From our Sunday service on January 11, 2026, Matthew 6:31-34 and Proverbs 3:1-13. Watch the full message: First Things First on YouTube.
We’re still at the beginning of the year, still in the New Year’s period. It’s not yet determined what 2026 will bring. We’ve got a long year ahead of us, and there are a lot of things we can do now to determine what’s going to happen in it. We may not know what’s awaiting us in the coming months, but we can know how we should live. No matter what comes, Scripture still teaches us foundational principles we can use to prepare ourselves.
The truth of the matter is that if we set our priorities right, we will be set up to succeed in life. The Bible tells us where our priorities should be, and if our priorities are where they should be, God will take care of us. First we’ll look at what Jesus says about priorities and the promise he has for us. Then we’ll look at four of Solomon’s instructions in Proverbs for specific applications, and apply each to a passage of Scripture to show that when you follow or don’t follow the advice, specific things happen. The four lessons are: keep mercy and truth close to you; trust God’s wisdom, not your own; give back to God as a sign of gratitude; and accept the Lord’s correction. When we do these things, we prepare ourselves to enter 2026 with a successful mentality.
When you put God first, you will prosper.
Seek Ye First
Matthew 6 should be a familiar passage. We talked about it not too long ago in our parable series. Here Jesus rebukes his followers: “Why are you so anxious? Why are you letting fear drive your decisions? If you trust God, if you put God first, all these things you’re worried about will fall into place.”
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Matthew 6:31–34
If you indulge yourself in everything going on in the world, you’ll end up like the people in this verse, taking a lot of thought and a lot of anxiety about it all. But the Bible tells us we don’t need to take on all that anxiety. We don’t need to worry about our security in the future or the clothes on our back, because if we prioritize God and follow the instructions of Scripture, our lives will flow with the will of God, and God will give us everything we need. We don’t have to freeze in our tracks looking at the news, the headlines and the chaos and say, “What am I to do?” We can focus on a goal and walk faithfully through the year ahead. What Jesus teaches here is that true prosperity is only achievable when God is our first priority.
What are we talking about when we say prosperity? Financial prosperity? No. You can be prosperous in income and completely unprosperous in another area of your life. In modern English, prosperity carries more of a financial sense than it used to. The Webster’s dictionary has an alternate definition, outside of finances, for the general wellness of your life: your life is generally going well. That’s what I mean by prosper. You don’t just have a number in a bank account. You have a life that is well off, going smoothly, prepared for what’s going on, and when the chaos comes, you deal with it well. You can prosper despite your circumstances.
Money is not the solution. Satisfaction does not come from money alone. You can be rich and want more. In fact, I think every rich person wants more. I don’t think there’s anybody in the world who says, “I’m rich enough.” Maybe the closest anyone gets is, “I have enough money, but if I had more, I could do more good things.” But you can also be poor, need more, and not prosper. So it’s not that we should give up all our money and live on a pillar like the philosophers in the time of the Greeks and Romans, who said prosperity is giving up all your money and sitting on a post with wisdom. Prosperity is not just wisdom and not just money. It’s living well in both areas.
We also need to understand that prosperity isn’t simply equal to faith. If you’re going to prosper in your Christian walk, faith isn’t all you need. You also need morality. You can be a Christian and still be miserable. You can say you follow God and at the same time not be living your life well: “My life is full of chaos. I’m not prospering, but I say I’m a Christian.” Faith alone is not enough; there must also be a faithful walk alongside it. At the same time, outside of Christianity you can be a sinner and be miserable as well. We don’t want to go too far the other way and say it doesn’t matter, because it does matter whether you’re a believer. But what matters is whether we’re following God’s teachings, because then all these things will be balanced and put in their proper place.
