In this next verse, we come to where most of us are, wanting and waiting to get our hands on actual wealth. Job 22:24 says “Then you will lay your gold in the dust. And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.” This is heavy, sustained wealth, not the type that flies off. Do you know that some sorts of riches develop wings and fly away? Proverbs 23.5 indicates that when a man sets his eyes and mind on riches, those riches fly away.
The reason is that the man who overvalues riches will do whatever it takes – even killing his mother – to become rich. That sort of wealth cannot last. Fly-away riches occur often enough that some cultures have sayings about it. Such societies consider it a curse to have been rich and then to be poor. But the wealth in our key verse is not the sort to develop wings and fly away. It is actual wealth that God is giving you.
Granted, we are grateful to God for the mercy drops of wealth that help keep body and soul together. However, our real desire is for the great big showers of WEALTH. We pray we sow; we fast, we toil, all so we can be rich. Often, we change churches and repeat the above as if God was not interested in giving us riches. We feel we must toil for wealth.
God Is Pleased to Give Us Actual Wealth
Would it surprise you to learn that God desires you to be wealthy more than you want wealth for yourself? We read the following in Psalm 35.27. “Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause, and let them say continually, ‘Let the Lord be magnified who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.'” Wow! God takes pleasure in our prosperity. He not only wants us to be wealthy, but God also wants us to be at peace and to have everything that is part of prosperity. What a good God!
But why did He not give it to you before this point? How does God make us wait before giving us this actual wealth? Why the delay, since He has pleasure in our prosperity? These are all great questions. However, look at the verse in Psalm 35.27 again and ask yourself a different question. Am I a true servant of God? Am I serving His needs? Or am I serving in the church for what I can get, like a hireling, aka worker?
Only you will know the answers to the last series of questions, but they should help you understand the first set of questions. If you are not truly serving God, can you lay claim to the promise God makes to His servants? Remember, that verse says that God has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. Being God’s servant is the trigger for obtaining actual wealth.
There Is More
Serving God faithfully and sincerely is not the only trigger for actual wealth. We see a lot more of the requirements. For the sake of clarity, we repeat Psalm 35.27 here. “Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause, and let them say continually, ‘Let the Lord be magnified who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.'”
We have considered the latter half and now come to the first part. Do I favor God’s righteous cause? How do I know that I favor His righteous cause? What does God’s righteous cause look like? We do not wish to offend anyone, so we shall take an example from the Bible. God’s righteous cause was Lot’s wife turning to salt when she looked back at Sodom and Gomorrah.
Did Lot rejoice at seeing a pillar of salt where his wife used to be? The Bible does not tell us, but you can put yourself in Lots’ place. Would you rejoice? Or would you grumble? Would you accuse God of being a wicked God to deal that way with your wife? You do not qualify for actual wealth.
But if you can magnify God even in that circumstance, you are in line for actual wealth. King David was able to magnify God in a similar situation. You must know the story. David was no saint, and God is not expecting us to be saints. But when God took the son of David’s adultery away, the King did not complain; he worshipped. He magnified God. What about me? What about you? God will help us to magnify Him, no matter what, because He is a great God.
The Real Trigger For Actual Wealth
Following the verse we have been considering is another verse that contains another trigger for actual wealth. In Job 22.25, God adds the real deal, the icing on the cake. “Yes, the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.” Perhaps you magnify God even in horrible situations. Great. You may serve faithfully and sincerely. Wonderful. But until the Almighty becomes your gold and precious silver, actual wealth is far from you.
What is God saying here? Who is number one in your life? You do not have actual wealth until God becomes more precious to you than gold and silver. A man will die in the pursuit of gold and silver because they do not satisfy a man. Only God satisfies us. King Solomon refers to wealth as a primary goal as vanity upon vanity. Jesus referred to the same idea when He warned us against attempting to serve God and mammon. It cannot be done. You have to choose. Only those who pick the Almighty are truly rich. That is actual wealth. To be continued.
Maranatha!
