Listen:  99 Question 3

I encourage you to read Psalm 118 in its entirety.  For time’s sake, let’s begin by reading Psalms 118:21-25, “I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.  This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.”  What a blessed psalm of praise for the salvation of the Lord.  The stone that King David refers to is in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.  In Matthew 21:42, the Lord uses this verse to show that it speaks of Himself.  Man had rejected the Lord, but He has become the head stone.  Ephesians 2:19-20 tells us, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.”

As David rejoices in this time of blessing, mercy, and salvation of the Lord, he thanks the Lord for the day, or time, of His gracious provision.  His desire is that the Lord would continue to prosper him in the provision of the Lord.  David is not asking for financial prosperity, but for the continued over-flowing of the Lord’s blessings.

David certainly knew of the subtle trappings of riches.  His son, King Solomon, would later write in Proverbs 30:8, “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.”  This is a more appropriate prayer for us today.  While poverty may cause us to be discouraged, riches may cause us to be distracted by the pleasures of the world.  We do well to ask the Lord to give us neither, but to meet our needs.  David had written earlier in Psalms 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”  The Lord Jesus assures us in Matthew 6:8 that, “…your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”

May we all learn, even as the Apostle Paul did, to be content with the Lord’s provision.  Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  Paul later warns us of the danger of desiring riches.  He wrote in 1 Timothy 6:8-10, “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”  (99.3)