When we choose to follow God as he teaches us, everything else will eventually fall into place. When we actively pursue our proper spiritual goals, the granting of our physical needs is promised as a passive result. If we actively seek God, we’ll passively receive our needs. That’s not to say God promises us a prosperity of wealth, but he gives us a prosperity of peace. If we want to live our lives well, God must be our first priority. So what does that look like? What does seeking the kingdom mean? Let’s look at Solomon’s advice in Proverbs 3 on how to live life well, with four lessons and four examples, some who succeeded and some who failed, to see that what Solomon says and what Jesus says is true. If God is our first priority, we’ll succeed. If God is not, we will fail.
My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Proverbs 3:1–2
Solomon is giving advice to his son. In the opening of Proverbs it is written as wisdom itself speaking, personified wisdom. And what is wisdom? Wisdom is knowledge that comes from God. So God’s knowledge speaks to his son: “Don’t forget my commands, the things of wisdom God taught you.” Why take this advice? “For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.” Again, we’re talking about prosperity not in finances but in peace. Peace is a valuable thing in your life. I’d much rather have peace in my life than money. If I’m up every night, rich but without peace, what good does my money do me? If you follow the wisdom from God, you will have a long life, a peaceful life and a prosperous one.
1. Keep Mercy and Truth Close
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Proverbs 3:3–4
Solomon wants to give wisdom on how to find favor with God and with humanity. If you’re going to have peace in your life, you can’t have just one or the other. If you have peace with God and no peace with people, you have no ministry to another person. You can’t do God’s work if you don’t have peace with other people. Wisdom is where you find both, and the only way to do it is to keep two things with you at all times: mercy and truth.
Why do I need both? Truth here is the truth of God, which establishes your standards. If you don’t have truth, you can’t have standards. You may have seen people on YouTube and in interviews who don’t believe there is absolute truth. Those who don’t believe in absolute truth have no absolute morality. Their morals shift left and right depending on the context. In some situations it might be okay to lie, in others not. When you don’t have absolute truth, you don’t have morality, and if we want to prosper, we have to be moral people. So we have to have truth.
But you can also have truth and not have mercy. Mercy is the ability to forgive others who do not live up to the standards of truth we have. When we study the Bible, we gain truth and standards. But truth on its own is not enough. When we start holding these standards ourselves, we start looking at other people who don’t hold them the way we do, and the natural response is to not have mercy, to take on an aura of condemnation and judgment toward those around us. If we have the truth of Scripture and not the mercy, you’re not going to have peace or prosperity, because you’ll be in conflict with a lot of people. You won’t hold your tongue the way you should. You’ll confront sin, and it won’t come across as correction. It will come across as pride and judgment, things the Bible says should be far from the believer.
So wisdom says, “Bind them about thy neck,” like a tie. Have it there, ready whenever you need it. Maybe I’m in a situation and I see sin going on: “Let me grab that mercy right now, because if I don’t, I’m going to say something I regret.” Or maybe someone tempts you to do something and you know you could get away with it. You might hold on to the mercy without the truth and say, “God is merciful. God will forgive me.” But without the truth, you won’t make the right choice. You’ll take advantage of the situation, you’ll be living in sin, and God won’t be able to bless you. We need truth to keep us in God’s blessings, and we need mercy to maintain relationships with our fellow sinful humanity. I’ve got good news and bad news: every single person you meet is fallen and sinful just like you. Good news, because we’re on equal footing. Bad news, because you’ve got to live with sinful people. Without mercy and truth, those relationships will be strained.
For an example, turn to 1 Samuel 2. We looked at this passage not too long ago: the story of Eli and his sons. Eli sure did love his children, but he made a mistake. He loved his children more than he loved God. He loved that they were priests working in the temple, serving God. But there was a lot of mercy and not a lot of truth in their lives, and he let it slide.
