as there are so many things going on with God, so many things he is accomplishing, so many things he is doing, that I don't think the Scriptures ever present an equation of "do right" and receive an automatic prosperity from God. God's grand agenda of the redemption of mankind is too invasive and involved to make that simple assumption. However, we might be able to think in terms of, all things being equal, a righteous people might expect those good things from God (prosperity) than an unrighteous people.
Just a few thoughts today... what do you think?
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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