“WHATSOEVER HE DOETH SHALL PROSPER.”
By T.
“BLESSED is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Ps. 1: 1-3. The foregoing words are not the statement of a theory. They are not what people usually call theology. But they are the statement of an actual Christian experience. Every one who really and truly believes God’s words, and who has consequently learned how to feed upon them, knows of the complete realities of every utterance in the foregoing expressions of the psalmist. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Not that the man will be blessed at some future time. But “blessed is the man” right now. God does not leave us in anxiety and doubt for a single moment. He blesses us now, even to-day, so that we may know that His blessings are sure for all time. The man who is walking not in the counsels of the ungodly is walking in the counsels of God. In other words he is walking with God, and he is also blessed of God, and he knows it—he really and positively experiences the blessing. The one who is thus enjoying the blessing of God can always say with the keenest and deepest emotions of joy, “My delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law do I meditate day and night.” God’s law, God’s way, God’s great fountain of the right and true, is indeed a “delight.” There is no drudgery at all in the service of God. There is no gloom in it. There is no ray of sadness or despair. The service of the Master is delight. It is pure joy, and we meditate in the law of the Lord because it is an inexpressible pleasure, and not as a painful duty that we must perform in order to be religious. Then the person who has thus learned to delight in the Lord “shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, . . . and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” A superficial human view may lead some to say that there are exceptions to the foregoing statement of a divine principle. But if it appears to us that there are cases in the which the principle does not hold good, it is only because of our superficial understanding, and not because of a failure in the Word of God. Sometimes a person will profess to delight in the Lord, and to meditate in His law, while his profession is not genuine, and so it may seem that there is a failure in God’s Word. But the failure is in the individual instead. We should find our delight in the law of the Lord; and in His law we should meditate day and night; and then we should expect prosperity. “Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” is the sure promise. This prosperity comes both as a reward and as a result. The man who is meditating in the law of the Lord is drinking at the great fountain of wisdom. His mind is being lifted above the fog into the sunshine. He is enabled to see as God sees. He works on correct lines. The hand of Infinite Perfection guides him, and prosperity comes as a blessed result as well as a divine reward. Now, we beg of you, do not spend your time philosophizing over this subject after the manner of men. Neither allow the failures of some superficial professors to cast shadows between you and the bright truth of God. God’s Word is truth, and the verses quoted at the beginning are actually so. They are not theory, but fact. You may theorize about the words of God, it is true, but the words are facts—they are vital, and real, and true,—all the while that you are expending your energies on mere theory. But if you so choose you may lay down your theory, and take up the actual experiences of a definite knowledge that every word of God is a literal fact. T.