And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
1 Samuel 2:27–30
Here is someone who kept mercy close but neglected truth. He was a priest. He knew the mercy of God, he presumed upon it, and he didn’t raise his children the way they were supposed to be raised. As his sons grew up in the temple, they took from the offerings things that didn’t belong to them, the best meat, to indulge their flesh and be gluttonous. They were also doing some very immoral things with the women visiting the temple. And their father, loving them, said, “It’s fine. At the end of the day we’re still doing what God said. We’re still offering the sacrifices. They’re in the temple serving God.” But his mercy was misplaced. Instead of correcting his children young and setting them on the right path, he let them continue in their sin. He let mercy be the driving factor and not truth.
Because of that, God says, “I promised that if you followed me, your house would serve me forever. You have the appearance of truth, but you’re not applying it. You’re serving me in the temple and then sinning and disobeying my commands. You tell people to do what you don’t do. You’re hypocrites. You love your sons more than you love me. I’m sorry, but you’re done. Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” Eli neglected correcting his children, and because of it God had to judge them collectively. Had Eli valued truth and loved his children properly, they would have learned life’s lessons the easy way and not the hard way. Instead they all ended up dying a horrible death, and Eli died of a broken heart. It could have been easily avoided if both mercy and truth had been bound around his neck, ready to use when needed.
So we need to keep the truth of God close and know his standards, but also have mercy ready for those who don’t live up to them. We ought to be ready to forgive, to lift up and to help, but also ready to correct ourselves and train ourselves to walk with God. “So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.” If we want that prosperity of peace, mercy and truth are a big step in getting us there.
2. Trust God’s Wisdom, Not Your Own
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Proverbs 3:5–8
Again we come back to morality. You have to have truth in your life to be prosperous, and that truth must be founded not on what we think but on what God thinks. We cannot prosper by devising our own system of moral principles. We don’t know enough to direct ourselves wisely. Our time on this earth is limited, and our experiences are limited. But God has given us his Word, with lessons from the Old Testament written for our examples, to see what happens when you do one thing versus the other, like we’re doing today.
If you haven’t noticed, history tends to repeat itself every hundred years: a generation forgets the mistakes their great-great-grandfathers made, falls into the same mistakes, and countries go through the same revolutions and collapses. Every empire will eventually fall. Why? Because they repeat the same mistakes. We’re not wise enough to make our own moral systems, and our lives aren’t long enough to figure everything out. We have to learn from an external source, and there’s no better source than the Word of God. I say this all the time: the Torah, the book of the law, is to be understood not as a legal code but as God’s instruction book for his people.
We don’t follow these rules blindly. We’re not saying read the Bible and don’t think about it. Thinking about it is important. When you really get into the Bible and think about why things are the way they are, you’ll learn a lot more than if you take it at face value. But we recognize the centuries of history that prove what God said is true, and we will definitely see a difference between those who do what God says and those who don’t. When we acknowledge God’s instruction and listen to his voice instead of our own, he will show us where to go and what to do. Wherever God is, that is where prosperity is.
For an example, turn to 1 Samuel 15, someone who set up his own standards rather than following God’s instructions: Saul disobeying God’s orders. The Amalekites are at war with Israel. These are very wicked people who live in the promised land, and God tells Israel to remove them because they’re wicked and evil and would lead Israel’s children astray. The command is to utterly destroy them and everything they have, so that no remnant of their idolatry, worship or culture is left, because it was wicked and sinful.
Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
1 Samuel 15:1–3
When Israel was coming out of Egypt, they did nothing wrong. They were just traveling through Amalek’s territory to get to the promised land, and instead of letting them pass peacefully, the Amalekites came out and attacked them and tried to wipe them off the face of the earth, just because they could. Israel offered no threat to them. But their cities and people were so wicked that when they saw an opportunity to commit murder and mass genocide, they jumped at it. God says, “I’ve given them time to repent. The time has passed. They haven’t turned from their ways. Wipe them out,” because anytime they had an opportunity they would commit genocide against any nation next to them, so that it never happens again.
