How would you define success? Is it the amount of money you have? The number of people who like or love you? Is it the height that you can climb in your job? Is it the titles or degrees that you have behind your name? The world often judges success by these standards, but is that what success truly is? Many of these things are the results, the fruits of success, but they themselves are not success itself from a Biblical standpoint.
The difference is this, if we are judging our success purely by our worldly status, then we can be deceived and misled. If we are judging our success purely by what we have, or what we have achieved, then it will not always portray an accurate picture according to the truth of God. It may seem as though we have nothing at the moment. However the reality is that you actually have everything. This is what we will be looking at today in scripture.
You may be surprised to learn that God wants you to have success. He wants you to be successful. For some people this is a radical concept. They don’t see God as someone who is willing to help, but the scriptures are very clear on this point, that today in Christ Jesus, God is on your side — even when things in the natural do not seem to support this fact at first glance. Psalms 118:1-8:
“O give thanks to the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endures for ever.
Let Israel now say, that his mercy endures for ever.
Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endures for ever.
Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endures for ever.
I called on the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do to me?
The LORD takes my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire on them that hate me.
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”
Verse 1 here wastes no time in getting to the main point. It says O give thanks to the LORD; Now why? The Bible never directs us to do something without giving us the reason why we can do it… for He is good: because His mercy endures forever. The word for “mercy used in this verse is hessed in Hebrew, which means “grace, favor, kindness”. You can very rightly give thanks to the LORD, because He has extended His grace and mercy and kindness to you, and it never wears out, it never becomes old, His mercies are new and continually renewed every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
In verses 2, 3 and 4 we have three distinctions. Three distinct people-groups, but that all should now be saying the same thing. We have Israel, God’s chosen people, His own. The ones who have experienced firsthand the love and care that He has shown towards them. They should be the first to bring the message of God’s kindness, mercy and grace to the entire world.
Verse 3 continues that the priests and temple workers should not show contempt or disdain for the message of God’s grace; in-fact they should be in complete agreement with it. The message should be unanimous. However in many churches this is not so today. The pastors do not tout the mercy and grace of God, but instead beat the people down with guilt and shame.
Verse 4 continues by saying Let them now that fear the LORD say, that His mercy endures forever. This is all of us today; everyone that has reverence for the LORD. This is why we give thanks today. Because of His amazing love and mercy, His grace endures forever. Many people find it difficult or awkward to give thanks, or don’t even understand why they should, and it’s because they do not truly understand the reality of His grace. But the grace of God is the foundation upon which everything can be built. You see, grace is not a theology, grace is not a doctrine, grace is the person of Jesus Christ. John 1:17 states that the Law was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. Things can be “given”, people can not – but only a person can come to you. And Jesus Christ, the very embodiment of Grace and Truth did indeed come, and as a result, salvation is made available.
Moving on now to verse 5 of our text we see that David writes I called to the LORD in my distress. Now this word for distress is mēṣar in Hebrew, a word meaning “tightness or pressure” it is the same figurative description used by Jesus in John 16:33 when He said in this world you will have tribulation, which in the Greek text is also translated as pressure, tightness.
Now this pressure, this tightness is not God’s doing! God is not the author of it. However He is the solution to it! Notice what the verse says… “I called to the LORD in my distress”, the distress was there, the pressure was there in the world already, God did not have to manifest it Himself, and many of us we experience pressure from the world and unbelievers and the enemy every single day – but look at what the Psalmist found – he said that he called to the LORD in his distress, and the LORD answered me. And praise God, not only did the LORD answer, but look at how the LORD answered… He didn’t say “too bad so sad! You deserve what you get!” He didn’t say “See I told you so… you reap what you sow!” – No! The LORD answered him, and set him in a large place! Now the word “large” used in this verse, is the Hebrew word merəḥāḇ, which means “broad, wide, spread-out”, it is a wonderful example of Hebrew poetry, because it contrasts so completely with the “tightness” of the distress mentioned earlier. In-short, God totally removed David’s distress.
