Psalm 5:12
“For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with
favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.”
Everyone is always saying “do right and God will bless”, but to be
honest, the blessings don’t always come right away…sometimes God waits to
bless. Why does he do it that way? I have asked this question often, I want to
do right and give glory to God through my life, but why must I wait for the
blessings- the rewards? Perhaps it is a selfish question, but it’s important
that it gets answered. I believe that God waits to bless us for the same reason
he allowed Job to go through such terrible circumstances- “Doth Job fear God
for nought?” [Job 1:9] Job was put to the test; would he continue to do right
despite his circumstances? Will we continue to do right even when our
circumstances don’t appear to reflect the goodness of the Lord?
In Hosea 10:12, the Lord encourages us to do right and he also
gives the consequences of doing right- "Sow to yourselves in
righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to
seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you." Notice,
however, that the verse says “till he come”, he doesn’t promise immediate
results like we would want him to, but he does promise that he will bless in
his timing. To get the blessing, though, we have to do what is right first- be
righteous, break up the sin in your life, seek the Lord!
[Revelation 22:11] “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still:
and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous,
let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” If
you are doing right, keep doing right! God blesses the righteous- “For thou,
LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a
shield.” [Psalm 5:12] I know
it’s not easy to be righteous, especially since we still have the old man- our
flesh to deal with. The new man has to fight hard to do right, and there will
always be that constant battle between the old man and new man. [Ephesians
4:24] “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness.”
[Jeremiah 4:3] “For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and
Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.” If you don’t
break up that fallow ground- that sin, any seed that you sow for Christ will
soon be choked by the thorns of this world, your flesh, and the Devil. [Mark
4:7] “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it
yielded no fruit.” You will gain no fruit for the Father, and your Christian
life will be a wasteland of ‘could-have-been’. [Matthew 7:18] “A good tree
cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good
fruit.” Your rewards will not be blessed, but cursed- worthless- wood, hay,
stubble. [I Corinthians 3:11-13] “For other foundation can no man lay than that
is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made
manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire;
and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.”
[Hebrews 11:6] “But without faith it is impossible to please him:
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him.” Seeking after the Lord has it’s blessings, God
will always reward those who seek him. [Psalm 37:4-5] “Delight thyself also in
the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way
unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Through and
through the Bible, God promises his blessings if we would simply seek after
him. If we do not seek, we
will not find; there’s no other way around it…if you want the blessing, you
must live for God.
God wants to “bless the righteous”, if you are doing what is
right, he will bless you, you can be assured that he will hold nothing back.
Sometimes it may seem that you are not getting anything in return for doing
right while others follow the wrong path, but keep on the right because the
blessings are coming! When it seems like it’s the hardest to continue in
righteousness is when it’s the most important to cling to Christ, for the
blessings are right around the corner. Many give up on God during the rough
times and they miss the greatest of God’s blessings by a few moments. Don’t
give in, stay strong in the Lord and weak in the flesh; it’s worth all the
trials and troubles you go through to hear the greatest blessing of all: “Well
done, thou good and faithful servant.” [Matthew 25:21]
[Proverbs 14:9] “Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous
there is favour.” Previously, I mentioned that God doesn’t always bless
immediately, instead he waits and watches to see what we do even when the
blessings aren’t there. Choosing to be righteous can have a selfish motivation
or it can have a God-centered motivation. As a selfish motivation, the standard
still applies that God will bless those who do right, yet it’s not nearly as
wonderful as a God-centered motivation. A God-centered motivation means that
you are not doing right for the benefit of the blessings, rather for the glory
of God. Align your motivation, and it is possible to be in favour with God-
this is a very prestigious place to be, but to get there you must be humble,
for that is what God admires. [Proverbs 11:27] “He that diligently seeketh good
procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.” There
are some examples in the Bible of those who have found favour with God, we may
not have seen their “qualifications”, but God was looking at their hearts. [1
Samuel 2:26] “And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the
LORD, and also with men.” [Luke 1:30] “And the angel said unto her, Fear not,
Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.” [Luke 2:52] “And Jesus increased in wisdom and
stature, and in favour with God and man.” Samuel, Mary, and Jesus all found
favour with God- all had humility and were living righteously for the glory of
God.
Live righteously,
gather blessings, find favour with God…and a shield? [Proverbs 30:5] “Every
word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” God
is our protection, our mainstay, he is our shield! The Lord does not come and
go, he is steadfast (if there’s any moving away, we have done it) and you will
find that as you live righteously, gather blessings, and find favour with God,
you will be closer to Christ. Notice: God is there in [Luke 1:28] “And the
angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the
Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” See how with favour comes
a need to be near: [Genesis 18:3] “And said, My Lord, if now I have found
favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:” [Genesis
30:27] “And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine
eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed
me for thy sake.” Righteousness, blessing, favour, and a shield… [Psalm 84:11]
“For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no
good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” God blesses the
righteous; are you willing to be righteous for the glory of God?