But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
1 Samuel 15:9
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
1 Samuel 15:13–14
God gave them victory over the Amalekites, but they decided to do things their own way. They saw the riches and said, “There’s a lot of financial gain sitting on the ground here: gold, silver and cattle. What if we get rid of the disgusting, useless stuff and keep all the good stuff for ourselves? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for us as a society to have more animals? I don’t get why God would say to destroy it all. It doesn’t make sense to me, so let’s do it our way.”
On top of that, they kept the king alive. I’ve been advised by a couple of people to do a series on how Christianity and the Bible have changed the moral system over the years. Capturing a foreign king was a completely common thing back in the day. Before the Jews and Christianity rewrote morals, the natural thing to do if you captured a king was to torture him, gouge out his eyes, cut off his fingers, do horrible things to him, and walk him through the city as a trophy. God said to execute him for his crimes. But in their wicked, sinful, non-uplifted spiritual state, they said, “No, we’re not going to execute the king. We’re going to keep him as a trophy. He tried to kill our people. Revenge is what we should do.” So the king is kept alive.
And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
1 Samuel 15:20–23
Saul never admits his faults here, and that’s another thing we’ll talk about in this lesson. He says, “I did everything right. I took the king. That’s the right thing to do: capture the king and make a statement, so none of the other kings think about doing what he did, because nobody wants to be tortured and killed. It’ll be a deterrent.” But Samuel says, in effect, “You don’t understand what God is about. God’s not about torture and murder. You’re the king of his people. You’re supposed to represent his morals and his standards. We wipe out all the riches and wealth so that people know this isn’t about money. It’s about moral standards. Wiping out the Amalekites wasn’t to take their loot. It was to decimate an evil people and make a statement. You’ve taken something that’s about teaching a moral lesson and made it about you and about revenge. You set your own moral standard on what’s right and wrong, and I’m sorry, but you’re out.”
Saul knew exactly what God said to do, but because he didn’t understand why, he chose to do it his own way. Samuel never explained why, but if you know the mind of God, you know why. Saul said, “If I don’t understand it, it must be wrong.” God said to kill all the animals, execute the evil king, and let only priests offer sacrifices. Saul thought there was a better way. He gave the riches to Israel as a trophy, kept the king as a trophy, and offered sacrifices himself. And Samuel tells him, “Don’t you think God prefers that you listen to him more than anything else? You’re rebelling by thinking your way is better than God’s.” You can’t serve God by doing it your own way. Saul learned the hard way that if you trust your own wisdom instead of God’s, you will end up in a bad place.
Our passage in Proverbs says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding,” and we see why. When we think from our own perspective, we come to the wrong conclusions: that if taking the wealth is good for us, it must be right, or that if it discourages other kings from messing with us, it’s the right thing to do. What benefits us most is not always the moral thing to do. But if we acknowledge God in all our ways, he will direct our paths. “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.” When we trust the instructions God gives us, it is our health, our wellness and our prosperity. If we want to prosper in the year ahead, we need to follow God’s instructions rather than our own thoughts.
3. Give Back to God as a Sign of Gratitude
Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
Proverbs 3:9–10
Solomon teaches us that it’s a mistake to hoard our wealth for ourselves. If we take everything God gives us and use it to satisfy ourselves, we’re making a great mistake. It’s implied here that if we don’t give the Lord the firstfruits of our increase, our barns won’t be filled with plenty and our presses won’t burst out with as much new wine. If we don’t give to God, we won’t get as much. So your options are: hoard everything you have, don’t get more, and be content with less, or use what God gives you for his kingdom and be blessed with more. If you want to prosper, you’ve got to be willing to give up more. What is best for us is to give first and leave what’s left for us.
