Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled. (30:6-7, NKJV)
There is an inherent danger in prosperity. The New King James says “prosperity.” The New International says “security.” The Hebrew word is shelev which means “to be at ease, to be secure, to be prosperous, to have quiet and peace.”
One of my goals in life is to be at peace, at ease, secure, calm. No one likes stress. No one likes disruptions. I certainly don’t. I like a sense of calm, a sense that things are under control.
This in itself is not a bad thing. God promises us rest (Hebrews 4:9-11). Jesus invites us to follow Him and “find rest for our souls” (Matthew 11:29). Peace is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
God doesn’t want us running around, out of control, worried, fretting, biting our nails, churning in our stomach, frazzled in our mind. In Him, we have the hope and the confidence that we will not be shaken. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken (Psalm 16:8).
But the line from confidence in the Lord to confidence in self is so fine. How quickly we move from “Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” to “I shall never be moved on my own.” Security in the Lord easily becomes complacency in myself. I get lazy. I become less vigilant toward sin. I start feeling immune to lust, to lying, to greed, to a major downfall. I become self-righteous (I am not like that person) and self-sufficient (I have things under control).
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12).
I am never immune to sin. I am never secure on my own. Sin knocks on the door and enters the house when I feel strong enough to take him on or lazy enough to not care anymore.
David reached this state and the Lord “hid His face.” The Lord removed His hand of protection. This was not done to harm David but to wake him up. David’s false peace had to be disrupted in order to draw him back to real peace. God allowed a trial to hit David’s life in order to knock him to his knees.
Lord, I feel a complacent streak in me, a tendency to depend on my own and to forsake You, to ignore You. Draw me back to Yourself. May I seek You in my prosperity and not forget that You are the source of all my blessings. When trials come, may I run to You and not away from You. O LORD my God, I will give You thanks forever! (30:12)