Verse 6 continues with boldness and confidence! The LORD is on my side; I will not fear; what can man do to me? When you have the revelation that the LORD, the Covenant-Keeping God, the I AM of all creation ins on your side, I guarantee you that fear will go right-out the nearest window. When you realize that the God of all creation is on your side, you suddenly will realize that no force or enemy can touch you, because they would have to get through your Daddy first! The God of the Universe is your Father. When you open your eyes and see this, you will say exactly what the psalmist says here: what can man do to me?
Then we have verse 7. According to 1st Samuel 22:2, David had about four-hundred men helping him; but when it came right down to it, the LORD was his real source of help, and David knew it. Without the LORD, no amount of men would be enough, even if it was four-million, without the LORD it would not have mattered – but with the LORD, even if no-one was helping, victory is assured. David then says therefore, [because the LORD is helping him] he will look on those who hate him. This is the literal translation of this verse. He will look on them, and what will he see? He will see justice done upon them; he will see what he points out in verse 8… that it is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. And it is interesting to point out that verse 8 of Psalms chapter 118, is the exact middle of the Bible. The previous chapter Psalms 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible – the chapter after it Psalms 119 is the longest chapter of the whole Bible. From the beginning of Genesis to Psalms 116 is 594 chapters. From Psalm 120 to the very end of Revelation is 594 chapters. 594 * 2 = 1188 Psalms 118:8.
It is always better to trust in the LORD, than to put confidence in mans efforts, mans strength, mans flesh.
When you have the LORD on your side, you have success, even if you don’t always see it. It may not look as though you are successful all the time, but human perceptions and senses can be very deceiving and misleading. Allow me to present you with another example from the Bible, in Genesis 39:1-6:
“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house, and in the field.
And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favored.”
Here in these verses we see Joseph, back when he had absolutely nothing going for him. He had no money, no family, no friends, no clothes, and not even his freedom! Well, I take that back, he did have one thing… the LORD. And as we see, that made all the difference in the life of Joseph. Verse 2 says that the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
Now wait a second… Joseph? Prosperous?? He was a slave! – True, indeed he was a slave for a time… but even in servant-hood he was prosperous and successful. And furthermore, this was prosperity and success that others could see! Look at verse 3: his master saw that the LORD was with him , and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. This was not just spiritual ethereal prosperity, oh no – this was prosperity that even his unregenerated carnally minded Egyptian slave-master could see. Furthermore he saw so much prosperity from the LORD on Joseph that it didn’t take long for Joseph to start being moved into a position of honor, as verse 4 tells us:
Joseph found grace in his master’s sight, and his master made him an overseer in his house, and over all that he had. Make no mistake about it, this was an honorable position to be in – and it came because of the blessing of the LORD. God was with Joseph. The situation may not always seem good, but when the LORD is there, we really have nothing to fear.
Now in verse 5 we see that when his master made Joseph the overseer of his house, the LORD even started blessing the master for Joseph’s sake! So as the master increased, so too then did Joseph even more… and not only in his house, but also in his field.
Then verse 6 closes out the record by stating the master left all that he had in Joseph’s hand and gave no thought to any of it except for what Joseph ate, as Genesis 43:32 states, Hebrews and Egyptians still did not eat together.
Finally the verse ends by stating that Joseph was “goodly” which means attractive in appearance, and he was well-favored. This is mentioned last because it makes the point that Joseph’s physical attractiveness was not the cause for his success and prosperity – the LORD was the cause of that, and also we should note that Joseph’s appearance is actually listed along with the other blessings of success and prosperity of the LORD. So I submit to you that God blessed his physical looks as well! This is the generosity of God.
So what does this mean for us today as believers in Christ Jesus? Well, just as with David and Joseph, we too have the presence of the LORD with us. Jesus has promised more than once that He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20). And also just as David and Joseph, we can also be assured that God is for us on our side (Romans 8:31, 1st John 4:4).
The reason that these accounts were recorded in the Bible, was to show us the outcomes and workings of God, even in seemingly bleak situations (Romans 15:4). They were recorded so that you could in a way, see into the future, and know that God never fails.
So I close today on this note of encouragement. Even when things look bad. Even when life seems as though it’s just not working out, know that with the LORD on your side, you have success and prosperity – not just some of the time, but all of the time. God will cause you to succeed, not because of your abilities, skills, money, good-looks or personality, but because of His presence! You have success in Him; and He never fails!