Why would God ask us to give first? There’s a temptation that when we give last, we’ll often find there’s very little left to give. We look at the bank account and say, “It’s a little tight today, so I won’t give anything, and I’ll see what’s left at the end of the month.” Little by little you make bad financial decisions, and you find out, “I didn’t have anything left for God. I didn’t have anything left to help the person who needed it. I didn’t set aside money to do what God told me to do, and now I have nothing.” Giving first is also a sign of faith that God will provide. We’re supposed to live by faith, and if we live by what’s left over, we’re not living by faith. We’re saying, “If God does this for me, then I’ll do that.” Really, it’s, “I should do this for God, and then he’ll do that for me.” Hope that is seen is not hope. You don’t say, “God, if you give me $1,000 at the end of the month, then I’ll give you some money and do some ministry.” You say, “God, I’m going to give you this at the beginning of the month so you can bless me at the end of the month.”
For our example, turn to Haggai 1. At this time the Israelites have re-entered the promised land and started rebuilding Jerusalem after exile, and they’ve gotten lazy. They’ve refused to prioritize God in rebuilding the temple.
Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.
Haggai 1:2
God says, “You’re making excuses. You say the time has not come to give to the Lord yet: ‘We’re in the land. We’ve rebuilt the walls of the city of Jerusalem, but we don’t really have the resources to rebuild the temple or to worship God right now. It’s just not realistic.'”
Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Haggai 1:3–7
They said, “We don’t have the resources to build the temple,” and God says, “You guys are dumb. I’m sorry. You don’t understand why you don’t have any resources. The reason is that you’re disobeying me.” God says to invest in his kingdom, whether through the church or through personal ministry. That’s for you to decide, but in some way you have to invest in God’s ministry. They were told to rebuild the temple, and they made excuses: “We don’t have enough food or water to start doing what God said.” God says, “The reason you don’t have enough is that you’re not giving to me first.” The commands of Scripture say to give the firstfruits of your grain, because in the Old Testament they knew that if they gave the firstfruits, God would bless the second harvest. They refused to do it at the first harvest, so when the second harvest came, God knocked it out and made it less profitable.
“Don’t you understand that you’re putting money in a bag with holes? You’re trying to save up for yourselves and solve all your problems by putting money in a bag. If you want your problems solved, you need to have faith in God, because God is the one in control, the one who can direct you to success or failure. Give to God first so he can bless you later.” God tells the people in Haggai that the reason they have little is that they’re not giving to God as they’re supposed to. If they gave, God could bless them. So God says, “Consider your ways.” Are you putting God first, or yourself? If God’s not your priority, he can’t bless you or grow you the way he wants to. Give back to God as a sign of gratitude, so that he can bless you.
4. Accept the Lord’s Correction
My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
Proverbs 3:11–13
Solomon is saying, “When you do wrong, don’t be surprised when God sends trouble your way to teach you a lesson.” It’s part of being a believer. You should be more disappointed if God doesn’t send correction, because that means he’s given up on getting you back where you need to be. The temptation is to despise the Lord’s correction, to be mad at God when he gives you consequences for your sinful mistakes. Sometimes we learn from our mistakes ourselves. We humble ourselves and say, “What I did was wrong. I need to go to this person and make it right.” But sometimes we don’t humble ourselves. We try to let it slide, and that’s when God sometimes steps in to send us a lesson, big or small, to remind us how we’re supposed to act.
It’s easy to be angry that we’re getting difficulty back for our sins: “God, why didn’t you just forgive me? Why is this such a big deal? Just let it slide. It’s so hard right now.” We get angry instead of embracing God’s correction and learning his lesson. But God teaches us lessons for our own benefit, because he loves us, like a father disciplines his child. A father who never disciplines his son does not love him, because when his son is grown he will learn life’s lessons the hard way, and the consequences will be much worse than if he had been corrected early. God corrects us early so that it saves us from bigger mistakes down the road. When we are corrected by God, we should be happy, because he has given us the gift of greater wisdom.
Our last example is in Isaiah 39, King Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a righteous king who followed God, but he had a moment of weakness. Through the years there had been many wars against Israel, and God had defended and protected them. Through all these wars and blessings, riches had built up in the palace. Unlike in the story of Saul, God had allowed them to keep the riches, so Hezekiah had a great treasury of loot from all the invaders, all on display. At this time Babylon was becoming a major empire, and Hezekiah got a visit from the equivalent of the Babylonian embassy of the time.
At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
Isaiah 39:1–2
God had blessed Hezekiah. He had received all these riches during his reign and had victory over his enemies, and he should have been giving God the glory for all of it. Instead, he takes the ambassadors from Babylon through the storehouses and shows off all his accomplishments: the gold, the silver, and valuable spices that per ounce were hundreds of dollars in today’s money. Boy, was that foolish. He showed one of the largest empires in the world a great storehouse of treasures they did not have, and he did it with a prideful attitude, not giving God glory. It would later be the catalyst encouraging Babylon to invade his nation.
Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
Isaiah 39:3–7
Isaiah says, in effect, “Hezekiah, what did you do? You just showed a world empire a great treasure store they’re going to want. The natural consequence is that they’ll come and invade Israel to take those riches away. And because you were prideful and didn’t give God the glory, God isn’t going to protect you when they come. You just led the Babylonian army to Israel’s door because of your pride.” And God says, “This time I’m going to let you learn your lesson. I’ve forgiven you before and spared you before, but I’m going to let the natural consequence of your sinful choice play out.” What does Hezekiah do? Remember, we’re talking about accepting God’s correction.
Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.
Isaiah 39:8
Hezekiah doesn’t make excuses like Saul, who said, “I followed the instructions of the Lord. Everything I did was kosher.” Hezekiah says, “Good is the word of the LORD. I made a mistake. God is merciful to let me learn this lesson this way, because the evil is not going to come in my day but in the future. God is merciful that he did not strike me down right now for the foolish choice I just made.” Instead of making excuses or becoming angry, Hezekiah recognizes God’s correction and accepts the punishment. 2 Chronicles gives a little more detail:
In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign. But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
2 Chronicles 32:24–26
We’re specifically told here that God’s judgment, Babylon’s invasion, would have happened the very moment the ambassadors returned to Babylon had Hezekiah not responded to God’s correction appropriately. Because he said, “Good is the word of the LORD,” Babylon didn’t invade in his lifetime. It wouldn’t be until his son took over and spent forty-some years doing evil before God that God would eventually allow Babylon to invade. Babylon didn’t invade specifically because of Hezekiah’s sin, but because of his son’s sin. Hezekiah realized that God had preserved his legacy through his mercy, by not letting his kingdom be the one that ultimately caused it to fall. Israel had extra decades of prosperity because Hezekiah chose to humble himself before God.
Our Prosperity Is Tied to Our Priorities
We’ve got a whole year ahead of us. The question is not whether we want God’s blessing. Everyone here would say, “I want God’s blessing in my life.” The real question is: are we willing to order our lives around God’s priorities in order to get that blessing? Solomon doesn’t promise us a trouble-free life, and Jesus didn’t promise us unlimited comfort in the verses we looked at today. What is promised is something far better: direction, peace, provision and wisdom for those who put him first.
When we keep mercy and truth close to our hearts, we honor both God and the people around us. When we trust God’s wisdom instead of our own, God directs us toward places of peace. When we give back to God first, we practice faith rather than fear and allow God to bless us in ways he couldn’t if we kept everything for ourselves. And when we accept the Lord’s correction, we grow in faith and inherit blessings instead of hardening our hearts and receiving more condemnation.
Each of these principles points to the same truth: our prosperity is tied to our priorities. God is not asking us to add him to an already full list of things to do this year. He’s asking us to place him in every part of everything we do. When we do, the words of Jesus in Matthew 6 prove true: all these things will be added unto us if we seek the kingdom first. So as this year unfolds, let this be our commitment: not to seek comfort first, not to seek control first, and not to seek success first, but to seek God first and trust him with the rest. When you put God first, you will prosper. Will you choose to put God first today?
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